The Echo of a Faded Wolf

Eight years after severing my mate bond with Caelan Ashworth, we met again in my workshop. He arrived with his fiancée to commission a Potent Bonding Potion. And the Alchemist they sought? That was me.

I wore a veil, silently brewing the potion for them. Someone in his entourage asked how they got together.

Lilah Monroe said smugly, "Of course you have to fight for a powerful Alpha. The best things in life are worth fighting for! He already had a mate, so to get him, I used dark magic to sow a web of lies and misunderstandings to tear them apart."

"Later, they had a massive fight. He asked me to pass a keepsake to her, but I secretly swapped it out. I still have the original, my little trophy. That woman was even pregnant with his wretched pup at the time, and I used a curse to ensure she lost it!"

After they left, I lifted my veil and placed a hand on my lower abdomen. Beneath my robe was a jagged, silver-scarred patch of skin.

A few days later, Caelan knelt before me, holding the dark-magic-forged mate mark bearing Lilah's name and the dissolution papers for their bond.

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1

I looked up, my stomach dropping.

I never imagined that after eight years, I'd see Caelan again like this—with his fiancée, commissioning a potion from me.

They were a striking couple, and with Caelan's tender, attentive gestures, it was easy to see why everyone considered them blessed by the Moon Goddess. The air buzzed with curiosity about them.

As I prepared the potion, my apprentice, Anya, couldn't resist asking, "So, how did you two get together?"

Lilah raised an eyebrow, a triumphant smile playing on her lips. "I stole him, of course! He had a mate then, and their bond was supposedly deep, but how could I not snag the Alpha I wanted? That woman was a fool anyway. I pretended to be her friend and used dark magic to slowly corrode their bond. She's probably shacked up with some pathetic pack by now, maybe even popped out a litter of pups for some nobody!"

Her tone was light and breezy, as if she were recounting an amusing anecdote. "But at one point, Caelan wanted to get back with her. He even wrote an apology letter, which I intercepted. It's still tucked away at my place—my little trophy."

An awkward hush fell over the workshop. Seeing the strange looks on everyone's faces, Lilah added with a half-joking laugh, "Why is everyone so tense? I'm just kidding! Life isn't that dramatic."

Everyone exchanged glances, a collective sigh of relief rippling through the room after her explanation.

My expression remained unchanged, but the hand gripping the crystal pestle trembled.

After the ritual was complete, I began to close the workshop for the day.

As I was tidying up, I overheard my apprentices chatting.

"Those two are a perfect match. A powerful Alpha and a gorgeous mate—it's just so perfect!"

"I know, right? Someone that beautiful wouldn't need to fight for anyone. She had to be joking."

"And the pups from such a powerful bloodline will be incredible. She's practically glowing with her pregnancy!"

I lifted my veil, one hand resting on my lower abdomen. Beneath my robes lay an ugly, discolored patch of skin, marred by a jagged silver scar. I stared blankly at the cauldron before me. Only I knew that Lilah hadn't been joking at all.

But I had lived in seclusion for eight years and had long since grown numb to the past. Whether there had been a misunderstanding between us no longer mattered.

The next moment, Caelan returned, claiming he'd forgotten a keepsake. When he saw me without my veil, his expression was a mix of shock and something else I couldn't place. "Corina Ashworth. It's been a long time."

Caelan hadn't changed much, though the hard edge in his eyes had softened.

"How have you been?"

After a long silence, I heard my own brittle voice reply, "I've done just fine without you."

He seemed taken aback, a flicker of pain in his eyes.

My history with Caelan was complicated. I was an orphan taken in by the Ashworth pack, raised to be a companion for the Alpha's son, Caelan. When we were twelve, our mate bond awakened. I became his mate-to-be, and my name was even changed to Corina Ashworth.

After that, everyone said we were a match made in heaven. When we started college, we naturally became a couple.

"Corina? It really is you. I thought the name was just a coincidence." Lilah's voice snapped me back to the present. She looked me up and down, her eyes filled with disdain.

"Weren't you exiled? How did you become an Alchemist? Did you sell your..." She let the words hang in the air, her insinuation obvious.

I had only emerged from my seclusion last year. My rare inheritance of Moonlight Alchemy allowed me to bypass all assessments and establish my own workshop. My introverted nature kept people at a distance, so while they were curious, they knew nothing of my past.

My tone was sharp with impatience. "My name is carved on the sign outside. You can see for yourself."

She sneered. "So you're playing the mysterious witch now? You've got some nerve."