I turned before the mask could slip, retreating up the staircase with steps that grew heavier, leaden with every heartbeat. The instant the bedroom door closed behind me, the fragile composure I had clung to disintegrate. My shoulders shook, my hands pressed over my mouth as tears streamed freely, silent yet unrelenting, like rivers dammed too long. My wolf whimpered deep within, curling into herself, powerless to shield us both from the shattering truth.
When the storm inside me finally ebbed, I wiped my face, forcing the swelling in my eyes to fade. I dressed in a modest but elegant gown, smoothing my hair until not a strand was out of place. I would not give Nyra, or anyone else, another weapon to cut me down with.
On my way downstairs, a sliver of light caught my eye. The door to Alpha Alaric’s study stood slightly open. For five years, I had never stepped into that room, respecting the boundary he had drawn with such quiet finality. I had thought it was where he worked tirelessly to protect his company and the pack’s interests.
But tonight, something stronger than reason guided my hand. I pushed the door open, and the breath was torn from my chest.
The walls were covered in photographs. Dozens upon dozens of images, spanning years, Nyra smiling, Nyra crying, Nyra laughing, Nyra standing proud under the moon’s glow. From her childhood innocence to her poised womanhood, her entire life was laid out with obsessive reverence. The air of a study was gone; in its place stood a shrine.
Not one picture of me adorned those walls.
My legs trembled as I stumbled toward the desk. There, arranged in neat stacks, were countless letters. My fingers shook as I lifted the first one.
To Nyra, my 99th love letter.
Each word bled with devotion, a kind of passion that scorched every line. They weren’t merely notes, they were offerings, desperate prayers written to a woman who wasn’t his mate. My stomach twisted as my eyes fell upon the document beside them, a transfer contract for Silverfang Holdings.
Silverfang Holdings is the crown jewel of the Silverfang line and the pack’s empire. The company Alpha Alaric had poured its blood into protecting the legacy generations of Alphas that it had safeguarded. And yet he was ready to hand it over, to offer it as tribute at Nyra’s feet.