Don't go.
Two simple words.
Two words I had begged the moon to hear from him just days ago.
My heart lurched painfully, the mate bond surging with sudden, desperate hope. My wolf sprang to life inside me, trembling and eager, clinging to the sound of his voice like it was salvation.
Mate.
I gripped the edge of the bed to steady myself. "You told me to leave."
His jaw tightened. "I gave an order."
The distinction meant nothing.
Not to my heart.
Not to the bond.
"Is there a difference?" I asked quietly.
He didn't answer immediately. His gaze moved slowly across the room over the bare walls, the worn blankets, the single small bag that held my entire life.
Something dark and restless stirred in his eyes.
"This is how you lived?" he asked, his voice low.
I let out a soft, humorless laugh. "You never noticed?"
Silence followed.
Because he hadn't.
The truth settled between us, heavy and undeniable.
He had ruled this pack. Protected it. Strengthened it. Built its future.
But he had never truly seen me.
His hand dragged through his hair, frustration flickering across his face. "That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean?" My voice trembled despite my effort to stay calm. "Because from where I stand, Alpha, this looks exactly like the future you chose."
"Stop calling me that," he said again, his voice rougher this time.
My chest tightened. "Then stop acting like it."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
The bond pulsed wildly, reacting to the sudden tension, the rising emotions. Heat spread through my veins, sharp and overwhelming, making it harder to breathe.
He stepped closer.
One step.
Then another.
The room felt smaller with every inch he closed between us.
"You think this was easy for me?" he asked quietly.
I stared at him, disbelief flickering through the pain. "You rejected me in front of the entire pack."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "You think I didn't feel the bond snap?"
My breath caught.
For the first time since the ceremony, he didn't sound like an Alpha defending his decision.
He sounded like a man confessing a wound.
"It nearly drove my wolf mad," he admitted. "Every instinct in me screamed that I was making a mistake."
Hope flared, fragile and dangerous.
"Then why?" The word broke from me before I could stop it. "Why did you do it?"
His gaze hardened, shadows filling his eyes.
"Because loving you would destroy everything."
The answer hit like a blade.
I swallowed hard. "So instead you destroyed me."
The silence that followed felt endless.
The bond trembled, caught between us, fragile and aching and very much alive.
He reached for me slowly, hesitating just before his fingers brushed my cheek.
I should have stepped away.
I didn't.
Warmth exploded beneath his touch, spreading through my skin like fire meeting oxygen. My eyes fluttered shut as my wolf sighed in relief, pressing toward him with desperate longing.
Mate.
His thumb brushed away a tear I hadn't realized had fallen.
"You don't understand the danger you're in," he whispered.
My heart cracked softly.
"Then you should have told me… instead of pushing me away."
His hand stilled against my face.
And for the first time, uncertainty filled the space between us.