[5]

The first thing I heard after leaving Aiden’s study was the sound of my own heartbeat.

It was too fast, too loud, and painfully uneven, as though my body understood what I had done before my mind could catch up.

I had rejected my mate.

After five years of loving him, defending him, making excuses for him, and convincing myself that one day he would look at me and see the woman who had given him everything, I had finally severed the bond connecting us.

And somehow, the world had not ended.

I kept walking.

My bedroom was at the end of the corridor, but every step felt heavier than the last. The walls seemed to tilt around me, and the faint scent of polished wood and white roses made my stomach churn. I reached for the wall when my knees threatened to give way.

Easy, Elena.

My wolf offered nothing but a faint, exhausted whimper.

I pressed my palm against my abdomen.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

I wasn’t sure whether I was apologizing to my wolf, the tiny life growing inside me, or the foolish girl who had spent five years believing that being patient enough would make a man love her properly.

Perhaps all three.

When I reached my bedroom, I closed the door and turned the lock. Then I leaned against it, waiting for Aiden to come after me.

It was a ridiculous habit. Even now, some pathetic part of me expected him to appear, to demand an explanation, to ask why I had finally stopped accepting the scraps he threw at me.

I waited for a minute.

Then another.

Nothing.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

Of course he wouldn’t come. Aiden Conner had never chased me unless my actions threatened his authority. He had always been certain that I would remain where he left me.

Perhaps that certainty was why he had never bothered to mark me.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand. My cheeks were wet, and I hadn’t even noticed myself crying.

“No more,” I told my reflection in the mirror.

My voice trembled, but I repeated the words until they sounded almost convincing.

“No more.”

I had less than seven months left, perhaps even less if the doctor’s predictions were correct. I couldn’t spend what remained of my life begging a man to care whether I lived or died.

And I certainly couldn’t allow my child to grow up believing that love meant enduring humiliation.

I crossed the room and pulled my suitcase from beneath the bed.

There was no time to mourn properly. Mourning could come later, when I was somewhere safe, when my body wasn’t threatening to betray me every time I stood for too long.

I needed my identification documents, medical records, savings, and whatever clothes I could carry without exhausting myself. I also needed to leave before Aiden decided my rejection was merely another tantrum he could punish out of me.

I had barely opened the wardrobe when the bedroom door rattled.

“Elena!”

Aiden’s voice.

My fingers tightened around the hanger I was holding.

“Open the door.”

I said nothing.

“Elena, I know you’re in there.”

That was an impressive discovery. It was my bedroom, after all.

“I have nothing to say to you, Aiden.”

“You’re not leaving this conversation unfinished.”

I stared at the door.

For years, those words would have been enough to make me abandon whatever I was doing. I would have opened the door, apologized for upsetting him, and listened while he explained why my feelings were inconvenient.

Not tonight.

“Our conversation ended when I rejected you.”

Silence followed.

Then I heard his hand strike the door.

“You don’t get to decide that alone!”

A strange calm settled over me.

“Didn’t you spend five years deciding everything alone?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

“You are my Luna.”

“Not anymore.”

“You are still part of this pack.”

“Then perhaps you should have treated me like I belonged here.”

The words escaped before I could reconsider them. For a moment, I held my breath, waiting for his anger to erupt.

Instead, his voice dropped.

“You’re emotional. You’re sick, and you’re clearly not thinking straight. We will discuss this tomorrow.”

There it was again.

The familiar dismissal. The suggestion that any decision I made without his approval must be the product of weakness or confusion.

I almost smiled.

“You’ve spent five years refusing to listen to me, Aiden. Why start now?”

His footsteps moved away from the door.

I waited until I could no longer hear them before returning to my suitcase.

My hands shook as I folded my clothes. Halfway through packing, a sharp pain spread across my chest. I dropped onto the edge of the bed, struggling to draw a full breath.

For several seconds, the room blurred.

When the pain eased, I pressed my forehead against my knees and tried not to panic.

I couldn’t afford to collapse here. Not with my child depending on me.

I took the medication the pack doctor had prescribed, drank some water, and waited until I could stand again.

Then I continued packing.

By midnight, I had gathered most of what I needed. I slipped my identification and medical records into a waterproof folder, counted the money in my savings envelope, and tucked it into the inner pocket of my bag.

It wasn’t much, but it was mine.

For the first time in years, I had money Aiden couldn’t use to remind me of everything I owed him.

I changed into dark trousers, a loose sweater, and comfortable shoes. My wedding ring sat on the dressing table, catching the moonlight.

I picked it up.

The diamond was beautiful. Aiden had chosen it himself, though he had handed it to me without ceremony, as if marriage were another responsibility he had been forced to accept.

I remembered how I’d cried with happiness that day.

How I’d promised myself that the mark would come later, that the affection would come later, that everything would eventually fall into place.

Five years of later.

I placed the ring beside the mirror.

Then I turned away.

My hand rested over my stomach as I approached the door.

“We’re leaving,” I whispered to my baby. “I don’t know where we’ll go yet, but I promise I’ll find somewhere we can be safe.”

The child gave no response, of course.

Still, I found myself breathing a little easier.

I opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

The packhouse was quiet. Most of the guards would be changing shifts soon, and the servants had retired for the night. I knew the building well enough to avoid the main staircase and reach the smaller exit near the kitchens.

I had spent five years learning every corner of this house.

It was almost amusing that I would use that knowledge to escape it.

I had reached the landing when a voice stopped me.

“Elena?”

I turned.

Mrs. Collins, one of the senior housekeepers, stood near the linen cupboard. Her gaze moved from my face to the suitcase in my hand.

“Where are you going at this hour?”

My heart lurched.

“Out.”

She frowned. “Does the Alpha know?”

I looked at her for a moment.

Then I remembered the way everyone in Blood Moon had learned to measure my movements against Aiden’s wishes.

“No,” I answered. “And he doesn’t need to.”

She looked startled.

Perhaps I was, too.

I continued toward the stairs before she could ask another question.

Outside, the night air struck my face. I paused beneath the entrance canopy, breathing in the cool darkness.

For the first time in five years, I couldn’t feel Aiden anywhere in the back of my mind.

There was only silence.

It should have frightened me.

Instead, I lifted my chin and walked toward the gates.

I had nearly reached the side entrance when a guard stepped into my path.

“Lady Elena, the Alpha has instructed us not to let you leave the grounds.”

Of course he had.

My fingers tightened around my suitcase handle.

“Move.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. I can’t.”

I stared at him, my exhaustion slowly giving way to anger.

“I am not asking you to escort me to another territory. I am asking you to move out of my way.”

He lowered his eyes but didn’t budge.

Behind me, the packhouse doors opened.

I didn’t need to turn around to know who had arrived.

Aiden’s voice cut through the night.

“Take her back inside,” Aiden ordered.

The guards moved toward me.

“Don’t touch me!” I snapped, stepping back, but dizziness hit me without warning. My suitcase slipped from my hand, and I grabbed the iron railing to keep from falling.

Aiden’s expression changed when he noticed how pale I was.

“Elena?”

“Don’t pretend you care.”

I tried to straighten, but a sharp pain tore through my abdomen. I gasped, clutching my stomach.

Then I felt something warm trickle down my thigh.

My blood.

Aiden stared at it, his face draining of colour.

“Elena, what the hell is happening to you?”