2

Five years ago, my best friend Ada saw how I had been pining for Theo for eight years.

On the full moon night when we turned eighteen, when our wolves first recognized each other as mates, she slipped an enhanced pheromone elixir into my wine.

I was horrified when she locked me in Theo's room. "Sarah, what the hell are you doing?"

Sarah leaned against the door, smiling. "I've known for years. Theo loves you, too. He responds to your scent. He's just too proud to admit it. Last full moon when he shifted, I heard him howl your name."

I tried to protest, but smelling Theo’s scent made me feel like I'm on fire.

Sarah's laugh echoed through the door. "Enjoy your night, sweetie." Then I heard the lock click.

That night, Theo claimed me like he was possessed. The way he touched me, held me, marked me - I thought it meant he'd always wanted me too.

When we woke up the next morning, Theo's voice was cold as ice: "I'll take responsibility. We'll hold the marking ceremony next week."

I thought it was just his way of showing affection. I thought our happy life was about to begin.

But at the ceremony celebration, I overheard him talking to his fellow Beta wolves.

"Theo, you're being too harsh on yourself. She's a talented healer, beautiful, and she obviously loves you. Plus, you're true mates. Why not just accept it?"

Theo's laugh was bitter as he took a drink. I watched from around the corner as he pulled out a sanitizing wipe and cleaned his hands - the hands that had just touched me during the ceremony.

"I did feel something for her at first. But now? Finding out she's the kind of Omega who would drug herself with pheromone enhancers just to trap a mate?"

He shook his head in disgust. "Every time I think about how she threw herself at me that night, how she used chemicals to force a mating... it makes my skin crawl."

"An Omega who would stoop that low isn't worthy of being a Beta's mate. Much less mine."

Before I could explain anything about the enhanced pheromone elixir, Theo visited European packs, and stayed away for five years.

I gave birth to the pup alone, took care of Alex alone for four years, and looked forward to Theo's return every day.

After five years, he finally returned, but with his ex-girlfriend and her son.

The empty villa was lonely and silent. I reached out through our mate bond, trying to contact Theo, but found myself blocked.

Then suddenly, he walked into our den.

Suppressing my anger, I spoke carefully, "Alex needs to go to the treatment room tomorrow morning to change his burn dressings. Could you take him?"

Theo barely glanced at me. "Can't. I'm taking Marcus for his physical examination tomorrow morning."

Then he added coldly, "If you must bring Alex to the treatment room, come in the afternoon. Marcus gets upset when he sees Alex calling me father."

The rage I'd been containing finally exploded.

"How dare you? You left our son in a burning building today! He could have died!"

Theo's eyes flashed with anger. "Sarah's mate died in combat. She couldn't go in to save Marcus alone. What was I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to save your own son first!" My voice cracked with emotion.

"I made you my mate five years ago, and that hurt Sarah deeply," Theo growled. "You have no right to stop me from protecting her and Marcus now."

His words hit me like physical blows. Each one tearing deeper than the last.

The mate bond between us felt like ice in my veins.

Five years ago, I had carried Alex alone while Theo was away in Europe.

For five years, I'd raised our son by myself, waiting for Theo to return.

Only to find he'd spent those years playing father to another child.

Now Alex lay in his bed, covered in burns, still whimpering for the father who had chosen to save another pup instead of him.

The partially written mate bond dissolution request sat on my desk, waiting to be submitted to the Alpha Council.

If it was just me, I would have submitted it already. My wolf howled in agony each time Theo rejected our bond.

But every time I thought about finalizing it, I remembered Alex's desperate need for his father's love.

Every time I saw the longing in my son's eyes when he watched other pups with their fathers, I wanted to try one more time.