001

ALINA.

"I have petitioned the Council to dissolve our marriage."

Declan spoke the words with the same dry, even tone he used to report things so simple.

We were standing in his private study, just off the grand hall. Through the door, I could still hear the muffled music and the rowdy laughter of the Rivenhall Pack.

Outside, they were still drinking. They were still raising their glass mugs to me.

"You petitioned them?" I asked. My voice sounded thin to my own ears. "Tonight?"

"The petition went through this morning," Declan said. He stepped toward his wooden desk, his long fingers trailing over the edge. He was a tall man, near six foot three, with thick black hair and grey-blue eyes that rarely showed what he was thinking. "The three years are up, Alina. The treaty between Rivenhall and Westmere has been honored. We kept our promise."

"We kept our promise," I repeated slowly.

"Yes." He looked up at me, his face totally calm. "The blood feud is over. Your father is happy. My Council is happy. The pack is safe."

"And us, Declan?" I stepped closer to him. My chest felt tight, like a heavy iron belt was pulled hard around my ribs. "What about us?"

He blinked,. "What do you mean?"

"The banquet out there," I said, pointing a shaking hand toward the door. "They were just hailing me as the most beloved Luna in Rivenhall history. Your people love me. I thought... I thought we built something here. Something real."

"We did," Declan said. "You were a great Luna. You healed our wounded. You fixed our juvenile wolf awakenings. No one can say you failed your duty."

"My duty?" The word bit into my tongue. "Is that all these three years were to you? A long, boring duty?"

"You know that isn't what I said, Alina." He let out a slow breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "You came here three years ago as a prisoner of peace. A political pawn to keep our packs from slaughtering each other. You were forced into this pack. You were forced into my bed."

"I was not forced into your bed!" My face burned hot. "I stayed because I wanted to stay! I slept beside you because I loved you, Declan!"

"You were bound by a legal contract," he corrected sharply, taking a step toward me. His towering frame cut off the warm light from the fireplace behind him. "You did what you had to do for your family. But the contract is over tonight. I will not keep you locked in a political cage."

"A cage?" I let out a dry, breathy laugh. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You think I feel like I'm in a cage?"

"I think you deserve your freedom," Declan said simply. He stared right into my eyes, his gray-blue gaze completely steady. He looked so sure of himself. So arrogant. He thought he was doing something grand. He thought he was being noble. "You deserve to live a life that wasn't written down on papers by a bunch of old men three years ago."

I looked at him, searching his face for any sign of pain. Any sign that this broke his heart even a little bit. But there was nothing.

He didn't tell me he loved me.

He didn't even ask me to stay after all these years. He just opened the door and told me to get out.

" Sabine Wycliff was at the feast tonight," I said quietly, the thought striking me like a cold needle in the chest.

Declan frowned, his dark brows pulling together. "What does Sabine have to do with this?"

"She was sitting at the high table. Right next to Elder Victor," I said. My breath hitched in my throat, but I forced myself to stand up straight. I had my dignity. I was a daughter of the Westmere line, and I would not beg. "Victor has been pushing for an alliance with the Wycliff pack for six months. Everyone knows it. Sabine is the eldest heir. She's smart, strong, and her bloodline is pure."

"Sabine's presence was out of politeness," Declan said smoothly. "Her pack controls the southern trade routes."

"She looked at you todsy with so much admiration," I said. "And Elder Victor seems to want you guys together.”

"Victor does not run this pack. I do," Declan said, his tone turning cold. "Do not bring Sabine into a conversation about your freedom, Alina. It makes you sound bitter."

Bitter.

The word slammed into my chest like a physical blow.

I swallowed hard, tasting dust at the back of my throat. He really thought he was being kind.

He really believed that after three years of sharing a bed, three years of holding each other through full moons and night terrors, three years of building a home out of ash and blood... that I was just waiting for a piece of paper to let me run away.

He didn't want me.

He was just letting me down easy so he could take a new, better Luna from the Wycliff pack without looking like a monster.

"I see," I whispered.

"Alina, look at me," Declan said. He reached out, his big, warm hand grasping my shoulder. His fingers pressed gently into my skin. For a second, his touch felt warm and familiar. "You don't have to pack your things tonight. Take a week. Take a month. Figure out what you want. You can go back to Westmere, or you can build a house on the outer lands. I will give you whatever gold or land you ask for."

I looked down at his big hand on my shoulder. Then I looked up into his handsome, empty face.

"You're giving me an allowance?" I asked softly.

"I am taking care of you," he insisted, his jaw tightening. "As I always have."

"No," I said, leaning back until his hand fell away from my skin. The cold air of the room instantly filled the space between us. "You are discarding me."

"That is not what this is!" Declan's voice cracked through the small study "I am trying to give you a choice!"

"You didn't ask me if I wanted a choice, Declan," I said, my voice cracking "You made the choice alone. You went to the Council without me and even signed the petition without me."

"Because if I asked you, you would have felt obligated to stay!" he snapped, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You are too gentle, Alina. You always put everyone else first. You put your family first, you put my pack first. I am giving you the chance to put yourself first."

"You are so stupid," I whispered.

Declan froze. His grey-blue eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"You think you know me so well," I said, taking a step back toward the door. "You think you know what I want and how I feel. You stand there in your nice suit, looking like a king, deciding what is best for my life without ever once asking me what I feel."

"Alina—"

"I asked you a question a minute ago, Declan," I said, my hand touching the cold metal of the brass doorknob behind me. "I asked you what happens to us once the agreement ends."

Declan stood there, tall and unmoving in the dim light of the study. He didn't step forward. He didn't reach for me. He just held my gaze, his face an unreadable masks.

"You may choose whatever life you wish," he said quietly.