After the Pack’s quarterly council meeting,Ryder Thorne,the Alpha King,cast a sharp,assessing look at the unfamiliar female wolf standing near his desk.

“Who is this?”he demanded,his voice carrying the low,authoritative growl that commanded attention across the Blackwood Keep.He addressed Elara Vance,who was calmly organizing the mission reports.

“Kai,a newly vetted Pack member I trained,”Elara replied,her tone deliberately even.“He will handle the meeting records and Pack logs from this cycle forward.”

Ryder gave a thoughtful,dismissive nod.“That’s efficient.You won’t have to concern yourself with minor Beta tasks like this anymore,Elara.”

Minor Beta tasks.

Elara's inner wolf—the part of her tied to his Pack—gave a bitter,silent snarl.These so-called‘minor tasks’were the critical summaries she had meticulously filtered from hours of complex Pack Elder discussions,ensuring his Alpha focus remained razor-sharp.

But to him,her intense effort was merely a necessary distraction,not a valuable contribution.

Kai,the new Pack member,nervously presented the meeting notes.Ryder quickly scanned the pages,his powerful Alpha brow furrowing in irritation.

After Kai retreated,Ryder turned to Elara,his expression shifting to one of easy familiarity.“You know my preferences best.The new wolf’s summary is too complicated,lacks the clarity I require.”

He waited for Elara to take the document and begin the rewrite,as she always had.But instead,she simply smiled—a cold,brittle gesture that didn't reach her eyes—and said,“Give the Beta a cycle to improve his scenting of the details.”

Ryder looked genuinely surprised for a fleeting moment,a hint of Alpha discomfort clouding his golden gaze,but he quickly masked it.Just then,his specialized communication link lit up with a coded message.

Elara glanced at the screen and saw an invitation to an important Rogue Neutralization Ceremony hosted by a friendly Clan Leader.The message specifically requested he bring a female companion to honor the treaty.

“Do you require your claimed Mate to attend with you,Alpha?”Elara’s voice was soft,laced with a deliberate challenge he seemed to miss.

Ryder’s expression became conflicted,a war between Alpha duty and private need.

He reached out and pulled Elara into his imposing arms,speaking in a gentle,possessive tone.“That kind of event isn’t for you,my Mate.The wolves there are always looking for a fight;I don’t want you caught in the Rogue Territory trouble.I need you safe,here in the Keep.”

Elara gently shifted away from his embrace,pulling just beyond the reach of his overwhelming Alpha musk.

“That’s acceptable.I have personal matters to attend to tonight anyway,”she said.Then,forcing a phrase of duty,she added,“Return to the Keep before the moon is high.”

Ryder looked visibly relieved.He pressed a light,absent-minded kiss to her cheek,his scent marking her out of habit,and smiled.

“You are so understanding,Elara.Next time,when there’s a proper treaty event,I’ll take you with me so every Clan can know who my true claimed Mate is.”

Elara stared at his sincere expression and suddenly found the entire exchange ridiculous.

This was the first time in five years that he had offered to publicly validate their bond.And it happened at the very moment she had already executed the plan for their permanent severance.

She turned to leave the Alpha's chamber,and without looking back,dismissed him with a promise:“Alright,Alpha.Next time.”

But in her heart,she knew the moon cycles would never align for a next time.

As Elara had predicted,Ryder’s‘female companion’for the night was Lyra,the wolf from the rival clan.

At the ceremony,Lyra wore an elegant white silk gown—the color of a peace flag in the Pack world—and clung to Ryder’s powerful arm in front of the assembled Pack Leaders.Her cheeks were flushed with a triumphant glow,and she leaned into Ryder,causing murmurs among the observing wolves.

“Lyra’s spirit is stronger these cycles.”

“Yes,she and Alpha Thorne’s scent profiles are a perfect match!”

No one mentioned their history as adopted siblings.

After all,Lyra was no longer legally bound to her former Mate.To the outsiders,they were simply two powerful wolves beginning a new,necessary alliance.

After the ceremony,Lyra,whose emotions were heightened by the ceremonial mead,sat in the passenger seat of Ryder’s armored transport.She clutched his leather gauntlet.“Ryder...I really can’t go back to that guarded den.Can I stay at the Keep until my severance is finalized?”

Ryder’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

His Alpha instinct screamed at him to refuse.If Elara detected Lyra’s rival scent in the Alpha’s chambers,it would trigger a hostile reaction—and the Elders might get involved.

But when he saw Lyra’s tear-filled eyes and the fragile flush on her neck,he couldn’t find the necessary authority to say no.He wrenched the car toward his home territory.However,when he arrived,an unexpected,unsettling scene was waiting.

Elara stood at the grand oak doors of the Keep,speaking with Elder Weston,the wealthy wolf known for handling the Pack’s most difficult bond severances.They were examining a large,official document.

Ryder’s heart gave a sudden,hard thump of pure,primal dread.He swiftly exited the vehicle and helped the unsteady Lyra forward.

“What in the name of the Moon Goddess is happening here?”

His eyes were locked on the document.“Who is initiating a severance?”

The parchment looked familiar,bearing the faint,cold scent of Pack Law,but before he could get a clear look,Elara calmly tucked it into her sturdy leather satchel.

“Sierra and her Beta are undergoing a severance.I’m simply advising my confidante on the legal implications,”she said,using her friend's name as a perfect shield.Elara then turned her attention to Lyra,whose distress scent was heavy in the air.

“What has happened to Lyra?Is she injured?”

Ryder hesitated,his eyes flickering between Elara’s cool gaze and Lyra's vulnerable presence.“Her former Mate’s Clan caused trouble at the den.She needs a few cycles to hide out here.”

Then,as if to reassert his control,he looked at Elara with a patronizing concern and softly lectured her.“Even if you’re advising a friend,you shouldn’t meet a male wolf—even an Elder—so late outside the Keep’s perimeter.”

His tone carried the usual,distant disapproval he used to assert his status over her.

Elara’s eyes flickered to Lyra,who was pressed tightly against Ryder’s powerful arm.The situation was deeply ironic.This Alpha,who treated her—his claimed Mate—like a distant sister,was treating his real adopted sister like a coveted lover.

Elder Weston abruptly gave a knowing,dry smirk.“Now that I think about it,Alpha Thorne,I haven’t had the pleasure of officially meeting the Mate you claimed for the Pack yet.”

Elder Weston held Elara and Lyra in his gaze,his knowing smile thin and challenging.“Could it be that Alpha Ryder Thorne’s Claimed Mate is—”

“It is none of your concern,Elder,”Ryder interrupted with a fierce,low growl,clearly unwilling to discuss the fractured state of his claim with a Pack outsider.

The Elder nodded calmly,his eyes never leaving Elara.“I apologize,Alpha.These cycles,open claims are quite common among the Northern Packs.Ryder,you must be…”

He paused,a dark,dangerous smirk playing on his lips before he drawled sarcastically,“Do not worry,I know when to cease my territorial sniffing.”

Before Ryder could fully ignite with Alpha rage,the Elder turned to leave.As he melted into the shadows beyond the Keep’s perimeter,he tossed a final,chilling barb over his shoulder:“If you ever require my services for a severance,Alpha.Come to me.I will grant the Claimed Mate a sizable discount.”

Ryder instinctively glared at Elara,his voice cold with suspicion.“My Mate and I share a strong,functional bond,Elder.”

Elder Weston was already gone,lost to the scent trails,so it was unclear if he had heard.

But Lyra definitely did.

She leaned into Ryder,feigning a drunken wobble.Her eyes,magnified by her emotional state,were watery as she whispered,“Ryder...Am I disrupting the sanctity of your claim with Elara?”

Before he could respond,her face crumpled in practiced grief,and she struggled to pull away.“You are no longer my adopted Alpha...You have a Mate now...I shouldn’t be a burden.I must return to my solitary den.”

Ryder seized her tighter,his powerful hands gripping her upper arms.

His voice dropped to a pitch so soft it could melt the mountain ice,laden with raw protectiveness.“I may not be the Alpha who formally raised you...But you are always welcome and safe within my territory,Lyra.”

His burning gaze,full of an inappropriate depth of feeling,made Lyra’s face turn an even deeper shade of scarlet.Meanwhile,Elara stood a few feet away,observing the scene like a useless human sentinel guarding a bond that didn't exist.

Finally,Ryder seemed to recall her presence.Releasing Lyra,he looked at Elara with a fleeting flicker of guilt.“Elara...You don’t mind,do you?Lyra is my pack-sister,after all.”

He had already prepared the placating words—the Alpha rituals to soothe a jealous Mate.

But she only offered him a faint,hollow smile and said,“I do not mind,Alpha.”

Those three words were light and airy,yet they felt like a jagged piece of bone stabbing into her own heart.

The next morning,Elara woke up and instinctively reached for the other side of the massive,custom-made bed.Ryder’s side was already cold and empty.The bed only smelled of the residual musk of Alpha sleep—no lingering presence.She pulled on her silk robe and walked barefoot down the third-floor hallway,looking down toward Lyra’s temporary chamber on the second floor.

Through the slightly ajar door,she caught the scene.Ryder,the Alpha King,was carefully feeding Lyra a bowl of a pack remedy for the ceremonial mead hangover.

When Lyra frowned and pouted,Ryder gently blew on the spoon to cool the broth.When she complained about her tangled hair,he picked up a comb—a human,delicate tool—and skillfully tied a complex,beautiful ponytail for her.

Elara’s nails dug deep into the soft skin of her palm as she watched,her breath hitched in her throat.

Then,the memory returned.She recalled the time she suffered internal bleeding after drinking too much with the Pack’s trade allies.The next morning,Ryder only asked the Omega servants to prepare her a common,bland soup.She had once tearfully asked him to tie her hair into a simple ponytail for her,but he had simply stated,“I do not possess the human skill for such a trivial task.”

Elara stood frozen until Ryder finally guided Lyra out of the room,their forms vanishing down the spiral staircase.

Her legs were numb,but she stubbornly refused to move.

She refused to descend and play the part of the foolish,irrelevant Claimed Mate—the useless shadow in their perfectly scripted fated love story.

Perhaps because her mind was elsewhere,lost in the icy solitude of her decision,Elara misjudged the steep,carved stairs as she finally walked down.She stumbled.Then,she fell heavily,her body thudding painfully against the polished stone steps.

“Ah!”

A sharp,searing pain exploded in her lower abdomen.She curled up on the cold ground,feeling a warm,metallic liquid—the undeniable scent of fresh blood—slowly spreading beneath her.

Her face,usually pale,turned a ghostly white.With trembling fingers,she pressed her lower belly.A horrifying,visceral realization hit her:The life she carried was trying to leave her.

“The Mate!The Alpha’s Mate!”

The elderly Pack Servant rushed over in a panic.When the servant saw the dark blood spreading on the floor,her composure shattered.“I—I will call the Pack Healers immediately!And the Alpha’s private comm!”

The servant quickly seized Elara’s rejected phone.“I have tried the Alpha King’s private line ten times,Mate,but he is outside the range!I have tried seventeen times on your line...No response from the Alpha’s comm-link…”

On the harsh metal gurney,Elara weakly opened her eyes and grabbed the Healer’s sleeve.

“I…I will sign the decree myself…I do not want the pup…”

Her voice was barely a whisper,but it carried the chilling,crushing weight of a final judgment.

Elara remembered how Ryder had commanded her to prepare for a Pack heir just two moon cycles ago,securing the future of their shaky bond.She had ceased the human suppressant.This pup had come unexpectedly—a desperate,fragile link.

Now,it was leaving her,just as unexpectedly.

The lead Healer spoke with grave concern.“The situation is critical,Mate.The pup may not survive the trauma,but we can attempt a full bond restoration—”

“There is no need,”Elara whispered,closing her eyes.

Tears,hot and silent,slipped down her temples and into the cold metal beneath her head.On the unforgiving surgical slab,the bright,sterile surgical light burned her eyelids.The metallic sounds of the tools were sharp and mechanical,and every movement felt like a piece of her very Claimed flesh was being cut away.

Elara bit down hard on her lip until she tasted the sharp tang of her own blood,refusing to make a sound.She refused to scream.She refused to let the Alpha feel the pain of his dereliction.She refused to feel anything at all.

A moon cycle later,sunlight streamed through the gauze curtains of the Pack’s private Healer’s Den,casting a deceptive warmth on the sterile cot.

Elara put down her comm-link.The screen still displayed Lyra’s latest video log,widely shared across the allied Clan channels.In the visual,Ryder was kneeling,his powerful frame contorted as he meticulously adjusted Lyra’s laced combat boots,his focus entirely on her.They shared a laugh—a sound of genuine,unbound joy.

Expressionless,Elara locked the screen.She felt no shock,only the dull,steady ache of acceptance.

Suddenly,the door swung open with a heavy thud.

“Elara!”Ryder,the Alpha King,rushed in,his face etched with a fleeting,unfamiliar panic.“How are you—”

As he got closer,he noticed the alarming pallor of her skin.Her lips were almost devoid of natural color—the color of a wolf who had lost too much blood.

His brows furrowed,the instinct of the Alpha Mate finally kicking in,albeit belatedly.“Is it the irregularity in your heat cycle again?Why did you keep this from me?”

Elara had long grown accustomed to managing her own human ailments.Since she had fiercely instructed the servant to never mention the lost pup,Ryder simply assumed she was recovering from a usual,minor health crisis.He took the convenient excuse for granted.

Elara looked at him quietly.

In the past,whenever she felt weak,she would use the opportunity to demand his presence—to ask him to share her cot.

But this cycle,she hadn’t even tried to call.

Seventeen unanswered calls.To the bond,it was no different from calling zero times.Why should she continue to set herself up for the bitter taste of his dereliction?

“I assumed the Pack’s affairs held the Alpha King too busy,”Elara said softly.“Besides,I did not wish to disrupt your patrol.”

Ryder’s chest tightened,a momentary flicker of guilt hitting his Alpha core.

He stepped forward,the heavy scent of his authority and his territory closing around her,and pulled her into his arms.“I am your Claimed Mate,Elara.You have the right to summon me,always.”

Elara did not push him away,but neither did she return the embrace.She leaned against his shoulder,her body a dead weight,and suddenly asked,“Is the bond of duty the same with Lyra?”

The moment the words left her lips,she regretted them.It made her sound like a jealous she-wolf fighting for a better scent mark.Ryder stiffened slightly against her,then offered a practiced,reassuring smile and stroked her hair.“Of course,it is the same.She is family;the connection is primal.”

Just then,Elara’s comm-link chimed.

It was Elder Weston.She answered the call briefly in front of Ryder,keeping her words short and transactional before hanging up.Ryder frowned,his expression hardening.

“Come to think of it,I encountered Beta Felicia’s Mate a few cycles ago.They did not seem to be progressing toward a severance.”

“It was Felicia’s solitary decision to initiate the decree,”Elara said calmly,sealing her inner emotions.“Her Mate has not yet been served the official documents.”

Ryder looked genuinely confused.“But is a severance not a decree that requires both wolves to consent to the fracture of the bond?”

Elara met his gaze with a deliberate,meaningful intensity.“Felicia sensed that her Mate was secretly scenting his first love—a wolf from his youth.She could not endure the lie,so she chose to file for severance without telling him.If she had raised the matter,he would likely have used his authority to deny the claim.”

Ryder’s powerful face darkened.“Then she must sever the bond!A wolf who violates the sanctity of the claim is worse than a rogue!”

Elara lowered her eyes.Ryder clearly knew the Beta’s Mate well.Given his Alpha insight,he surely knew whether the man carried the lingering scent of an old love.Yet,without hesitation,he immediately condemned the man.

Ryder was not as calm as he pretended to be.

“How much longer is Lyra’s severance cooling-off period,Alpha?”Elara asked suddenly,throwing the focus back on him.

“Fifteen more days,”Ryder answered without thought.It was clear he had been counting down every single cycle.

Elara looked outside at the sharp sunlight cutting through the trees and whispered,“Then it will be nearly simultaneous.”

“What will be?”Ryder was puzzled,failing to follow the subtle shift in her meaning.

“Nothing,”Elara replied.

She smiled faintly—a ghost of her former self—and said no more.

Just then,Ryder’s personal comm-link vibrated.The same Alpha who had ignored Elara’s seventeen missed calls immediately answered,his voice dropping to a velvet whisper of deep concern.

“Hello,Lyra?”

On the other end,Lyra’s voice was strained and wet with tears.“Ryder…I feel so exposed being alone in this territory den…”

“Do not be afraid,my dear.I will be back to reinforce your scent barriers soon,”Ryder reassured her,oblivious to the fact that his eyes had flickered towards Elara,gauging her reaction.

Elara watched quietly.She no longer felt the sharp sting of disappointment,only a cold,clinical understanding.So,this was the truth of the Alpha King’s priorities.

When Lyra was with him,Ryder ignored his comm-link because he knew Elara’s presence wasn't important enough to disrupt their private alliance.But when Lyra was absent,he was terrified of missing a single word from her.After hanging up,Ryder hesitated.

It might have been guilt.Or,it might have been the chilling echo of Elara’s phrase:‘A man who violates the sanctity of the claim is worse than a rogue’.For once,he didn’t rush to leave.

“Return to your Alpha duties,”Elara said first,dismissing him.“Do not let the Pack’s logs pile up.”

Ryder looked relieved,the pressure lifting from his shoulders.“When will you be cleared by the Healers?Send me a chime,and I will personally collect you.”

With that,he left the private Den without even a backward glance.

A moon cycle later,Elara packed her sparse suitcase,preparing to leave the Healer’s den for good.She called Ryder three times.No answer.

At the same time,Lyra’s latest video log was trending across the Clan networks,boasting over 100,000 positive scent markings(likes).

In the video,Lyra proudly displayed the‘Alpha’s efforts’:limited-edition human trophies(handbags),enormous financial transfers(money),pictures of her global scent-marking travels,and close-ups of Ryder performing mundane human tasks—cooking,washing dishes,and massaging her feet.

The comments section was full of admiration.

[What an absolutely perfect,devoted Alpha!]

[What a powerful and caring Mate!I’m so jealous of her claimed bond!]

Lyra made no effort to clarify her true relationship with the Alpha King,allowing the wider wolf community to believe whatever they wished.

Finally,Ryder called back.

His voice was casual,dismissive,the sound of an Alpha interrupted.“I was occupied by a border patrol and missed the calls.What is the urgent matter,Mate?”

Sure enough,Ryder had completely forgotten his promise to collect her.In the background,Lyra’s melodic laughter was clear as day.Yet,Ryder still lied calmly.“I am finalizing a business contract.If the matter is not critical,perhaps we can discuss it once I return to the Keep?”

Elara’s voice was gentle as she delivered the final blow.“It is of no consequence,Ryder.I merely needed to confirm your current Pack location.”

After hanging up,she opened the calendar on her comm-link.

Lyra’s official severance cooling-off period had one cycle left.Elara’s own Separation Decree would take effect in fifteen cycles.Soon.There was no need for Elara to feel the pain of his betrayal anymore.