로그인Mary Ann’s POVThe council room felt smaller after everyone left.The doors closed behind Kylian, and the last footsteps faded down the corridor, leaving Modric and me alone with the maps, empty chairs, and questions I had spent too long pretending did not matter.He stood a few feet away from me, one hand still near the collar I had been staring at during the meeting.“Why do you keep looking at me as though you expect to find evidence?” he asked.His voice was controlled, but the bond carried the tension beneath it.I should have denied everything again.I should have walked away and kept what little pride remained.Instead, I heard myself ask, “Where do you go at night?”The question changed the room.Modric’s expression closed immediately.His hand dropped from his collar, and his shoulders became rigid.“What?”“You heard me.”His eyes narrowed.“My movements are not your concern.”The answer hurt, though I had expected it.I tightened my fingers around the council notes in my ha
Mary Ann’s POVFor several moments, I sat completely still with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders.The office was quiet around me. Pale morning light entered through the unfinished windows, falling across the scattered reports and repair plans on my desk. My neck ached from sleeping in the chair, and one side of my face still carried the faint pressure mark from my folded arm.I should have been annoyed with myself for falling asleep over work again.Instead, all my attention remained on the blanket.I had not placed it there.The last thing I remembered was reviewing the winter medicine budget and telling myself I would rest after finishing one more page. There had been no blanket over the chair beside me. No one had entered while I was awake.Someone had come during the night.At first, the answer seemed obvious.Greta.She often checked on me when I worked too late. She complained constantly about cold rooms, skipped meals, and what she called my dangerous habit of believing
Modric’s POVVelvera did not let the subject go.I had already reached the cottage door when she spoke again.“The Luna’s seal.”My hand stopped on the handle.For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood her.I turned slowly. “What did you say?”Velvera stood near the bedroom doorway with her robe pulled tightly around her body. The sadness on her face had disappeared, replaced by a careful expression I could not immediately read.“I want a duplicate of the Luna’s ceremonial seal.”The request made something cold move through me.The Luna’s seal was not decoration. Mary Ann used it to approve food support, household spending, welfare requests, and official letters sent in the name of Ironclaw’s Luna. Certain documents required both the Alpha and Luna seals before pack resources could be released.A duplicate in the wrong hands could create orders, move supplies, or give someone access to protected areas.“No.”Velvera blinked.“You did not even think about it.”“There is nothing to co
Modric’s POVI drove straight to Velvera’s cottage after leaving the pack house.The road was dark and nearly empty, but I barely noticed the turns. Mary Ann’s face remained in my mind, red-eyed and tired as she stood behind her door. I could still see the way she had wiped her tears before asking what I wanted, as though being seen in pain was something shameful.I had carried the portrait back because I could not tolerate seeing the empty wall.I had found the academy photograph because I wanted to understand what I had done.I had tried to apologize.Then I had failed.Again.The words had been inside me, but pride and shame had trapped them behind my teeth. I could command warriors, challenge elders, and face enemies without fear, yet I could not look at Mary Ann and say two simple words.I am sorry.Instead, I had stood there offering regret like it was enough.It was not.She had told me so.I pressed harder on the accelerator.Velvera’s cottage appeared between the trees, its w
Mary Ann’s POVFor several seconds, I could only stare at him.Modric stood outside my room with our wedding portrait held in both hands. The frame looked too large for the narrow corridor, forcing him to angle it slightly against his body. His dark coat was open, his hair untidy as though he had run his fingers through it too many times, and his expression was more uncertain than I had ever seen it.Then I remembered the tears on my face.I quickly wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand and straightened.“What do you want?”His gaze remained on me.I hated that he had heard me crying. I hated that he had found me at the exact moment when the strength I showed everyone else had finally broken. Most of all, I hated the concern that appeared in his eyes before he forced it away.“I came to return this,” he said.My eyes moved toward the portrait.“I did not ask you to.”“I know.”“Then take it back to storage.”His grip tightened around the frame.“The portrait belongs in the Luna Win
Modric’s POVThe girl who loved you is gone, Modric.You made sure of that.Mary Ann’s words followed me out of the Luna Wing.They followed me down the corridor, into my study, and through every meeting I attended that day. I heard them beneath the voices of the elders discussing border patrols. I heard them while Marek explained that the copied household seal could have come from an old document. I heard them while Kylian reviewed reports from Hollowbrook.No matter where I looked, I saw Mary Ann standing beneath the empty space where our wedding portrait had once hung.I saw the tears she refused to let fall.I had always known she disliked remembering the academy. I understood that I had embarrassed her and that some of my words had been cruel. But I had treated those years like something distant and childish. A collection of stupid jokes made by boys who wanted attention.I had never allowed myself to remember everything clearly.Now the memories came without mercy.Elite Alpha A







