The comments section was full of admiration.
[What an absolutely perfect,devoted Alpha!]
[What a powerful and caring Mate!I’m so jealous of her claimed bond!]
Lyra made no effort to clarify her true relationship with the Alpha King,allowing the wider wolf community to believe whatever they wished.
Finally,Ryder called back.
His voice was casual,dismissive,the sound of an Alpha interrupted.“I was occupied by a border patrol and missed the calls.What is the urgent matter,Mate?”
Sure enough,Ryder had completely forgotten his promise to collect her.In the background,Lyra’s melodic laughter was clear as day.Yet,Ryder still lied calmly.“I am finalizing a business contract.If the matter is not critical,perhaps we can discuss it once I return to the Keep?”
Elara’s voice was gentle as she delivered the final blow.“It is of no consequence,Ryder.I merely needed to confirm your current Pack location.”
After hanging up,she opened the calendar on her comm-link.
Lyra’s official severance cooling-off period had one cycle left.Elara’s own Separation Decree would take effect in fifteen cycles.Soon.There was no need for Elara to feel the pain of his betrayal anymore.
When Elara opened the gate to the Blackwood Keep,she almost thought she had entered the wrong territory.The Den,which held the scent of her five-year-long,secret Claim,had been completely contaminated.It was a raw,visceral shock to her Fated Mate senses.
She had packed most of her personal human belongings before leaving the Healer's den,but it was clear that Lyra had taken advantage of her absence to remove even more of Elara’s residual scent markers.
Elara walked slowly toward the Master Chamber’s private washroom.
On Ryder’s washstand,there was a pair of matching Pack-issued scent stones—one deep crimson,one pale lavender—clearly a set.She looked around and saw that the entire Den was now filled with these paired,coded markings.Matching Pack blankets,carved drinking horns,and communal bedding were everywhere.
Anyone who didn’t know the truth would believe this was the established Den of a deeply Mated Alpha and his She-Wolf.
Elara then recalled the early cycles of their claim.She had nervously purchased a set of simple,matching wolf emblems for their Den.
At the time,Ryder had only glanced at them with a cold Alpha eye and said,“What is the utility of these trivial,human distractions?”