Semua Bab My Alpha’s Broken Promise, Now Mine: Bab 1 - Bab 9

My mate postponed our mating ceremony for the 17th time. I accepted it calmly, but he pulled me close, trying to read my thoughts.My phone vibrated in my pocket.I pushed Ryker away without thinking.It was an ultimatum from the Pack Elders. “Aurora, your resignation as Head Healer is in its final stage. Once confirmed, all your pack privileges will be permanently revoked. Are you sure?”I hit the side button, the screen going dark.“You’re acting strange today.” Ryker realized I’d pushed him. A flicker of panic crossed his face. “You didn’t even ask me why I postponed.”I took a sip of water. I didn’t answer.Did I need to ask? The answer was always the same.Chloe.For six months, it was the same show. Played seventeen times.The first time, Chloe had just awakened her wolf. Her wolf was unstable after her first shift. I stood at the sacred ceremonial site in a thin dress. The entire pack watched me wait from dawn until midnight.My mate spent the entire night holding her. Calming h

The next morning, cold sunlight stabbed into the bedroom.I opened the wardrobe and laid a large suitcase flat on the carpet.I pulled out a deep gray, custom-tailored suit. I had flown to Milan to have it made for him the day he became Alpha. Now it was crammed in the back of the closet, covered in dust.I tossed it into a trash bag.Next to it hung a flashy, studded jacket. The one he bought because Chloe thought it was “cool.”I took it down and hung it in the most obvious spot. A little gift for him to use to please his new favorite.Suddenly, the lock on the front door clicked.Ryker strode into the bedroom.His scent had changed. The cold, cedarwood scent of his Alpha self was gone.In its place was the sweet, cloying scent of a young Omega.He saw me and stopped dead in his tracks.“Morning.” His eyes darted away as he started explaining. “Night patrol ran late. Chloe’s a newly awakened wolf. Her power is unstable, and her wolf was completely exhausted. I stayed in the pack gues

The moment the plane landed, I turned on my phone.My screen blew up.47 missed calls. All from Ryker.99+ texts. Each one a testament to how insane he’d gone in the few hours I’d been away.Then, without warning, the mental link between us ripped open.Aurora! Why won’t you answer me!Ryker’s voice crawled out from some dark abyss. It was raw. Broken. It held the edge of an Alpha about to go feral.I dragged my suitcase through the arrivals hall of the Sanctuary Valley airport.The cool night air hit my face. It smelled of freedom. The scent of neutral territory, belonging to no pack.My phone buzzed again.I stared at his name on the screen. My thumb hovered for a second before I answered.“Which airport are you at?!” he demanded, his voice thick with a panic he couldn't hide. “Give me your coordinates. I’ll send someone for you now!”I could feel his Alpha authority, even through the phone. He was trying to command me. To drag me back.I laughed.This time, his command was nothing.

Rain hammered against my umbrella.I was walking home from the medical center when I turned into the alley by my apartment building and stopped dead.A figure stood frozen under a streetlight.Soaked to the bone. Like a dead tree left in a storm.It was Ryker.My breath hitched, then returned to normal.He was so much thinner. His cheekbones jutted out, his eyes were sunken. His powerful Alpha aura was almost gone.He’d suppressed it on purpose.The neutral territory guards would never let a ruling Alpha enter with his power on display. He’d made himself as small as a stray.He was holding a bouquet of wildflowers. Moonpetals. They were battered by the rain, their petals splattered with mud.The flower of forgiveness.“Aurora.” His voice trembled, on the verge of breaking.I didn’t stop. I walked right toward him.“What are you doing here,” I said flatly. The way you’d speak to a stranger.“I…” He swallowed hard. “I needed to see you.”Rain streamed down his jaw. I couldn’t tell if it

I didn’t answer him.I turned, pushed open the heavy door to my building, and shut the sound of the rain and his ragged breathing outside.“Aurora!” he yelled after me, his voice hoarse and broken. “I’ll be back tomorrow!”I didn’t slow my pace.“Do whatever you want,” I said, not looking back. “I’ve already moved on.”The door closed behind me with a heavy thud.A moment later, a howl tore through the night.It was the agonized cry of an Alpha who has lost his mate. Desperate. Broken. It echoed through the alley, raw and piercing.I stood inside, listening as the sound faded into the storm.I felt nothing.Just a quiet finality.That chapter was finally closed.Another month passed.Spring came to Sanctuary Valley in a rush. Overnight, the cherry trees lining the streets burst into bloom.I sat in my new clinic at the Healers' Coalition, signing the last of my paperwork.“Congratulations, Aurora,” the Coalition director said, smiling as he pushed the official seal toward me. “Your lic