Chapter 4

Morning light stung my eyes. Seraphina leaned against the doorframe, victory curving her lips.

"You can go." She waved me off. "Remember this lesson, Elara. Dominic will always choose to protect me."

I didn't respond. I dragged my wounded body past her, every glass cut throbbing with each step. In the driver's seat, my fingers shook so badly I could barely grip the wheel.

But I steadied myself. One deep breath. Dialed a number.

"Kael." My voice was unnervingly calm. "It's Elara. I need your help. Now."

Forty-five minutes later, I sat in Kael Hargrove's office. My father had sponsored his way through the pack's law academy years ago. Now he was the sharpest advocate on the eastern seaboard.

"Tell me everything." He handed me water. "Your father saved my life. Whatever you need—it's done."

I played the recording.

His expression shifted from concern to shock, finally freezing into cold fury.

"This evidence is irrefutable." He spoke decisively. "Seraphina must pay. I swear on my honor as an advocate—she'll receive the punishment she deserves."

"My parents taught me to uphold justice no matter what." I pushed the drive across his desk. "Now is the time."

"I'll submit this to the Elder Tribunal today," Kael said without hesitation. "And file a secondary petition adding charges for your father's death. Seraphina answers for two lives."

"Also this." I handed him a folder. "Mate-bond dissolution papers. Deliver them to Dominic's office today."

He took the documents, jaw set. "Elara, you're doing the right thing. Severing ties with that pack is the first step toward a new life."

"I can't wait any longer." I stood. "Every second more is a betrayal of my parents."

After leaving his office, I arranged my father's burial at the cemetery. I laid him beside my mother, then stood before the shared headstone for a long time.

"I'll get justice for you both," I whispered. "I swear on my dignity as an advocate."

The next morning, I sat in the waiting room of a human clinic—outside pack jurisdiction. While waiting, I took out my phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Elara? Where are you?" Dominic's voice held rare panic. "I've been searching for two days. I know about your father—don't worry, I'll deal with Seraphina—"

"I'm at a clinic," I interrupted calmly. "About to terminate the pregnancy."

Dead silence on the line.

"What did you say?" His voice cracked. "What pregnancy? When did you—"

"Eight weeks." No emotion. "I planned to surprise you at the ceremony. But our pup witnessed too much ugliness with me."

"Elara, wait—" His voice broke. "Let's talk… at least let me see you—"

"Too late." I said. "Kael should have delivered the dissolution papers to your office by now."

"No, listen to me—" Pleading. "We can start over… I swear I'll protect you this time—"

"Your oaths mean nothing anymore." I said. "Goodbye, Dominic."

I hung up. Removed the SIM card. Snapped it between my fingers. Imagining him in his office staring at dissolution papers and an unreachable line—my heart felt coldly calm.

The nurse called my name.

"Elara Blackwood?"

I followed her down the long blue corridor. Two months ago, I'd discovered the second heartbeat and nearly wept with joy. I'd imagined his face when I told him—the way his eyes would light, the way he'd press his ear to my belly to listen for the tiny wolf within. Now it had all become the cruelest irony.

"Are you certain about this procedure?" the nurse asked softly.

"I'm certain." My voice didn't waver.

The doors closed behind me. "Do you need anesthesia?"

I shook my head. I wanted to feel every second of it—the way I'd remember the road my mother was dragged along, the way I'd remember my father's silenced heart.

When the surgical lights blazed overhead, I whispered: "Goodbye, past me."

While I lay on that table, Dominic was frantically redialing. After the tenth disconnected tone, a knock came at his office door.

"I said don't disturb me!" he snarled, Alpha command bleeding into his voice.

His assistant entered trembling and placed a folder on the desk. "From Ms. Blackwood's attorney."

Dominic's gaze landed on the words: Mate-Bond Dissolution Agreement.

His eyes went red—not with Alpha power, but with something raw and human—as if the words had driven straight through his chest.

He remembered now. Elara's careful gestures these past two months. Her hand drifting to her belly when she thought no one was looking. Her quiet smile when he entered a room. Every detail he'd dismissed had been a clue to the secret he'd never know.

"Where is she?" He grabbed his assistant by the shoulders. "Tell me which hospital!"

"I don't know, sir—" The assistant flinched at the madness in his eyes. "Her attorney said only that this was Ms. Blackwood's final decision."

Dominic stared at the familiar signature. He remembered the last time she'd looked at him—her eyes completely emptied of warmth, like a mate bond already severed.

And for the first time, it struck him: this wasn't a bluff.