[Elara's POV]
I returned to the Alpha's House. Kaelen was waiting on the sofa in the living room.
"Elara, do you really want to end our bond this badly?" he asked, his voice tight.
"There is no reason to continue it," I stated.
"Over a few minor issues, you're just going to throw it all away? What do you think a mate bond is?" he demanded, his anger rising.
"Minor issues?" A scornful laugh escaped my lips. "Your mother and sister's plot against me was a 'minor issue'? Your betrayal with Seraphina was a 'minor issue'?"
"What they did was wrong, but they are in custody now! They've paid a price! Isn't that enough?" he shot back.
The sheer absurdity of it was suffocating. The perpetrator pays a price, so the victim should just be satisfied?
"And I've told you, Seraphina and I are allies! I never slept with her, so stop throwing around the word 'betrayal'!" he snarled.
"Do you really think betrayal is only physical?" I countered. "When everyone looked at you two and saw a perfect match, when they praised you as a destined pair, did you ever once correct them? Did you ever once say that you already had a mate?"
"That was a political setting! I couldn't just ruin the atmosphere. And if I had denied it publicly, it would have been a great insult to Seraphina's honor!"
"You weren't afraid of ruining the atmosphere, or insulting Seraphina. You were ashamed of me. You were ashamed to admit that a woman like me was your mate, so you said nothing!"
His silence was a confession. I had laid the truth bare. A look of profound shame crossed his face.
He quickly changed the subject. "And what about you? Are you completely blameless? You had the ability to design elite defense systems, you were the top strategist in the Silvermoon Clan, and you never told me a single word of it!"
"Yes, I never mentioned it. Because you were never interested in my past!" I retorted. "I tried to tell you I had some experience with fortifications, but what did you say then? You accused me of bragging, of being jealous of Seraphina and trying to compete with her!"
Kaelen was speechless. He remembered now. When the Pack had first considered upgrading its defenses, I had offered my help. And he had dismissed me.
"Kaelen, in this house, the person who looked down on me the most was always you. That's why your mother, your friends, even Seraphina, all treated me with such contempt," I said, my voice cold as a winter grave.
Kaelen's face went from red to white. "I never looked down on you," he stammered, "I just… I just…" He had no defense. He couldn't find the words.
"It doesn't matter anymore," I said. "I'm here to discuss the end of our bond."
Kaelen's lips thinned. "You're ending it with me to be with Ethan?"
"What?" I stared at him. Why was he bringing Ethan into this again?
"I never thought you and Ethan Northwind were so close. First Malachi, now Ethan. Elara, you certainly know how to attract powerful males," his voice dripped with a raw jealousy he couldn't contain.
My brow furrowed. "Kaelen, just because your own heart is filthy, don't assume everyone else is as depraved as you. Ethan is my comrade-in-arms!"
"Comrade?" A derisive laugh burst from his lips. "A 'comrade' who would go to war for you, three years after you left your clan? He's the 'Little Tyrant of the North.' He doesn't lift a finger for anyone! Just how close were you, Elara? Or were you already sleeping together back in the Silvermoon Clan…"
CRACK!
The sharp, clean sound of my palm connecting with his cheek echoed in the suffocating silence.
Kaelen froze, a burning heat spreading across his face. Since becoming an Alpha, no one had ever dared to strike him.
"Are you insane, Elara?" he roared.
My eyes were chips of ice. "With those words, I could have you brought before the Elder Council for insulting the honor of a Silvermoon warrior! Kaelen, a warrior's honor is not something you can defile! The bond between warriors is forged in blood. It is a bond of absolute trust, of laying down your life for one another, of rushing into danger without a second thought to save your own!"
My voice rang out, sharp and absolute. My ice-blue eyes were clear and fierce, radiating an unwavering integrity that was impossible to doubt.
Kaelen fell silent. Had he truly misunderstood? Doubt flickered across his face.
"A man like you would never understand," I said.
"You're right, I don't understand. You want to end this? Fine. I agree," Kaelen finally snapped, his pride in tatters. "I've had your assets reviewed. You can have whatever else, but the core schematics for the Moonshadow Defense System, the one you completed during our mating, will be transferred to the Blackwood Pack, free of charge, upon the dissolution of our bond."
The color drained from my face.
"You want my defense system?"
"It was completed during our mating. It is our shared property. I want the core technology. When the Pack profits from it in the future, I can give you a share."
My face was a mask of cold fury. He was trying to get it for nothing. This system was the culmination of my research from before I left my clan. It was true I'd finished it after we mated, but only because my parents' sudden death had sent me into a spiral of grief. He had no idea that I had always intended for this system to be the cornerstone of the Blackwood Pack's defenses. If I had stayed, it would have been his.
But now…
"And if I refuse?" I asked.
"Then I will petition the Elder Council," he said. "I know you want to give this to your friend's Azure Fang. But it is our shared property. If you don't want to drag your friend's new company into a legal battle, you will give it to me."
My disappointment in him was a vast, empty wasteland. "I used to think you had at least a shred of an Alpha's pride. But now, you're willing to stoop to blackmail."
"I'm doing this for the Pack," he said, his jaw set. "If you insist on ending this bond, then the defense system must belong to the Blackwood Pack."
With this technology, the Pack could weather its current crisis.
I stared at him, my expression cold. "For the Pack? Fine. Convene a Pack assembly. Announce our rejection publicly. Finalize the paperwork with the Elder Council. And the core technology is yours."
Kaelen was stunned by my swift agreement. "You're serious?"
"I am."
"Good. In three days, I'll convene the assembly," he said, his gaze heavy. "I expect you to keep your word."
A laugh, bitter and hollow, escaped my lips.
This man. The man I had once loved. Even at our end, he was using our bond as a weapon, a tool for his own gain.
"Kaelen," I heard my own voice, distant and clear, "in my entire life, I have never regretted a single thing I have done."
I looked him straight in the eye.
"But right now, I truly regret ever accepting your mark."