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.

The day Adelyn was discharged from the hospital, Clover called her. She mentioned that something urgent had come up at the pack, so she wouldn’t be able to help Adelyn move. Adelyn didn’t dwell on it and told her to concentrate on what she needed to handle. After all, her belongings were already settled in the apartment she’d bought during her studies, right in the heart of the city. The apartment was modest, a far cry from the grandeur of the pack territories, but it was hers—a quiet refuge from the chaos of pack politics.

That evening, after finishing all her tasks, Adelyn relaxed on the sofa and called Clover. She intended to invite her over to the new place to thank her for the care and concern she had shown these past few days and to give her a gift—possibly to share the truth about her family’s real situation. The thought of revealing her Alpha status to Clover crossed her mind, but she hesitated, unsure if it was the right time.

The phone rang several times before Clover answered, and her voice sounded a bit breathless.

“Clover, is everything alright?” Adelyn asked, her concern evident.

Clover paused before telling her she was working late at the pack headquarters and was quite busy. Not wanting to bother her, Adelyn ended the call quickly.

Right then, a notification from the home security camera popped up on her phone. Julieta, Miles’ mother, had been adamant about installing the cameras, concerned about Adelyn’s safety living alone. That decision had sparked a heated argument between Miles and Adelyn, which she had eventually relented to. However, Julieta began using the cameras to scrutinize Adelyn’s every move, so in frustration, Adelyn had revoked her access and linked the cameras directly to her own phone.

Having decided to sever ties with Miles, Adelyn accessed the app to disconnect the cameras. But the scene unfolding on the screen left her in shock.

Through the camera, she could clearly see Miles walking brazenly into their home with another woman in his arms. From the moment they entered, they never stopped kissing. They moved quickly, leaving a trail of chaos as they headed to the sofa, completely absorbed in each other and utterly disrespectful.

Adelyn’s breath caught in her throat.

The woman was Clover, her supposed best friend, with whom she had just spoken on the phone. The betrayal stung like a thousand needles, and for a moment, Adelyn felt her wolf stir within her, a low growl of anger and pain echoing in the back of her mind.

She could hardly believe her eyes.

Her fingers tightened around the phone as she watched them, her heart pounding in her chest. The mate bond she had once shared with Miles felt like a distant memory, now tainted by the sight before her. She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to stay calm, but the ache in her chest was undeniable.

Adelyn took a deep breath, her Alpha instincts kicking in. She knew she couldn’t let this slide. Miles and Clover had crossed a line, and they would face the consequences. But first, she needed to gather her thoughts and prepare for what was to come. The pack wouldn’t tolerate such betrayal, and neither would she.

Adelyn collapsed onto the couch in her pack territory, overwhelmed by a flood of tears. It wasn’t the rejection of the mate bond that shattered her heart, but the harsh truth cutting through her like a dull knife, inch by inch.

She was left in complete disarray, feeling as though the Moon Goddess had dealt her an unbearable blow.

In a way, Clover nudged her down the path to rejecting the bond with Miles. That day, Miles needed his pack identification, so Adelyn went to his car to find it for him. As she rummaged through the glove compartment, she noticed faint fingerprints smudged across the passenger-side mirror and door handle—traces of sunscreen and foundation, clear as day.

Adelyn hadn’t been in Miles’s car for days, yet the fingerprints were fresh and impossible to miss. Her first instinct was to check the dashcam footage, only to discover it had been completely erased. Suddenly, a chilling realization gripped her.

The thought of Miles’s infidelity took root in her mind, planting seeds of suspicion. Sitting in the parking garage, hands trembling, she mind-linked Clover. Clover worked with Miles; they were both members of the pack. When she first joined the pack, Miles had jokingly suggested that Adelyn must have sent her to spy on him to ease her mind. He had even helped her secure her position.

Adelyn had trusted that if Miles was up to anything sketchy, Clover would notice right away. She remembered that conversation vividly. Clover hesitated before finally speaking with determination.

"There are a few new trainees in the pack," she said. "One girl seems to be getting pretty close to the Gamma."

Adelyn pressed her fingers to her temple and shared her discovery with Clover. Clover gasped in surprise. From that point on, Clover began updating Adelyn almost daily on Miles’s activities.

Eventually, Miles figured out Adelyn was keeping tabs on him. They erupted into a fierce argument, unlike any they had before.

Confiding in Clover, she was indignant on Adelyn’s behalf. She detailed her grievances and hinted that once a mate bond was betrayed, it was irreparable. The fallout from their argument caused their relationship to grow more distant. Clover urged Adelyn to consider rejecting the bond, to cut her losses.

Adelyn thought she was simply dealing with a rotten mate, but it turned out she had been betrayed by both her best friend and her mate. In the end, logic won over emotion.

She saved the video evidence of Miles’s betrayal and made a mind-link call to Orion, her Beta. "Let’s schedule a pack meeting for tomorrow; it’s time to clean house."