Chapter 2

The Elder retrieved the contract document from three years ago and gave me a conflicted look.

"You both signed the contract in blood. As long as you reclaim the contract blood sealed in the altar, the bond can be dissolved. But it takes three days, and during that time you'll endure the pain of severance. Logan will also lose the power you channeled into the territory's barrier."

I nodded without hesitation.

"Please prepare everything."

The Elder studied me for a long time. "Are you certain?"

"Three years ago, you asked whether I was sure I wanted to give Logan half of my white wolf power. I said he was worth it. He isn't anymore."

When I returned to the Alpha estate, Maggie was coming out of the kitchen.

She wore Logan's shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, exposing the scrape that had already scabbed over.

"Wendy, you're finally home. Logan was worried I'd be frightened, so he asked me to stay here for now. You don't mind, do you?"

I had no interest in watching her performance.

"No."

Maggie sighed with theatrical concern and continued showing off.

"Logan stayed by my side all night. I tried to get him to leave, but he just wouldn't."

I was unmoved. I even found it a little funny, "You should have told him to deal with the attack."

"He was too worried about me. He wouldn't listen."

Maggie stepped closer, her gaze falling on my bandage.

"Is it bad?" She touched her own elbow.

"It looks painful. When Logan put a bandage on my scrape, his hands were shaking. I even laughed at him for being so dramatic."

"Oh, and here. This is yours."

Maggie unclasped the obsidian charm but didn't hand it over.

"Logan said it would calm my nerves and insisted I wear it. You won't get the wrong idea, will you?"

I looked at the charm in disgust and stepped back. "Keep it. I don't want anything you've touched."

The smile on Maggie's face froze.

Footsteps came from behind.

Logan took the charm from her as though it were the most natural thing in the world and placed it back in Maggie's palm.

"She's just saying things she doesn't mean. Don't take it seriously."

He reached for my bandage, his tone softening.

"How's the wound?"

I pulled away.

Logan's hand hovered in midair, then dropped back to his side.

His face tightened with displeasure. "Maggie saved your life once. This time she was attacked because she was in the same car as you. I can't just ignore her."

"Saved me from what?"

Logan frowned. "The avalanche last year. She spotted your distress signal."

I let out a cold laugh. "The patrol team found the signal."

"Maggie reported it to me. That counts as saving you."

He forced a black card into my hand.

"Stop sweating the small stuff. The PIN is your birthday. Buy whatever you want. But could you let Maggie have the room next to the master bedroom for now?"

That was my herb room.

"She wakes easily at night. If she's closer to us, it'll be easier for me to look after her."

Logan gave my fingers a light squeeze, his tone that of someone soothing a petulant child.

"I'll still sleep in the master bedroom with you. Wendy, be reasonable."

I pulled my hand free and looked at his self-assured face. The last ember of hope inside me went out.

"Fine."

He visibly relaxed. "I knew you wouldn't make this hard for me."

Maggie looped her arm through his.

"Wendy's hurt. Don't make her move things around. I'll have the servants handle it."

I ignored her. "No need. I'll do it myself."

The room held the last few belongings I had brought from the North.

They were my mother's Silver Moon dagger, the White Wolf crest, and the letters from my father that I had buried at the bottom of a chest.

When I finished packing, everything barely filled half a suitcase.

Over those three years, every item of clothing and every piece of jewelry I'd acquired had been a gift from Logan.

The things that were truly mine were painfully few.

In the study, the Alpha's mate seal still sat on top of the aid distribution list.

I signed the last herb requisition and placed the seal in its usual spot on Logan's desk.

Logan pushed the door open, saw me still working, and came up to wrap his arms around me from behind.

"Why aren't you resting? Your silver wound isn't healed. You don't have to push yourself. Tonight was my fault. Once Maggie falls asleep, I'll come stay with you."

I let him hold me, my body rigid, my eyes empty. "Go stay with her. She wakes easily."

He laughed softly. "You're finally seeing things my way."

Maggie called from outside the door.

"Logan, my arm is hurting again."

He let go of me immediately. "I'll go check on her. Get some rest."

"Logan."

He turned back.

I had wanted to ask whether he would have shut off the bond if Maggie had been the one injured.

But when I opened my mouth, all I said was, "Close the door behind you."

That night, I cut my palm open with the Silver Moon dagger.

The contract vessel absorbed the blood, severing the first layer of the contract: our awareness of each other's emotions.

A tearing pain shot through my chest.

Through the remnants of the bond, I heard Logan call my name for the first time.

"Wendy, what have you done?"