Turning my head, I froze at the sight of Alpha Alaric seated beside me. His hair was disheveled, his shirt wrinkled, his face pale with exhaustion, though relief ignited the moment our eyes met.
He immediately began signing, his hands moving swiftly, his gestures filled with urgency.
“My love, you are awake! I never meant to leave you behind. Ronan Stormclaw was away, and Nyra needed me; she is pregnant, and I had to take her to the healers first. Please, you must understand…”
His movements slowed, his eyes softening, his tone shifting into one of coaxing persuasion. “You know how vital heirs are to the Silverfang Pack. If something had happened to Nyra’s child, the family would never forgive you. Even your parents would have cast you out. I only did this to protect you, Kaia. Please believe me.”
His face carried such sincerity that any outsider might have believed his lies. But I, bound to him by mate bond and betrayal, knew better.
The ache within my chest hollowed me, but I refused to break in front of him. I refused to allow him to see the depth of my pain.
I said nothing.
His smile faltered; the flicker of disappointment was undeniable. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached for my hand.
I neither pulled away nor accepted his touch. I simply turned my gaze toward the window, letting the silence between us grow heavier than any words, a silence that carried the weight of all the truths I could no longer ignore.
Later that evening, the sterile quiet of the hospital room pressed down on me like a suffocating shroud, the faint hum of the ventilation system mingling with the distant calls of night wolves echoing across the estate.
My eyes remained fixed on the photo Nyra had sent, the image burning itself into my mind: Alpha Alaric, leaning over her hospital bed, pen in hand, his expression tender, meticulous, and frighteningly devoted. Beneath it, her caption cut sharper than any fang:
[Your mate is impossibly devoted, very romantic. He penned me a hundred letters, watched over me all night, never once resting. The pack omegas only told him you were stirring, and that’s when he finally tore himself away to see you.]
The next message arrived almost instantly, each word coated in deliberate malice, a venomous taunt designed to twist the knife deeper:
[Kaia, you’ll never surpass me. If you have any sense, you should just step aside.]