No one can take your place. I'll speak with Cassian myself and have him return at once. He owes you an explanation.”
Rosalie managed a faint smile, though Adelaide could not see it.
She wanted to tell her that an apology would change nothing. Whatever had gone wrong between her and Cassian belonged to them alone. Her in-laws had never once treated her with anything less than kindness, and she refused to burden them with the disappointment she carried in her heart.
“Thank you, Mother,” she said gently. “But you don't need to worry about me. I'll be alright. I just... don't think I'm ready to face the rest of the pack tonight.”
“Then don't,” Adelaide replied at once. “Leave the elders and the pack members to your father and me. You should rest. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
Not long after the mindlink faded, another presence brushed against her consciousness.
It was Cassian.
Rosalie accepted the link almost immediately.
His voice reached her through the mate bond, distant and indifferent, carrying none of the warmth she had once believed belonged only to her.
"It's late. Why have you been trying to reach me?"
“It's nothing important,” she answered quietly.
Silence lingered between them.
Then another feminine voice drifted faintly through the bond.
"Alpha... Lady Arabella has awakened. She's asking for you."
"I'll be there."
The connection disappeared before Rosalie could utter another word.
She remained standing in the quiet room, staring at nothing as the emptiness left behind by the severed mindlink spread through her chest.
Cassian and Arabella had once been together before either of them had found their fated mates. Throughout their younger years, nearly every wolf had believed they would one day become Alpha and Luna together. Rosalie had loved Cassian since she was barely old enough to understand what the mate bond meant, though she had hidden those feelings deep within her heart, choosing instead to watch from afar as he remained at Arabella's side.
Everything changed during the Moon Blessing Festival.
When the sacred Moonstone recognized Cassian and revealed Rosalie as his fated mate before the entire pack, he had crossed the ceremonial grounds and asked for her hand in front of the elders.
Too stunned to refuse—and unwilling to disgrace him before the Moon Goddess herself—Rosalie accepted.
That night, she had tried to confess that she had loved him for years, but Cassian had simply begun courting her as though the bond alone were reason enough. Their mating ceremony followed soon after, and the entire territory celebrated what everyone believed was a union blessed by fate.
She had entered their marriage believing the Moon Goddess had finally answered her prayers.
Instead, she found herself living beside a mate whose heart always seemed just beyond her reach.
She had convinced herself that this quiet distance was simply Cassian's nature, that wolves who had spent years together no longer needed tender words or lingering affection.
Only now did she realize that his gentleness had never disappeared.
It had simply been reserved for someone else.
A dull ache settled over her chest as tears clouded her vision. Drawing her cloak around herself, she sat beside the window until the trembling in her hands finally eased.
Then she reached through the mindlink to the one wolf who had never failed her.
"Evander... I'll be returning to the Ashford Pack in a few days."
Her brother was silent for a heartbeat.
"Is Cassian coming with you?"
"No. Just me."
Concern immediately filled his voice.
"Did something happen between you two?"
Rosalie looked beyond the window where pale moonlight covered the forest in silver. Her throat tightened, but when she spoke, her voice remained steady.
"No. Do you remember when I told you I wanted to continue my studies with the Moon Sages? I think it's finally time. Cassian has many responsibilities as Alpha. Perhaps he'll visit once the Winter Moon Festival arrives."
Evander's worry eased, though it had not disappeared completely.
"Very well. Tell me when you're leaving, and I'll be waiting for you at our borders."
