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Chapter 7

Author: Michelle
With three days left, Lucas went to Copper Creek. Blair sent me a photograph of them beside the hot-springs pool, followed by one of a crown glittering with crystals.

[He bought it for me. You can't be the only one who gets to wear one forever.]

I closed the photographs without replying. I had three days to get Ruby and myself ready.

That morning, I arranged for my clinic to reopen in White Pine with the same staff. I secured my personal accounts and sent the pack's financial records to Grayridge's finance office.

The following day, my friend Tara helped me take Ruby shopping for the trip. Ruby picked a blue backpack with bear ears and asked, very seriously, if she could pack two pairs of rain boots. Grandpa's creek was deep.

"Of course." I crouched to straighten her shoelaces. "When we get there, Mommy'll splash in the water with you."

Tara drew me outside the shop and asked only one question. "Are you coming back?"

"I won't be Grayridge's Luna again."

I'd already told Tara why I was leaving. She took the childcare center's spare key when I offered it, then hugged me without saying a word.

On my last night, the gifts Lucas had bought me went to a charity auction benefiting the children's medical fund. The Luna's crown and formal gown stayed behind.

I shredded our anniversary cards and vacation albums, then packed Ruby's clothes, books, and bedtime toy. Her photographs with her father went into her suitcase. They were part of her life.

At six in the morning, Ruby was still half-asleep against my shoulder. She asked if Daddy would come to Grandpa's to pick her up. "Daddy and Mommy will work that out. Today we're going to see Grandpa."

She nodded and buried her face in my scarf. Tara drove us to the eastern checkpoint, where I handed over the travel consent Lucas had signed long before this. The patrol officer checked our documents and stamped a wolf paw in Ruby's travel booklet.

As the barrier lifted, my phone rang. Lucas sounded cheerful. "Hey, sweetheart. I got back early. The deal's done. I bought Ruby a scooter, and I'm just getting home. Are you two up yet?"

I looked at the White Pine car waiting ahead of us. "She's still sleepy."

"Let her sleep. And I can finally open that box of yours today, right?"

"You can."

He laughed. "Hold on. Let's see what you've got planned for me."

We passed through the checkpoint. Dad took Ruby and wrapped her in a blanket he'd warmed for the journey. Maeve sat beside him. She reached for my hand, her eyes softening when she saw the patch on my neck.

I put the phone on my lap and left the call connected. On the other end, Lucas pulled open the drawer. I heard the rustle of wrapping paper, then a silence that lasted a beat too long.

"Erin?" He wasn't calling me sweetheart now. "Why's the bracelet cut? What do you mean, notice of termination of our mate bond?"

Maeve asked if I was certain. I nodded and peeled away the patch. Lucas's voice broke into a shout. "Don't touch that mark! Where are you? Answer me, Erin!"

For the first time, he tried to force my attention through the mindlink between mates. [Stop. Wait for me.]

I closed my eyes and tightened my grip on Maeve's hand. "I, Erin Reed, reject Lucas Hale as my mate—"
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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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