Chapter 1

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

Ryker’s voice was sharp with impatience.

"You know the mate bond can't be broken. Stop with these childish demands."

I stared at the face I once loved so deeply. His sharp jawline. The way his brow furrowed when he was focused. Those golden eyes that once held a softness reserved only for me.

We had been mated for ten years.

Ever since our ceremony under the laurel tree.

"I, Ryker Blackwood, in the name of the Moon Goddess, bind my soul to yours for eternity..." His vow had been so sincere then.

"Carys, I have to think of the pack. The pack needs a strong heir." His explanation after the first night he didn't come home.

"This is just temporary. It will all stop once we have a child." His promise during our tenth argument.

"Starting this again? You're nothing but a broken she-wolf with a sleeping wolf. Being my Luna is the best you can ever hope for." His scorn the fiftieth time I asked for a rejection.

Sitting here now, watching the mockery on his face, I felt nothing.

Instead, another pair of eyes flashed in my mind. Amber eyes. Kian's.

The man who eased my suffering with his own energy when Ryker's betrayals were tearing me apart. He never said much. He would just press his hand to my back, a pure, warm energy flowing from him into me as he whispered, "Your wolf isn't dead. She's just tired. She needs to rest."

"Did you see the papers on your desk?" I asked calmly. "In your study."

Ryker finally looked up, his brow furrowed.

"What papers?"

I didn't answer. I just turned to leave.

Once he saw them, he would know. Our mate bond would be severed in three days.

My mind drifted back to that night a month ago.

Our tenth mating anniversary.

I’d spent the whole afternoon preparing dinner. I lit candles all over the room, just like our first date ten years ago. I had the rejection papers in my hand, ready to say a final, proper goodbye after one last perfect meal.

Then his phone rang. Lorelei.

"Ryker, the cub is kicking me. It must be calling for its Alpha father... My stomach hurts a little... Can you come be with me?" Her cloying voice whined through the phone.

He didn't hesitate. He was already moving toward the door.

"It's our anniversary," I said, blocking his path.

"Lorelei is carrying my heir," he snarled, pushing me aside. "I can't risk anything. We can celebrate later."

The door slammed shut.

In that moment, my heart died for good.

I took out the rejection papers I’d prepared long ago and placed them in front of him. "Sign it."

He glanced down, stunned for a second, then laughed as if it were the joke of the century.

"What is it this time? The estate in the east? The mines in the north?"

He snatched the pen. He signed his name in one fluid, arrogant stroke, not even bothering to read it. Then he tossed the papers back at me. "Your little tricks are getting old, Carys. Take it. Just stop using this 'rejection' nonsense to get my attention." He thought it was just another one of my ploys for property and reassurance.

He would never know. I never wanted his possessions. I only wanted the love he had long since stopped giving.

Snapping out of the memory, I walked past him. The familiar scent of tuberose hit my nose.

Lorelei's scent.

"And this." I took the moonstone pendant from my neck and placed it gently on his desk. "I broke it by accident."

The pendant made a sharp clink.

Ryker's hand froze.

He had placed that pendant on my neck the day we first met. A symbol of his promise to me.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll be giving up all property and status as the Alpha's mate," I continued, my voice steady. "I'm just taking a few personal items."

He shot to his feet, his chair scraping harshly against the floor.

"Carys, have you lost your mind?"

I saw the panic flash in his eyes and almost wanted to laugh.

"Have you forgotten what you are?" His voice turned cold and hard. "A broken she-wolf with a dormant wolf. How do you expect to survive out there without my protection?"

Broken.

That word used to sting like a poisoned needle.

Now, it meant nothing.

"I know."

His phone rang again, cutting him off.

I watched his features soften instantly, his voice becoming impossibly gentle. "Lorelei?"

"Your stomach hurts again? I'm on my way."

He hung up. When he looked back at me, his eyes held only irritation.

"I have to go see Lorelei. She's carrying my child, and her condition is unstable." He grabbed his car keys and headed for the door. "Marcus will transfer some money to your account. It'll be enough for you to live on for a while."

He left without a backward glance.

The sound of the engine faded into the distance.

I stood in the empty study and pulled out my phone, dialing a number.

"Elder Aldric, it's me, Carys."

"I need to confirm the details of the rejection papers one more time."

A deep, solemn voice answered on the other end. "Luna, the agreement has been signed by both parties and witnessed by the Moon Goddess. It is sacred and irrevocable. It will take effect automatically on the night of the full moon, in three days."

My heart pounded in my chest.

"I understand."

I hung up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

In the night sky, a crescent moon was slowly waxing toward full.

In three days, I would finally be free.