Alex POV
The next few weeks were less a passage of time and more a violent restructuring of my existence.
Daniel kept his word. He moved me to a secluded cabin deep within the Silver Moon territory, a fortress of solitude surrounded by ancient pines that whispered in the wind.
He assigned his best Healer, a stern woman named Martha, to oversee my agonizing "rehabilitation."
"Your body is rebuilding itself," Martha explained one morning, her voice clinical as she forced a ceramic cup into my trembling hands. "The White Wolf blood is aggressive. It's cannibalizing the weak Omega traits and replacing them with Alpha-level resilience. It hurts because you are literally growing from the inside out."
She wasn't lying. The pain was a constant, thrumming companion. My bones ached as if they were being broken and reset hourly.
My senses were no longer my own; they were predatory instruments. I could hear a squirrel's frantic heartbeat from a hundred yards away. I could smell the sticky, sweet sap moving inside the trees.
But I welcomed the pain. It distracted me from the gaping hole in my chest where Gavyn used to be.
"I want to train," I told Daniel one morning.
He was standing on the porch, leaning against the railing with a deceptive casualness. He came every day. He never pushed, never tried to claim me. He just... existed nearby. Like a silent sentinel guarding a volatile weapon.
"You can barely walk without stumbling, Alex," he said gently, though his amber eyes tracked my every micro-movement.
"Then I'll crawl. I need to be strong. For Kennith and Kaelynn."
Daniel looked at me for a long moment, his gaze searching for cracks in my resolve. Then, he nodded. "Okay."
He tossed me a pair of training daggers. "Start with your balance."
I caught them. Or tried to. My new reflexes were too fast, my coordination lagging behind. They clattered to the floor with a mocking clang.
I grit my teeth, forcing my trembling legs to bend, picked them up, and stood in a stance.
That afternoon, I took a pair of shears and hacked off my long, chestnut hair.
Strand by heavy strand, it fell in waves to the floorboards, severing the weight of the past.
I stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was now a jagged bob that exposed the sharp angle of my jawline. My eyes, once a soft, yielding brown, now burned with cold flecks of silver.
The old Alex was dead. The Omega who cooked breakfast and waited for scraps of affection was gone.
Gavyn POV
The Alpha suite felt like a tomb.
I walked into the bathroom, the tiles cold under my bare feet. I opened the cabinet, looking for... I didn't even know what. Something to ground me.
But her scent was almost gone now. Faded into memory, scrubbed away by the efficiency of the pack staff.
I kept sending messages into the void.
Alex, please. Just tell me you're alive.
Alex, the kids are asking for you.
Alex, I'm sorry.
Silence. Just the maddening, echoing silence of a broken bond.
I walked back into the bedroom. The maids had cleaned it, removing all traces of her existence. But they missed one thing.
On the nightstand, tucked behind the lamp, was a small velvet box.
I opened it. Inside was the first ring I ever gave her. A cheap, silver band I bought when we were teenagers, before I became Alpha, before the pack politics and Iliana's family pressure poisoned everything.
Inside the band, engraved in tiny letters: Forever.
I sank onto the bed, clutching the ring until the metal bit into my skin.
"Sir?"
I looked up. My Beta, Marcus, stood in the doorway. He looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"What is it?" I snapped, my voice rough from disuse.
"We tracked the rogue signal. The one Iliana claimed attacked the nursery."
"And?"
"It... it originated from inside the Pack House, Alpha. From Iliana's quarters."
My blood ran cold, then instantly boiled. "What are you saying?"
"And the traces of the 'assassins' that went after Luna Alex... they lead to the Silver Moon border."
I stood up, the ring digging into my palm like a physical anchor. "Silver Moon? Daniel Sosa's pack?"
"Yes. And... there are rumors, Alpha. Rumors from the border patrols."
"Spit it out, Marcus!"
"They say a White Wolf has been seen in Sosa's territory. A female."
My heart stopped. The world tilted on its axis.
A White Wolf. The legend.
Elara's words from days ago echoed in my mind: You have no idea what you've thrown away, Gavyn.
My phone buzzed on the mattress. It was a text from Elara. Just three words.
She is awake.
I dropped the phone.
Alex wasn't just an Omega. She wasn't just my Mate. She was something ancient. Something powerful.
And she was with Daniel Sosa.
A roar ripped from my throat, shaking the glass in the windows. My wolf clawed at the surface, demanding blood, demanding to reclaim what had been stolen.
"Prepare the warriors," I snarled, my eyes flashing a violent gold. "We are going to the Silver Moon."
"Alpha, that's an act of war," Marcus warned, his face paling.
"I don't care!" I threw the velvet box against the wall, hearing it crack against the plaster. "She is mine! She has always been mine!"
But deep down, a cold voice whispered the truth I refused to accept.
She was yours. And you broke her.
