The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond

Her name was Blair. She'd moved to Grayridge two months ago and worked at the pack's fitness center. She had no idea who was sitting across from her.

I practiced under my maiden name and wore a mask to help protect my clients' privacy. Lucas had always insisted we keep my role as Luna separate from the clinic. He said I did enough for the pack already without having everyone's relationship problems follow me home. I'd thought he was looking out for me. Now his mistress was sitting on the other side of my desk.

"Ms. Reed, name your price." Blair nudged the check closer. "I just need her to leave on her own. Lucas can't find out I had anything to do with it."

"If he wants a different Luna, why doesn't he tell her himself?"

"He doesn't want to hurt their kid, and he doesn't want the elders giving him grief. They've been mated five years. She had his daughter." She shrugged, as though we were discussing an old car he couldn't quite bring himself to scrap. "He gets sentimental. That's his problem."

I opened the tablet she'd brought. The first video had been taken at an indoor pool. Lucas lifted her onto the edge, his hands around her waist, and laughed as he bent to nip her shoulder. In the next, Blair filmed herself in a locker-room mirror while he stood behind her, kissing the side of her neck. When she asked if he'd leave a mark, he caught her chin between his fingers. "Getting greedy, little fox?"

The clip ended there. I stared at the progress bar, my hands turning cold against the desk.

"That isn't a mating mark." I indicated the bite on her neck. "You know the difference."

Blair covered it with her hand. "Not yet. It will be. He just doesn't want to hurt her."

"Why haven't you contacted her yourself?"

"Because Lucas says anyone who messes with his Luna gets kicked out of Grayridge." Her smile finally faded. "If I go straight to her, I'm the one he'll come down on. You're a Bond Breaker. You can make her see that leaving is the best thing for her."

"My magic breaks bonds. It doesn't make people do what you want."

"Then show her these." She opened a folder. "I've kept track of where he goes, which floor we stay on, all of it. Loyalty is everything to her. You think she'll stick around after seeing this?"

I closed the folder. He still checked Ruby's car seat every morning and left the porch light on when I worked late. In public, he still put a hand at my waist and called me his one and only mate.

Blair wanted more than that. She wanted my position and my home, and she'd come here expecting me to clear the way for her.

"Seven days." She stood, picking up her bag. "I'm counting on good news, Ms. Reed."

"You'll hear that she's left."

After the door closed, I didn't break anything or call Lucas. I took off my mask and booked the last open appointment in my own schedule. Under client, I entered Erin Reed. Under mate, Lucas Hale.

The screen displayed the notice I'd gone over with every client who sat in that chair: [A mate bond can only be severed voluntarily, with another Bond Breaker present to witness the procedure.]

I confirmed the booking and called my father. He answered with my name, and for a moment I couldn't get the words out. "Dad, I'm coming back to White Pine. I'm bringing Ruby."

The wind on his end of the line stopped. He didn't ask if Lucas and I had had another fight. "What happened?"

"He's seeing someone else."

There was a pause. "When should I send a car?"

I looked at the appointment request I'd just sent. Maeve, my mentor, could be in White Pine in seven days. She would help me break the bond and help Ruby settle into life with a different pack. Until then, I needed Lucas to believe nothing had changed.

"Next Tuesday morning. Don't tell anyone in Grayridge yet."

"All right." Dad's voice went quiet. "Your room's still here. I'll have Ruby's ready, too."

I sealed Blair's check back in its envelope without cashing it. Whatever she thought she was buying, this wasn't a job I was doing for her. I was getting myself out.