Chapter 4

I lay in my childhood den, surrounded by the familiar scents of cedarwood and moon lilies that once meant safety. The enchanted silk pelts whispered against my skin as I stared at the carved ceiling, tracing the same lunar sigils I’d memorized as a pup.

Everything felt different now—sharper, more defined. Agreeing to bond with Marcellus no longer felt like surrender. After Axton’s betrayal, it felt like reclaiming my power.

My moonstone communicator pulsed. Axton’s name glowed red. My stomach tightened, but I answered.

“Enjoying your little pity party?” His voice was thick with ale. “Or did you already find some stray wolf to rut with?”

The disgust rose like poison. This was the male I’d abandoned my birth-pack for? The one I thought cherished me?

“Where I roam is no longer your concern.” My tone was ice. “We meet tomorrow before the Elders. Don’t be late.”

I cut the link before he could snarl another word and immediately contacted our pack’s legal envoy.

“Isolde Rustpire speaking,” I said evenly. “I need the separation bond prepared at once. Yes, I know the hour. They must be ready with first light. Make it done as soon as possible.”

When the call ended, I let the communicator fall to the bedside table. Moonlight spilled through the window, casting shifting shadows across the den. For the first time since learning the truth, a strange calm settled into my bones.

***

By dawn, I pulled my obsidian-black moon-carriage into the Council Hall’s stone courtyard. Through the tinted warded glass, I spotted Axton—and Vanya. His hand rested on the dip of her back as she giggled. The silver charm I’d once gifted him—the one infused with my aura—now shone on her wrist.

I stepped out, my rune-etched heels striking the stone. Axton’s head looked up. His smirk faltered, then forced itself back. Vanya stopped laughing.

“Well, look who crawled back.” His nostrils flared. “Ran to your Alpha father the moment life outside your precious territory got tough? Pathetic, Isolde.”

I adjusted my enchanted satchel and met his gaze. “You know what’s pathetic, Axton? A male who had to claw after his own assistant because he couldn’t stand being outmatched in rank, strength, or mind.”

I flicked my eyes to Vanya. “Enjoy the leftovers, Vanya. Just remember—he betrayed the last female too.”

Both of them paled. I walked past without another glance, pushing open the heavy warded doors.

I settled across from the Pack Envoy while Axton and Vanya slunk into the chamber. The rite progressed quickly—seals exchanged, bonds dissolved.

My envoy had prepared every clause perfectly. Axton had no room to challenge anything.

“Well, that’s done.” Axton leaned back, unfastening his collar. “You’ll miss me when I’m gone, Isolde. While I’m living my true life with Vanya, you’ll be alone in that cold ancestral manor of yours.”

I gathered my documents, sliding them into my case.

“The only thing I’ll miss,” I said smoothly, “is the five years I wasted believing you were worthy.”

“You ungrateful shrew.” His lips curled. “I gave you a normal wolf’s life—far from your pack’s twisted ways. You ought to thank me.”

“Thank you?” I laughed, sharp as a blade. “For what? For the forced moon-purging you tricked me into? Or for rutting with your assistant on our sacred nesting furs?”

His hand lifted—animalistic reflex—but before he could strike, I caught his wrist mid-air. My fingers pressed into the nerve points my uncle, War-Alpha Draeven, had taught me. Axton’s face contorted in pain.

“Lay a hand on me,” I whispered, voice low and feral, “and you’ll learn what it truly means to cross a Rustpire wolf. They won’t even find all the pieces.”

I released him, watching him stumble. Vanya clung to his arm, trembling. Only now did she understand the danger she’d stepped into.

“You’re just like those savage she-wolves,” Axton half shouted at me.

“No, Axton.” I straightened my blazer. “I’m worse. I’m a Rustpire she-wolf scorned.”

I slid into the back of my moon-carriage. The leather was cool beneath me. Calder, my driver, met my eyes through the mirror and simply nodded. He knew.

The carriage pulled away, leaving Axton and his weak new mate behind. From now on, Axton’s betrayal and disloyalty would be repaid—not with words. But with blood, as pack law demanded.