Aria's POV
The cold night air hit my face the moment I stepped out of Silver Moon Holdings and for the first time in four years, I felt like I could breathe. Like… really breathe.
Leah was already waiting by the car, her face filled with concern as she looked at me.
"Luna, are you—"
"Just Aria," I cut her off immediately as I slid into the backseat. "No more titles, Leah. I'm done with all that."
She nodded and started the engine. I stared out the window at the building fading behind us … the empire I'd helped build, the pack I'd served for years. All of it disappearing into the distance like it never even mattered.
My phone started buzzing almost immediately. Mateo's name flashed across the screen and I just stared at it for a moment before declining the call.
Kira stirred in my head. "He's panicking," she said and I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. "He didn't think you'd actually leave."
"He never thought I had it in me," I replied.
The phone rang again. And again. By the fifth call, I just powered it off completely and threw it into my bag.
"Where to, Lu— I mean, where to Aria?" Leah asked, catching herself.
I paused. I hadn't even thought that far ahead, hadn't planned what came after walking out. For four years, my entire life had been about Mateo, the pack, my duties. Now? I had no f**king idea where to even go.
"The Moonview Hotel," I finally said. "The one near the neutral territories."
Leah's eyebrows went up a little but she didn't ask questions. Thank goddess for that.
==MOONVIEW HOTEL==
The hotel was perfect. Expensive, private, and far enough from Silvermoon that I wouldn't run into any pack members.
Leah helped me check into a suite with huge windows overlooking the city.
After Leah left, promising to come back tomorrow with more of my stuff, I just stood there alone, staring at my reflection in the window. I barely recognized myself anymore.
Four years of loving that man had turned me into someone weak. Someone desperate. Someone I f**king hated.
Never again.
I pulled out the rejection papers from my bag … the ones Mateo refused to sign. My fingers traced over the words that would end our bond permanently.
A knock on the door made me jump and my heart started racing. Part of me thought it might be Mateo already but when I checked, it was just a hotel guy with a tray.
"Delivery for Ms. Aria," he said politely.
On the tray was an expensive bottle of wine and a note. I tipped him and closed the door, my hands shaking a little as I opened the note.
"I thought you might need this. Congratulations on your freedom. - L.V."
Lucian.
I couldn't help but smile despite everything. How did he even know I was here? The wine was the exact kind I'd mentioned liking once, months ago at some boring pack event.
He remembered.
I poured myself a glass and took a sip. Unlike last night when I'd been drinking to forget, this felt different. It felt like I was actually celebrating.
My phone was still off but I knew the moment I turned it back on, there'd be dozens of messages from Mateo demanding I come back. Some from Jeffrey trying to guilt trip me. Maybe even Grandfather Ragnar.
But there was one call I needed to make first. I powered on the phone and ignored all the notifications flooding in. I scrolled to a number I hadn't called in months.
"Elder Miriam," I said when she picked up. "It's Aria. I need your help."
NEXT MORNING
I woke up to Leah knocking on my door with three suitcases of my stuff.
"The pack house is going crazy," she said immediately as she set everything down. "Alpha Mateo has been calling everyone looking for you. He even said he's gonna track you through the mate bond."
"Let him try," I said coolly. "I'm blocking it."
Kira helped me put up mental walls, something I should've done years ago. The bond got even fainter till it was barely a whisper.
"There's more," Leah said, looking uncomfortable. "Bella moved into the pack house last night. Into your room."
The audacity of that b*tch. I actually laughed. The sound surprised even me.
"Good," I said. "She can have it. That place was never home anyway."
Leah stared at me like she didn't recognize me. "You've changed, Aria. It's like overnight you became a completely different person."
"No," I said, meeting her eyes. "I'm finally becoming who I was meant to be all along."
There was another knock and Leah immediately went to check.
"It's Alpha Lucian," she said, surprised.
"Let him in."
Lucian walked in looking as perfect as always in his dark suit. His blue eyes swept the room before landing on me and Kira immediately perked up in my head.
"Mate!" she whispered and I had to push her voice down.
Not now.
"Aria," he said with a nod. "I hope the wine helped."
"It did. Thanks." I gestured for him to sit. "What brings you here?"
His face got serious as he sat down across from me. "Mateo called me this morning. He's not taking your leaving well."
"That's not my problem anymore."
"I know. But he's planning to use the Council to force you back. He's saying you abandoned your Luna duties without following protocol."
My hands clenched into fists. Of course that a**hole would play dirty.
"He can't force me to stay in a bond I don't want."
"Legally, he can make things very difficult for you," Lucian said carefully. "Unless you have real grounds for rejection that the Council will accept. Just infidelity isn't enough … alphas get away with that sh*t all the time."
The unfairness of it made me want to scream.
"So what do I do?" I asked.
Lucian's eyes met mine and there was something intense in them. "You need leverage. Something that makes it impossible for them to side with him."
"Like the business shares I'm owed?"
"That's part of it. But there's something else." He paused like he was deciding something. "Mateo's been taking pack funds and giving them to Bella's family business. I have proof."
My eyes went wide. "You're his lawyer. Why would you—"
"I'm the family's lawyer," he corrected. "My loyalty is to the pack, not to one alpha's mistakes. And …" His voice softened. "You deserve better than what he's given you, Aria."
The way he said my name made my heart skip and Kira went wild in my head again.
"Mate! Mate!"
Shut up, Kira.
"If I use this," I said slowly, "Mateo will know it came from you. Your friendship …"
"Some friendships aren't worth keeping when they're based on watching someone suffer," Lucian said and his jaw was tight.
The weight of what he was offering hit me.
"I'll think about it," I finally said.
He stood up, fixing his suit. "Don't think too long. Council meets in three days."
After he left, I went back to the window, staring out at the city below. I had three days to get ready for the fight of my life.
Hours later, my phone rang again, Mateo's name flashing for like the hundredth time. This time, I answered.
"What?" My voice was ice cold.
"Aria." He sounded…. desperate? "We need to talk. Face to face."
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Please. Just give me one chance to—"
I hung up immediately, giving him no chance to even finish his statement.
Kira whimpered but I ignored her. I was done being weak.
==LATE NIGHT==
I couldn't sleep. I kept pacing the hotel room, going over what I'd say at the Council meeting.
Around midnight, Kira suddenly went on alert. "Someone's here."
I moved to the door quietly and checked the peephole.
Mateo was standing in the hallway.
He looked terrible. Hair all messed up, dark circles under his eyes, nothing like the controlled alpha he always was.
My heart hurt seeing him like that but I pushed the feeling down.
I opened the door just enough to see him properly.
"Aria," he said and I hated how my name sounded coming from him. "Please. Can we talk?"
"No."
"There's so much I need to say. I made mistakes—"
"Mistakes?" I laughed bitterly. "You spent four years treating me like trash. You humiliated me, took away everything I worked for, paraded your mistress in front of everyone. Those aren't mistakes, Mateo. That's who you are."
His face actually looked hurt. "I can't lose you."
"You already lost me," I said quietly. "The moment you picked her over me. Again and again."
I started closing the door but his hand shot out, stopping it.
"I love you," he whispered.
The words I'd waited four years to hear. But Now? They meant nothing.
"No you don't," I said. "You love owning me. But I'm not that woman anymore. She died when I saw you with Bella."
"Aria—"
"Goodbye, Alpha Ragnar."
I closed the door and this time he let me. I leaned against it, shaking as I heard his footsteps walk away.
==NEXT MORNING==
I was packing some documents when my phone rang. It was Leah.
"Aria, you need to see this," she said, her voice urgent. "I'm coming up."
Minutes later she burst into my room with her laptop.
"What is it?" I asked.
She opened a video file and my blood ran cold. It was Bella, on the phone with someone.
"Don't worry Daddy," Bella's voice came through clearly. "Once I'm officially Luna, the Darkmoon-Silvermoon merger will go through just like we planned. Aria was just … in the way."
I stared at the screen, everything clicking into place. This was never about Mateo loving her. This was a f**king takeover.