After Lewis left, Julian lingered by the riverbank. The wind carried a sharp bite, laced with the scent of rain and ash, but he didn't move. He just stood there Alpha posture rigid, gaze fixed on the dark water pretending he wasn't falling apart.
From where I stood in the shadows of the trees, unseen and half-shifted between realms, I could feel his restlessness. His aura flickered like dying firelight. His wolf was pacing just beneath the surface, agitated, confused, aching for a presence it could no longer reach.
His phone buzzed again notifications lighting up the screen. Pack messages, alliance requests, a text from Camilla but none from me. None ever would again.
He probably didn't want to admit it, but I'd known for months that his bond to Camilla had changed. The way his wolf softened around her, the way his gaze lingered too long it was all there. And I'd tried so hard to ignore it. I convinced myself it was just pack affection, that they shared a sibling bond as they'd been raised together within the Hale pack.
But my instincts had screamed otherwise.
My wolf had known.
And still, I silenced her.
Because peace in the pack came before my pride. Because I thought submission would heal what dominance had fractured.
Now look where that got me four days dead, and he still hadn't realized I was gone for good.
He bent down, picked up a smooth stone, and hurled it into the river with a growl. The splash echoed through the clearing.
"Go on," he muttered, voice low and laced with irritation. "Throw your tantrum, Elena. Let's see how long you hold out this time."
I froze.
He really thought this was just another fight. That I was sulking somewhere, waiting for him to come find me like always. His arrogance still burned brighter than his instincts.
I smiled bitterly. He never thought I'd actually leave not like this.
Even when he hurt me, I never stayed away more than three moons. He thought he knew me. He thought my loyalty was eternal.
But that's the thing about a wolf pushed too far you only see her true nature when the bond breaks.
I watched him now his profile still sharp and beautiful in that infuriating way. His hair tousled by the cold wind, his jaw tight with annoyance instead of regret.
And all I could think of was the boy he once was.
We were twelve when the storm hit the mountain trail near Summer Ridge. I'd gotten separated from the others, my wolf too young to track scents properly. The rain came down hard, lightning tearing through the trees. I was terrified, trapped between fear and instinct.
But Julian came for me.
He'd tracked me through the storm, ignoring the elder's orders, risking a landslide just to find me.
When I saw him, I'd run straight into his arms, sobbing like the pup I was.
"I couldn't leave you," he'd whispered into my hair. "Just thinking about you being scared made my wolf want to fly."
That was the first time my soul recognized his.
Back then, I didn't know it was the beginning of our bond. I only knew that his embrace made the world safe.
But that was lifetimes ago.
Now, even breathing seemed to irritate him. That's how you know when a bond is dying when the scent of your mate no longer brings peace, only pressure.
Four days since my death.
Four days before his instincts finally stirred.
He sat in his office at the Hale Den, staring at our last chat thread on his phone. My final voice message still unopened. His wolf paced beneath his skin, uneasy but blind.
He didn't yet understand why.
Because when an Alpha suppresses his bond too long, his instincts start to wither.
"Alpha," Jasper murmured from the door, setting down a mug of steaming coffee. "Your next council meeting is in ten minutes."
Julian didn't respond. His gaze stayed locked on my name on the screen. My phone was still dead, my scent fading from the house.
"Elena would've come back by now," he finally muttered. His voice cracked. Just slightly.
Without another word, he stood. His wolf surged under his skin, restless and cold. He grabbed his coat and stormed out of the office.
"Alpha, wait " Jasper called, startled.
"Cancel it," Julian snapped. "Everything."
He shifted into his car instead of his wolf a rare thing for him but the energy radiating off him was wild, dangerous. His dominance rolled through the city streets as he followed the faintest trace of my scent to Megan Ashbourne's territory.
When he arrived at her office, a young pack member called out, "Megan, someone's here for you!"
She appeared in the doorway, her dark hair tied back, eyes sharp as ever. Megan my dearest friend, my sister by soul if not by blood.
The moment she saw Julian, her expression darkened.
"What do you want?" she demanded. Her voice carried that unshakable Beta authority that even an Alpha like Julian couldn't easily dismiss.
"Elena's with you, isn't she?" he asked, stepping closer, his tone more command than question. "Tell her to stop this nonsense. This whole act it's humiliating."
Megan's wolf bristled. I could feel it.
"What are you saying?" she hissed. "You left her on your bonding night. She faced the entire pack alone. And you're calling her dramatic? Tell me, who's really making a scene here?"
Her words hit him like claws to the chest. His wolf flinched, and for a heartbeat, his dominance faltered.
"I don't owe you an explanation," he said through gritted teeth. "Just call her. Tell her to come home."
But Megan's expression shifted. Her wolf went still.
"She hasn't been home?" she asked, her tone suddenly deadly quiet.
Julian narrowed his eyes. "Don't play dumb. Every time she runs, she goes to you."
And she was right she had always been my sanctuary. But Megan's gaze softened, sorrow clouding her eyes.
"Julian," she whispered. "My grandmother's been dying. I left the city right after the ceremony and only got back this morning. I haven't seen Elena at all." Her scent was pure exhaustion no deceit, no trickery. "What did you do this time? Did you finally push her past the edge?"
The silence that followed was crushing. Julian's grip on his phone tightened until it cracked.
If Elena wasn't with Megan… where was she?
Julian stormed out of Megan's home, his steps heavy, his wolf restless beneath his skin. Fury and unease clung to his scent like smoke.
Megan's voice followed him, sharp and trembling with emotion.
"If something's happened to Elena," she shouted after him, "I swear, Julian, I won't forgive you!"
I watched her from the shadows of the trees, the moonlight glinting off her hair. A loose strand brushed across her cheek, and instinctively, I reached out wanting to tuck it behind her ear the way I always did. But my fingers passed right through her.
I froze.
I couldn't touch her anymore.
Not her warmth. Not her wolf. Nothing.
A hollow sigh escaped me. "I'm sorry, Megan," I whispered. "I didn't keep my promise. But you have to keep going. You have to live."
My voice faded before it reached her. I was only a whisper in the wind now bound to this realm by regret and the remnants of a shattered bond.
Then, something tugged sharply at my core a pull so strong it stole the breath I no longer had. My essence was being drawn away, tethered by the faintest thread that still tied me to him.
Julian.
In an instant, the world blurred, and I was beside him again his aura dark, the air around him charged with Alpha energy gone wild. He sat behind the wheel of his black car, jaw clenched, his knuckles white around his phone.
When he hung up, the tension in his body was unbearable his wolf fighting to surface, sensing danger but too blind to see the truth.
He immediately called Jasper. "Find out where Elena is," he ordered, voice low and rough. "I don't care how. I want every trace, every scent everything."
A broken laugh escaped me. Now he was worried.
Four days too late.
The mate bond had already dimmed beyond repair.
By now, my body my vessel was cold. Lost to the earth.
Before Julian could finish the call, the passenger door flew open and Camilla slipped in like poison wrapped in silk. She threw her arms around him dramatically, her scent sickly sweet, cloying.
"Julian! Why haven't you answered my calls?" she cried, pressing herself against him. "It's been two whole days!"
Julian stiffened, clearly trying to avoid a scene. He ended the call with Jasper and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I've got a meeting, Camilla. If it's not urgent, I need to head back."
But Camilla clung tighter, eyes wide and pleading. "My art exhibit is today, remember? You promised you'd come. You have to be there it means everything to me."
That tone high, petulant, demanding seemed to pull Julian back into himself. He blinked, realizing what she meant. He'd forgotten about her big day.
He exhaled, shoulders slumping. "That's my fault. Let's go."
As the car pulled away, his phone lay discarded on the seat beside him my name still on the screen, glowing faintly before it went dark. Forgotten again.
All those years.
All that love.
All that loyalty… wasted.
I followed them to the Lagoon Gallery a place that once existed in my dreams. I used to imagine my art displayed there, my colors dancing under soft lights, wolves from every pack gathering to see the emotions I poured into each brushstroke.
Art was my secret rebellion. My quiet howl.
But in my family, creativity wasn't strength. My father, Malcom Morrigan, had raised us to lead, not dream. The Morrigan name was power, and power meant dominance, control, legacy not art.
Still, I painted. Late at night, hidden in the basement of my studio, I gave form to the emotions my wolf couldn't voice. I promised myself that one day, I'd open my own gallery where I could show the world that even wolves could create beauty, not just destruction.
That dream died with me.
Now, Camilla was living it.
She'd always been the golden one the lost heir my parents searched years to find. When they finally brought her home, it was like the moon had risen just for her. They adored her, spoiled her, gave her everything I'd bled to earn.
She never had to fight for love.
I followed silently behind them as they entered the gallery. The air was thick with expensive perfume and whispered admiration. Wolves from neighboring packs and human art critics alike filled the space, gazing at the paintings lining the walls.
"Ms. Morrigan's work is breathtaking," one woman said softly.
"Such raw emotion," another agreed. "This one Lotus Dreamscape it's divine."
My heart stopped.
Lotus Dreamscape.
No. No, it couldn't be.
I turned sharply and there it was. My painting.
The one I'd created under the moonlight, when Julian's wolf had first marked me. The one that carried the colors of our bond scarlet, silver, and black.
I moved through the gallery, my spirit trembling.
Every wall, every corner my work hung there. Paintings I'd hidden away in the studio basement, now displayed under Camilla's name.
My signature was gone. Replaced by hers.
A chill ran through me, spreading like venom.
She'd stolen them.
She'd stolen me.
The truth hit like a claw to the chest cold, violent, final.
She knew I was gone. She had to.
Otherwise, she'd never dare to claim my creations as her own.