Cain's POV:

The sun had barely risen, but the Alpha’s mansion was already alive with movement. Guards patrolled the halls in precise rhythm, servants carried trays of breakfast down the marble corridors, and distant laughter and conversation drifted from the common rooms above. I walked through it all, but it felt unreal, disconnected, like I was moving through someone else’s life.

My father appeared before me suddenly, silent as a shadow, and I froze. The way he looked at me—the set of his jaw, the sharpness in his eyes—made my stomach turn.

“Cain,” he said, low and commanding, “your mother and I have received news…”

I sensed the weight behind his tone instantly. The air seemed to tighten, pressing against my chest.

“Cora has left the pack,” my father said flatly. His words hit me harder than I expected.

I staggered back. “What?”

“She left last night,” he repeated, tone final, unwavering. “While everyone slept. No warning. No note. No one knows where she went.”

The bond screamed in my chest. I could almost feel her there, beyond the borders, warm and alive, calling to me. Panic and guilt twisted inside me. I should have stopped her. I should have done something, anything.

I looked at my mother. Her expression was polite, distant, restrained sorrow barely flickering in her eyes. She didn’t speak. She just nodded, lightly, as if acknowledging that something important had happened… but not really caring enough to act.

Aurora, however, leaned against the ornate railing of the grand staircase, her posture perfect, one hip cocked, arms crossed. A faint, almost smug smile tugged at her lips. “Well,” she said, voice airy and condescending, “guess that solves things. Less… complication now.”

Her words landed like knives. My chest tightened. She couldn’t care less. The girl who had just run away, alone, possibly in danger… Aurora was completely indifferent. And worse, she looked pleased with herself, like she’d won without even trying.

“I… I should go after her,” I muttered, almost pleading to myself, the words raw, unpolished. My wolf stirred beneath the surface, restless, tense, desperate. I could almost taste the forest she had vanished into, feel her heartbeat as it echoed through the bond we shared.

“You will not,” my father snapped. His presence was rigid, immovable. The sheer authority in his voice silenced me instantly. “She made her choice. That is her responsibility. You have your duties to the pack—training, leadership, and most importantly, your future with Aurora.”

I wanted to argue, to yell, to throw myself out the doors of this golden cage and chase her through the forest—but I knew I couldn’t. I saw it in his eyes. I would never win.

“Focus on your training, Cain,” he continued. “Your marriage to Aurora must proceed without hesitation. The sooner you and she are publicly bonded, the stronger the pack will be. That is your duty. Do not fail it.”

I nodded, stiffly, trying to swallow the rising panic, the frustration, the guilt. Every word felt heavier than any burden I had ever carried. Duty. Responsibility. Control. All of it meant nothing compared to the thrum in my chest—the bond, alive and screaming, impossible to ignore.

I moved to the balcony overlooking the training yard. The pack warriors were already sparring, their movements precise, fast, disciplined. I should have been impressed by their skill, by the power radiating from every strike—but all I saw was emptiness. Every motion felt hollow. Every swing of the sword, every dodge, every clash of steel against steel reminded me of what I had refused, what I had left behind.

Aurora’s laugh drifted across the yard, light, careless, oblivious. My stomach twisted. I had chosen her. I had rejected Cora. I had done what was expected of me. And yet… it didn’t feel right.

I closed my eyes briefly, trying to breathe through the ache. The mansion’s gold-plated rails, polished floors, and immaculate gardens felt suffocating. I had a life of privilege, power, and control—but it was meaningless without the one thing I wanted and had denied myself.

I could almost see her—Cora—alone in the forest, the early morning mist curling around her, her wolf stirring beneath her skin, senses alive, body moving like it had been made for freedom. My wolf growled inside me, frustrated, restless, yearning. The bond pulsed painfully, each heartbeat echoing a truth I couldn’t escape: I had made the wrong choice.

I clenched my fists on the railing. My father’s orders, my obligations, my training—they all pressed down on me like iron bands. But beneath it, something far more primal whispered insistently: She is out there. And she is yours.

I wanted to move. To run. To defy my father and find her. To claim what had always belonged to me in the only way that mattered.

But I didn’t. Not yet.

Instead, I stayed on the balcony, watching the warriors below, listening to the distant laughter, feeling the bond scream in my chest, aching, demanding, reminding me that I had lost her—not to another, but to my own fear and obedience.

I had chosen duty. I had chosen Aurora.

And I didn’t know if I could ever forgive myself for it.