Elena
The morning Dominic’s birthday arrives feels surreal.
I wake up in my apartment, not his and for the first time in three years, I don’t feel the weight of pretending.
Today, the pack council meets.
Today, everything becomes official.
Today, Dominic Ashford learns what he signed.
I dress carefully.
A navy sheath dress, professional but not severe.
Hair down, minimal makeup.
I look like myself just Elena, not Mrs.
Ashford, not the perfect Omega wife.
Just me.
My phone buzzes as I’m making coffee.
Sage.
Papers are ready.
Court opens at 9.
Council meeting at 10.
Are you ready for this?
As ready as I’ll ever be.
That’s my girl.
See you there.
I’m about to leave when there’s a knock at my door.
Mrs.
Chen, my housekeeper from the Ashford house, stands there holding a large box.
“Young madam—I mean, Miss Grey.” She looks uncomfortable.
“The young master asked me to deliver this to you.”
“What is it?”
“Your wedding dress.
And some other items from your closet.
He said…” She hesitates.
“He said you should have them.”
I stare at the box.
“When did he ask you to do this?”
“Last night.
He was packing up your things from the bedroom.
He seemed…” She trails off.
“Seemed what?”
“Upset, miss.
Like he finally understood what he’d lost.”
I take the box.
Inside, the wedding dress is carefully folded.
Beneath it, jewelry, photos, and a handwritten note.
Elena, I know it’s too late for apologies.
I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness.
But I need you to know, I never meant to hurt you.
I was a coward who couldn’t admit what I wanted, and you paid the price.
You deserved better than me.
You always did.
I hope you find someone who sees you the way I should have.
—Dominic
I read it twice, then carefully fold it back.
He’s right.
It is too late.
The pack council chamber fills quickly.
Word has spread that something significant is happening today.
Dominic sits at the defendant’s table with his parents.
He looks worse than when he showed up at my apartment, his Alpha energy barely controlled, his wolf clearly agitated.
When I walk in with Sage, his head snaps up.
I see the moment he realizes I’m not here to stop this.
Council Leader Marcus Brennan calls the meeting to order.
“We have several items on today’s agenda, but first a matter of bond dissolution.”
Sage stands.
“I’m representing Ms.
Elena Grey in her bond dissolution from Alpha Dominic Ashford.”
The gallery erupts.
“Order!” Brennan’s command silences them.
“Continue.”
“The dissolution was legally filed three months ago.
All paperwork is in order.”
She slides documents across the table.
Brennan reviews them.
“Alpha Ashford, did you sign this?”
Dominic stares at the papers.
“I…
I didn’t know what I was signing.”
“But you did sign it?”
“Yes.”
“And Ms.
Grey, do you confirm you willingly entered into this dissolution?”
I stand.
“I do.”
“On what grounds?”
This is it.
The moment where I either protect his reputation or tell the truth.
I meet Dominic’s eyes.
“On the grounds that our bond was never consummated,” I say clearly.
“In three years of marriage, Alpha Ashford never completed our mating bond.
Our marriage existed in name only.”
The gallery explodes.
“Furthermore,” I continue, “he was in love with another wolf.
His brother’s mate.
Everything he did, marrying me, refusing to bond with me was to protect her reputation.”
“Elena?” Dominic starts to stand.
“Sit down,” Brennan orders.
Sage produces more documents.
“Text messages.
Witness statements.
Medical records.
And photographic evidence.”
Photos appear on the screen.
Dominic and Vivian at the hospital.
At restaurants.
In his car.
Dominic’s father stands.
“This is outrageous!”
“Sit down, Richard,” Luna Catherine says quietly.
“Let the boy speak.”
All eyes turn to Dominic.
He looks at me with those grey eyes that once made my teenage heart flutter.
“It’s true,” he says finally.
“All of it.
I married Elena while in love with Vivian.
I refused to complete our bond because I thought it would prove my loyalty to her.”
He runs a hand through his hair.
“Elena deserved better.
And I gave her nothing but three years of loneliness and lies.”
The silence is deafening.
“I don’t contest the dissolution.
Elena has every right to leave me.”
Brennan nods.
“By the authority of this council, the bond between Elena Grey and Dominic Ashford is hereby dissolved.”
The gavel comes down.
I’m free.