“You stayed by my side for three years. You held me when no one else did. You remembered my birthday when even my pack forgot-”

“I did those things because it was my duty. I’m a warrior of the pack. Nothing more.”

His eyes met mine. Sharp, distant, and almost cruel.

“Don’t make this into romance. I never saw you as anything except a responsibility. A task I was paid to protect.”

My breath caught.

“And the way you dress, the way you act … ”

His voice grew even colder.

“Don’t pretend last night was pure. You flirt all the time, Freya. It’s not like you were innocent.”

I froze. The air left my lungs.

Then he grabbed my wrist suddenly, his grip hard, and dragged me to the door like I meant nothing.

“Don’t confuse attention with affection, my lady,” he said, sounding almost bored.

“That’s where women like you always fail.”

The door slammed behind me.

I was left on the floor, broken and crying, completely used and thrown away. Everyone had chosen to abandon me. So this time, I would choose my own path.

I would leave the father who adored his ‘illegitimate pup’, the man who broke me, and the pack that never saw me as theirs.

This time, I would be the one walking away.