Later that evening, the sterile quiet of the hospital room pressed down on me like a suffocating shroud, the faint hum of the ventilation system mingling with the distant calls of night wolves echoing across the estate.
My eyes remained fixed on the photo Nyra had sent, the image burning itself into my mind: Alpha Alaric, leaning over her hospital bed, pen in hand, his expression tender, meticulous, and frighteningly devoted. Beneath it, her caption cut sharper than any fang:
[Your mate is impossibly devoted, very romantic. He penned me a hundred letters, watched over me all night, never once resting. The pack omegas only told him you were stirring, and that’s when he finally tore himself away to see you.]
The next message arrived almost instantly, each word coated in deliberate malice, a venomous taunt designed to twist the knife deeper:
[Kaia, you’ll never surpass me. If you have any sense, you should just step aside.]
My chest burned, a wild, bitter fire igniting behind my ribs, yet I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me break. My fingers hovered over the screen, trembling as if the blood of my ancestors, the fierce Blackthorn wolves, were coursing through them, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Before I could respond, the door creaked open, carrying the stiff, deliberate energy of someone who belonged to the human world but knew little of the pack's silent rules. A man in a crisp black suit stepped in, his movements precise, his gaze sweeping the room with practiced efficiency, barely acknowledging me before turning to Alpha Alaric.
“Alpha. Alaric,” he said, his voice low and deferential, almost ceremonial, “as per your instructions, we’ve prepared everything for the press conference. The transfer of Silverfang Holdings to Nyra Blackthorn can proceed as planned.”
My heart constricted in my chest as the truth settled over me like a heavy, suffocating fog. I turned my gaze to Alpha Alaric, searching for a hint of remorse, for a flicker of the man who had once been my mate, but instead, I found only the calm, controlled smile of a predator, satisfied with the hunt.
“Good,” he said, his voice smooth, measured, and terrifying in its ease. “If my wife, Luna Kaia, asks about this, tell her that Silverfang Holdings suffered a major financial crisis and went bankrupt.”
Then, turning to me with the practiced concern of a wolf feigning tenderness to protect its territory, he signed with exaggerated urgency, “Kaia, something urgent happened at the company. I have to handle it. Wait here for me.” Each motion was flawless, the care in his hands meticulous, but my restored hearing revealed the silent truth behind his act. His words were empty, rehearsed, a performance, not protection.
For a long moment, I simply stared, letting the room, the sterile walls, the faint scent of antiseptic, and the quiet hum of the hospital sink into me. The truth was blindingly clear: Alpha Alaric’s loyalty, his supposed devotion, had never been mine. It had been a lie wrapped in skillful deception, designed to entrap me in a role I had outgrown, a pack member who had never truly belonged.
I nodded silently as he left, the door clicking shut behind him, leaving a vacuum of oppressive silence in his wake. My hands clenched into fists, the tension coursing through me like wildfire, every vein thrumming with the instinctive fury of my wolf bloodline.
The realization struck me like a full moon rising over the pack lands; there was nothing left here for me. No trust, no love, no future.
With a deliberate calm that belied the storm raging inside me, I reached into my bag and pulled out a divorce agreement. The papers creased and worn from the hours I had spent weighing every choice, every consequence. I placed them neatly on the bedside table, the stark white sheets a symbol of resolve, of freedom, and of the inevitable severing of chains that had bound me to this false life.
Before leaving, I reached for my phone and deleted every trace of them, the names of Alpha Alaric, Nyra, and even my parents. Each press of the delete button was a spark of liberation, a severing of ties soaked in years of betrayal, pain, and suffocating expectation.
Alpha Alaric’s POV
By the time the press conference began, the room thrummed with energy, human and wolf media alike poised to record every movement, every word. I stood on the stage beside Nyra, my posture calm, commanding, radiating the alpha dominance that made lesser wolves instinctively bow their heads. Cameras flashed like lightning storms, reporters scribbled furiously, and I announced the transfer of Knight Holdings to her with the cold, measured authority of a wolf marking its territory.
“This marks a new chapter for our family,” I said, each word calculated, dripping with control and predation. The applause rolled through the crowd, vibrating through the walls like a pack call. I caught the hollow pride in Nyra’s parents’ faces, their smiles fixed, celebrating Nyra’s triumph as if Kaia had never existed.
As the event ended and I offered Nyra my arm, her hand clinging to me with radiant certainty, I felt the thrill of victory. She was untouchable in the glow of the crowd, the perfect image of dominance and submission entwined. But then… a familiar presence sliced through the golden haze, a wolf in human form whose confidence pressed against me like a challenge I could not ignore. Manuel, Kaia's healer.
“Long time no see, Alpha Alaric,” Manuel said, his tone casual but layered with the weight of a rival alpha. “Taking your Sister-in-law out again? Why not bring your Luna? I was curious, wondered if she still struggles with her ears, or if she’s finally hearing properly.”
My blood ran cold. My alpha composure, so carefully honed, faltered like the moon had shifted in the sky. golden eyes, once calculating and lethal, flashed with disbelief and panic. “What did you just say?” My voice dropped low, sharp, trembling with an emotion no predator admits. “Kaia… she can hear now?”
Manuel’s gaze held mine, steady and unrelentless, his tone almost teasing against the tension that gripped me. “Her hearing recovered yesterday. Didn’t anyone tell you?”
