I blinked once, the corner of my mouth curving upward—not in amusement, but in cruel understanding. She didn’t even realize Kael and her “ideal Alpha” were one and the same.
Poor Kael. Loyal, reckless, bleeding Kael—he’d carved himself open for someone who saw him as nothing more than a novelty.
I turned away before bile rose in my throat. I didn’t bother seeking out my father. Instead, I walked through the sleeping compound, out into the cemetery where the yew trees whispered under moonlight.
My mother’s gravestone gleamed silver. I knelt beside it, tracing the carved letters.
“I won’t end up like you,” I whispered. “You waited for love until it killed you. I’ll survive, even if it means alone.”
At dawn, a message came through—a transfer notification. Gold. Enough to buy a lifetime of silence. Half the Solari treasury wired to my account. Payment for my obedience. For my departure.
I accepted it.
And with that, I cut every tie—Solari, Elowen, Kael, all of them.
The next morning, as I sealed the last box of my things, Kael appeared at the door. I handed him a small parcel.
“Give this to Elowen,” I said.
He eyed it warily. “What’s inside?”