Chapter one

Elowen Veyra's POV

My phone would not stop lighting up.

I stared at the messages on the screen, and each one seemed to sink deeper into my chest. There was no concern in Calden's words, no question about whether I was well or whether I could still stand after the last blood donation. He never asked those things. To him, my condition only mattered when Thessaly needed me.

Calden: Thessaly is at the clinic. The healers need your blood. You know what you have to do. Oak Clinic. Come now.

Another message appeared almost immediately.

Calden: Where are you, Elowen? You are already fifteen minutes late.

Then came the one he probably thought would make me hurry.

Calden: I have increased the compensation to $100,000. Check your account.

My thumb hovered over the screen.

A final message followed.

Calden: Present yourself to the healers within twenty minutes. A pact is a pact.

I slowly lowered the phone and stared through the car window.

An Omega.

That was what I was in this pack.

Not his wife. Not his Luna. Not even someone he considered worthy of kindness.

Just an Omega with a rare blood type.

My fingers tightened around the phone as I read his messages again. After three years of marriage, I had learned the difference between Calden speaking to me as his wife and Calden speaking to me because he needed something from me.

There was never warmth in his voice when Thessaly was involved. His words became commands, sharp and cold, like he was addressing the weakest wolf in the pack.

Maybe that was all I had ever been to him.

A useful arrangement.

Calden was the powerful Alpha everyone feared. His name carried enough authority to silence a room, and his presence alone could make other wolves lower their heads.

And then there was me.

The Omega nobody noticed unless my blood was needed.

We had been married for three years, but there had never been anything that felt like a real marriage between us. We slept under the same roof, yet he kept a distance between us. He rarely touched me, and whenever our scents mixed, it was because circumstances had left him no choice.

He made sure I understood my position.

I was never allowed to forget that I had entered his life because of Thessaly.

Three times this moon cycle, I had been taken to the healing den. Three times I had lain there while the healers drew blood from my body. Each time, I walked out feeling weaker than before.

My head would spin. My legs would tremble. Sometimes I could barely make it back to my room without holding onto the walls.

Calden knew.

He simply did not care.

His answer had always been the same.

"Endure it. A pact is a pact."

That sentence had become the excuse for everything.

I was not his beloved wife. I was the blood source that kept the woman he truly loved alive.

Thessaly.

The woman who had always owned a part of his heart that I could never reach.

She had been his fated mate first. Yet circumstances had forced her to marry Calden's elder brother, Daelen, so that she could carry the title of Luna. After Daelen's death, everything changed.

Three years ago, Thessaly had been badly injured. She needed blood immediately, and mine happened to be the rare type that could save her.

The elders had seen an opportunity.

They needed my blood.

Calden needed a way to protect Thessaly.

And I needed money and protection.

So they created a marriage between Calden and me.

I still remembered the day he offered me the arrangement.

We had been standing inside a small temporary infirmary, surrounded by the smell of medicine and blood. Calden had looked at me as though he were discussing a business contract instead of marriage.

"You want to become my chosen mate?" he had asked.

I had looked into those cold eyes and nodded.

His expression had not changed.

"We will do this for the sake of the pack," he said. "But understand one thing. You are still Thessaly's donor. Whenever she needs your blood, you will give it to her."

He paused before adding, "In return, you will be financially protected. You will have everything you need."

I had said yes.

I had been young enough to believe that perhaps things could change.

I thought that if I stayed beside him long enough, he might eventually see me as more than an Omega with useful blood. I thought our marriage might become real.

Perhaps he would one day look at me the way he looked at Thessaly.

I had been foolish.

Three years had passed, and nothing had changed.

Every time Thessaly was supposedly sick, I was summoned. Every time, I gave more of myself while Calden stood beside her.

And now I was tired.

Not just tired in my body.

Tired in my heart.

I started the car and drove toward the clinic, but my hands were not as steady as they usually were. My mind had already made its decision.

I was finished.

Then my phone buzzed again.

This time, it was not Calden.

There was no name attached to the message.

Only a photograph.

I opened it.

My breath caught.

It was Calden.

He was sitting in an old maroon chair, looking completely relaxed. His arms were folded across his chest, and even while resting, he carried the unmistakable presence of an Alpha.

Thessaly was beside him.

Her head rested comfortably against his shoulder, and there was a faint smile on her sleeping face.

They looked peaceful.

They looked like they belonged together.

A message appeared beneath the photograph.

This is how true mates rest together. Know your place, bloodbag.

My chest tightened.

For a moment, anger burned through me so fiercely that I wanted to throw the phone away.

Instead, I accidentally opened my camera.

My own reflection appeared on the screen.

I froze.

I hardly recognized myself.

My lips had lost their color. My face looked thinner than it had months ago, and dark circles sat beneath my eyes. I looked exhausted, but it was more than physical exhaustion.

Something inside me had been dying slowly.

Every time I gave my blood to Thessaly, I lost a little more of myself.

Was this why Calden never looked at me for long?

Was this why he only remembered I existed when Thessaly needed something?

I looked back at the photograph.

Thessaly was beautiful. She carried herself with the confidence of a woman who knew she was wanted. She had never needed to question her place beside Calden.

I was different.

I had spent three years trying to earn a place that had never been mine.

My eyes closed.

Enough.

If loving Calden meant losing myself piece by piece, then I would rather lose him.

Let him have Thessaly.

Let them live the life they had always wanted.

The car came to a stop outside the clinic.

I stepped out and walked toward Thessaly's private ward. My heart was beating hard, but this time I did not feel afraid.

The door opened before I could knock.

Calden stood there.

The moment his eyes landed on me, his expression hardened.

"Your phone works," he said coldly. "So why didn't you answer my calls?"

I said nothing.

His jaw tightened.

"The healers are waiting for you."

His scent filled the air, carrying the familiar smell of pine and cold winter air. Once, being close to him had made my heart race for an entirely different reason.

Now it only reminded me of everything I had endured.

Calden stepped closer.

"Blood transfusion. Now."

"I know."

His eyes narrowed when I did not immediately move.

"Then why are you standing there?"

I looked at him.

For three years, I had lowered my head whenever he spoke like that. I had obeyed because I was afraid of losing everything.

But I was no longer afraid.

"I'll give her my blood," I said quietly. "But I want something first."

Calden stared at me as though he had heard the strangest thing in the world.

"Money is already in your account."

"It's not money."

His patience disappeared.

"Then what do you want?"

I took a breath.

"Sever our bond."

Silence filled the room.

Calden's eyes changed.

"I want a divorce, Calden."

For the first time in three years, I watched the great Alpha struggle to find an immediate answer.

His face remained controlled, but I saw the surprise in his eyes.

"We had an agreement," he finally said.

"And I'm ending it."

I lifted my chin.

"I'll give Thessaly my blood one last time. After that, you can take the matter to the Council. Remove my title if you want. I don't care anymore."

His jaw flexed.

He studied me for several seconds.

Then he said, "Fine."

The word hurt more than I expected.

"Do you have the papers?"

"No."

He turned his head slightly.

"Beta Aldrin."

The door opened moments later, and Beta Aldrin entered.

"Yes, Alpha?"

"Prepare the divorce documents."

Beta Aldrin looked from Calden to me, clearly surprised, but he did not question the order.

He left and returned sooner than I expected.

The papers were placed in Calden's hands.

He signed them without hesitation.

One signature.

That was all it took to end three years of marriage.

He pushed the document toward me.

"The Council will finalize it by sundown."

I took the papers with trembling fingers.

I had imagined this moment so many times.

Some part of me had once dreamed that Calden would stop me. That he would finally admit that he wanted me to stay.

He did not.

"Thessaly is waiting," he said.

Then he turned away.

Of course.

Even after our marriage ended, Thessaly still came first.

I followed him into her private room.

Thessaly was lying comfortably on the bed, wrapped in a silk robe. She looked nothing like someone who needed an emergency blood transfusion.

When she saw Calden, her expression brightened.

"Calden."

Then her eyes moved to me.

Her smile disappeared.

"Oh. Elowen is here."

I looked at her.

"Apparently I'm needed."

Calden's face remained cold.

"Let's get this over with."

I stepped toward Thessaly.

She watched me carefully.

Then I reached for the bandage on her forehead and pulled it away.

Calden's expression changed.

"Elowen!"

I held the bandage up.

There was no blood.

Not even a fresh wound.

I looked directly at Thessaly.

"Where is the injury?"

She went pale.

Calden turned toward her.

"Explain."

Doctor Patel, who had been standing nearby, suddenly became nervous.

Calden's voice grew colder.

"Doctor Patel. Explain."

The doctor swallowed.

"Alpha, I..."

"Who told you to falsify the medical records?"

Doctor Patel's eyes moved toward Thessaly.

That was enough.

Thessaly immediately spoke.

"Calden, darling, I..."

"Silence."

His single word stopped her.

Doctor Patel lowered his head.

"Miss Thessaly told me to falsify the records. She said you wanted Elowen's blood taken whenever she claimed to be ill."

Thessaly's face changed.

"That's a lie!"

Doctor Patel's hands shook.

"She threatened my medical license. She threatened my family. I had no choice."

I looked at him.

"And the blood?"

He could not meet my eyes.

"What happened to all the blood you took from me?"

His silence told me enough.

I asked again.

"Doctor."

He finally whispered, "It was sold."

My stomach turned.

"Sold?"

"Your blood is rare. It has a high value on the black market."

Thessaly jumped from the bed.

"He's lying!"

I ignored her.

I pulled out my phone and sent the photograph to Calden.

His phone buzzed.

He looked down.

His face became unreadable.

"Where did you get this?"

I met his eyes.

"Ask your future Luna."

Thessaly's confidence disappeared.

"Calden, please..."

"Our deal is finished," I said before she could continue. "Find another blood bank."

I turned toward the door.

Behind me, Thessaly suddenly collapsed.

"Calden..."

Her voice trembled.

Then she whispered, "It's just like what happened with Daelen."

Calden froze.

I saw the change in him immediately.

Daelen.

His dead brother.

Whatever memory Thessaly had awakened in him, it was enough to make him forget me for another moment.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside.

One second passed.

Then another.

I waited for Calden to call my name.

He didn't.

The doors closed.

For the first time in three years, I was walking away from him without looking back.

When I reached the underground garage, I saw a sleek black car waiting near the entrance.

The driver stepped out.

He looked at me, then bowed respectfully.

"Welcome home, Heiress Veyra."