“I, Elowen Thorne, accept your rejection.”

The words left my mouth with unexpected steadiness. Dorian froze, his blood-flecked knuckles still clenched, eyes narrowing in disbelief. I’d surprised him. Good.

“What?” I gave a hollow laugh. “Did you expect me to beg? To cry and plead for you to reconsider?”

He recovered quickly, his tone frosty and distant. “Most would.”

“Then I’m not most.” I stared directly into his eyes, refusing to wilt under his gaze. “Banish me from this pack; I no longer see the use of remaining in a place where I’m nothing but your dirty secret.”

Dorian stepped closer, his voice turning silky. “Oh no, Elowen. I want you here, by my side.”

“Selene had taken up that duty.” I backed away, bitterness dripping from every word. “Or did you forget while you were busy beating me?”

He reached out, tracing a finger along my bruised cheek. “I want you to be something quite different. Something more… entertaining.”

I slapped his hand away. “I won’t be your toy anymore. I’d rather die than let you touch me again.”

His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist with painful force. “Other she-wolves would kill to be in your place—grateful to be my whore if I demanded it,” he hissed. “Yet you dare reject me? After I elevated you from nothing, after I blessed you with the chance to carry my child?”

I wrenched free, my skin burning where he’d touched me. “Blessed me with the chance? You killed my child! You destroyed the only pure thing I had left in this world! I would leave this pack whether you want it or not.”

His mouth formed a gradual smile. “Leave? That’s not going to be a very nice thing to do, seeing as your mother cannot go with you.”

The color drained from my face. “No… Leave my mother out of this. This is between you and me.”

Dorian circled me like I was prey. “No, Elowen. There’s nothing just between you and me anymore. Stay, and she’ll remain in her current position—wretched as it is. Leave, and I’ll make her life a living hell. I’ll have her scrubbing floors until her fingers bleed, sleeping with the animals. Maybe I’ll even let some of the more… frustrated males have their way with her.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I whispered, rage shaking my voice.

He laughed. “Try me.”

My shoulders slumped in defeat. I thought about mate rejections I’d heard of—the crippling pain, the sense of loss that drove some to madness or suicide.

But all I felt was a hollow emptiness. How could you lose what you never truly had? The monster who’d pretended to be my mate had never truly been mine.

“I’ll stay, but I refuse to be used by you, Dorian. I won’t warm your bed while Selene’s away.”

He gripped my chin hard. “We would see about that, and it’s no longer Dorian to you; we are no longer mates, remember? It’s Alpha now, and I really hope you don’t slip on that again. The punishment would be… creative.”

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “Yes… Alpha.”

His mood shifted abruptly, cheerfulness masking the cruelty beneath. “Now I need you to come to the intramating ball celebration with me.”

“You are to attend the upcoming ball with your luna, Selene; what do you need me there for? To serve drinks?” I protested.

His eyes glittered with malice. “You will be there, dressed up like you still matter. I want you to watch as I announce to the whole crowd that she is my mate—my REAL mate. I want you to watch me kiss her lips, feel her body, I may even claim her publicly just as I once did with you. I want you to see how she moans when I touch her, how she trembles when I whisper in her ear. She will stand where you dreamed of standing, wear the crown you thought would be yours, bear the children you failed to carry.”

“You’re a monster,” I whispered.

He leaned in close, his breath hot against my ear. “And you’ll enjoy every minute of it, until I am done with you.”