chapter 7

On the day Bella walked out of the hospital, it happened to be her birthday.

Ryan held a celebration for her inside the ancient holy chamber of the pack. A stone table stood in the center, covered with frosted cakes brought in from the human towns and jars of berry wine made only by wolves. People whispered that Ryan had ordered his men to climb over three mountains in the middle of the night just to gather the ingredients.

The chamber was filled with elders and a few humans from the border who knew Bella personally. Everyone wore practiced smiles that were polite but empty. Bella glanced around at those hollow expressions, her throat tightening. She remembered what she had overheard at the Nightshade Club only days earlier. She wondered how many of these faces had helped Ryan hide his infidelity with Liliana.

She felt no appetite, though the crowd mistook her silence as the weakness of someone still recovering.

Soon it was time to cut the cake and make a wish.

Ryan wrapped his arms around her and guided her hand as they held the knife together.

“Bella, it's your birthday. Do you have a wish?”

In the past, she would have shaken her head and told him no. Back then, she thought his love was all she needed.

Now she had only one fierce wish, to leave him and never see him again.

She lifted her eyes to meet his and spoke in a calm voice. “If I make a wish, will you truly make it come true?”

Ryan froze, then he softened his smile. “Of course.”

Bella smiled too, though it never reached her eyes. “In that case, I actually have three wishes.”

Ryan chuckled, indulgent and confident. “Alright. Tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you.”

Bella turned, picked up a blank sheet of parchment from a tray, and held it up. “My first wish is for you to mark this with your Alpha blood.”

Gasps swept through the chamber like a sharp wind.

Among werewolves, a blood seal was sacred. It was equal to a binding human contract.

Once marked, it meant no retreat at all, no matter the reason. If someone used it for tricks, the outcome could be terrible.

No Alpha would agree unless he had lost all reason.

The elders frowned, but Ryan only pinched Bella's cheek tenderly. Then he bit his finger and let his blood fall onto the parchment without hesitation.

“There, sweetheart. It's done.”

Bella clutched the parchment tightly, relief pouring through her chest.

With his blood seal, she could draft the agreement to dissolve their mate contract.

Because she carried human blood, breaking the mate contract would be simple. They only had to place their blood on the agreement, and it would take effect. From that moment forward, Ryan would never track her scent again, and their tie would be broken.

When Ryan noticed the faint smile on her lips, his own mood lifted.

“Sweetheart, what's your second wish?”

Bella lifted her gaze toward the crowd.

Some looked stunned, others envious, while Liliana stood apart, her face twisted with jealousy, with her venmous gaze was fixed solely on Bella.

But Bella's eyes drifted past them, fixed on a distance that seemed to hold her freedom.

“I want you to transfer the Nightshade Pack's core resources to my name.”

The words slammed through the holy chamber like a thunderclap.

The Alpha's core resources were the foundation of the pack. It was wealth built over generations. In human terms, it was the same as controlling shares of a powerful corporation, only far greater in value. The elders erupted in protest, but Ryan pressed his hand down on their shoulders and called for the elder in charge.

“I'll do it now.”

Bella signed the papers, her spirit soaring. Once she sold those assets across the border, she would never worry about money again. Not even ten lifetimes would be enough to spend it all.

Ryan pulled her into his arms, his voice dripping with devotion. “Sweetheart, I belong to you now. You can't just throw me away whenever you feel like it now.”

Bella tugged at the corner of her lips, ready to answer, when a sharp cry cut through the hall.

“Someone's fainted!”

Ryan's head snapped toward the sound just as Liliana collapsed to the floor. His face darkened, and he moved to rush toward her, but reason slowed his steps. He turned back to Bella.

“Bella, I'll take her to the werewolf hospital. Stay here and enjoy yourself. Text me your last wish later.”

“There's no need for that,” Bella said quietly.

Ryan blinked. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Go ahead.”

She watched him lift Liliana in his arms and hurry away, his shoulders tense with worry. Then she smiled, faint and knowing.

Ryan, my third wish doesn't need you to make it happen.

Because that wish is to leave you for good.

And very soon, I'll be free.