[Kaelen''s POV]
I watched her, searching her face for any sign of the agony she should have been feeling. A flicker of pain, a shadow of grief, anything.
But there was nothing.
She spoke of our end with the casual indifference of someone commenting on the weather.
"Stop the act," Seraphina snapped, her chin held high, her voice sharp with contempt. "You're ending your bond with my mate. How could you not hate me? Why else would you be emerging from the Alpha's office, if not to spread your poison?"
"Do you really think the only reason I would ever set foot in the Pack Hall is because of you?" Elara's voice held a note of genuine amusement.
She had been here to file for a travel permit. She was taking her parents' Hero Spirit Stones on an airship to the western lands, to Stonewall Citadel. The transport of such sacred relics required the Pack Alpha's seal and registration with the Elder Council. The Pack's leadership, upon learning whose Spirit Stones she carried, had granted her an immediate audience.
But Elara held her tongue, offering Seraphina nothing.
"If you hate me, I want you to say it to my face, not scheme behind my back like a coward," Seraphina spat, her eyes raking over Elara as if sizing up prey.
"I don't hate you, Seraphina," Elara said, her tone flat.
Hate was too strong an emotion. This woman wasn't worth the energy.
Seraphina froze, stunned into silence. Even I stared at Elara, taken aback.
She… she didn't hate her?
"In any case, my bond with him will soon be over." Elara's gaze shifted to me. "You two can be together however you wish. You won't have to hide behind the title of 'allies' anymore."
Just then, a few mid-level Pack managers turned the corner. Their eyes went wide at her words, gazes darting between Seraphina, me, and Elara, hungry for the fresh drama.
Color flooded Seraphina's face, then drained away, leaving her pale with humiliation.
A surge of protective fury ignited in my chest. I rounded on Elara. "How dare you speak to Seraphina like that! Our rejection has nothing to do with her!"
"You're right. It doesn't," she replied, her voice a soft, dismissive whisper.
It was like throwing a punch into a cloud of mist—all force and no impact. Her complete and utter indifference was more infuriating, more defeating, than any scream or accusation.
That night, my wolf was restless.
Her words echoed in my mind, over and over. You're right. It doesn't.
How could she be so calm? Did three years of being my mate mean nothing to her?
I tried to reach her through the mind-link, but the connection was dead. A wall of silent, impenetrable ice. She hadn't just ignored me; she had blocked me completely.
The loss of control was a maddening itch under my skin.
I stood on the balcony of the Alpha's House, a glass of amber liquor in my hand, and stared into the night sky.
The moon was full and bright.
I suddenly remembered how Elara loved nights like this. She would lean against the railing, her silver hair shimmering in the moonlight, her gaze lost in the stars.
Back then, I had thought those nights would last forever. That she would always be there, a silent, unwavering shadow at my back, forever looking up to me.
And now, she was leaving.
I threw back the liquor in one savage gulp.
What was she doing right now? Was she with that friend of hers, Liana, celebrating her imminent freedom from the "burden" I had become?
The thought was a knot of bile in my throat.
Maybe she was somewhere I didn't know, laughing without a care in the world.
A possessive snarl rumbled in my chest. Maybe there was another male with her.
That cub from the North, Ethan Northwind. He had recently returned to the Eternal Sanctum, hadn't he?
I remembered them being close, once.
A hot, acidic jealousy burned through my veins. My hand tightened, and the glass in my grip shattered, the shards biting into my palm.
No.
She couldn''t leave me.
She was my mate, a gift from the Moon Goddess. Even if my love had cooled, she belonged here, in the place I had designated for her, quiet and obedient.
On the day of the dissolution assembly, I dressed in a tailored black suit, ensuring I looked every bit the powerful, composed Alpha. Seraphina was at my side, a vision in a flowing white gown, looking like a goddess descended from the heavens.
"Don't worry," she said, her voice a soft reassurance. "After today, everything will go back to the way it should be."
I nodded, but a knot of unease remained coiled in my gut.
We arrived at the hotel where the assembly was being held. As we approached the backstage suite, the sharp, shrill sounds of an argument reached us.
I recognized the voices immediately. My mother and my sister.
Seraphina and I exchanged a look and quickened our pace.
I threw open the door and was met with a scene that sent a bolt of pure rage through me.
My mother, Adelina, was grappling with a hotel security guard while my sister, Giselle, shrieked, her finger pointed directly in Elara's face. Elara stood her ground, flanked by her friend Liana, who looked like a she-wolf protecting her cub, snarling back at Giselle.
"You! You have the audacity to show your face here?" my mother shrieked the moment she saw Elara. She broke free from the guard and lunged, her hand raised to strike. "You refused to sign the forgiveness letter! You just had to see us thrown in those detention cells, didn't you, you bitch!"
But her hand never made contact. Elara caught her wrist in a grip of surprising strength.
"It wasn't I who had you detained. It was your own actions," Elara said coldly, flinging my mother's hand away.
Adelina crumpled to the floor, wailing like a banshee. "Oh, the cruelty! My own son's mate, striking an elder!"
My jaw tightened. "Elara," my voice was dangerously low as Seraphina and I stepped into the room. "Did you hit my mother?"
She turned, and her eyes met my cold, hard gaze.
Giselle rushed to my side, helping our still-howling mother from the floor. "Brother, Mother was just upset about the forgiveness letter. She said a few words, and Elara attacked her!"
I watched their pathetic, transparent performance before my eyes landed on Elara. She met my stare, her expression unreadable, and asked a single, quiet question.
"You believe them?"
"She is my mother. Of course I believe her," I replied without hesitation. "This assembly is about to begin. I don't want a scene. Apologize to my mother. Now."
And I watched as the last flicker of light in her eyes died out completely.