Just as they were about to part ways, Miles called out to her, his voice laced with a bitterness that cut through the crisp evening air.

"Adelyn, I hope you move out soon. If you linger, I’ll have nowhere to turn for support."

The wheelchair came to a sudden halt, its wheels screeching against the rough pavement, a sound that echoed the tearing of a bond that once held them together. Adelyn’s shoulders stiffened, but she refused to let him see the cracks forming in her composure.

"Fine," she replied coolly, her tone as sharp as the edge of a blade.

With Theo’s help, she rose from the wheelchair and stepped into the waiting car, urging the driver to take her to the territory they once shared. She arrived before Miles, her presence commanding despite the exhaustion that clung to her like a shadow. The pack’s housekeeping staff was already waiting by the door, their heads bowed in deference to the Alpha she secretly was.

She didn’t need Miles to tell her to leave; she would have done so anyway. Every second in his presence felt suffocating, a reminder of the mate bond she was severing.

Under her direction, her belongings were packed quickly—a few clothes, some jewelry, and the items she had brought into their union. Anything connected to Miles after their bonding ceremony held no value to her now.

When Miles returned, most of the packing was done. His face was unreadable as he stared intently at the boxes, his eyes narrowing as if she had stolen something precious from him. His broad shoulders, once a source of comfort, now seemed like a wall of hostility.

Ignoring his scrutinizing gaze, Adelyn instructed a pack member to take down the painting hanging in the living room, a piece of her family’s legacy.

"What are you doing? Who gave you permission to touch that painting? Leave it alone!" Miles roared, his voice carrying the weight of his Gamma authority, though it lacked the commanding presence of an Alpha.

Adelyn turned to face him, her expression calm but resolute. "My parents gave me this painting for my birthday before our bonding. It’s part of my personal property. Why shouldn’t I take it?" Her voice was steady, her gaze unwavering.

The painting, a rare artifact acquired at an auction by her parents, was worth a fortune. Once Miles discovered its value, he had insisted it be displayed prominently, a symbol of his status. Now, faced with its removal, his anger flared, his control slipping.

With nothing left to say, Miles could only lash out, his words bitter and cutting. "A month to cool off. Don’t come back crying and begging."

Adelyn didn’t bother responding. She simply turned and walked away, her head held high, her steps firm despite the ache in her chest.

Beg him? The thought was absurd. She only hoped he wouldn’t be the one coming to her in tears, groveling for forgiveness she had no intention of giving.

After a long, exhausting afternoon, Adelyn’s wound inevitably reopened, forcing her to stay in the pack’s healing center for ten days. She had initially planned a trip during the lull, but her enthusiasm waned as the pain and fatigue set in.

During those ten days, Clover, her former packmate and close friend, visited her several times. Clover had been with her from the start, witnessing Adelyn and Miles transition from being in love to establishing their mate bond, and now, to the brink of rejection. Each time Clover visited, she would launch into a tirade against Miles, as if venting her frustration was the only way to cope.

“Let it go, Clover, it’s behind us now,” Adelyn would say, though deep down, the sadness lingered. She and Miles had been in love for four years and mated for one. She never imagined they would end up here, and so quickly.

Her phone screen was frozen on a bank transfer she had made to Miles, and his words echoed in her mind. In that moment, she felt utterly foolish.

Back during her training years, her parents, Phillip and Nova, respected elders of their pack, were keen on toughening her character. They not only restricted her access to pack resources but also forbade her from flaunting their family’s status. When they found out she had found her mate, they insisted she keep it discreet, even going so far as to demand a formal agreement before the marking ceremony. They openly expressed their doubts about Miles more than once. They were brutally honest; they feared a lower-ranked Gamma would drag her down.

This led to a major argument between them, as Adelyn was determined to prove to her parents that Miles genuinely cared for her. Adelyn and Miles had established their mate bond in their second year of training. After completing her studies, Miles chose to skip further advancement and jumped into a role within the pack’s trade division. He wanted to prove himself quickly. Adelyn didn’t see anything wrong with this; in fact, she fully supported him. He was a trainee from a modest background, and his mother, Julieta, had worked tirelessly to secure his position within the pack. During their training years, he was always driven by his goals and ambitions. This drive is what drew Adelyn to him.

Miles was always proud and had a strong sense of dignity. Within three years of completing his training, he clawed his way up to a Gamma position, earning a respectable share of the pack’s resources. After they established their bond, Julieta urged Adelyn to step back from her responsibilities and focus on starting a family. She advised that having pups while young would make it easier to maintain her strength and status. But Adelyn never anticipated reaching the point of rejection.

Her initial agreement to Julieta’s suggestion and her current lack of pups became tools for Miles to manipulate her, his dominance and arrogance growing with each passing day.

Looking back now, Adelyn could see that the cracks in her relationship with Miles had always been there, even if she had chosen to ignore them. She had kept making concessions, blindly giving in to everything, nearly losing herself in the process.

The Miles she had mated was a different wolf from the one she had fallen for. Before the mate bond was established, he had been attentive and eager to please; afterward, he became demanding and controlling, especially after his promotion to Gamma. The male who had once taken care of the cooking and laundry so she wouldn’t have to lift a paw eventually criticized her for not handling the domestic duties.

“Adelyn,” he had said, his voice laced with condescension, “don’t you understand how hard I work to secure resources for this pack?”

“And even if you can’t contribute financially, can you at least stop being so wasteful?”

His tone had always been laced with arrogance. Yet, despite their agreement before the mate bond, Miles hadn’t shared his resources with her. He only gave her a meager monthly allowance, barely enough to cover the basic needs of their shared territory.

He had no idea that after mating him, Adelyn had constantly been forced to cut back on her spending. Even the resources she used to support him had come from her own reserves.

At first, she had tried to argue back. But over time, she couldn’t even be bothered to speak up. The male who used to work hard to surprise her with thoughtful gestures and show he cared had vanished. Now, Miles was all about seizing opportunities and stepping over others to climb the pack hierarchy, looking down on those who were once just like him.

Reflecting on this, Adelyn felt a surge of anger at herself. She came from a prestigious pack, her parents both high-ranking elders, yet she had let herself live like an Omega. However, she was grateful for one thing: she wasn’t pregnant, and contrary to what Miles and his mother, Julieta, assumed, she hadn’t lost her standing in the pack.

As she stood there, the weight of her decisions pressing down on her, Adelyn couldn’t help but wonder how things had come to this. The mate bond, once a source of hope and connection, had become a chain, tightening around her with every passing day. And yet, deep within her, a spark of determination began to grow—a resolve to reclaim her power and her place in the pack.