Everyone in the Northern Territories knew the Nightclaw Pack had one criterion for choosing a mate for their Alpha Heir: fertility.

With my naturally rounded frame and the wide, pup-bearing hips that marked a strong Omega bloodline, the Pack Matriarch Selene Nightclaw spotted me like a rare moonstone and paid a fortune in territory rights and trade agreements to bring me into the pack.

Outsiders mocked me for mating up on my curves alone. What they didn't know was that Kael Nightclaw held me close every night, his breath hot against my neck as he whispered that he adored every inch of my body, that my scent drove his wolf to madness.

Until the Winter Solstice of our fifth year of bonding, when his Omega Assistant accidentally sent me a ceremonial summons.

Alpha Groom: Kael Nightclaw. Omega Bride: Raven Thornveil. Mating Ceremony date: the eighth night after the new moon.

Half an hour later, he knelt in the frost-covered courtyard of the Alpha Estate, hands trembling as he pushed a healer's parchment toward me.

"Lyra Riverglen, I have been marked with wolfsbane poisoning... my wolf is dying. I cannot drag you and our pup down with me."

I suddenly remembered how he had stood in the hearth-kitchen that morning, coughing while preparing my bone broth, his usually powerful scent weakened and strange.

Then I looked at the healer's verdict in front of me.

Forged.

After a long silence, I picked up the Bond Rejection decree and signed it without hesitation.

I held my pup in my arms and smiled.

"From now on, my pup takes my birth-pack name—Riverglen. He will not be entered into the Nightclaw Bloodline Ledger. He will have nothing to do with your pack ever again."

——

The moment the words left my mouth, everyone around the great stone table froze in shock.

Selene Nightclaw slammed her elder's staff against the floor, her voice heavy with the authority of generations.

"Kael, the Nightclaw bloodline is thin enough as it is. We finally have a pup of pure Alpha descent. I will not let the pack line end with you."

I pulled my pup tighter against my chest and said nothing.

She was warning me.

Kael dropped to his knees with a heavy thud, pushing the healer's parchment forward.

"Pack Mother, this curse came without warning. I had no choice."

"The wolfsbane has already reached my heart. The healers say my wolf will fade before the spring thaw. I cannot burden Lyra—the only thing I can give her now is her freedom."

He pressed his forehead hard against the cold stone floor, leaving a red mark on his skin.

His words sent the den hall into an uproar.

The pack elders and relatives around the table immediately shifted their concern to Kael's health, their wolves whining in distress.

Selene rose to her feet, swaying slightly, and gestured for a servant to bring her the healer's parchment.

She took it and examined each marking and seal. With each line, her face grew paler.

"Is this verdict true?"

Kael nodded.

"It was discovered during my full moon examination a few nights ago. The poison has spread too far. The healers say I do not have long."

Then he turned to look at me.

"Lyra, I am sorry. I cannot keep my vow to run beside you until our fur turns silver."

The grief in his amber eyes looked almost real.

I let out a bitter laugh.

"Kael, you know the truth better than anyone. I have said what I will say—I will agree to the Bond Rejection, but I am taking my pup."

I turned to face Selene at the head of the stone table.

"That is my only condition."

Kael's brow furrowed. His lips parted as if to speak.

"Rowan Riverglen is not just your pup. He carries Nightclaw blood. I cannot agree to that."

Selene's expression hardened the moment she heard I wanted to take Rowan. Displeasure etched itself across her weathered face.

"Daughter of the bond, I do not want to hear such foolishness again."

My gaze turned cold.

"I have already spoken. That is my only condition."

Kael stared at me, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.

He had not expected me to keep my composure, to not bare my teeth or let my wolf howl in rage.

He shuffled forward on his knees until he was beside me, close enough that I could smell the faint wrongness in his scent—the herbs he had used to fake the poisoning.

"Lyra, even if we break our bond, Rowan is still your pup. If he stays with the Nightclaw Pack, he will have access to the finest training grounds, the strongest hunting tutors."

"Should a mother not want what is best for her young?"

His argument was pathetic.

"Save your breath. Agree to my terms, and we go to the Ledger Keeper at dawn."

Kael straightened his back and lifted his head toward Selene.

Kael's gaze drifted to Rowan, who lay nestled against my chest, and something flickered in his eyes—a reluctance that cut through the cold air of the den.

"Grandmother, this bond must be severed."

"Please, just release her from it."

His words fell heavy, and he cast a shadowed look in my direction, his wolf barely contained beneath the surface.

Selene's composure shattered completely—the first time I had ever witnessed such a fracture in the Pack Matriarch's iron control.

"Have you lost all sense? The Nightclaw Pack commands territory, influence, alliances—no matter the cost, I will find a healer who can purge this wolfsbane from your blood!"

Kael remained on his knees before her, his spine straight despite the submissive posture, his gaze unwavering.

"Grandmother, the poison has taken root too deep. I am dying. I beg you—grant me this final mercy."

"Leave my sight! Get out! The Nightclaw bloodline has no place for a wolf who abandons his own!"

Without uttering another word, Kael rose and walked through the great archway into the frost-covered courtyard. There, beneath the pale winter moon, he knelt again on the frozen stone.

"Grandmother, whether you give your blessing or not, I will sever this mating bond!"

I watched his stubborn silhouette against the snow, and a hollow ache spread through my chest like a slow-bleeding wound.

I drew my pup closer to my warmth and walked past his kneeling form.

Kael's hand shot out, catching the edge of my cloak. He tilted his face upward, his dark eyes searching mine with an intensity that once would have made my wolf sing.

"Lyra, for the sake of everything we have shared through these seasons..."

I did not let him finish.

I turned my head and looked down at him, my voice steady despite the tremor in my heart.

"Kael, when you demanded this Bond Rejection—did you think about everything we shared?"

"When you cast Rowan aside without a second thought—did you think about it then?"

The questions struck him silent. His jaw tightened, and his hand fell away.

"Lyra..."

I shook free of his loosened grip and walked away without looking back.

That mating ceremony summons—his and Raven's—still lingered in my memory like a brand. The formal notice I had received, announcing their union to the pack.

Once, he had treated me with such reverence.

Even though we had never met before our own mating ceremony.

He had still shown me every respect a mate deserved.

A hand-inscribed invitation on ceremonial parchment. A gown he had commissioned from the finest weavers of the Northern territories.

Vows spoken beneath the full moon, witnessed by the pack elders.

"Lyra, now that our wolves are bound, I swear to honor you—to be the mate you deserve."

"I, Kael Nightclaw, desire nothing more than to run beside you until our final hunt."

So why had everything changed?

The snow fell through the long night hours. Kael was carried back inside by the pack guards, his face flushed red from the bitter cold, his wolf too weakened to regulate his body's warmth.

I was packing my belongings.

He lay half-reclined on the furs of our—his—sleeping chamber, watching me through lowered lashes. Even ill, his presence filled the room with the heavy scent of pine and something darker, something fading.

"Lyra, I am sorry. You are still young. Your wolf is strong. You have many seasons ahead of you."

"After the bond is severed, I will ask Grandmother to arrange a better match for you. With the Nightclaw Pack's endorsement, no wolf would dare treat you poorly."

"As for Rowan—Grandmother has agreed to release him from the bloodline ledger."

Every word dripped with apparent concern for my future. His eyes swam with what looked like genuine regret.

I let out a soft, bitter laugh.

"Kael, there is no need for this performance. We did not mate for love. Severing the bond now simply means everyone gets what they truly wanted."

I paused, then added with quiet finality: "And you need not arrange anything for me. I do not need the Nightclaw Pack's charity."

He blinked, clearly caught off guard by my composure.

Looking at that familiar face—the sharp lines of his jaw, the way his dark hair fell across his forehead—bitterness pooled in my chest like poison.

"Lyra..."

I looked away and did not answer.

I continued packing, focusing on the task with deliberate care.

Only five seasons of mating, yet somehow there was so much to sort through.

The entire den-chamber was filled with gifts Kael had given me.

Furs he had hunted himself. Jewelry crafted from moonstone and silver. Delicate carvings from every territory he had visited on pack business.

Each one a witness to whatever affection we had once shared.

But none of that mattered anymore.

I had arrived at the Nightclaw estate with little more than the clothes on my back and my birth-pack's blessing. I would leave the same way.

Selene swept into the chamber with the pack healer trailing behind her. The moment her sharp eyes landed on the traveling satchel at my feet, her expression turned to ice.

"Daughter of my son's bond, so eager to flee, are we?"

"I misjudged you. Wolves from common bloodlines like yours—you are only loyal during the peaceful hunts, never when the pack faces true hardship."

My voice dripped with mockery.

If she hadn't believed I could carry on the Nightclaw bloodline, she probably wouldn't have acknowledged my existence at all.

I kept my tone steady.

"I'd better clear out of the den quickly. Wouldn't want to get in the way of your next mate—that would be unforgivable of me."

Kael's voice cut through the chamber, cold and sharp. "Lyra, what the hell are you talking about?"

I met his gaze without flinching.

"We're completing the Bond Rejection on the eighth. The Pack Elder's chambers will be open that day."

Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked toward the pup's quarters to check on Rowan.

But my mind drifted back—to what happened not long ago.

Raven had shown up at the den on the eve of the Winter Hunt, seeking out Kael.

Her face was pale, her fur-lined cloak far too thin for the bitter cold that swept through the territory.

"Kael."

The moment her voice reached him, his eyes flashed amber with wolf-light.

He shot to his feet, the heavy chair scraping against the stone floor, and crossed the room to drape his own thick pelt over her shoulders, his movements tender with concern.

"I'm sorry, Kael. I had nowhere else to turn."

"Nyx Ashford is sick. Please—I'm begging you—save her."

That was the first time I'd ever seen Kael lose his composure like that.

He left. Just like that. Left me and Rowan behind without a backward glance.

He didn't return to our den that night.

When Rowan woke, he crawled into my arms, all chubby limbs and sleepy warmth, his small body radiating the innocent scent of pack and home.

"Mama."

I pressed a kiss to his little cheek.

Selene chose that moment to enter the pup's quarters.

"You gave the Nightclaw Pack an heir. Credit where it's due—even with the Bond Rejection, you won't walk away empty-handed."

I didn't know what Kael had said to her, but she'd agreed to let me take Rowan.

I didn't refuse.

Her cold gaze swept over me, assessing me the way one might evaluate a she-wolf who had outlived her usefulness.

"If you hadn't birthed Rowan, you wouldn't receive a single hunting right or territory claim."

I didn't doubt for a second that she meant it.

"Grandmother, that's enough."

Kael appeared in the doorway, exhaustion carved into every line of his face, the weight of an Alpha's burden heavy on his shoulders. He stepped in front of me, just as he always had.

Shielding me from Selene's barbs.

I remembered the early days of our mating bond, before Rowan came along.

Selene had scoured every corner of the territory for fertility remedies, brewing bitter concoctions of moon-blessed herbs and forcing them on me daily.

The taste was vile. I hated every drop.

But I never dared refuse.

Back then, Kael would always step in. He'd send Selene away, then pour the medicine into the fire pit.

"If you don't want to drink it, don't."

I'd gaze at him, heart full to bursting, though a sliver of worry remained.

"What if Grandmother finds out? She'll be furious."

He'd tap my nose, playful and reassuring, a rumble of affection in his chest.

"You won't tell. I won't tell. Who's going to know?"

"I didn't claim you as my mate just to produce pups."

Back then, I truly believed he was the one—my fated Alpha.

Until two weeks ago, when I discovered a secret buried in his private study.

A locked chest hidden beneath the floorboards. Dozens of sketches and painted portraits. Him and another she-wolf.

I looked through them, one by one.

Kael walked into the study at that exact moment. The instant he saw me kneeling by the open chest, his expression twisted with rage. He lunged forward and snatched the portraits away.

"Lyra, who the hell told you to touch my things?"

His voice was a thunderclap. His tone, vicious.

I froze. Stared at him. Couldn't process what I was seeing.

A beat passed. Something in his face shifted—perhaps he realized he'd gone too far.

His demeanor softened. He stepped closer and pulled me into his arms, his scent wrapping around me like a lie.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean it. I just—I panicked."

I drew a slow breath and pointed at the scattered images.

"What is this?"

His expression darkened, just for a flash.

"She's my first love."

The she-wolf in those portraits—his first love. They'd fallen for each other when they were young, before pack politics and bloodline expectations had torn them apart.