It wasn't until later that I learned the truth: the reason he'd gotten drunk that night, the reason he'd ended up with me—it was because the female he truly wanted had bonded with someone else.
And that female was Aurora Duskmoor.
The false-blooded heiress his pack had mistakenly adopted as a pup.
His sister in name only—but the one whose scent made his wolf howl with longing.
He couldn't bear the thought of watching her become another wolf's mate. His feelings had slipped through the cracks of his careful control, nearly exposing him to the pack elders. That was why he rushed into bonding with me—simply to satisfy his parents' demands and quiet the whispers among the Duskmoor wolves.
At first, the truth had torn through me like claws.
But deep in my heart, I always believed that a bond could strengthen over time. That eventually, I would find a way past his walls and into the place where his wolf truly dwelt.
Until a few days ago, when I discovered the secret hidden within his message-sigil crystal.
Aurora's pack registration had been transferred out of her bloodline's territory. She was tangled in a brutal bond dissolution with her mate, Darian Hollowfang.
With no den to shelter her, Fenris had arranged everything—securing her lodging at neutral territory inns, accompanying her through shared meals and moonlit walks along the forest trails, even standing beside her at the Mooncourt hearings to fight her bond severance.
Meanwhile, a month ago, I had been captured by wolves from a rival pack. When I sent him an urgent howl-call, desperate and afraid, his sigil channel remained dark and silent.
Later, an unmarked memory-crystal arrived for me.
In the vision it held, he was in Aurora's bed, lost in her body, their scents intertwined.
That was the moment I finally made my decision: this hollow bond had to end.
The memory pulled a bitter laugh from my throat.
I turned and walked out of his council chamber, sealing the signed bond rejection documents and sending them by trusted courier to Selene.
Back at the Alpha's Keep, I began gathering my things.
The garments hanging in the wardrobe, the tomes arranged on the shelves, the jewelry tucked away in carved wooden boxes... I sorted through each item, one by one, feeling nothing. Not a single thread of attachment remained.