When His Hidden Mate Walked Away

Six days remained in the public notice period.I was still Bloodmoon’s commercial liaison, responsible for pack cooperation agreements and hunting contracts. Damon had never removed me from the role, probably because I handled the work well enough that he never had to think about it.That morning, the head of the hunting team sent me a message.“Freya, bring the contract stone. We’re meeting the neighboring pack about the hunting agreement today. Bloodmoon’s side is bringing Iris Dawnfield. I hear she’ll be taking over the cooperation projects from now on.”I read the message twice.So that was the position Damon had prepared for her. The one I had held for three years.The public notice period had already begun working through my body. At first, it was only a dull ache under my ribs. By the sixth day, the pain had spread into my bones, quiet enough to hide but sharp enough to remind me the bond was dying.When we entered the council hall, Damon was there with Iris beside him. His hand

The final day of the public notice period arrived.By then, Damon and I had almost stopped appearing in the council hall at the same time. When Iris was absent, he sometimes attended the hunting agreement meetings and looked at me without saying much. I no longer tried to guess what those looks meant.In my previous life, I had spent ten years trying to understand him and ended with one answer. He wanted to protect Iris, and he wanted to keep me too. He believed I would always wait.I had been moving my belongings out little by little, but Damon noticed anyway.After the meeting that day, he asked me to sit with him in a side room.“You’ve been taking things out of the territory,” he said. “And you haven’t been staying at the residence.”“I’m staying at the old house for a while.”He frowned. “I transferred moonstones to your card last week. Why haven’t you ordered the Luna crown or the moon gown? The marking ceremony is still happening. If you need more, tell me.”His tone was matter-

Damon’s eyes widened slowly.For a second, he looked like he genuinely thought he had misheard me.“That’s not possible,” he said with a strained laugh. “Freya, stop joking.”He started toward me instinctively, then stopped himself halfway. I had already stepped away from him too many times tonight, and he finally seemed afraid that if he pushed harder, I would disappear for good.People flowed around us at the boarding terminal while we stood frozen in place.“You’re joking, right?” he asked again, but there was no confidence left in his voice. “When did we dissolve the mate bond? You never told me. I never agreed to that.”The more he spoke, the more panicked he sounded.Like he had finally realized the document he signed without reading might actually have been a goodbye.I no longer wanted to drag this out.I turned toward security with my suitcase and left him one final sentence.“The agreement’s on the table. Go read it yourself.”He stared at me for two seconds before spinning a

A week later, the hunting team leader came to the border and immediately got sick from the unstable moon-energy currents. By the second day, he looked half dead.He handed me the cooperation files for the next meeting and groaned, “You’ll have to handle this one for me.”I glanced at the representative list and froze.Damon Bloodmoon.I called him immediately.“You never told me he was representing the other side.”The team leader sounded miserable. “That can’t be right. I checked the roster myself—”A voice interrupted from behind me.“I requested the transfer.”Damon stood a few steps away, not daring to come closer.He looked different. Gone was the certainty that I would wait for him, forgive him, understand him. Now he looked cautious, like a wolf that had finally realized it might not be welcomed back.Even his scent had changed. The sharp fir-and-moongrass smell I knew so well had faded into something dry and bitter, like a forest left too long without rain.“I know you don’t wa

Damon came back several more times after that, always carrying something different.Moon roses. Silver jewelry. Rare herbs from the border.He left them on the bakery counter whether I accepted them or not.Every single gift ended up at the secondhand trade stalls the next morning.Eventually, the owner stopped watching quietly and asked, “Are you going to avoid him forever?”“I’m not avoiding him,” I said. “I just don’t need him anymore.”She leaned against the counter. “Then what do you want?”I thought about it and realized I had not asked myself that question in a long time.I used to want Damon to love me enough to choose me first. Now I wanted simpler things: to finish the hunting project, build a life that belonged to me, and stop feeling ashamed for wanting fairness from someone who could never give it.That day, we had secured a new border hunting contract. Tomorrow I would be training the younger wolves.The owner slid a fresh mooncake toward me.“On the house.”My wolf reste