*Chapter 12: The Contract*
The Council’s verdict came at dusk.
_“Selene Vance is not rogue. The bond between her and Alpha Kade Blackwood is recognized as mutual and uncoerced. Damon Croft’s contract is dissolved, effective immediately.”_
I read the notice three times before it felt real.
Kade was beside me, quiet, his hand resting on the small of my back like he wasn’t sure if I’d pull away. I didn’t.
“Dissolved,” I whispered.
“No more claims,” Kade said. “No more threats. It’s over.”
I wanted to believe that.
I didn’t.
Damon wasn’t the kind of man who accepted ‘no’.
---
He found me an hour later, in the pack library. Empty, quiet, shelves full of old records no one read anymore.
He didn’t knock.
“You look surprised,” he said, shutting the door behind him.
