The Ryder who had always been distant,cold,and strictly professional with her,his Claimed Mate...had been endlessly loving,nurturing,and indulgent toward Lyra.Elara had been blind to this painful disparity for too long.Only after being deliberately neglected over and over had she finally learned to release the claim.
Lyra suddenly raised her head,her gaze cautious and testing.“Elara...do you sense the way I look at my Alpha is...inappropriate?”
Elara remained silent,studying the subtle shifts in the she-wolf’s defensive posture.
Lyra’s possessiveness over Ryder was so blatant,her schemes so transparent,that she had the gall to declare it openly to his Claimed Mate.
But instead of reacting with the expected jealousy,Elara simply smiled as she calmly responded,“It is not inappropriate.I sense...your Alpha returns that affection,Lyra.”
Lyra’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper,edged with triumph.“Then,Elara...will you release the Alpha’s claim to me?”
Elara met her expectant gaze,the bright,innocent hope in Lyra's eyes a perfect mirror to her own former desperation.“Perhaps,”she answered lightly.
She didn't announce her Separation Decree outright.There was no reason to hand Lyra the full victory of the Alpha King so easily.
Still,Lyra seemed deeply satisfied with the ambiguous answer.A conquering,radiant smile spread across her face,as if the Alpha's title and territory were already fully ceded to her.On the way back to the Keep,Lyra dozed off in the back seat of the transport.
Ryder glanced at Elara through the reflective surface of the rearview mirror and spoke in a low,guilt-ridden voice.“Elara,next cycle...I promise I’ll publicly acknowledge our true,binding bond.”
Elara smiled gently,her voice calm and final.“It is of no consequence,Ryder.Our Claiming was only a contractual agreement for the Pack.I comprehend its limits.”
Her calm,immediate acceptance of the lie made Ryder distinctly uneasy.
He hurriedly reassured her,his voice bordering on the desperate.“At the earliest,in a single cycle,I’ll—”
“We have reached the perimeter,”Elara cut him off,looking out the window at the distant gate of the Keep.
One day became one cycle.A single cycle became a full moon.A full moon became a year.