Chapter 3

Freya’s POV

I started packing my things first thing in the morning.

I left behind every piece of jewelry Leo had ever given me.

I had recently discovered that the expensive sets he gifted Caroline were real, while the ones he gave me were only replicas.

In the end, all my real belongings fit into two boxes.

I placed them by the door, then stepped back and looked at them for a moment.

Three years of my life reduced to two boxes.

Slowly, I pressed a hand to my stomach.

“And you, my child,” I whispered softly, “you’re the only thing in this house I’m taking that truly matters.”

I picked up the first box.

I was halfway down the hallway when I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned.

Caroline stood at the top of the stairs like she had been waiting for this moment. She held a cup of tea with both hands, thin curls of steam rising from the surface.

“Aww… the poor Luna is running away already.”

I kept walking.

“Did you know Leo told me last week that marrying you was the single biggest regret of his life?” she continued.

“He said he looks at you sometimes and wonders how he let it go on this long.”

I set the box down, turned around, and looked at her.

“I’m not doing this with you today, Caroline.”

“You don’t get to decide that. And stop ignoring me when I’m speaking to you.”

She grabbed my arm.

“Let go.”

“Or what? What exactly are you going to…”

I pulled my arm free, and the force made her stumble back a step.

What happened next was so fast and so deliberate that I almost didn’t believe it, even as I watched it happen.

Caroline looked down at the tea in her hands.

Then she looked up at me.

And tipped it onto herself.

The hot liquid splashed down the front of her robe.

She gasped, her knees buckling as she collapsed to the floor. One hand cradled her stomach while the other pressed against the marble.

“My stomach… it hurts… Freya has killed my baby!”

The maid at the end of the corridor let out a shriek.

And I simply stood there, arms crossed, watching the performance.

Leo appeared in the doorway.

His eyes swept over the scene in a single glance, and something dark moved across his face.

“Leo… she poured the tea on me. She’s been trying to hurt the baby. She wants to…”

“She threw hot tea on herself deliberately because she enjoys watching us fight and seeing you take her side,” I said flatly.

“Leo, she’s lying!” Caroline cried.

“She attacked me! This is assault…this is attempted murder! She’s trying to kill your child. You have to do something. Arrest her or…”

Leo lifted one hand and Caroline fell silent immediately.

He turned to the maid.

“Call the pack doctor and tell him Miss Caroline needs to be seen immediately. Beta Aldric will take her.”

He didn’t look at Caroline again.

Instead, he turned to me.

“My office. Now.”

I followed him, and against my better judgment something foolish stirred in my chest.

Maybe he had finally thought about everything.

Maybe he had realized how wrong he had been all this time and he wanted to fix things.

The thought made my chest tighten with something dangerously close to hope.

When we reached his office, Leo stood with his back to me for a moment, staring out the window.

Then he turned.

“Caroline is impulsive,” he said. “She gets emotional. I don’t want her making decisions that could harm the pregnancy.”

I stared at him.

“That’s it?” I asked slowly. “She staged an entire scene downstairs to have me arrested, and your response is that she’s impulsive?”

“I’m not having that conversation.”

The small hopeful thing inside my chest folded in on itself and went quiet.

I really was stupid to think anything between us would ever change.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the divorce papers.

I had printed them that morning and already signed my section.

Instead of handing them to him, I threw them.

The papers hit his chest and scattered across the desk, a few sliding onto the floor.

Leo glanced down at them, then looked back at me.

“Are you finished?”

“Don’t waste my time, Alpha Leonard Cowell,” I said coldly. “Sign them.”

“Didn’t I make myself clear yesterday? You have no right to demand a divorce from me.”

“I spent the entire night thinking about that,” I said.

“And I’ve decided I’m not going to enslave myself for something that only benefits you. I’m not a campaign asset. If you need someone to help with your election plans, your precious Caroline should be up to the task.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Or is she too dumb for that?”

Something shifted in his expression.

He picked up one of the papers from the desk.

“You do understand what happens to you without Ironveil’s protection, don’t you? Your pack has no Alpha. If you walk out of this marriage, I’ll make sure the members of your pack suffer the consequences.”

“Don’t you dare use my pack and my father against me. That’s beneath even you.”

“It’s not a threat. It’s a fact. I’m trying to make sure you understand the full picture before you make a decision you can’t undo.”

He set the paper down.

“The parliamentary inspection committee arrives in two weeks. They’re evaluating the next candidate for High Alpha of the Eastern Territory. I have to win this election. I cannot lose to my enemies. I only asked for eleven weeks. Why are you making it more difficult than it needs to be?”

I didn’t answer immediately. I was doing the math in my head.

Three weeks ago, before any of this, I had received an offer to become Chief Legal Counsel for the Vantara Pack.

It was one of the fastest-growing independent packs in the Northern Territory.

The job was the fresh start I needed, far away from Leo and the pack that had drained me dry.

“Can I ask you a question, Leo?” I said after a moment.

“Go ahead.”

“Why did you make me fall in love with you when you knew your feelings for me were never genuine from the start?”

Leo met my gaze without hesitation.

“I needed a partner from a low-status background. It creates a narrative that resonates with the electorate. You had the right profile at the time.”

For a moment I wondered if there was an award somewhere for the most foolish she-wolf who had ever lived.

If I had listened to my father’s advice, none of this would have happened.

He had seen who Leo really was beneath the polished exterior, but I had been too blinded by the thrill of being chosen for the first time in my life.

I took a slow breath, looked down at the divorce papers scattered across the desk, then back at Leo.

“Your mind is made up,” I said quietly. “So is mine. But I have one demand before the election.”

“Which is?”

“You stay out of my way and let me do things the way I want. And most importantly, keep your mistress under control. If she breathes in my direction again, I will stop helping you and walk away.”

“Done.”

He said it without hesitation.

“So after the election, you’ll let me go without any drama?”

“Of course. What else would I need you for? Do you think I still have feelings for you?”

My hands moved instinctively to my stomach.

For a moment, a quiet wave of pity washed through me.

Not for myself, but for my child… because I had made the mistake of giving Leo as his father.

But I didn’t allow that moment of weakness to show.

Instead, I lifted my chin and met his eyes.

“Deal.”