Chapter Two

Tracy Xander’s POV 

Back at my desk, I set the documents down and carefully pulled out the bond dissolution agreement from the stack. My fingers lingered on the paper for a brief moment, as though grounding myself in the reality of what I had already set in motion. 

There was no need for devices or written messages within the pack, not for something like this. 

I closed my eyes slowly and reached outward. 

The mind-link formed with ease, threading through distance and hierarchy, cold and precise. 

Hailey Ginger. 

There was a pause, faint but present, before her presence brushed against mine, sharp and expectant. 

“You have it?” Her voice carried impatience, but beneath it was something else, something eager. 

“I did not waste time. Alpha Chandler has signed it.” For a brief second, silence lingered between us. 

“Good. Send it through the proper channel. Once I receive it, the compensation will be transferred to you.” 

Even now, everything was a transaction to her. Even now, I felt nothing. 

“Understood.” 

I severed the link without another word, cutting her presence out of my mind as cleanly as possible. 

For a moment, I sat there in silence, the faint echo of the connection fading, leaving behind a strange emptiness. 

Then I slipped the medical report and the signed agreement back into my bag. 

It was done. Or at least, it had already begun. 

I opened my drawer. Inside lay a resignation letter, printed, signed, and ready. 

I had prepared it two days ago. 

If I was leaving, I would do it cleanly and without hesitation, without giving myself the chance to look back. 

I picked it up along with a stack of processed documents and made my way toward the finance office. 

Frank Miller, the pack’s financial overseer, looked up the moment I entered. His expression shifted the instant I placed the letter in front of him, calm giving way to disbelief. 

“Tracy… you are resigning?” 

Shock quickly turned into panic. 

For years, I had been his right hand, efficient, precise, someone he depended on without question. With me handling the bulk of the work, his position had remained secure. 

If I left, everything would begin to fall apart. 

I gave a small nod. “Yes. Thank you for taking care of me all these years, Mr. Miller.” 

Because my mating bond with Alpha Chandler Gaunt had always been kept hidden, no one in the pack knew the truth. 

To them, I was only an assistant. 

Frank reached out and grabbed my sleeve, unwilling to let go. 

“Is it your compensation? If that is the issue, I can request a raise, a promotion, anything you want.” 

A soft breath left me, something faintly amused, though it carried no real warmth. 

“It is not about the money.” 

“You have really thought this through?” 

“I have.” I had already chosen to let go of Alpha Chandler. 

Remaining here, within his territory, within a life that revolved entirely around him, no longer held any meaning. 

Frank stared at me, words forming but never quite leaving his mouth. In the end, he exhaled slowly, resignation settling in. 

“Can you at least tell me why?” I did not avoid the question. 

“I am sick,” I said simply, my voice steady. “And between my duties and my life, I choose my life.” 

He froze. 

Shock flickered across his face, but he did not ask anything further. 

The resignation required a one-month notice, and the dissolution of a mating bond carried the same rule, a mandatory one-month cooling-off period enforced by pack law to prevent impulsive separation between bonded wolves. One month. After that, everything would be over, and I would finally be free. 

… 

That evening, I returned to the pack house and walked straight to the low table in the sitting area, where I picked up the old-fashioned paper calendar I had bought the day before. Without hesitation, I tore off the first page, the paper crumpling easily in my hand before I tossed it into the trash. A fresh page revealed itself beneath. 

July 1st. 

The date was marked in bold red ink, standing out against the otherwise plain surface. My gaze lingered on it for a brief moment as the thought settled quietly in my mind. One month from now, on August 1st, I would walk out of this place for good, severing every tie that had once bound me here, and this time, I would not look back. 

“Ma’am.” 

Jennie approached, carrying a plate of freshly cut fruit, her steps light but careful. Her eyes drifted toward the calendar, curiosity flickering across her face. 

“Why did you buy this? Does it mean something special?” 

I picked up a grape and placed it into my mouth, the sweetness dull against my tongue, my voice light and almost casual as I replied, “My birthday is coming up, so it is just a reminder.” 

Jennie frowned slightly, clearly unconvinced, because things like dates could easily be remembered through a mind-link reminder or noted by the pack attendants, and no one really relied on paper calendars anymore, but she did not question me further. She placed the plate down and turned toward the kitchen. 

“Oh, right.” 

She paused at the doorway, hesitating before speaking again. 

“Ma’am, I mind-linked Alpha Chandler earlier. He said he has a council dinner tonight and will not be returning.” 

I did not look up. 

“Mm. I know.” 

Jennie froze where she stood. 

Something was wrong. 

Before, whenever Alpha Chandler mentioned plans that did not include me, I would lose control, reaching out through the mind-link again and again, demanding answers, demanding explanations, asking where he was and who he was with, refusing to be ignored. Once, in a moment of desperation so consuming it had blinded me, I had even tried to forcefully trace his location through the bond. 

That had ended with me lying in the healer’s ward, my wolf nearly shattered from the backlash, hovering between life and death. 

But now, there were no questions. 

The communication crystal on the table pulsed faintly, signaling an incoming link request. I glanced at it before accepting. 

“Tracy… are you back from your duties? Are you busy?” Jackson Xander’s voice came through, cautious, as though he were testing the distance between us. 

I looked down at the slice of apple between my fingers before responding. 

“I just returned. What is it?” There was a brief pause on his end. 

“I was ranked higher today, and my allowance has increased as well. My parents were saying they have not seen you in a while, and they would like us to have dinner together.” I did not hesitate. 

“Alright.” 

“I will come pick you up.” 

After ending the link, I rose to my feet, informed Jennie that I would be going out for dinner, and left the villa without another word. 

Jennie watched me walk away, unease settling deep within her chest, because this silence was not peace, and it did not feel like acceptance. It felt like the stillness before something irreversible. 

… 

As I walked along the outer path of the territory, the crystal in my hand pulsed again, carrying a message from Jackson. 

“My car broke down on the way. I need you to wait for a bit.” I responded simply. 

“Alright.” 

I knew he could have just turn to his wolf form and come but he love keeping things cool like human.  

Jackson was my uncle Morgan Xander’s son, three years older than me, already twenty-seven, yet still uninterested in forming a bond with anyone. While I rarely returned to the main Xander household, I often visited Morgan’s home, because they had no daughter of their own and had always treated me as family. 

When my mother and I had left the Xanders with nothing, it had been Morgan and his mate who helped us survive, giving us shelter when no one else would. 

They were the closest thing I had to a place I could still return to. 

Only a few minutes passed before the crystal pulsed once more. 

“It is rush hour within the territory, so I asked a friend nearby to pick you up instead.” 

At that exact moment, a sleek black car rolled to a smooth stop in front of me, its presence quiet yet impossible to ignore. 

Before I could react, the window slid down. 

A familiar face appeared. 

My fingers tightened slightly around the crystal. 

“I think… I see him,” I said quietly before closing the link. 

The man in the driver’s seat had sharp, defined features, his black shirt rolled up at the sleeves, exposing strong, tanned forearms that spoke of both discipline and strength. 

Sean Johnson. 

He lifted his gaze to meet mine, and for a brief moment, something flickered in his eyes as if he had been pulled back into a memory from years ago, when I had been nothing more than a girl following him around with endless questions, clutching books and seeking answers. 

That girl no longer existed. 

In her place stood someone quieter, more restrained, her presence softened yet carrying something fragile beneath the surface. 

His gaze darkened slightly as he took me in, as though trying to reconcile the difference. 

His lips parted before he spoke. 

“Get in.”