(Matthew’s POV)

    I cupped Olivia’s small face, letting her kiss me with fevered desperation. Her lips were burning against mine.

    “Hmm? What are you going to do sixteen days from now?” I whispered in her ear.

    She seemed to be burning up, her cheeks flushed crimson. Her eyes closed weakly, hands sliding off my shoulders as tears rolled down her face.

    Her thoughts were in chaos. “Leaving you… I have to leave you…” she murmured.

    I gripped her hand tightly. The words hit me like a physical blow.”

    “Don’t think,” I whispered in her ear, kissing her dazed face.

    I called for a healer immediately. The pack doctor arrived within minutes, examining Olivia with careful precision.

    “She’s been slightly poisoned by silver,” the healer announced. “However, the source of silver is still unknown at present.”

    He administered moonlight herb, checking her heart rate and pulse. After confirming her vital signs were stable, I dismissed everyone.

    I held her all night, feeling the sweat that soaked through two changes of clothes. Her body trembled against mine as the fever broke.

    In her confusion, she mumbled about her mother, father, and Theodore. “Why are you crying?

    What right do you have to be sad, Theodore? It’s all your fault, all your fault…”

    But she never mentioned my name. The realization cut deeper than any de.

    Angry and pained, I silenced her with a kiss.

    When Olivia woke up in the morning light, she found me sitting by the bed. I knew I looked tired, disheveled from the sleepless night.

    She smiled, pulling my hand with that innocent brightness I’d fallen in love with. She waspletely oblivious to the previous night’s fevered confessions.

    “Why are you sleeping here?” she asked, noticing my wrinkled clothes.

    Seeing her clear eyes and cheerful demeanor, I couldn’t stay angry. I knew the past eight years were a nk space in my life, filled by Theodore’s presence. An indelible mark I couldn’t erase.

    I pulled her into my arms. When she yfully teased me, asking if I was “sexually frustrated,” I pinned her beneath me.

    Just as the mood intensified, a knock on the door interrupted us.

    She kissed me sweetly, whispering praises like I used to do for her. “So handsome. My Alpha is incredibly powerful.”

    I watched her get up to start her day, a shadow crossing my eyes as I quietly agreed.

    Outside, I instructed Beta Tristan with cold efficiency. “Go and clean up the things at The Sovereign’s Club.”

    The romantic setup from the previous night needed to be erased. The withered moonlight roses, the cold venison, the extinguished candles, and the ruby ne lying in a heart of petals.

    All of it had to disappear.

    (Olivia’s POV)

    After dropping Aurora off at the pack nursery, I sat in my car and secretly called a packw specialist named Master Henrik.

    “I need to inquire about severing a mate bond,” I said quietly.

    “The official records wouldn’t be public,” he exined, “but the news would likely spread within the supernatural legal system. It could create a scandal during the Alpha King’s crucial territorial consolidation period.”

    My heart sank. I warned the specialist to keep it a secret, especially from Matthew.

    Then I got out of the car and confronted Theodore, who was waiting with a haggard look on his face. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.

    “What will it take for you to sign the mate bond severance papers?” I asked coldly.

    He grabbed my hand, noticing the wound on my ring finger where the silver had cut. “Does it hurt?” he asked softly.

    I pulled away, my voice sharp. “I’ll petition the Pack Council for forced severance based on our two–year separation.”

    “But you can’t do that, at least not during his consolidation period,” Theodore countered, grabbing my shoulders. His grip was desperate.

    “Have you fallen in love with him?”

    In a moment of defiance, I looked him in the eye. “Yes, I love him.”

    He pulled me into a desperate embrace, begging for another chance. “No one will ever love you more than I do,” he pleaded.

    I pushed him away with all my strength. “You say you love me? Then sign the papers and sever our bond!”

    He couldn’t do it. Instead, he proposed a deal that made my blood run cold.

    “Fine. Spend 16 days with me,” he said, his voice soft but firm. “Wait until his consolidation

    period is over, and I’ll sign the severance papers. Until then, no one will know about our mating.”

    He was using Matthew’s political position as leverage. He knew I wouldn’t risk it.

    He tried to touch me affectionately, calling himself my “Alpha,” but I flinched away. “Disgusting,” I spat. “You make me sick.”

    My revulsion didn’t deter him. He grabbed me again, his embrace forceful, his tone mixing desperation with threat.

    “16 days, versus his glorious reign. You know how to choose.”

    (God’s POV)

    At the Apex Dynamics self–driving vehicle test event, Tasha was shocked to see Olivia walking beside Theodore. He asionally put a possessive hand on her waist, introducing her to others like she belonged to him.

    Tasha quickly ordered her team to redirect the surveince systems. She reported back to Matthew’s forces that there was no sign of any hostile trackers.

    In the Sovereign’s Citadel, Matthew watched the feed of the vehicle test. His expression was cold as he threw a file onto the table.

    He called Olivia through their mate bond. “Where are you?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm.

    “Very close to you,” she replied softly through their mental connection. The venue wasn’t far from his citadel.

    She preemptively invited him to lunch, her voice sweet. “My King, see youter.”

    Over the monitor, Theodore’s face turned dark at sensing their mate bondmunication.

    After the mental conversation, Theodore tried to get Olivia to test drive a vehicle he imed was designed for her.

    However, the pack celebrity endorser, Audrey Vale, and the project lead, Lydia Miles, interrupted. Both were clearly annoyed by Olivia’s presence.

    Olivia deferred, and Audrey got into the car instead. As she sped off, Ethan watched from the crowd.

    He hacked the vehicle’s system using his supernatural abilities enhanced by technology. “The brakes have failed!” Audrey screamed as the car hurtled towards the exhibition hall entrance.

    Olivia and Theodore stood directly in the car’s path.

    Seeing Olivia in danger, Ethan instantly disengaged the hack. At that moment, Audrey felt her foot on the brake, but she didn’t press down.

    She felt the steering wheel return to her control. Aiming directly for Olivia, she mmed on the elerator.