Shadows of the Bond

[Honey, you were in my dreams again last night, but I still have three days before I can come home. I miss you terribly. Do you miss me?]

My fingers trembled as they traced Malcolm Lloyd's words on my phone screen, and I could not stop the tears from spilling over.

For the past eight years, every April like clockwork, he would leave for a two-week business trip to check on the overseas offices.

I never questioned it; Malcolm's love for me felt so real.

However, that picture on my phone—a father and son locked in an embrace—turned me into a complete joke.

Business trip? More like a getaway with his mistress and their secret pup.

If I had not visited the kindergarten today to make a donation and seen that kid call him Dad, I would still be in the dark, playing for a fool.

Maybe I should have seen the signs.

Malcolm was the pack's Alpha. The Elders and his mother, the formidable last Luna, would never stand for a Luna who could not have pups, who had lost her wolf.

They must have planned that from the start.

So what part did Malcolm, with all his declarations of love, really play?

I knew the stakes—an heir meant everything to the pack. If he had just been upfront, I might have come to terms with him fathering children with another woman.

Why would he trap me in a sham happiness with the sweetest of lies?

Why would he treat me like an idiot?

I crumpled to the floor, a searing pain in my heart as if pierced by a hundred silver needles.

I could not fathom how the boy who had grown up with me, who had vowed always to be my protector, could inflict such pain.

At 15, Malcolm and I defied the adults and ventured into the Misty Forest to hunt. When danger loomed, he was always there to shield me.

Three days later, we walked out of that forest. I was untouched, but he bore the scars of our adventure, front and back.

Tears streamed down my face as I called him a fool, but he just chuckled and held me close. "Mila, protecting you is my mission in life," he said with a smile that could light up the darkest night.

His eyes back then—bright and clear as diamonds—had captivated me completely.

We were set to marry, our future bright, until the eve of our wedding when his enemies took us captive. They tortured us, and I was left broken, my spirit—my wolf—gone, and my body scarred by silver, unable ever to carry a pup.

His mother and the pack's Elders were quick to push for a broken engagement, but Malcolm stood firm. "Mila is my everything. I can live without children, but I can't live without her," he had said.

However, in our world, where strength ruled, a Luna without her wolf, without the hope of new life, could command no respect. His mother had always looked down on me, and the pack refused to see me as one of their own. Still, for Malcolm, I bore the pain in silence.

Then, it all seemed so pointless.

Malcolm must have sensed my hesitation because he called me just as I was lost in thought. Staring at the word husband on my phone, I answered with a bitter laugh.

His voice was soft and concerned. "Honey, what's up? Why didn't you text me back? Did I upset you by staying out too long?"

Once, I would have poured out my heart to him, but that desire had vanished.

My silence spoke volumes, and Malcolm panicked. "Are you mad? I'll come home right now. You're more important than any job."

He had always put me first, a gesture that once touched my heart. Now, it only twisted the knife of betrayal deeper.

'This is all a lie,' I thought as I fought to keep my voice steady. "No need, I'm just tired. I'm going to bed," I said and ended the call, the weight of my unspoken words heavy in the silence.

The thought of hearing his voice again was too much; I knew one more word would shatter my composure, and the tears would come flooding out.

I could not let a liar see me crumble; my pride would not stand for it.

So there I was, alone in the echoing silence of the room, letting the tears fall until dawn's first light crept in. That was when I reached for the phone and called my dad.

"Dad, I'm ready to step in and run the family business."

He must have picked up on the tremble in my voice because he gently prodded.

"Honey, I'm thrilled you want to take the reins, but you're a Luna. You have to help Malcolm lead his pack. Now you want to run the company, too. Isn't that a lot to shoulder for one person?"

I paused, a lump forming in my throat, but my resolve was ironclad.

"I'm ending my mate bond with Malcolm."