Chapter 1

Caleb held the agreement, slightly dazed. He hadn't expected me to agree without tears, without a scene, without a single accusation.

"How can you accept dissolving the mate bond so calmly?"

I shook my head with a bitter smile. "I'm not calm. I'm just out of options. Losing it won't fix anything. It'll only make you hate me more."

His gaze darkened. He took my hand and said quietly, "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"Since the mate bond is dissolved, I don't have the right to stay here anymore, do I?" I asked.

"No. This house is part of your settlement."

I nodded, my eyes reddening slightly.

I bit my fingertip until blood dripped onto the agreement.

Caleb did the same.

Our blood merged and then separated. From that moment, the mate bond between us was broken.

The instant the bond severed, my chest seized with pain so intense I couldn't breathe.

Caleb's brow was knotted tight, as if he too was enduring the agony of his soul being ripped from his body.

When it was over, I took a deep breath. "I just gave birth. I'm exhausted. I'm going upstairs to rest."

Our seven-year marriage had ended without an argument or a single tear, so calmly that I could hardly believe it myself.

The next morning when I woke up, breakfast was already laid out in the dining room.

In all our years together, this was the first time he had made me breakfast, and it was after our bond had been dissolved.

He walked out of the kitchen, untying his apron as he spoke.

"You haven't eaten since last night. That's not good for your postpartum recovery."

I had assumed he had already forgotten that I had just given birth the day before.

He couldn't even wait for me to recover before rushing to dissolve our bond.

He reached out to touch me, but I instinctively stepped back. "Alpha, we're not mates anymore."

At the word "Alpha," his brow creased.

"Nora, we may not be mates, but we're not enemies either. Let me do this for you."

His kindness was abandoning me at my most vulnerable to chase another woman.

"At least eat a little, for your own health."

I nodded and sat down at the table, picking at the food on my plate.

Crying came from the bedroom, and Caleb immediately sent the nanny to feed the baby.

I gazed at my newborn pup, Theo, the child I had risked my life to bring into this world, and felt my resolve harden.

"I'll take Theo with me."

I thought volunteering to take Theo would make things easier for Caleb.

But the moment he heard I wanted to take Theo, his gentle expression turned dark.

"Nora, that child is mine too. He carries Alpha blood. You think you can just take him away from me?"

I froze mid-bite.

I hadn't expected Theo to provoke such a strong reaction from Caleb.

"You and Lila will have children of your own. You wouldn't want this baby growing up with a stepmother."

At the word "stepmother," Caleb's expression darkened another shade.

Everyone in the pack knew Caleb hated no one more than his stepmother.