Chapter 13

The forest surrounding Questorian Valley was too damn quiet, like it was bracing for a storm. One of which had my name written in bold.

Cruel. I couldn’t get over the word he used. Cruel. I was cruel.

I’d slipped away from the caravan after all the chaos. When John arrived Keiral’s mouth didn’t know what filter meant, and it nearly set him off when she called Desiree every english curse word she could conjure up. Curt laughing like a hyena didn’t help matters, and Elder Amer’s voice finally shutting it all down sealed the deal. I had to take him elsewhere. He was still an Alpha wolf. Our Alpha’s son. And a dipshit annoying air breather. But who was counting his flaws? Right.

My family was a wild bunch, all teeth and lots of bark. Their presence buzzed in my veins as I stood in the clearing, my grey eyes locked on John. He’d shown up uninvited, broad shoulders hunched, carrying the weight of his own dumb decision. Well, dumb for him. His blonde hair, I thought once made up his entire appearance, now looked tamed.

The severed mating bond between us was a jagged scar, still raw like an open wound. The blood might’ve stopped, but it was still wet and sensitive. It’s how I felt staring at him.

I wasn’t about to let him forget what he’d done.

“Ash,” his voice low, controlled. He was trying for soft but landing somewhere between regret and desperation. “I came to see how you’re doing. And… to apologize. For breaking the bond the way I did. I know I shouldn’t have done it like that.”

I snorted, the sound sharp enough to slice the air. Hurt me? That was a laughable statement. He’d ripped out a piece of my soul when he broke our mate bond. Left me to claw my way through it alone while he played necking and knobbing with someone else.

Some strange person helped me, I’m sure of it. But I’m not sure who. And they reminded me that I was a hundredth-generation Gorde Wolf. The last black wolf born. Not some broken thing he could pity. I crossed my arms, lips pressed tight, letting the silence stretch. I watched him squirm. My eyebrow arched as my mouth remained in a flat line.

He shifted, boots crunching on pine needles, the scent of him —pine and earth, now tainted with her hit me like a slap. He already bit her without even a week to mourn. Was I that expendable? Sure we weren’t the best mated match to make headline, and yes, we fought from time to time about most things, but I was going to be his mate. The gods put us together and said we were to be one. There was no second wolf mating bond heard of. Once you severed a mating bond, that was that.

“What really brought you hear John? It’s sure ain’t me.” Exhaustion took me over as a small wind crept through the trees. It’s like the earth knew something we didn’t.

“I’m leaving with Desiree,” he said, like I didn’t already know he would.

“Great, enjoy.” I turned my back on him toward the others.

“We going to the Rinks. She’ll join the sentinels in a few years, when she’s of age.” His hazel eyes met mine, searching, like he thought he could still read me. “Ash, I need you to promise me something please.”

“I told you it’s Ashlyn.” I grumble with my wolf under the surface.

“Don’t go to the Rinks. Stay here, with your family. You’ll be safer here.”

“Excuse me?”

Safe. The word lit a fire in my blood. My wolf stirred, black fur bristling inside me, claws itching to break free. The Rinks were my dream, my shot to prove I was more than the mate he’d discarded, more than the girl who’d howled at the moon when the lions took my mom. It was my one chance to get answers about my mother, my father’s denial, and my… I shut the thought down before it even had a chance to breathe life. I can’t go there. I can’t think about that now.

I stepped forward, boots sinking into the earth, my voice low and sharp as a blade. “The Rinks are my dream, John. You don’t get to show up, after everything, and tell me to give that up. You don’t get to take that, too.” I could almost hear Keiral’s wicked laugh, egging me on, Curt’s dumb grin, Lechandray’s fierce eyes telling me she got my back. They’d have my back, no question, probably cheering if I decked him right now.

His jaw clenched, that alpha arrogance flaring in his eyes. “You don’t get it,” he said, voice dropping like he could talk me down. “The Rinks are brutal. I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me?” I laughed, cold and bitter, the sound bouncing off the trees. “You have never protected me, John. You just used me for a free fuck, great wine and a roof to sleep under while you played the victimed Alphas son . You don’t get to play hero now. Nor do you get to pretend you actually give a fuck about me. I’m going to the Rinks. It’s not up for debate.”