Chapter 4
Elena's POV
At exactly nine o'clock, the vow ceremony began.
Shari placed her hand in Zack's palm.
In a sweet voice, she said she was willing to be loyal to him, loyal to the Blade Pack, and loyal to the future heir.
Zack looked down at her, his expression cold and stern, but he did not pull away.
I stood at the very back of the crowd, listening as they recited, line by line, vows that should have belonged to fated mates.
Nine ten.
The backup phone hidden in my sleeve vibrated once.
Looks like the email had gone through.
At the same moment, the High Elder's phone lit up.
Then the second elder, the third elder, and the representatives of the affiliated packs all lowered their heads to look at their screens.
The atmosphere in the hall changed.
Shari was still basking in the joy of her imminent victory, completely unaware.
But Zack frowned.
The High Elder suddenly rose to his feet.
"Zack, what do these documents mean?"
Shari's smile froze.
Zack took the tablet.
His gaze shifted from indifference, to confusion, and then suddenly darkened.
I stood in the distance, watching him quietly.
He finally saw it.
Transfer records.
A forged DNA report.
Messages showing Shari colluding with Doctor Park to alter the results.
And proof confirming that Ethan and Zack were not biologically related.
Every piece of evidence was unmistakably clear.
There was no room left to turn things around.
Shari's face went deathly pale, and her voice turned shrill.
"No, that's fake! Someone forged it! It must be her, she set me up!"
She pointed at me.
Everyone's eyes followed.
Zack looked at me too.
This time, there was finally panic in his eyes.
"Did you do this?"
I did not answer.
I simply took off the Omega uniform jacket I was wearing and placed it over the back of a nearby chair.
Then I turned and walked out.
Behind me came Shari's sobs, the elders' questioning, and Zack's voice strained with suppressed fury.
"Stop her."
Two warriors moved to block the door.
But just then, the High Elder spoke coldly.
"Let her go."
Zack whipped around.
"This is my pack."
"And you just tried to establish an heir with a falsified bloodline." The High Elder's voice was hard as iron. "Until the investigation is over, you are no longer qualified to order anyone to deal with her."
Zack's face darkened to the extreme.
I walked past the warriors and out of the main hall.
The sunlight outside was so sharp it made my eyes ache.
A black SUV was parked at the bottom of the steps.
The door opened.
Before getting in, I turned back for one last look at the estate.
Three years ago, I thought this place would be my home.
Today, I finally escaped from it.
As the car drove away from Blade Pack Manor, I did not look back.
Ten minutes later, the car stopped on the mountain road leading to the border. I changed into a black coat, put on a hat, got out through the rear door, and slipped into another gray sedan with no license plate.
Behind me, the black SUV kept driving forward.
Five minutes later.
A deafening blast came from the end of the mountain road.
Flames shot into the sky.
Thick smoke rolled through the air like a black beast with its jaws wide open, swallowing every trace of the past.
The manor's alarm soon sounded in the distance.
Sitting in the back seat of the gray sedan, I looked through the window and saw a convoy rushing toward the mountain road from afar.
The lead car was Zack's.
When he stumbled out of the car, he could barely keep his footing.
Even from that far away, I could see the color drain from his face in an instant.
He charged toward the burning wreckage, screaming my name like a madman.
Once.
And again.
No one answered him.
Because the version of me who loved him had truly died in that fire.
And the real me was getting farther and farther away from him.
As the car crossed into the neutral zone, I looked into the rearview mirror one last time.
The blaze had dyed half the sky crimson.
Zack knelt in front of the burning car, as if he had finally lost something that could never be recovered.
Too bad he understood it far too late.
