For a moment she almost laughed. The accusation was so absurd that the sound rose automatically to her lips. But then she remembered the kiss with Kidd.
The memory flashed through her mind so suddenly that she felt the warmth rush to her face.
Apparently Ace saw it. His entire expression hardened.
"So there is someone else," he hissed quietly.
Ithilien stopped walking.
"What did you expect?" she snapped, turning toward him sharply. "That I would join some convent and take a vow of celibacy?" Her eyes burned as they met his. "That rule clearly doesn't apply to you."
Ace's jaw tightened.
"She's my wife," he said coldly. "The pack's Luna." His voice lowered dangerously. "Am I supposed to stay away from her because you want me to?"
The words hit Ithilien like a physical blow.
"I'm not anyone's Luna," she said finally, her voice suddenly very quiet. "And I don't belong to any pack." Her chin lifted. "So doesn't that mean I can do whatever I want?"
"Ithilien… this won't last long."
She frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Ace ran a hand through his hair with a restless, impatient motion.
"Bista was chosen by my father. Not by me. You know that." His voice softened slightly. "I don't want you wandering alone without a pack. You belong with us."
He stepped closer. The sudden closeness made the world tilt slightly around her. His scent surrounded her again.
"You belong to me," he said quietly. "I want you back in Evergreen."
For a moment her heart simply stopped. She waited for the rest. The silence stretched painfully long.
Then Ace continued.
"I'll be blunt, because I don't know how else to say this." His voice hardened. "Bista will only be my Luna in name. When my father is gone, no one will be able to oppose me anymore." He stepped closer. "You'll return to the pack as the unofficial Luna. When the next Alpha is born, Bista will be free to leave peacefully. And you—"
The fury that surged through Ithilien was almost physical.
"You want her to give you pups," she interrupted, her voice shaking with rage, "and you're planning to keep me as your toy?"
Ace frowned.
"No, that's not what I meant. Ithilien… you know the bond—"
"How dare you." Her whole body trembled. Her hands curled into fists so tightly that her nails dug painfully into her palms. "How dare you ask if I will become your whore?"
Ace stared at her in stunned silence. He had never seen her like this before.
"I thought you were the most honorable man in the world," she continued, her voice breaking despite her effort to remain calm. "And all this time you were planning to humiliate me—while believing I would actually want that." She shook her head slowly. "No, Ace. You will not have Bista during the day and me at night."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I want to end this."
Something in Ace's expression changed instantly.
"I want to break the—"
"No!"
The snarl tore out of him before she could finish.
His hands closed around her shoulders with such force that she gasped.
"Never say that again," he growled, his voice rough with something that sounded dangerously close to panic. "I don't even want to hear those words."
But Ithilien looked straight into his eyes and finished the sentence anyway.
"I want to break the bond."
For a fraction of a second the world seemed to fall completely silent.
Then Vaelor roared inside Ace's mind. The bond between them flared violently—like a living thing suddenly wounded. And somewhere deep within Ithilien, Tauriel howled in pain.
Ace's grip tightened.
"You don't understand what you're asking for," he said hoarsely.
But Ithilien no longer looked afraid.
For a moment neither of them moved. The street around them remained quiet, almost eerily so, as if the world itself had withdrawn to watch what would happen next.
Ace still held her shoulders. He could feel her warmth through the thin fabric of her jacket, feel the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat beneath his hands. And beneath that… something deeper. Something ancient.
The bond.
It pulsed between them like a living thread stretched too tightly.
Inside Ace's mind, Vaelor exploded into motion.
The great wolf rose from the darkness of his consciousness with a furious snarl, pacing in violent circles as if searching for an enemy that did not exist.
She cannot break it.
The thought echoed like thunder.
She is ours.
Pain shot through Ace's chest, sudden and sharp, as though invisible claws had raked across his heart. For a brief moment his vision blurred.
Not physical pain.
Something deeper.
Something tied to the bond itself.
Across from him Ithilien gasped softly.
She pressed one hand against her chest, as if trying to steady her breathing.
Deep inside her, Tauriel had awakened fully. The silver wolf lifted her head and howled. Not with anger. With something far worse.
Grief.
The sound echoed through the strange space where their wolves existed—through the fragile bridge that had always connected them.
The bond shuddered.
Ace felt it.
Not as a thought, not even as emotion but as something raw and instinctive tearing at the edges of his control.
Fear.
For the first time since becoming Alpha, Ace realized something terrifying.
If she truly tried to sever the bond… It might destroy far more than either of them understood.
"Ithilien…" he said quietly.
But she had already stepped back. The distance between them felt suddenly enormous. Her eyes were still burning with anger, but beneath it he could see something else now.
Resolve.
"If the bond is the reason you think you can control my life," she said softly, "then you're wrong."
The wind rose slightly, carrying the scent of pine and cold stone through the empty street.
Ace watched her take another step away from him. The bond tightened violently.
Somewhere deep inside his mind, Vaelor howled again. Not with rage this time but with warning. Because something within the bond had shifted - something fragile had begun to fracture.