Sienna curled into a ball on the narrow cot in the Omega dorms, her body trembling.
Her pale ankle was still mapped with dark bruises from the night before, but the physical pain paled in comparison to the agonizing throb of her Mate Bond.
It was a dull, persistent ache—the soul's reaction to being loathed by the Lycan King himself.
Her fingers tightened around her phone.
The screen was illuminated by a predatory text from Alpha Lucian of the Bloodfang Pack: "My little Omega, I'm waiting for the good news. Don't forget our deal."
Sienna bit her lip until the tang of copper filled her mouth.
Lady Zelda may be cruel, she thought, but she is high-born, a member of the Silvermoon Pack, and Silas's own aunt. How can I truly sacrifice her to a beast like Lucian? But I am nothing more than a discarded shell... how do I escape this nightmare?
Suddenly, a sharp spike of Alpha authority pierced her mind through the Mind-link, synchronized with the shrill ring of her phone. It was Xavier, Silas's Beta and right-hand man.
"Sienna," Xavier's voice was cold, professional, and devoid of pity. "The Alpha is at the Pack Hospital. Come here immediately."
Sienna's heart skipped a beat at the word hospital. Panic flared in her chest. "I'm on my way."
Dragging her swollen ankle, Sienna hurried through the sterile, white corridors of the hospital.
Following Xavier's directions, she looked up at the sign above the clinic doors and felt the blood drain from her face.
[Mating & Reproduction Unit]
Her head spun as if the air had been sucked out of the room.
She pushed the door open to find a werewolf physician already snapping on a pair of latex gloves.
"Miss Sienna, please remove your clothes and lie on the table," the doctor said without looking up. "This is a routine scan of your scent glands and Mate Mark. We are here to verify if you have been forcibly marked by another Alpha. Please cooperate."
A tidal wave of humiliation crashed over her.
She stood there, clutching the hem of her shirt, her thin frame shaking.
Silas... she cried out in the silence of her mind. Because I spent twenty minutes in Lucian's room, you can't wait to subject me to this? What are you looking for? To see if my lowly Omega body is tainted by his scent? To see if I'm diseased?
She swallowed her pride, crushing her self-respect into the dirt. Like a puppet without a soul, she lay down on the freezing metal table and closed her eyes.
Twenty minutes later, Sienna leaned against the hallway wall, her clothes hanging loosely on her trembling frame.
At the end of the corridor stood the Lycan King. Silas held her medical report, a cruel, satisfied smirk playing on his lips.
He looked at her ghost-white face and casually closed the file, his golden-brown eyes brimming with contempt.
"You should be relieved," Silas said, his voice like grinding stones. "Your scent glands are still clean. Lucian didn't leave his mark on you. If he had, I would have snapped your neck myself before throwing your carcass to the Rogues."
Sienna looked at the man she had loved with every fiber of her being for five years.
The last flicker of hope in her eyes finally died, leaving only cold ash. She let out a soft, tragic laugh.
"Alpha Silas," she said, her voice sounding dead to her own ears. "I am resigning. I am leaving the inner circle and vacating my position as Chief Secretary."
The Alpha aura around Silas exploded.
The air in the hallway became thin and suffocating. He lunged forward, his hand clamping around her jaw with bone-crushing force, tilting her head back.
"Sienna, do you have any idea who you are making demands to?"
"I have never been clearer, My Alpha," she whispered, refusing to flinch even as his pressure crushed her bones. "Since you find me 'dirty' and you're bored with me anyway, have the mercy to stop treating me like a toy you can summon and discard. Let me go."
Silas laughed—a dark, melodic sound that held no joy.
He released her jaw with a shove, looking at her like a broken plaything.
"You want to leave? Fine," Silas sneered. "But first, you will recruit a new Chief Secretary. Find me a female wolf who can replace you... both in the office and in my bed."
Sienna's heart spasmed. Her nails bit into her palms until blood surfaced.
"You've followed me like a loyal dog for five years," Silas whispered, leaning in so his breath fanned her ear like a demon's. "You know my tastes and my scent preferences better than anyone. Once the new prey is settled, I'll permit you to rot outside my territory."
He turned and strode away without a backward glance.
Watching his retreating figure, the agonizing pain of the bond being torn apart finally exceeded the limits of her endurance.
Her vision blurred, a metallic tang of blood rising in her throat. She stumbled, her body falling like a broken kite onto the cold hospital floor.
In the final second before darkness claimed her, a single tear escaped, and her lips moved in a silent, agonizing decree:
I reject you, Alpha Silas... Five years. I won't love you for another second.