Chapter 4

(Harper’s POV)

I stepped back into the courtyard of the Pack House. The crowd had thinned out some, but a tight circle of wolves still remained, all eyes locked on something—or someone—in the center.

As I approached, they instinctively made way for me, sensing my presence. The scene that unfolded in front of me looked like something straight out of a bad soap opera.

Joshua was half-kneeling on the ground, holding Eden dramatically in his arms. Her body was limp against his chest, her platinum blonde hair fanned out perfectly around her porcelain face. One hand was gripping his shirt, the other pressed theatrically against her stomach.

Jeff, Joshua’s beta, was barking orders at the gawking crowd. “Back to work! This isn’t a damn show!” His voice carried enough weight to send the lower-ranked wolves scattering.

Eden’s icy blue eyes—always so deceptively innocent—locked onto mine the moment I came into view. Her expression shifted instantly from pained to pleading. With trembling fingers, she reached out and clutched the hem of my skirt.

“Harper,” she whispered, her voice thin and frail. “Please… I know you’re upset, but I’m not trying to come between you and Joshua.”

Her nerve made my blood run hot.

“I swear, I’m not interfering,” she went on, a single, picture-perfect tear sliding down her cheek. “I just need his help while I recover.”

Before I could call her out on the performance, Eden let out a sharp gasp. Her body twisted in what looked like pain, her hand clutching her stomach tighter as her face contorted in a mockery of agony.

“It burns,” she whimpered, eyes wide with fake terror. “Your energy… it’s hurting me…”

I hadn’t moved. Hadn’t said a word. But somehow, I was supposedly attacking her from several feet away with nothing but my presence.

Joshua sprang into action like the hero of some trashy romance novel, scooping Eden up in a princess carry that made my stomach turn. Her head lolled against his chest, eyes fluttering shut in feigned weakness.

“Get her inside,” Joshua snapped at Jeff, who rushed forward.

But Eden clung to him with surprising strength for someone in so much pain. “No, Josh, please,” she breathed. “I need you.”

Joshua hesitated, torn between his Alpha duty and whatever twisted sense of loyalty he felt toward her. The look on his face—concerned, devoted—was all the confirmation I needed. He had never looked at me like that. Not once, in our two years of engagement.

I turned away, sick of the entire act. “I’m going to get my bag,” I muttered, not caring who heard me as I headed back toward the building.

“Harper, don’t move!” Joshua’s command hit the air hard with Alpha power, thick and heavy like a wave.

It rolled right over me—completely useless. I didn’t even slow down.

“I said STOP!” he shouted, his voice booming with more force this time.

Several wolves nearby dropped to their knees under the pressure of his Alpha command. I kept walking.

I heard him growl in frustration, then the sound of quick footsteps behind me. He must’ve passed Eden off to Jeff, because he caught up just as I reached the front door, reaching out to grab my arm.

I sidestepped cleanly, avoiding his touch. When I turned around, he flinched, like he saw something in my eyes that scared him.

“Don’t touch me,” I said, my voice low but firm. “I reject you as my mate.”

Joshua’s face froze in shock. Among wolves, a formal rejection wasn’t just rare—it was serious. It severed emotional and mystical ties alike. Once spoken, it couldn’t be undone. No ceremony. No bonding. Nothing.

“You can’t do that,” he stammered, disbelief thick in his voice. “Our packs—”

“We’re done, Joshua,” I cut in, calm and final. “Figure out another political solution.”

He just stood there, stunned. For the first time since I’d known him, Joshua Swift had nothing to say.

I stepped around him and walked back into the building, heading straight to my office without looking back. His voice echoed behind me, calling my name, but I didn’t stop.

Five minutes later, I was in my car, my few personal things tossed into the back seat. In the rearview mirror, I saw him—Joshua—standing in the driveway, watching me drive away.

And honestly?

Good riddance.

“That was one hell of an exit,” Eira purred in my head as I drove, clearly entertained by the chaos we’d left behind. “Did you see his face when you hit him with that formal rejection?”

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “He looked like someone smacked him with a frozen trout.”

Eira laughed, the sound golden and steady in my mind. Comforting. “Serves him right. After years of disrespect—and don’t forget cheating on you with that venomous bitch, Eden.”

I nodded, feeling a rush of strength as Eira’s power surged through me. It anchored me, reaffirming that I’d made the right choice.

“He’s trying to track us through the pack bond,” she noted with a laugh in her voice. “Look how pissed he is.”

Another perk of having Eira—she could completely mask our location from the bond when needed. Joshua could dig all he wanted. He wouldn’t find us.

My fingers tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel. “Eden’s probably putting on the performance of her life right now. Crying about how ‘damaged’ she is. She thinks it’ll buy her time to delay the marking ceremony… not knowing I already torched the whole damn thing.”

Eira chuckled. “Let her spiral. She’s good at playing the victim.”

I gripped the wheel tighter as the memory of Eden’s sweet, innocent act flashed through my mind. I actually liked her when we first met. I had no idea that behind that sugary smile was a ruthless wolf. My trust nearly got me killed three years ago.

And instead of justice, the pack shipped her off to Europe to “recover,” while I spent months in a hospital bed clinging to life.

“At least now we’re free of them both,” I said aloud, trying to hold on to some shred of peace.

But I didn’t have long to enjoy it. Luna Sienna’s voice barged into my mind through the pack link, cold and commanding.

“Come home immediately,” my birth mother ordered. “We need to talk about your behavior.”

I winced at the intrusion. Should’ve seen this coming. “There’s nothing to talk about,” I replied sharply.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Harper,” Sienna said, her voice softening into that manipulative tone she used when she wanted control. “Joshua and Eden have a history, emotional ties that take time to unravel. You need to understand—”

I let out a bitter laugh, the sound raw in my ears. “Understand what? How you protected her after she sent rogues to kill me?”

The memories hit like a gut punch—two months in a locked ward, pain stitched deep into my flesh, and worse than that, the betrayal. My own family choosing Eden. Again.

Sienna’s voice shifted, aiming for motherly concern but landing nowhere close. “Eden was poisoned with silver while she was in Europe. She’s suffered. That should be enough to atone for her past. The marking ceremony can wait—”

My rage snapped.

“Of course,” I snarled through the link, my voice cutting like glass. “Delay my ceremony, undermine my status, all for your precious Eden. The same Eden who tried to have me killed. Who isn’t even your daughter, Luna.”

I felt her reel back at the force of my words.

“I’ll say it one more time,” I continued, my voice like stone. “I’m not mating with Joshua. The rejection stands. It’s done.”

Before she could get another word in, I severed the link and had Eira block all incoming mental connections. The sudden quiet in my head was pure relief.

I pulled over at the edge of Hale territory, finally letting myself breathe. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a dull ache and a hollow kind of exhaustion.

Cold clarity wrapped itself around me as I stared out at the open road. I was done being a pawn in their power games. I wasn’t going to keep chasing Sienna’s approval—approval that was never mine, never would be, no matter what I did.

She didn’t love me. She never had. Even after learning I was her daughter by blood, she kept choosing Eden.

The realization stung. But it also freed me.

I grabbed my phone and dialed Kaia. She picked up on the first ring, her voice tight with worry.

“Harper? Are you okay? I heard things got intense at the Swift Pack house.”

I snorted. “News travels fast.”

“Are you alright?” she asked again, her voice more urgent.

“I rejected Joshua. Formally,” I said, the words tasting strange but satisfying.

There was a beat of silence, then Kaia whispered, “Holy shit. You really did it?”

“I did. And now I need a drink. You in? Meet me at Moonpine?”

She didn’t miss a beat. “Twenty minutes. First round’s on me.”

A real smile spread across my face for the first time all day. “Make it a double.”

I restarted the engine and headed toward the neutral zone, the road wide open in front of me.

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