Chapter 4

Vanessa came to my office while I was emptying the desk.

“I'm taking everyone to dinner tonight. You should come.”

“No, thank you.”

I wrapped the framed photograph of Finn in my scarf and laid it in the box.

“Don't be like that. It's a celebration.”

“Then enjoy it.”

I lifted the box.

Behind me, she said, “Ten years, Mara. And all I had to do was come home.”

My wolf stirred, hurt and furious beneath my ribs.

I kept walking.

That afternoon, Vanessa announced her promotion in the council group chat. Adrian was the first to congratulate her.

A moment later, he sent me a private message.

Don't read anything into it. You know how these things work.

I did now.

While they celebrated, I packed.

Finn appeared in the bedroom doorway, carrying the stuffed wolf he'd had since he was a baby.

“Are we going tonight?”

I knelt beside the suitcase.

“We can, if you want.”

He worried the wolf's ear between his fingers.

“Could we wait until tomorrow? Dad said there's a surprise.” He looked ashamed of wanting it. “Maybe I'll wish that he doesn't do the ceremony. Maybe if it's my birthday wish, he'll listen.”

I put my hand against his cheek.

“We can wait.”

Adrian didn't come home.

Finn slept badly. Once, I woke to find him standing at the window, looking down at the drive.

By morning, he'd persuaded himself there was a reason.

“He must be getting the surprise ready.”

We made breakfast. Decorated the kitchen. I put eight candles in the cake I'd baked after Finn went to bed.

Every car on the road made him look up.

By evening, the candles had softened in the warm room. Finn hadn't asked to light them.

I called Adrian.

“It's your son's birthday. Where are you?”

There was music behind him. Glasses clinking.

“Right. Yes. His surprise is in the nightstand. The itinerary.”

“What itinerary?”

“I added him to your trip. Seven days in Norway with his mom. He'll love it.”

“You said you'd be here.”

“Mara, I'm in the middle of something. Don't start. Just take him on holiday.”

The call ended.

In the nightstand were both travel confirmations and the signed permission Finn needed to travel with me. Adrian had made sure neither of us would get in his way.

My phone lit up again.

A notification from his invented friend's account.

She deserved the vow I should have given her years ago.

The photograph showed Vanessa's hand beneath his. Beside them lay a transfer assigning her a share of Blackthorn's commercial holdings.

I had spent ten years building those holdings. Negotiating leases. Saving contracts. Doing the work of a dozen people while drawing an operations manager's salary.

He'd told me shares didn't matter between mates. Everything was ours.

Apparently that only applied when I asked.

“Mom?”

Finn stood beside the table, phone in hand.

On its screen, Lily held a cupcake. Adrian's hands were visible beneath hers, helping her steady it.

Daddy made these just for me.

Finn looked at the untouched birthday cake behind him.

“He knows how,” he said very quietly.

I didn't understand at first.

“Dad. He knows how to make a birthday nice.”

I reached for him, but he was already reaching for me.

“I don't want to wait anymore.” He wiped his face on his sleeve. “Can we go together?”

“Yes.”

“And you're coming too? You're not just taking me and leaving?”

I held him so tightly that he gave a little breath against my shoulder.

“I'm coming too.”

Before we left, I put the separation papers on the dining table. My lawyer had already filed for civil divorce and registered my departure with the independent pack council. Under its charter, a chosen bond could be renounced by either mate before a sworn witness. An Alpha's permission was not required.

I had checked every word twice.

Then Finn and I got on a plane.

Seven days later, I sat before a Northlight council witness, the bond ledger open between us. Finn was drawing by the window.

Adrian called as the Blackthorn council meeting began.

“Sweetheart, the meeting started ten minutes ago. Don’t tell me you’re still in Norway.”

I put him on speaker.

“Ten years ago, I chose you as my mate,” I said. “Today, I take that choice back.”

The witness signed the ledger.

Something inside me snapped. The mating mark beneath my collar began to fade.

A chair crashed on Adrian’s end.

“Mara, stop.” His voice shook. “What did you do?”