Each dead end felt like another knife in his gut.
The despair was overwhelming. He hadn’t felt this lost since before finding her. Sierra was his true mate, literally part of his soul. Losing her was like losing a limb. The bond between them flickered again, weaker now. Distance? Or something worse?
“Sierra, please…” His howl of anguish echoed across the territory. “I need you…”
His eyes blazed blood–red with pain and fear.
Suddenly he remembered – the gift she’d left. Maybe…
He raced to his office where the package sat innocently on his desk.
“Open in 15 days,” the note read in her elegant hand.
He clutched it like a drowning man, praying for salvation.
“She must have left instructions. A clue where to find her…”
His hands shook as he unwrapped it.
Divorce papers. Her signature still fresh at the bottom.
“No… no, this is impossible…”
He collapsed into his chair, the papers crushed in his grip.
“She loves me. She’d never…” But the evidence was right there.
“Someone must have forced her! Switched the gift!”
He interrogated every pack member, growing more desperate by the minute.
“Who touched this? Who entered my office?”
But they all said the same thing no one would dare.
–
The security footage confirmed their innocence
It showed Sierra calmly entering his office, signing the papers, wrapping the gift.
Reality crashed down like an avalanche.
This was really happening. She was really gone
The past hour felt like years of torture.
He kept questioning, hoping someone would say it was all a mistake.
3/4
But the truth was undeniable.
He watched the footage again and again, torturing himself with her resolved expression.
She’d chosen to leave him.
The bond flickered again, weaker than ever.
Why? The question consumed him.
He replayed every moment of the past months, seeing now what he’d ignored.
The signs had been there – her growing silence her sad smiles.
She must have discovered his betrayal.
But he’d been so careful! Kept Emily separate from their real life!
How long had Sierra known? How long had she suffered in silence?
His chest ached as the bond grew fainter still.
Tears blurred his vision as another memory surfaced – the day she’d accepted his mark.
Her eyes had been so clear, her voice firm:
“I’ll try my best to be a good mate, but I won’t accept betrayal. If you ever deceive me, disappear from your life forever.”
