Elowen POV
I'm about to kiss Alaric Ravenspur when my survival instincts finally scream a warning.
We're in his library—two months of late-night conversations, debates about pack law, discussions about everything except why I'm really here. His violet eyes are warm in the candlelight, his hand gentle on my cheek.
"You're brilliant," he murmurs. "Do you know that? Everything you say about territorial reform, about omega rights, about pack structure—you should be leading councils, not hiding in—"
I lean forward. Just an inch. Just enough to close the distance.
Alaric freezes.
Then, gently, he pulls back.
"Not yet," he says softly.
My face burns. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"Don't apologize." His thumb traces my jaw. "But you're still technically Thaddeus's mate. You're still healing from everything they did to you. When we kiss—and we will—I want you to be truly free to choose. Not running from pain. Choosing toward something real."
My heart cracks open for the third time in my life.
This is different from Thaddeus's cold possession. Different from Cassian's passionate lies.
This feels real.
"One month," I whisper. "In one month, I'll formally reject Thaddeus at the Lunar Council. Then I'll be free."
Alaric smiles. "Then I can wait one month."
He walks me to my chambers—these beautiful rooms that stopped feeling like a prison weeks ago. At my door, he kisses my forehead.
"Sleep well, Elowen."
I float into my room, heart lighter than it's been in years.
Maybe the Moon Goddess did make a mistake with Thaddeus. Maybe my real mate was waiting here all along. Maybe—
I can't sleep. Too much energy, too much hope buzzing under my skin.
I decide to find Alaric, maybe talk more, maybe finally be brave enough to tell him I'm falling for him.
The Keep is quiet at midnight. I pad through hallways in bare feet, following the path to Alaric's study. Light spills from under his war room door—the one room he's never let me enter.
I raise my hand to knock.
Then I hear voices.
"—getting suspicious?" That's Riker, Alaric's Beta.
"Does the Omega suspect your plans?"
My hand freezes mid-knock.
"No." Alaric's voice, confident and cold in a way I've never heard. "She trusts me completely. Poor thing is so starved for genuine affection, she can't see the game."
Ice floods my veins.
"And when she testifies against Thaddeus at the Council?"
"We'll have everything we need. Her testimony as Ironhart's mate, combined with the evidence we've gathered, will dismantle the dynasty from within. Thaddeus loses his territories, his title, everything."
"And the girl?"
A pause. A long, terrible pause.
"She's served her purpose. Once Thaddeus is destroyed, I'll return her. Maybe he'll take her back, maybe he won't. Either way, she's no longer my concern."
The world tilts.
My back hits the wall. My hand covers my mouth to trap the sound trying to escape.
No. No, no, no—
"You almost seemed to care about her tonight," Riker says, sounding amused. "Getting soft, Alpha?"
Alaric laughs. Actually laughs. "She's easy to talk to, I'll give her that. Intelligent. Wasted on Thaddeus, truly. But caring? No. This was always about revenge. The Omega is just a convenient tool."
"A tool who's falling in love with you."
"Which makes this easier. She'll do anything I ask now. Including standing before the Lunar Council and destroying the man who broke her heart."
I slide down the wall, knees giving out.
Three men. Three betrayals.
Thaddeus claimed me for land and kept me as a political decoration.
Cassian seduced me for a bet and 500 gold.
Alaric saved me, showed me kindness, made me believe someone could want me for me—all to use me as a weapon against his enemy.
I'm not a person to any of them. Just a tool. A pawn. A means to an end.
Something inside me doesn't crack this time. It shatters completely.
The frozen place in my chest where I kept my last shred of hope—it dies.
I stand up slowly. Silently. My bare feet make no sound as I walk back to my chambers.
Inside, I lock the door. Stare at my reflection in the mirror.
The mating mark on my neck burns cold. My eyes look empty.
I'm done.
Done crying. Done hoping. Done believing any Alpha sees me as more than something to use.
I sit at the desk and pull out parchment. My hand is steady as I write:
To the Lunar Council—I, Elowen Miravel, formally request an emergency session to invoke the Law of Broken Faith. I reject my mate bond with Thaddeus Ironhart. I reject all claims, all ties, all connections to the Ironhart dynasty. Effective immediately.
I seal it with my family crest—the Miravel wolf I inherited even though I'll never shift into one.
Tomorrow, I'll send this. I'll demand Vesperine as my escort. I'll leave Ravenspur Keep and never look back.
And I'll stand before the Lunar Council alone. Not as Thaddeus's unwanted mate. Not as Cassian's conquest. Not as Alaric's weapon.
As myself. Only myself.
Because if three Alphas can betray me, then I'm done trusting Alphas.
I'm done trusting anyone.
A knock sounds at my door. "Elowen?" Alaric's voice, warm and gentle. "I saw light under your door. Can't sleep?"
I stare at the door. At the man behind it who's spent two months making me believe in fairy tales again.
"I'm fine," I call back, voice steady. "Just tired. Goodnight, Alaric."
"Goodnight. Sleep well."
His footsteps fade down the hall.
I press my hand against my chest, where my heart used to be. Now there's just ice. Solid, unbreakable ice.
Good.
Ice doesn't break. Ice doesn't bleed.
Ice can't be hurt anymore.
I lie down in the bed where I've slept for two months, feeling safe in a place that was always a trap.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
Tomorrow, I become something these Alphas never expected.
Tomorrow, I stop being the victim.
But tonight, alone in the dark, I let myself feel it one last time—the devastating truth that I'm unlovable. That three different men in three different ways all looked at me and saw the same thing: something useful, but not worth keeping.
A tear slides down my temple.
Just one.
The last tear I'll ever cry for wolves who were never worth it.
Then the ice takes over completely, and I feel nothing at all.
Somewhere in the Keep, a wolf howls—long and mournful.
For a moment, I wonder if it's my wolf, finally waking up just to mourn everything I've lost.
But no. I'm still wolfless. Still broken.
Still completely, utterly alone.
The way I'll always be.