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Chapter 6

Author: Michelle
Blair sent a group photograph from the reception, my face circled.

[I heard you talking in the lobby last night. You really thought a mask would keep me from recognizing your voice?]

[You should've told me sooner.] A photograph of blood test results followed. [Eight weeks. Lucas isn't going to treat his own kid like some dirty little secret.]

I didn't answer, so she kept going. [All I said was that I was scared to get checked on my own, and he came running. Even when he's taking you to the doctor, one call from me is all it takes, huh?]

The last photograph showed Lucas sitting beside her with the blood test report in his hand. He didn't look happy. Blair leaned against his shoulder anyway, smiling as though he'd already promised her everything she wanted.

I called my clinic administrator to cancel the coming week's appointments, then went to see Nora, the alliance's legal counsel.

When she asked whether I wanted to discuss assets first, I nodded. "Assets, and arrangements for Ruby after we leave."

I wasn't walking out of that house with nothing and raising our daughter on whatever handouts he felt like offering. The clinic belonged to me, with its income documented separately. I had complete records of the money I'd advanced to Grayridge's childcare center. Our joint accounts would be divided under the mating agreement already filed with the alliance. Ruby's expenses would be handled on their own.

"He'll drag his feet," Nora warned, looking through the documents I'd brought.

"I don't need his signature to break the bond. I'll leave the rest with you."

She took the file without telling me to put up with him for a little longer. As I left her office, Lucas called. Something had held him up, he said. Why hadn't I waited?

"My appointment was over."

"I'm heading home now." He paused. "But I have to go to Copper Creek tomorrow. There's a snag with the alliance property deal. I might have to stay until Tuesday."

On my screen, Blair had just sent two digital room keys for a hot-springs resort. [He wants me to unwind for a few days. You should find something to keep yourself busy, too.]

"Hope it all goes smoothly."

He sounded relieved. "I love you, Erin. I know I haven't been fair to you lately. I'll make it up to you when I get back."

I looked at the folder Nora had prepared for me. "Have you ever considered that one day I might reject our bond?"

"Don't joke about that." His voice hardened at once. "We have Ruby."

"Having a child means I can't leave?"

"I'm your mate and Grayridge's Alpha." He kept the irritation down, using the same tone he might use to settle an unreasonable child. "Your wolf's linked to mine. Wherever you go, I can find you."

I waited for him to finish. "I'd give you three days to cool off, tops. Then I'd bring you home. Nobody can make you disappear from my life, Erin."

I touched the patch on my neck. The bond he was counting on to keep me within reach was exactly what I broke for a living. "All right. I'll remember that."
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  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 15

    Six months later, the clinic moved to the center of White Pine. A bakery occupied the ground floor. Every afternoon, the smell of oatmeal cookies found its way through my window. Ruby liked to wait there after preschool, lining up packets of sugar on a table with the owner's little boy.I'd had my badge reprinted. It bore only my name, Erin Reed, and my professional title: Bond Breaker. The first time I clipped it to my collar, I held it between my fingers for a long while. I could put it on and go to work without checking whether someone else was comfortable with the life I wanted for myself.I still dreamed of the hallway in our old house sometimes. But when I woke, my body knew I was safe here. My wolf would stretch lazily before I'd even climbed out of bed, no longer tensing at a scent I couldn't bear.Grayridge eventually chose a new Alpha from its patrol team. Lucas accepted the review's findings. He lost his office and its privileges, and moved into an apartment near the childre

  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 14

    The property agreement was signed three days later. Lucas stopped dragging things out to get another meeting with me. Our joint assets were divided according to the agreement we'd made when we mated. I kept the clinic and the income in my own name, and Ruby's living arrangements were filed separately.I didn't feel like celebrating when the last signature went on the page. I just wanted to get home. Ruby was waiting for me to help her try out her scooter.We arranged the first official visit at White Pine's children's activity center. Lucas arrived in an ordinary jacket, carrying the puzzle Ruby had been asking for. The moment she saw him, she ran straight into his arms, just as she always had.I stood a few steps away and waited for them to finish hugging. He didn't ask her to persuade Mommy to come back. He sat on the floor and helped her lay out the puzzle instead. When she couldn't find a piece, she turned to call me as naturally as ever. I went over, and for a moment all three of

  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 13

    The review took place a week later. By the time I arrived, Lucas had repaid the money, including the fee for postponing the first-aid training. He was standing at the entrance. When he saw me, his eyes went to my neck, then to my bare wrist."You look better.""I am."He seemed about to add something, but the elder chairing the panel called our names. We went inside before he could turn the exchange into another conversation about us.No one played the intimate videos during the hearing. I'd submitted the material that established the dates, the purpose of the payments, and the orders he'd given. The panel had enough to verify the facts. I didn't need to have my own humiliation passed around the room as entertainment.Owen's statement covered picking up gifts, making excuses for Lucas's absences, and receiving the order to search for me. He admitted he'd thought keeping his Alpha's secrets was a form of loyalty.One elder leaned forward. "And where was your loyalty to Grayridge's child

  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 12

    I opened the accounts I'd handed over before leaving. A payment scheduled for the organization providing the children's first-aid training still hadn't arrived. Finance had initially blamed a banking delay. Now they admitted Lucas had moved the money before his trip, listing it as an expense for hosting alliance representatives.He'd put the getaway through as official business. Blair's additional claim for the crown had finally left the figures impossible to reconcile.Nora asked if I was willing to submit the relevant evidence. "This would go before an alliance review panel. It wouldn't stay between the two of you.""Submit it. The children's budget needs to be restored."I pulled up the recording from the reception. While Lucas had been claiming Owen was fetching the patrol roster, Owen had been having dinner with the North Shore delegates. The hotel's attendance records confirmed it, and Grayridge's Beta was willing to testify."He ordered us to check your border records, too," Owe

  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 11

    Two days later, Blair came to my new clinic. She registered like any other client, asking for a consultation about breaking a bond. I didn't recognize her until she sat down in my consulting room and took off her sunglasses.I told my assistant to stop billing for the appointment and left the door ajar. "If this is about Lucas, you'll need to contact his lawyer."She threw a courier's delivery confirmation onto my desk. "You sent my check back?""I never cashed it. The service you asked for isn't something I offer.""But you left anyway." Her makeup didn't quite hide the shadows under her eyes. "What are you doing to keep him on the hook now? He canceled our room at Copper Creek, told me to move into a rental, and won't even answer my calls.""That's between the two of you.""You told him about the messages, didn't you?""I gave what you sent me to the adviser handling my bond termination and property agreement. Did you expect me to keep your secrets for you?"Her fingers tightened on

  • The Bond Breaker's Broken Bond   Chapter 10

    ErinAt three that afternoon, Nora told me Lucas was at White Pine's south gate. He'd brought Ruby's scooter and a box from my favorite dessert shop. The checkpoint officers had told him to wait in the visitors' area. He'd been there for two hours.I left Ruby with Dad and went with Nora. Lucas stood as soon as he saw me. My neck was uncovered, and his eyes stayed on the old mark while he swallowed hard. "Erin."He reached for me. I stepped back. Once, that look on his face would have been enough to make me move into his arms. This time, his hand closed on nothing."Where's Ruby?""At her grandfather's. She's looking forward to the video call this afternoon.""I want to see her now.""You can see her. But you don't get to make fixing our relationship her job."He clenched his jaw and turned to Nora. "Could you give us a minute alone?""She stays."He pushed the dessert box toward me and leaned the scooter beside the bench. When I accepted neither, he started explaining. Blair was just

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