"You can't be serious!" Gabby's voice cracked with disbelief. Her amber eyes burned into the towering figure of Alex across the dimly lit study.

The alpha CEO Alex Forbes remained stone-faced, lips pressed into a hard line. "I don't make jokes about pack law. My decision is final."

"But I'm your fated mate!" she shouted, fists clenched at her sides. "Everyone knows it! We're bound by the ancient rites!"

"Rites that prohibit unions between ranks," Alex's deep baritone rumbled. "You may have my blood calling to you, but I lead one of the most powerful packs in the territories. I won't disrespect our ways for a dalliance with a low-ranked she-wolf."

The words sliced like claws through Gabby's chest. She fought back the sting of hot tears. "A dalliance? After everything we've been through together? Don't make me a fool, Alex!" 

His expression remained infuriatingly impassive. "You knew the consequences."

The shadows seemed to thicken around Gabby. Her wolf's animalistic urges roiled just beneath the surface, clawing to be unleashed. "So that's it?" she snarled, baring elongated canines. "You docked our bond and tossed me aside like a..."

"Enough!" Alex's resonant growl shook the very furniture. 

In the blink of an eye, his powerful alpha form towered over her, amber irises blazing like twin suns. Gabby's breath caught in her throat as his dominating presence overwhelmed her senses. This was the true extent of his strength, barely contained in human guise.

Alex leaned down until their faces were mere inches apart. His words came out in a guttural rumble. "You *will* respect the old ways and accept your place, Omega...or be exiled from these lands forever. The choice is yours."

Tears streamed down Gabby's cheeks as something inside her finally shattered. She'd fought so hard, sacrificed so much for this brutish ingrate of an alpha. Jaw clenched, she let out a hollow, mirthless laugh. 

"Your wolf may not see me as worthy," she spat with acid contempt. "But mine knows her worth."

Before Alex could react, Gabby spun on her heel and stormed out, slamming the heavy oak doors behind her. She was done being his mate...his pack...his problem. Let the Alpha of the Territory rule his concrete kingdom alone.

Whatever force had bound them before, she would break it. Or be shattered trying.

Gabby barely made it out of the study before the first heaving sobs wracked her body. She sank against the cold stone walls of the corridor, drawing her knees up as anguished cries echoed through the empty halls. 

How could he? After all they'd been through, all she'd sacrificed at his side? The bond between them had been so profound, so electric, that she'd naively believed Alex could defy the old ways when it came to choosing a mate.

But the alpha CEO's words lingered like a fetid miasma. He wouldn't sully his legacy and standing among the packs for a low-ranked she-wolf. She was unworthy in his wolf's eyes. Merely an "Omega" to be discarded.

Gabby's teeth gnashed as a molten fury ignited within her veins. She'd proven herself time and again - clawed her way from the gutters to have a seat at his table. And yet none of it mattered to that egotistical, specist bastard!

Her fists clenched, fingernails drawing ruby streams from her palms as she struggled to contain the storm of emotions whipping through her mind. She could still feel the searing heat of Alex's dominating presence, taste the metallic flint of his growl against her lips when he'd towered over her.

He'd been so determined to break her will, force her into the submissive role their antiquated customs demanded. But Gabby was not so easily bent. Something primordial had awoken within her...a recursive loop of wrath and defiance that grew more ravenous with each rasping breath.

Slowly, she rose to her feet, flames dancing in those amber depths. Her decision was made. If Alex's wolf couldn't accept her as his mate, she would shed the title and all its trappings. 

Gabby turned her back on the corridor, leaving the estate - and her failed bond with the alpha - far behind her. From this moment on, she walked alone. And the territory would soon know the terrible price of spurning a wolf's fated path.