His Substitute Mate Is the Alpha’s Daughter

"I'll have the mating dissolution papers drawn up," my father says. "All Elias has to do is sign."

He agrees to help me.

"The plane will be there on the third," he continues. "Be ready."

The third of next month.

I hang up and let my back slide down the cold stone wall. The hallway is empty. I sit on the floor, drained.

After a long moment, I push myself up. Then I call Ivy Donovan and a few other friends. We head straight to a bar.

The bar is loud and dark. Ivy slides into the booth across from me, her dark eyes scanning my face.

"Wren," she says carefully. "The Blackwood pack has so many rules. You haven't been out like this in months. If Margaret finds out you're acting so wild..."

I throw back my drink in one burning gulp.

"She won't find out," I say. "Because I'm leaving Elias. I'm ending the mating bond."

Ivy's glass nearly slips from her hand. "What? You... you've loved him most. How hard you worked to chase him. How can you just--"

"I don't love him anymore." I cut her off. "And I'm never going to love him again."

The words hang in the air.

And then--

The music cuts out.

The lights flicker, then blaze to full brightness. Harsh. Unforgiving.

The front doors swing open. Dozens of wolves in black suits file in--trained, silent, efficient. They begin clearing the bar.

"Everyone out. Now."

Patrons are ushered out amid confused complaints and scattered protests. Ivy is escorted out by a polite but firm enforcer.

The bar falls silent. Empty.

Harper, the Blackwood pack's head of security, walks to my booth. He bows slightly, but his voice brooks no argument.

"Mrs. Blackwood. The elder requests your presence."

I lean back in the booth, swirling what's left of my drink. I don't even look up.

"Not going. Tell her I won't be bound by Blackwood rules much longer."

Harper's expression doesn't change. He raises one hand.

A wolf steps up behind me. Silent.

I don't see the blow coming.

Something hard strikes the back of my neck.

Darkness swallows everything.

I wake with my hands bound behind my back, kneeling on the cold stone floor of the Blackwood manor's main hall.

Margaret Blackwood sits on her high-backed chair on the dais. Her silver hair is pinned tight. Her eyes are sharp as talons.

"Wren." Her voice cuts through the silence. "How far will your lawlessness go? You're a Beta--don't you have any decency? You can't even measure up to Chloe, and she's an Omega."

Chloe.

Even now, she compares me to that soft, simpering Omega.

The words stab into my chest. This is what Elias wanted, isn't it? Me--his legitimate mate--reduced to a backdrop that makes Chloe look good.

How ridiculous.

"Drag her away," Margaret orders coldly. "Pack discipline."

Wolves grab my arms. Drag me through the manor to the punishment hall in the east wing. Stone floor. Iron rings on the walls.

They bend me over a frame. Tie my wrists.

The heavy wooden rod comes down on my back. On the backs of my legs. Dull, brutal thuds.

Fire spreads across my skin. Cold sweat soaks through my clothes.

But I lock my jaw. I don't make a sound. My eyes stay dry and fierce--a small animal that refuses to break.

Until the pain exceeds what my body can take.

Darkness takes me.

I wake to the smell of antiseptic.

Hospital. I'm lying on my stomach. Bandages wrap my back. My wounds throb.

The door is cracked open.

Voices drift in from the hallway.

"Thank you, Elias." Chloe's voice. Soft. Grateful. A little scared. "But... you did all that to keep Mother from being angry about the statue I broke. Wren has such a strong personality. When she wakes up... will she blame me?"

Elias's voice is calm. Steady. "Don't worry. I'm here. She won't do anything to you."

Chloe starts to cry softly.

I see it through the crack in the door. The way Elias looks at her. A flicker of tenderness in his eyes.

"Stop crying," he says quietly. "From now on, if you have any trouble in the pack, come to me. I'll protect you."

Inside the room, I watch through the gap.

Every image is a red-hot blade, stabbing into my heart. Twisting.

But that's fine.

This time, I'm leaving him.