Stolen by the Lycan King

KIRA POV：

I dragged my suitcase toward the front door without looking back. The cool morning air on my face helped to clear some of the fog in my head.

Hayes caught up to me, blocking my path, his face a dark cloud. "You cannot leave right now."

I stared at him coldly. "You wanted a divorce. I agreed. What more do you want?"

"The divorce can happen, but not today." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You have to attend the pack banquet tonight."

I let out a bitter, humorless laugh. "The pack banquet? You want me to show up covered in marks, play the devoted Luna, and watch you parade your mistress around the council?"

His eyes darkened, but impatience quickly took over. "Do not make this difficult, Kira. This is bigger than our grievances. This is about the entire Carlisle Pack."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a tense, urgent whisper. "My father’s health is failing, and he is finalizing his succession will with the pack elders. Aiden Beaumont arrived in Blackwood Creek overnight. As the pureblooded heir born to the first Luna, his return threatens everything I have built."

Aiden Beaumont. The name sent a jolt through my memory. The cold, untouchable prodigy from my youth, the rival who had bested me at every turn.

"The elders are already scrutinizing my legitimacy because of my mother's bloodline," Hayes continued, his jaw working with suppressed bitterness. "I need the Knox Pack's backing, but I cannot walk into the council as an unstable Alpha discarding his Luna right before the will is sealed. The elders demand stability. They need to see a united front."

So that was his desperate scheme. He needed Clarisa's pedigree to secure political power, yet he needed me, his legal Luna, to maintain the illusion of an honorable leader before the council.

"So you want me to play the docile clown for your ambition, and once you secure the Alpha seat, you toss me away like garbage?" My voice cut like dry ice.

Hayes exhaled, attempting to smooth over his tone. "Kira, be realistic. We have been mated for two years. I provided you with status and comfort. If you stand by me tonight and appease the elders, I will double the financial settlement in the rejection agreement."

Money. He truly believed everything—loyalty, dignity, sacrifice—could be bought off.

Looking at his anxious, self-serving face, I did not waste my breath on grief or hollow questions. The man who had once stood by me was long dead, replaced by a calculating coward.

I leveled a cold, detached gaze at him, my chin lifted in unyielding defiance.

"One condition," I stated, my voice steady as iron. "I will stand at your side tonight. I will play the devoted Luna and give the elders the united front you need to survive Aiden's arrival. But the second the banquet concludes, we stand before the council elders and execute the formal rejection. You sign the release, and I walk away with full independence."

Hayes blinked, visibly caught off guard by my absolute composure.

A smug, patronizing relief washed over his features. "Fair enough. Between an Alpha and an Omega, there are boundaries dictated by blood. A true Alpha fighting for supreme command needs a fierce partner by his side, not someone fragile. I knew you would be reasonable and understand your place."

The deep-seated arrogance of the werewolf hierarchy bled through every word. To him, my calm detachment was merely an Omega bowing to the inevitable weight of an Alpha's decree.

"Then it is settled," I said, stepping back toward the house without sparing him another glance.

He thought he had won. He believed I was resigned to being discarded quietly once his seat was secured.

He had no idea that tonight's banquet would not be his coronation—it would be his execution.

Back in my room, I shut the door firmly and let the icy silence settle around me.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Willow.

"Willow, I need your lab contacts right now," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "I need an urgent forensic screen on the glass left in that lounge. There was a synthetic heat-inducer in my system last night, and I want the exact chemical trace and batch registry."

I needed to know precisely whose poisoned hand had tried to destroy me.

Tonight was the beginning of the end.