But I stayed quiet, because the bond between us felt heavier than ever in that moment, like it was already deciding our ending without us.
Maybe that nightmare shook him deeper than I thought, because the next morning, he didn’t let me out of his sight.
“I’m taking you myself,” he said, already dressed, keys in hand. “I don’t trust anyone else around you today.”
I didn’t argue. I didn’t have anything left in me to fight.
When we arrived at his office tower, the guards lowered their heads immediately.
“Alpha Samuel,” they greeted.
I couldn’t even respond properly.
Something felt wrong the moment I stepped inside, like the air itself was watching me breathe.
His scent was everywhere, strong, layered, and beneath it something faintly unfamiliar that made my wolf shift uneasily.
And then I saw it.
His office wall.
My breath stopped.
Photos.
But not me.
Ivy.
Hundreds of them. Some casual, some intimate, some clearly taken in private moments that didn’t look innocent at all. A few were lewd, her pressed against him, his hands on her waist, her lips on his neck.
Why… is she on his wall like this…?
Before I could speak, arms slid around my waist from behind.
Samuel.
His lips brushed my neck, his hold firm, possessive.
“Clara,” he murmured, voice soft like he wasn’t the same man who could snap necks with a command. “You don’t have to worry about her. It’s nothing.”
My eyes stayed on the wall.
Nothing…?
He exhaled, then quickly added, “Those are just Ivy’s suggestions. She wanted to see herself displayed. It’s just today. I’ll take them down tomorrow and replace them with yours.”
His grip tightened slightly, like he was trying to erase what I was seeing.
I didn’t answer.
He turned me away fast, almost too fast, and guided me into the inner room.
“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll fix this.”
A knock came at the door.
Jonas, his Beta.
“Alpha, the council meeting is about to start.”
Samuel exhaled like letting go of me physically hurt him more than anything else.
“Stay here,” he said, brushing his thumb over my cheek. “Don’t go anywhere. This place is safe for you.”
Safe.
I almost laughed.
He finally released me and left. The silence swallowed the room. I stayed still for a moment… then walked back out.
My feet stopped again.
A screen on his desk was still open.
A post.
Ivy.
Smiling at the camera, her lips on a man’s neck from behind. The man’s face wasn’t shown, but I didn’t need to see it.
The mark on his collarbone. That cross-shaped birthmark.
Samuel.
My stomach dropped.
More photos below. Intimate. Soft. Dangerous. Like a secret life he forgot to hide.
Comments flooded the screen.
“OMG Ivy girl is that your mate?”
“You two look so real together.”
“Alpha energy!!”
“Is that Samuel?? Be honest!!”
“Stop, this is too hot…”
My hands went cold. I stepped back slowly. The room suddenly felt too small to breathe in.
I couldn’t stay.
So I left.
I walked through the tower halls, past wolves bowing their heads, past guards who avoided my eyes like I was already half gone from the pack.
By noon, my phone buzzed.
I answered quickly.
“Ms. Clara Cooper,” a woman’s voice said through the line, “your exit from the Willoughby pack territory has been approved. You can now collect your transfer papers at the consulate.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
Approved.
It’s really done.
I opened my mouth—
But a voice cut in behind me.
“Exit papers?”
***
I turned slowly, and there he was. Samuel. His face had gone pale, like the ground under him just disappeared.
“What exit papers?” he asked, voice low but shaky. “Clara… what was that just now?”
My heart jumped, but I forced a small smile. “Not mine,” I said lightly. “A friend’s. She’s planning to leave her pack and move to human territory. She called to ask me about it.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. Just stared at me like he was trying to smell the truth off my skin. Then suddenly he pulled me into his arms.
Tight. Too tight. His body was trembling.
“Clara…” he whispered into my hair, voice rough, almost breaking. “Don’t ever leave me. For a second I thought it was you. I thought the bond was breaking and you were really gone.” His grip tightened. “I can’t live without you. Don’t do that to me.”
I slowly placed my hand on his back, patting him like I was soothing him. On the outside, I smiled a little. Inside, I was already gone.
I’m leaving. You just don’t know it yet.
That afternoon, while he was buried in pack meetings, I slipped out quietly and went straight to the consulate. I signed the last of my exit papers from the pack. My hand shook when I wrote my name, but my mind was clear.
---
That night was the Willoughby Company’s big event. The whole pack was there, Alphas, elders, investors, warriors. The ballroom shimmered with lights and scent of expensive wine and power.
I wore something simple, something that wouldn’t draw attention. I just wanted to blend in.
But Ivy didn’t. She walked in wearing a blood-red dress that clung to her like she wanted every eye on her. And it worked. People turned. Whispered. Watched.
Samuel noticed her too. I saw it in the way his hand paused around his glass, in the way his jaw tightened for half a second before he smiled again like nothing happened.
Guests kept coming to me, praising him.
“You’re so lucky, Luna Clara.”
“Alpha Samuel is completely devoted to you.”
“The mate bond really is strong.”
I just nodded and smiled.
If only they knew…
A man offered Ivy a drink. Before she could take it, Samuel stepped in, took the glass, and drank it himself.
“Can’t risk my friend’s sister getting into trouble,” he said smoothly, like it meant nothing.
Ivy tilted her head and smiled.
“Careful, Samuel,” she said lightly. “If you keep acting like this, Clara might get jealous.”
All eyes flicked to me.
I kept my smile soft. “No,” I said gently. “I won’t. I know Samuel loves me. He can’t live without me.”
For a second, Samuel looked at me like he wasn’t sure if he should believe that or fear it.
Then I saw it.
The necklace on Ivy’s neck. Same design as mine. Different stones.
My chest tightened.
