chapter Four

Mikaela

The audacity of him.

I kept my hands folded tightly behind my back as Ryan threw another one of his perfectly sculpted glares at me. His words still echoed in my ears: "You didn’t waste time finding a new Alpha to warm your bed."

Heat bloomed beneath my skin, not from shame, no, that died the night I walked out of the Scarlet Pack, but from the rage twisting in my stomach. I had expected distance. I had expected awkward tension. I hadn’t expected him to treat me like I had been the one to break our vows.

Still, I pushed it all down like I always had. I was no longer that naive girl who begged for love. I wouldn’t break for him. Not again.

Let him think what he wants. Let him believe Tobias and I were lovers. If that helped him sleep beside Lydia at night, then so be it. I wouldn't offer him the clarity he didn’t deserve.

But even as I sat at the long, polished table in the Monsoon Pack’s council room, the tension was suffocating. Tobias beside me spoke in his usual calm, assertive tone, laying out the terms for the proposed alliance. Ryan sat directly across from us, Lydia perched elegantly by his side, her smile as smug as ever.

I kept my focus on the parchment in front of me, adding points when necessary, correcting details with professional detachment. But Ryan… he barely glanced at the documents. His eyes were on me. Watching. Measuring. Trying to understand me like he used to.

He couldn’t.

The Mikaela he once knew no longer existed.

Tobias paused mid-sentence and turned to me. “Mikaela, the figures on the third scroll?”

I handed them over without hesitation. “Here. The estimate includes updated training costs and increased healer access. If we merge patrol rotations, the allocation will be effective within a week.”

Tobias gave me a nod of approval before turning back to the other Alpha. Ryan’s lips were a thin line, but he said nothing. Lydia glanced between us with narrowed eyes, as though trying to gauge something she couldn't quite read.

Let her try. Let them both wonder.

The meeting ended with handshakes and cold smiles. Tobias stepped aside to take a call, and I took the opportunity to gather the documents into my leather folder. I needed to breathe. I needed to be away from Ryan’s scrutiny before I said something I would regret.

I turned sharply, stepping into the hallway, and stopped dead in my tracks.

Lydia.

She was waiting like a shadow at the door, arms folded across her chest, one hip cocked to the side in a way that screamed arrogance.

“Leaving so soon?” she asked sweetly.

I stared at her. “What do you want, Lydia?”

She took a step closer, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “Just wanted to say it’s nice to see you again, Mikaela. You know, when you vanished, I thought you had finally realized you didn’t belong. I suppose even strays know when they’re not wanted.”

I clenched my jaw. “And here I thought you were just going to offer your congratulations on the alliance.”

She smirked. “Oh please. Don’t flatter yourself. Do you really think you’re fooling anyone with this Tobias act? Everyone can see the way he looks at you. But that won’t change the past. Ryan and I? We were always meant to be. You were a mistake.”

My heart thudded, but I didn’t let her see it.

“He never looked at you the way he looked at me,” Lydia added, voice softening into something crueler, silkier. “He only settled for you because I was gone. You were convenient. A filler. That’s all.”

I stared at her, forcing the words through tight lips. “If he was so sure of what he wanted, he wouldn’t have needed to crawl back into your arms behind my back.”

Her expression darkened, and for a second I saw the truth beneath the smug facade. Insecurity. Jealousy. Bitterness. She hadn’t won him back, she’d simply found him broken and claimed the pieces.

“I don’t want anything to do with either of you,” I said, stepping forward, my voice shaking with fury I could no longer contain. “I left for a reason. And the only mistake I ever made was believing I belonged among people like you.”

I pushed past her and didn’t wait for another word.

My chest heaved as I walked the familiar path to the residential quarters. The sharp air outside stung my lungs, but I welcomed it. I needed it to stay grounded. To not fall apart.

I reached the children's quarters and opened the door, expecting to see Lisa curled up with a book, Declan practicing the puzzle Kane gave him, and Sammy playing with his wooden wolf figure.

But the room was empty.

The beds were still made. The toys untouched.

I frowned and stepped inside. “Lisa? Sammy? Declan?”

No response.

My pulse spiked.

I turned on my heel and started toward the courtyard when I saw someone sprinting down the hallway toward me, June. Her face was pale, her braid swinging behind her as she ran.

“Mikaela!” she gasped, breathless.

“What happened?” I grabbed her arms. “Where are they?”

“They went out to the garden slope near the creek,” she panted. “You know the one with the old stone ledge? It gave way. Declan fell down the incline. Lisa screamed for help, Ryan was there. He carried him to the infirmary.”

For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

“What?” I whispered.

June nodded quickly. “He didn’t even hesitate. He picked Declan up and ran all the way to the healers. I...I didn’t know what to do. I came to find you.”

Declan.

Ryan.

The words didn’t fit in the same sentence. But now they did. Now they collided, impossible to separate.

I didn’t say anything more. I didn’t wait to ask how bad it was.

I ran.