Chapter 6

He had always been this awful. But his Alpha aura and beautiful face hid it so well that even words like these could sound like love.

All the fight drained out of me. I felt like a puppet on invisible strings, with Ezra holding the ends.

I slipped out of his grip. My voice was dead calm. “Ezra. We’re done.”

He gave a lazy smile. “Fine. Break it.”

He glanced at the heavy iron clock on the wall, grabbed his coat, and crushed his mouth against mine.

“Be a good girl. Wash that foreign scent off. I’ve got an Alpha Council meeting.”

“I’ll have the new moonstones and imported silks delivered to your room.”

“I’ll make it up to you tonight. Properly.”

Maybe we had used the words “break the bond” too many times. They had lost all weight.

In the beginning, Ezra used it first.

He weaponized those words long before I did.

“Cressida. If you can’t handle this, the door is right there.”

“You know I hate seeing you miserable.”

I used to be easy to soothe. A smile and a few soft words were enough.

But not this time. I made a vow to myself.

No caving in. No backing down.

Besides. Breaking an unblessed mating bond didn’t require his consent.