Chapter 5

The towering golden gates finally groaned open. A royal guard, clad in heavy platinum-trimmed armor, stepped forward and looked down at the kneeling figure of Lane Conlay. He didn't offer a hand, but his gesture was clear as he swung the heavy iron bar aside. "The Alpha King will grant you ten minutes, Lady Conlay. Enter."

Lane rose smoothly, smoothing down the creases of her dark green travel gown. Beside her, Maya scrambled to her feet, rubbing her bruised knees but keeping her head held high as they followed the guard through the sprawling, echoing corridors of the royal palace.

When they were ushered into the grand throne room, the sheer scale of the hall was enough to make any ordinary wolf tremble. High ceilings carved with historical battles loomed overhead, and at the far end sat the Alpha King. He looked older than Lane remembered from her childhood, his features sharper and his eyes laden with the heavy burden of a continent-wide war. Yet, the commanding Alpha pressure radiating from him was absolute.

Lane stepped into the center of the room, stopped at the ceremonial marker, and bowed gracefully. "Greetings, Your Majesty, the True Alpha of the kingdom."

The King stared down at her for a long moment, a flash of recognition and profound exhaustion crossing his face. He waved a hand dismissively at the guards. "Rise, Lane."

As she stood straight, his voice boomed through the quiet hall, laced with a preemptive warning. "If you are here to plead against the upcoming union in the Blackwood Pack, save your breath. I have already signed the royal decree accepting the marriage between Alpha Ethan and Maris Duffy. She shed blood for this kingdom on the northern front, and the military faction must be appeased. I am not taking my word back."

"I am not here for that, Your Majesty," Lane said, her voice clear, steady, and utterly devoid of the desperation the King clearly expected.

The King raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. "Then why break protocol and kneel at my gates?"

"I am here to request royal permission to formally dissolve my mate bond with Alpha Ethan Blackwood," she stated flatly.

Silence descended upon the throne room like a heavy anvil. The King froze, his eyes widening in genuine shock. He stared at her as if she had spoken in a foreign tongue. "Dissolve the fated bond? Lane, don't speak madness. My scouts reported that Ethan rushed back to his territory and claimed you the very night he returned. He has already marked you. The bond is sealed, and you have loved each other since before the war. Why this sudden change of mind?"

A cold, bitter smile touched Lane's lips, though her eyes remained sharp as diamonds. "Alpha Ethan has already thrown me away by forcing a second Luna into our home, Your Majesty. He has chosen his warrior companion. If he can cast aside our fated vows for political gain and battlefield lust, why should I stay? I am the daughter of the Conlay family. I will not be disrespected further, nor will I spend the rest of my life acting as a shadow in my own home."

The King let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing his temples. The stern ruler suddenly looked like the tired man who used to sit at her father’s dining table. He looked at her with a mixture of frustration and profound pity.

"Lane... rethink this," the King urged, his voice softening. "You are acting out of pride, but pride will not feed you in the wild. Your family is gone. The Silvermoon Pack is a graveyard. Without Ethan’s protection, you have nowhere to go. In the eyes of the world, your wolf is just an Omega—fragile and unable to fight. A broken-bonded, single she-wolf with an Omega ranking? You will be hunted, bullied, and tormented by every rogue and minor Alpha who smells your vulnerability. Ethan’s arrangement, as insulting as it is, at least guarantees your safety and status."

He was looking at her through the lens of history, seeing the ghost of his legendary mentor in her stubborn jawline. Because of his deep bond with her late father, he truly pitied her. He didn't want to see the last living piece of his old friend's legacy torn apart by a brutal world.

"Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?" the King asked, his voice echoing with finality.

"I have never been more certain of anything in my life," Lane replied, her posture unyielding as she looked the ruler of the continent dead in the eye. "My wolf and I will live through this life perfectly fine on our own. We do not need his protection, and we certainly do not need his scraps."

The King stared at her, searching her face for any sign of hesitation. Finding none, he let out a defeated sigh and leaned back into his throne.

"Very well," the King decreed, signaling his royal scribe. "If the daughter of the Conlay line chooses freedom over safety, I will not chain her. The royal decree to legally sever the mate bond will be drafted and sent to Ethan Blackwood within the next few days. By royal law, he will have no choice but to accept the dissolution."

Lane bowed deeply, a profound weight lifting from her chest. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

As she turned to leave, her boots clicking against the polished marble floor, the King’s voice called out one last time, breaking through the formal royal tone.

"Lane."

She paused, looking back over her shoulder.

The Alpha King looked at her with a solemn, protective gaze. "If the world becomes too harsh, and if life gets too tough... you can always depend on me. For your father's sake, the doors to this palace will never be fully shut to you."

Lane offered a small, genuinely grateful nod. "I will remember that, Your Majesty."

With Maya following closely behind, Lane walked out of the throne room, leaving the shackles of the Blackwood Pack behind forever. She didn't need the King's charity, but as she stepped out into the morning sun, she knew the countdown to Ethan’s absolute ruin had officially begun.