[Elara's POV]
Adelina's hand never reached my face.
My fingers clamped around her wrist, stopping her cold. It was thin and frail, like a brittle twig in my grasp. A little more pressure and it would snap.
"Kaelen!" she shrieked, her voice a piercing blade of indignation. "Do you see this? I try to teach this bitch a lesson, and she dares to lay a hand on me! Why do you still keep her? Reject her!"
I looked at her, my eyes cold, feeling nothing but a profound numbness.
"You want to sever the bond? Fine," my voice was dangerously calm. "According to Mate Law, your son will have to give me half of all assets acquired during our mating. That includes his three mines and seven hunting grounds. Are you prepared to pay that price?"
"Bullshit!" Adelina's face turned a mottled purple. "You were unfaithful! You should be cast out with nothing!"
I understood then. This entire scene, this manufactured outrage, was a ploy to get out of the deal she'd already made. She wanted me gone, but she didn't want to part with the one thousand Moon-crystals she had promised in our private agreement.
Kaelen strode toward me, his face a thundercloud.
"Let go of her," his voice was laced with ice. "That's my mother, Elara. She is an elder of this Pack. You will show her respect."
"Respect?" A laugh, sharp and hollow, echoed in the vast hall. "She raised her hand to strike me. Is that what you call scolding?"
"Even if she did hit you, so what?" Kaelen's brow was a tight knot of impatience. "My mother has sacrificed so much for this family. You are her daughter-in-law. Is it too much to ask you to endure a little?"
Endure it.
I had been hearing that for three years. He was always reminding me how his father had died young, how his mother had suffered to raise him and Giselle alone. So I had always endured. No matter how cruel Adelina's words, no matter how spoiled Giselle's behavior, I endured.
"Kaelen, your mother may have sacrificed for you, but she has never sacrificed a single thing for me," I said, each word a carefully placed stone. "I used to endure it because I loved you. I will not endure it anymore."
Kaelen's expression darkened further.
Not anymore… Why? Because she no longer loved him? Or because she had found someone better? Someone like Malachi?
I could feel his suspicion coiling in the air between us, but I didn't care.
"What kind of insolence is that! Is this how your parents taught you to treat your elders?" Adelina was still shrieking.
Parents.
An image of their gentle smiles flashed in my mind, the warmth of our last night together before they left. The memory of their love was a sharp, sudden ache.
I ignored Adelina, my gaze locked on Kaelen. "My parents raised me with all the love in their hearts. Not so I could marry you and be beaten by your mother."
With that, I flung Adelina's hand away from me.
"You want to end the bond? Let's do it. I'll take what's legally mine, and we can go to the Elder Council right now!"
"You cheated on my brother first, Elara! The House of Blackwood can afford the best lawyers! You won't get a single Moon-crystal!" Giselle shrieked from the side.
"Cheated?" I turned to her, my eyes glacial. "If you're referring to the man who drove me home today, I suggest you choose your next words very carefully. His name is Malachi. So, Giselle, are you accusing the Lycan King of being my lover?"
"What?"
Giselle's arrogance evaporated like mist in the sun. The blood drained from her face, leaving it a sickly white. No matter how foolish she was, she knew what that name represented: a power that no one on the continent dared provoke.
Adelina fell silent instantly, staring at me as if I were a harbinger of plague.
"Giselle!" Kaelen reacted first, his voice a low, urgent hiss. "Take Mother and leave! Not one word of this to anyone!"
He was afraid. Terrified that one stupid accusation from Giselle could bring ruin upon his entire Pack.
Giselle nodded numbly, her face ashen, and helped her mother, whose legs had turned to jelly, flee the room. They didn't dare spare me another glance.
In an instant, only Kaelen and I remained.
The silence was suffocating.
"What is your relationship with Malachi?" he finally asked, his voice hoarse, his eyes a storm of suspicion.
"There is no relationship," I said flatly.
"Then why did he give you a book?" he pressed, gesturing to the recording.
"He lent it to me," I lied smoothly. "It's a rare text. The King knows I study antiquities, so he let me borrow it."
Malachi had said it was a gift, but I could never accept it. I had looked it up on my communication crystal; the last time that book appeared at auction, it sold for the price of a large mine.
Kaelen's amber eyes narrowed in confusion. "You study antiquities?"
The question was like a needle, invisible but sharp, sliding into my heart.
I froze, and then, a laugh bubbled up from my chest—a sound filled with an endless, tragic irony.
"So, it's true," I whispered. "You really… you don't know anything about me at all."
We had been mated for three years. He didn't even know my greatest passion.
My laughter seemed to make his heart clench. His face grew pale, as if something that had once belonged to him was slipping through his fingers like fine sand.
"Today was a misunderstanding," his voice was rough. "I'll talk to my mother and Giselle. And what she said about ending the bond… don't take it seriously. I'm not doing that." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I know… I haven't been attentive enough. I'll be better. Later."
I watched the man before me, the tardy, false tenderness on his handsome face.
A pity. It was too late.
There would be no 'later' for us. I would end this bond. I would end this catastrophic mistake.
————
The next day, I went to the temporary castle Malachi was occupying near the Elder Council's Sanctum.
I placed the ancient tome on the table before him.
"King Malachi, I've finished the book. Thank you for lending it to me," I said formally.
"I recall saying it was a gift," he replied, leaning back in his massive chair, his deep violet eyes watching me calmly.
"The gift is too valuable," I insisted. "Our relationship is not at a stage where I can accept something of this magnitude."
"If it cannot bring joy to the right person, then even the most valuable book is just a pile of useless paper," Malachi said, his tone flat. "If you don't like it, you can simply throw it away."
I was speechless. Throw away a priceless ancient tome? Never. Besides, I loved this book.
"King Malachi, what is it you truly want?" I asked, my brow furrowed.
"Merely to thank you for saving my life."
The image of the rampaging Shadowfang Wolf flashed in my mind. "But you already repaid me by funding the wolf cub sanctuary."
"Does Miss Elara truly believe my life is worth only a single sanctuary?" he countered.
I was at a loss for words.
"However," he shifted, "if you are truly determined to refuse, I can take it back. On one condition."
"What condition?"
"Accompany me to one place." He rose from his chair. "The Antique Tome Market."
"A market?"
"They have many rare texts. One can sometimes find interesting things. Since you enjoy studying antiquities, accompany me for a look. How about it?"
He had me pinned, using my own passion against me. Unless I was prepared to watch him toss this priceless book into a fireplace, I had only one choice.
Besides, the market did sound intriguing.
"Fine," I finally agreed.