All Chapters of Five-year deadline, love has betrayed: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Midnight. Alistair came home.He saw the evidence laid out on the table between us—the photograph torn from its pieces, the pink lace underwear. His face drained of color."The evidence is right there," I said, my voice cold. "The Severance papers. Sign."He didn't listen. He snatched the photo fragments and ripped them again. He threw the lace into the fire."That woman set me up. I drank too much at the pack gathering, and she volunteered to walk me back to my room. She took the photo and had a witch doctor alter it.""She's been bitter ever since she failed to win me back in training. Now she wants to destroy our family."But his scent did not lie.His skin should have carried the clean scent of pine and frost. Tonight, it was tainted with something else—jasmine and smoke. Her scent.When I didn't move, his eyes blazed gold."Selene. Thirteen years we've been together. Eight years as mates. And you'd believe an outsider over me?"I pushed the Severance papers toward him again.He la

I had been free for less than a day when my mother collapsed.Elara Nightshade had always been strong. Even as the wolfen degeneration weakened her bones, she never complained. But that night, her heart gave out.The pack healers worked fast. Their faces told me everything."The degeneration has reached her heart. Without Moonflower Essence, she won't survive the night."Moonflower Essence. The rarest of remedies. Only an Alpha could authorize its use. Only Alistair Blackthorn had access to the Silvermoon Pack's reserve.I called him. Once. Twice. Ten times.No answer.I ran to the pack house. To his study.The door was open.Alistair knelt on the floor, cradling a wolf pup in his arms. The small creature convulsed, foam at its mouth.Jade Moonshadow sat beside him, tears streaming down her face."Alistair, please. Moonflower Essence is the only thing that can save her. She's been with me for five years. I can't lose her."I grabbed his arm. My voice broke."Alistair. My mother is dyin

The post went viral within hours.Not just on the wolf forum. Somehow, screenshots had leaked to human news sites. The story crossed worlds—an Alpha accused of letting his mate's mother die, of feeding ashes to a dog, of beating his Luna.The council had no choice but to move fast.The next morning, a new announcement appeared on the official pack network:Notice of Suspension: Alpha Alistair Blackthorn of Silvermoon Pack is hereby suspended from all Alpha duties effective immediately. A full investigation into charges of infidelity, abuse of power, misuse of Moonflower Essence, and desecration of remains has been initiated. Alistair Blackthorn is forbidden from leaving pack territory until further notice.Jade Moonshadow received no separate notice. She was nothing to the council. But everyone in the pack knew. Her Gamma ranking had been stripped. Her name removed from every training roster. The healers refused to treat her. The merchants refused to serve her.She had become a ghost.

Two months passed.The fellowship consumed me. Anatomy labs until midnight. Research papers stacked to my ceiling. Rounds at the human hospital where no one knew I was a wolf.But Alistair had not forgotten me.The first sign came in the form of an email. A junior researcher forwarded me an anonymous document—thirty pages of supposed "evidence" that I had fabricated my research data, plagiarized my fellowship application, and falsified my medical credentials.I knew that handwriting. I had seen it on love letters years ago, on the back of the photograph that ruined my life.I forwarded it to Gideon."He's trying again," I said.Gideon's face hardened. "The council's investigators will tear it apart. But the human board—""I know. If they believe this, I lose the fellowship."Gideon made a call. Within days, the report came back: forged. Metadata traced to a server in the North—the same server used by Alistair's former beta."He's running this from his cell," Gideon said. "That's a viol

Seven years passed.Alistair was released. He came to my town. He knelt outside my clinic for three days, begging for forgiveness.On the fourth day, I opened my door."What do you want, Alistair?""I want you to forgive me.""You fed my mother's ashes to a pup. You locked me in a cellar. You don't get forgiveness.""I loved you," he whispered."You loved the idea of me. Go home, Alistair. Don't come here again."I walked inside and closed the door.He left that night. A week later, a hiker found his body at the base of Snow Peak. He had jumped.The note in his pocket was short: "Selene. I owe you a life. I'm paying it back."Gideon came up behind me when I read the news. He wrapped his arms around my waist."His choices were his own. You did not push him.""I know. But I keep thinking—if I had said yes, would he still be alive?"He turned me around to face him. "That is not murder. That is survival."That night, Gideon brought me a letter. Alistair had left it with a lawyer.Selene,I