Chapter 4. I'm Going Back, Not Giving Up

Elvira's POV

I woke up in Reign's arms with Leah's message lying on my phone screen.

The room still held the scent of last night's pine. Reign's arm was draped across my waist, his palm resting against the marks on my skin that hadn't fully faded. He wasn't sleeping deeply — the moment I stirred, he opened his eyes.

"See something?" His voice was still rough from sleep.

I handed him my phone.

Reign read it without smiling, without offering any of the useless comfort people usually give. He just reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from the side of my neck, his fingertip grazing the spot he'd kissed over and over last night.

"Regrets?" he said.

I looked at him. Last night could be called alcohol, anger, revenge — or it could be called me finally having enough of Caleb. But now it was morning and I was clear-headed. Clear-headed enough to know I shouldn't let Reign's presence pull me along anymore, and clear-headed enough to know that Blackpine and Caleb weren't going to give back what they owed me just because of who I'd slept with.

"No regrets." I sat up and turned off my phone screen. "But I'm not staying in Grayrock either."

I pulled on the shirt he'd had sent over, buttoned it all the way to the top, and it still didn't cover the marks on my neck. "I'm going back to Blackpine."

"Going back so he can smooth things over?" Reign asked.

I gave a small smile. "Going back to dissolve the contract with Caleb."

He didn't try to stop me.

Before I left Grayrock, a servant brought a clean set of clothes. Beside them was a key card, and beneath the key card was a note written in clean, sharp strokes: Next time you need customer service, remember to call me.

I stared at that line for two seconds, then crumpled the note and threw it in the trash. The Grayrock Alpha was a completely different person in public than he was in private. As dangerous as he'd been last night, he was just as good at playing it straight in the daylight. This kind of man made it far too easy to lose control, and the last thing I needed right now was to lose control.

I got myself together and went straight to the restaurant to meet Mara.

Mara was already there, a black coffee in front of her. When she saw me, her eyes paused on my face for a second before drifting slowly to the side of my neck. The marks Reign had left were covered, but not completely. Werewolves have sharp noses and sharp eyes.

She raised an eyebrow. "The whole North is talking about you leaving with the Grayrock Alpha last night. Don't tell me you actually slept with him."

I sat down and used the menu to block my face for a moment. "I did."

Mara went quiet for two seconds, then her expression came alive. "How was it?"

I picked up my water glass and took a sip. I thought about it. "Technique was good. Stamina was good."

"Sounds like better than Caleb."

I didn't respond. Because she was right.

Bringing up Caleb washed away what little warmth remained from last night. Leah's message was still on my phone. She'd sent it politely, as if she were simply notifying me — the future little heir of Blackpine had already moved ahead of me in line.

I picked up my knife and fork and cut into the sausage on my plate.

"I'm going to dissolve the contract."

The blade pressed down. The sausage split in two.

The smile on Mara's face faded a little. "That won't be easy. Blackpine won't agree, and the Veller family won't let you make a scene. What are you going to tell your mother?"

I looked down and speared a small piece of sausage. "Tell her what? That her daughter spent three years as a fiancée, never got marked, and instead got to watch the other woman turn up pregnant?"

Mara didn't laugh.

She knew me too well. Everyone else thought I was devoted to Caleb. Only she knew that when I agreed to the Blackpine contract, it wasn't entirely for love. The years with the Veller family had been suffocating. After my mother remarried, my stepbrother Nolan always looked at me in a way that didn't feel like a brother's look. Caleb had been pursuing me hard at the time — Blackpine was well-positioned, he wasn't bad-looking, and he had the title of someone who'd once saved my life.

Back then I thought Caleb was a door.

Later I found out there was a cage on the other side.

Mara asked, "You've really made up your mind?"

"Yes."

"Helena won't let you go easily. She's always been grooming you to be Blackpine's future Luna."

I gave a short laugh. "Grooming me, or trying to control the Moonstone Trust and Silver Bay assets my father left behind?"

Mara's coffee cup stopped mid-air.

I looked up at her. "Help me look into it. The timeline of Leah's pregnancy. Whether Caleb knew. Whether Blackpine or the Vellers have touched the Moonstone Trust and Silver Bay assets over the past few years. I want all of it."

Mara studied me for a moment, then picked up her phone. "I know a private investigator. He specializes in the dirty business of Alpha circles. His fees aren't cheap."

"I already slept with Reign," I said. "What's money?"

Mara nearly choked on her coffee.

I looked down and kept eating my breakfast. Once I'd said it out loud, I actually felt a little lighter. I used to spend so much time wondering whether Caleb would come back, whether he'd ever mark me, whether he'd ever see me as someone that mattered. I didn't have to wonder about that anymore. What I needed to think about now was how I was going to walk away, how I was going to get back what was mine, and how I was going to make them give back every last thing they owed me.

That evening, Caleb came to pick me up from Grayrock himself.

He stood by the car, his expression colder than usual. When he saw the marks on my neck that hadn't been fully covered, the calm in his eyes cracked for just a moment.

"What happened last night — I can let it go," he said.

I almost laughed out loud.

When he was holding Leah, nobody asked whether I was letting anything go. Now that another Alpha's scent was on me, suddenly he looked like someone who'd been gravely wronged.

I pulled open the car door and got in, my voice as quiet and easy as it always had been. "I'm hungry."

Caleb was silent for a moment, then got into the driver's seat. "We'll go back to the main house tonight. There's a Blackpine family dinner tomorrow evening — the elders and people from Grayrock will all be there. Don't cause a scene."

I looked out the window. "What about Leah?"

He didn't answer right away.

I let out a soft laugh. "So she'll be there too."

When we got back to Blackpine, the kitchen had a few of the dishes I used to like laid out. Caleb pulled out my chair for me, poured my water, attentive in the way of a fiancé no one could find fault with.

If Leah hadn't told me last night that she was pregnant, I might almost have applauded him.

I hadn't been sitting long when his phone rang.

Caleb glanced at it and answered. "Reign?"

I paused with my fork in my hand.

The voice on the other end wasn't loud, but I could hear it clearly.

Reign asked, "Got her back?"

Caleb looked at me. "Yeah. She's back."

Reign gave a quiet laugh. "Then keep a close eye on her."

Caleb's expression darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Reign's voice was easy and unhurried. "I brought her away for one night. I can bring her away for a second."

The dining room went quiet.

Caleb's fingers tightened slowly around his wine glass. "She chose me."

"I know," Reign said. "That's exactly why I want to see if you can still hold onto her."

After the call ended, Caleb set his phone back on the table. He looked at me, and whatever had been in his eyes was quickly reined in. "Is your dress ready for tomorrow's dinner?"

I set down my fork, as easy and soft as I'd always been. "Not yet. You pick for me."

He held my gaze for a moment. "Wear the black gown I sent you last time. It suits you."

I smiled and nodded. "Okay."

He liked me this way. Pretty, quiet, obedient — as if all he had to do was reach out and touch me and I'd stay right where I was.

What he didn't know was that after last night, the hardest thing to wash off me wasn't Reign's scent anymore.

It was the fact that for the first time, I realized I didn't have to belong to him.

I looked down and cut into the meat on my plate, the blade pressing through the sinew until it gave way with a clean snap.

Caleb — are you ready to give back everything that belongs to me?