Fleeing From The Heartless Alpha

y last name to match his, to make our sacred bond official in every way. It felt like the ri

ays fast. The clerk, a wiry wolf with glasses perched on his sn

to Damian for two years!" I yanked out the ornate binding scroll, its

ust sniffed out bad meat. A few minutes later, he pushed the scroll back, his voice low. "Ms. Westbrook, I suggest

grabbed my stuff and bolted, hailing a ride t

re hit me like a

amber eyes soft with pity, "Damian's ma

ringing, a sharp, piercing wail that drowned out everything. My knees buckled,

for three years, studying abroad in another pack's territory. A substi

t was Damian. I needed answers. I needed him to tell me this was all a mistake. But when I g

uff voice demanded-probably Marcus, Damian's old healer friend. "It's shif

-block

read, swore it was just a bad gut flare-up. "Nothing serious, Amelia," he'd said, all calm and certain. "Just a quick fix." When I woke up after the healer's work, my stomach felt wrong, heavy, but Dami

he present. "Wait till Hazel's done with her pack-wi

rs? My bloo

k, endured three years apart, and now you're finally together. So why b

each second a blade

Amelia was gone? Hazel was the only thing keeping me sane. She wants a sacred bon

I was holding burned my fingers as I clenched it

melia's fierce-she stood up to your whole pack for you.

ed, low and raw. "The

to the ground, muffling my cries wi

tbrook pack took me in, a stray pup with nowhere else to go. Damian and I grew up together, two pups chasing each other through the woods, insepar

dinner table, sneaking kisses in dark corners, tangled up in each other's arms every night. It was re

of everyone, defying the elders. "Amelia's my mate

e-eighty-eight lashes, one for every law we'd broken. The final whip caught my right ear, tearing fle

the pack, "Without Amelia, I'd rather die!" That broke them. They gave us a chance, but it came at a cost: three years abro

e wasn't holding me. He was cradling Hazel, a trembling she-wolf, letting her slap his face a

y damaged ear playing tric

s knees in front of Hazel, slapping himself. "Amelia, I messed up. I missed you so much, I fou

eam. We formed our sacred bond, and he gave me the grandest binding ceremony th

o I t

, our bond-it was a cruel illusion. Worse than betrayal was knowing we'd once run toward e

what am

wrapping me in his arms like I was his whole world. "You collapsed and didn't stay wit

I'm sorry, love. I shouldn't have let you go out alone. I s

ut there's another she-wolf in

st got a little spa treatme

with that intense, wolfish devotion. "Amelia, you're okay, right? The healers said you've been overdoing it

bs, rituals, anything to prove my love. I lost my sense of taste, couldn't sleep, but I took it all, thinking

ied our pup might question why we share a

inged with nerves as I stared at him. He g

ps trembling. "Tomorrow's the

put them on me, but froze when he saw the scar on my ear. He set them down, gripping my

e-wolf. Every visit, Damian's been my shield, promising, "

sked, my voice sh

rd. "A friend's got a perform

forma

just a pup I'm sponsoring. There's nothing between us.

he really stay? Or would

, my voice ba

my Amelia, always so understanding. I screwed up with the earrings. That sc

blue glow like a distant sea. "

f warmth. "Amelia, that scar's your mark of love f

, but the word felt