"We're here." I cut him off, turning to look out the window. The carriage had already stopped before the gates of the Alpha's Keep.
One day became one week. One week became one moon cycle. One moon cycle became one full turning of seasons.
His promises meant nothing to me anymore.
Five years of this bond—just a dream woven from moonlight and false hope.
And now that I had woken, it was time to gather my belongings and leave this den behind.
Outside the window, the territory's boundary torches flickered on and off in the night wind.
Just like my hopes over these five years. Kindled again and again. Extinguished again and again.
But now, I had finally learned.
I would stop waiting for a light that was never meant to shine on me.
The night deepened, the twin moons rising high above the mountain peaks.
Fenris wrapped his arms around me from behind, his warm breath brushing past my ear, carrying his familiar pine and smoke scent. His voice was low and tender.
"Sweetheart, how about I take you to the Ashvale Bloodline Keep soon? To see your parents?"
I stiffened slightly and turned to look at him. "Why the sudden visit?"
"You've seemed down lately." His fingers traced slow circles on my shoulder, his touch gentle in a way that felt almost foreign. "I thought returning to your birth pack might lift your spirits."
I thought of the Ashvale territory back home.
Every tree, every stream, every hunting trail there held memories of our childhood together—back when we had run through the forests as pups, before bonds and duty and heartbreak.
I was still lost in thought when he added casually, "Oh, and I received word that your father hasn't been well. Good timing to check on him."
"Father is ill?" I sat up abruptly, my wolf surging forward in alarm. "Why didn't I know about this?"
He soothed me immediately, pulling me back against his chest. "Don't worry. I only found out because the Den Keeper let it slip during her report. She said it's nothing serious—just the strain of his years catching up with him."
He tucked me closer into his arms. "So let's go see him."
I exhaled in relief and nodded, my wolf settling reluctantly.
I could not explain what I was hoping for, but strangely, that night he was unusually restrained. He simply held me—no wandering hands seeking more, no attempt to deepen our scent-bond through intimacy.