na's

et were silent on the cold marble staircase, each step a

y furniture in silver. My eyes landed on the framed photo on Leo's nightstand-him, younger, w

him. The Alpha King. The sheer force of his presence had been a physical weight, making it hard to breathe. He announced I was his mate, not

e, and I was its silent, ornamental bird. I'd given up my dream of becoming a designer, taken the sterile job at his bank, played the part of the docile Luna perf

l the way through. The love I'd been hoping for had never ex

rced open. "Send my blue suit to the office by nine tomorrow morning. And Aiden is

er woman in the same breath. The final straw-the o

irst time in eight years, I pushed back. N

s a flicker of surprise from his end, a brief pause-he noticed the shift. But then, as always, he dismissed it. The link c

had. My fingers flew across the keyboard, bypassing the Sterling network moni

lara

t: It'

We need to talk about the legal proces

reaking. A surge of strength, cold and clear, washed through me, pushing away the numbness, re

hanged, but my world had. I was no longer living

my design sketches, my professional drawing tools-my soul, packed away in cardboard. I ran my hand over the thick paper, reuniting

ent to his contact information and changed his name from "My