Once, after a run through the enchanted forests, I mentioned offhandedly how magical it would be to have a sanctuary like the ones in the old legends—a hidden place where no darkness could reach.
He claimed land in the most protected corner of his territory. Built me an estate. A secret sanctuary, warded and safe, just for me.
Every wolf in Capital Territory's elite circles knew how Alpha Alaric Nightfall treated me. It wasn't a secret—it was legend.
He made me bright again. Confident. Even a little spoiled, in ways I'd never imagined possible after everything I'd lost.
On the nights when the grief crept back—when I woke gasping from nightmares of my mother's fall, terrified that Alaric would reject our bond and leave me packless again—he would hold me through every sob, every irrational accusation, and repeat the same words with unwavering patience:
"Never worry, Lyra. Unless I'm dead, I will never stop loving you."
How was I supposed to let go of that wolf?
So when he returned from the Moonlit Isles with Seren, I swallowed my pride. I begged.
I dug out my healer records from the infirmary den—proof that I'd been poisoned with heat-inducing toxins, proof that I was innocent of willing betrayal—and brought them to him.
He wouldn't even look at them.
"Fabricated evidence," he said, his lip curling with disgust, his Alpha dominance pressing down until I could barely stand. "Is there anything you won't do to escape the consequences of your treachery?"
I was out of options. All I could do was dig out the keepsakes that documented our past—the courtship tokens etched with moon-silver, the scent-sealed letters where we'd poured out our hearts, the gifts and mementos that held meaning only for the two of us.
But every item I pulled out, Alaric burned.
The flames devoured each one, and with them, the faint traces of his scent that had once clung to the paper and fabric. I watched years of memories turn to ash in the hearth of our shared den.
Eventually, I grew desperate enough to bare my throat and try to draw him in—anything to make the Alpha who was supposed to be my mate stay in our chambers for just one night. I let my natural scent rise, unchecked, hoping it might stir something in him.
Alaric did pause. For the first time in ages, he moved toward me.