Chapter 6

Lana's POV

By 2:40 PM, the air outside the Pack Registry Bureau was thick with the scent of ozone and the looming threat of rain. I stood on the curb, my fingers tracing the jagged edge of the bandages on my right palm.

Three o'clock came and went. I watched the sleek, expensive cars of other high-ranking shifters pull into the lot, couples stepping out with expressions ranging from grief to liberation. But there was no sign of the matte-black SUV. No sign of the Alpha.

He's probably just stuck in traffic, I told myself, though the logic was thin. Alphas didn't get stuck in traffic; they cleared the way.

By 3:30 PM, I dialed Silas's private link. It rang until the mechanical voice told me he was unavailable. Again. My chest tightened. After last night—after he had claimed me with such primal, ruthless intensity—the least he could do was show up to sign the death warrant of our marriage.

At 4:00 PM, I realized I was a fool for waiting on the sidewalk like a discarded toy. I hailed a taxi, giving the driver the address for Vane Global HQ.

The skyscraper was a monolith of glass and steel, a monument to Silas's absolute dominion over the city's economy. For three years, I had been a fixture here. Regardless of the weather, regardless of how coldly he treated me, I had walked through these doors every afternoon to deliver the tea he needed to survive. Every employee from the doorman to the executive VPs knew the "Human Luna."

But when I stepped toward the elevators, a hand blocked my path.

"Do you have an appointment, miss?"

I blinked, looking up at the receptionist. She was young, her scent marking her as a Beta from a subordinate pack. She was new.

"I don't need one," I said, my voice steady despite the spike of annoyance. "I'm Lana Vane."

The girl didn't even flinch. She checked her screen with a bored expression. "I don't see a Lana Vane on the clearance list. And the Alpha is currently in a high-level briefing. If you don't have a digital pass, I'll have to ask you to leave."

I stared at her, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. Silas hadn't just replaced the furniture after his aunt died; he was purging every trace of the old regime. Every staff member his aunt had hand-picked to ensure my comfort had been swapped for "loyalists" who only knew one master. He was erasing me before the ink on the divorce was even dry.

I turned away, my face burning. I didn't want to cause a scene in the lobby. I pulled out my phone and fired off a WhatsApp message directly to Silas.

"I'm downstairs. I don't want your new receptionist to find out I'm your wife—it would be embarrassing for both of us. Let me up, Silas. Now."

I bet everything on his arrogance. Silas Vane hated nothing more than a public scandal involving his "human mistake."

Two minutes later, Marcus, Silas's lead assistant, practically tumbled out of the executive elevator. He looked frazzled, his scent a chaotic mess of stress. "Madam! My apologies. Please, come this way. The Alpha is... occupied, but he requested you wait in his office."

He ushered me into the private elevator, the silence inside the gold-leafed car ringing in my ears.

"Would you like some coffee, Madam? Or perhaps a tea?" Marcus asked as he pushed open the massive mahogany doors to the Alpha's sanctum.

"No," I said, my voice cold. "I just want my husband."

The office was exactly as I remembered it—a monochrome temple of power. Black marble, white leather, and the lingering, intoxicating scent of cedarwood and forest rain. But the focal point was still the decorative mural behind his desk. It was a lifelike whale, painted across the entire wall in shades of deep indigo and silver.

Their initials were written underneath.

It was breathtaking. And it was a slap in my face.

He had commissioned this from Celine years ago, a public middle finger to his aunt for forcing him to marry a human. Every time I had brought him his medicine for three years, I had to stand in front of this mural. It was a constant, mocking reminder that I was merely a placeholder in his heart.

I was still staring at the whale when the door heavy doors clicked shut. Silas walked in, his charcoal suit jacket draped over his arm, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his powerful forearms.

I didn't turn around. "You said three o'clock, Silas. I waited. Why weren't you there?"

He tossed his jacket onto the leather sofa and walked toward his desk. His tone was light, mocking. "Yesterday, you said ten in the morning, Lana. You didn't show up then. Why should I be the one to wait?"

"Don't you know exactly why I didn't go?" I snapped, turning to face him. My voice was raspy, the memory of his weight on top of me making my breath hitch.

Silas paused, his gold eyes raking over me with a dark, satisfied glint. "How should I know? I was the one doing all the heavy lifting last night. I assumed you were just enjoying the rest."

My face flushed a deep, indignant scarlet. "How can you talk about that like... like you're discussing the quarterly earnings? Have you no shame?"

"Shame?" Silas let out a dry, humorless bark of laughter. "I'm an Alpha, Lana. I don't do shame. I do what I want. And last night, I wanted to see if my investment was still worth the monthly fee."

"You're a pig," I whispered. I checked the gold watch on my wrist—the only expensive thing I still wore. "Look, we both broke a promise. We're even. If we leave now, we can still make it to the Pack Registry Bureau before they close for the day."

"I'm busy," Silas said, dropping into his chair and opening a leather-bound folder.

I marched over to his desk, slamming my good hand down on the polished wood. "Silas! What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you want this divorce or not?"

As I leaned forward, my right arm crossed into his line of sight. The thick, white gauze wrapping my palm was impossible to miss against the black marble of his desk.

Silas's eyes locked onto the bandage. The teasing light in his gaze vanished, replaced by an instinctive, sharp focus. "What happened to your hand?"

"Oh, so Mr. Vane isn't blind today?" I barked, a bitter laugh bubbling up in my throat. "You didn't notice it last night when you were busy using me, but now you're curious? Don't worry about it. If I'd died in that ER, you probably wouldn't have found out until the smell reached the hallway."

Silas flinched—a microscopic movement, but I saw it. His brow furrowed, his scent turning sharp and defensive. "I'm asking a simple question, Lana. Don't be dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic. I'm being honest. You don't care, so don't pretend."

"I was merely being polite," Silas growled, his pride wounded by my sarcasm. "A dog bites the hand that feeds it, it seems. I shouldn't have bothered asking."

He stared at my hand for a long moment, a strange, lost expression crossing his face.

"Silas? What are you daydreaming about? The clerk is going to leave!" I waved my hand again, the movement sharp and impatient.

Silas blinked, the frost returning to his eyes. He pushed my hand aside with a rough motion and gestured to the mountain of documents on his desk. "Do you see this? This is a merger worth four billion. Do you honestly think I have time to run across town because you've decided today is 'Freedom Day'? Do you think everyone spends their life sleeping until noon and collecting a million-dollar check for doing nothing?"

I felt the familiar, hot sting of tears, but I blinked them back. "It's not like you ever gave me that money, Silas. Why are you so obsessed with it? You act like I'm draining your personal vault."

"Are you saying I didn't provide enough?" Silas scoffed, leaning back in his chair. His gaze sharpened, turning predatory. "Or maybe you've found a new source of income? I saw you at the Grey Market, Lana. I saw you with Caspian Thorne."

I froze. My heart skipped a beat, the silver-rot in my veins feeling like a sudden chill. "You... you saw us?"

Silas stood up slowly, leaning across the desk until his face was inches from mine. "I saw him touching you. I saw the way you leaned into him like a pathetic, needy human. Tell me, did the good doctor give you a 'discount' for your services? Or is he the one paying you now?"

The slap echoed through the massive office before I even realized I had moved.