The words flickering on the phone screen were like sharp blades, each message piercing precisely into the depths of my heart.
“Isolde was taken to the territory clinic. She needs a blood binding. You know your duty. Come to Valebrook Clinic now.”
“Where are you, Dorothy? You're late. Fifteen minutes.”
“If you're going to complain about the arrangement, the compensation has been increased to $100,000. Check your account.”
“Dorothy Miller, Twenty minutes. No more. A pact doesn’t bend to excuses.”
I scrolled through Darius's messages, my fingers trembling as knuckles turned pale.
His voice always came wrapped in winter. No warmth, just ice and order.These weren't messages from a caring mate—these were commands, the kind an Alpha issued to a subordinate wolf.
Our arrangement wasn’t love—it was a hierarchy. He ruled. I complied.He barely touched me when we shared a room; he never let our scents mingle outside of necessity.
He reminded me of this constantly, at any time and any place.
The fact that I'd stepped into the healing den three times already this moon cycle, offering up blood and strength, After every blood donation, my body was extremely weak, unable to withstand any additional harm. Yet, all of this meant nothing to Darius.
“Suck it up. A pact is a pact.” That's what he always said.
To Alpha Darius Silverclaw,I was not his luna - just an accessory asset to the woman he deeply loved, a resource kept to sustain that relationship. I was not worthy of any of his needs beyond money.
When he wasn't busy ruling over the pack's affairs, he was at Isolde's side.
Isolde, Darius's partner, was also the reason I entered their relationship due to her accident.
Three years ago, Isolde needed an emergency transfusion, and the wolf elders saw an opportunity: preserve the blood, secure the power, strike a pact.
And here I was.
“You want to be my chosen mate?”
In the antiseptic tang of the pack's makeshift hospital, I'd met Darius's cold gaze. Even surrounded by the wolf kin, the world faded down to the timber of his voice and the weight of his demand.
I kept my chin high, answering with a silent nod.
He spoke, deep and unmistakable. “We'll mate for the sake of the pack. But you're her donor first. If Isolde needs you, you come.I'll make sure you're taken care of. Financially.”
I'd said yes, thinking I was securing a future. - My arrogance made me firmly believe that I could withstand the influence of the bond between them and become Darius's true lover.
But three years have passed, and every time Isolde was injured, I had to become her blood supply and appear by her side.My body, her reserve tank. My life, her backup plan.
This had to end. I had to leave, cutting off this toxic relationship with my own hands.
I stood up, got into the car, and my phone received another message. I tapped my phone and brought up a photo: it was sent to me, unsigned but unmistakable.
Even at rest, Darius looked like something dreamed up by nature for the purest display of predatory power. His features were all sharp lines and harsh beauty; the type of man whose mouth—firm as it was—could have been carved for softness, though I'd never tasted it.