“Is there literally no one in this Pack who’s deaf to the rumours but you?” My words skittered, frayed and cracked like ice, every syllable jagged with frustration. “Do you act like you don’t hear them? They’re saying Lona died in that raid—your own daughter—and you still haven’t spit in the liar’s face!’

Nathaniel’s brow furrowed, slow and purposeful, like translating a foreign language. “You’ve brewed this storm over… gossip? Angie, listen. I go visit Yoan and his boy because his dad was —”

“Enough.” The word cleaved the air. “You have time for Hazel’s tears, for Yoan’s needs, but not a second to grieve your child? Tell me, Nathaniel — what father chooses a brother’s ghost over his daughter’s grave?”

He grew stiff, guilt solidifying into defiance. “What’s scary is Hazel’s mental state is fragile. Yoan’s drowning. Should I let them sink?”

“I’d make you take care whose blood sullies the water.”

“I went to Yoan because she was drowning,” Nathaniel replied, his voice cracking. “Her son collapsed. She needed an anchor. You know what she is to me.”

A bitter laugh broke out of me — dry as dead leaves. “Oh, I know. You run to her at every whimper. Your presents to me come in twos, too — and hers wrapped just as beautifully.” I sucked in a breath, the harsh air barbed like betrayal. “Yesterday, when attack sirens went off, you ran to her doorstep first. Not ours. Not Lona’s. And when I have the audacity to name this rot between us, you name it jealousy. Tell me, Nathaniel — why do I need to bleed empathy for you when you hoard yours for her?”

His jaw set hard, his face a statue of obstinance. “She’s family. We were children scuffing knees in the same dirt. I’ve said this a thousand—”

“Family?” The word curdled on my lips. “Then carve her name into your ribs. Brand her mark permanent. Though,” I pulled my sleeve up, exposing the raw, inkless patch of skin where our mate tattoo once curled, “but save her the trouble. I gave mine a good scrubbing last night. Inked a thin line that hooked my collarbone, Watched it scour my skin raw. Funny how her eyes sparkled at lunch when she saw it wasn’t there.”

Nathaniel went pale and his voice broke. “You… erased it. Actually erased it.”

I held his gaze steady, a calmness in my voice, but a swell of pain under the surface. “Yes, mine was transitory, something that could be blotted out, erased, forgotten. But yours… yours is not, is it? This time, it’s real. You’ve found your match, haven’t you, Nathaniel? Say it. Say it louder. Who is she?”

He hesitated, and his wry smile slipped away to be replaced by guilt. “Since…when did you find out?”

A bitter laugh rose from me, dry and empty, as I struggled to stifle the burn opening up in my chest. “Ah, therefore I was correct each along. The distance, the silence, the way you’ve been avoiding me — it all makes sense now, doesn’t it? It’s because of her, Right?”

The laughter burst out once more, echoing now, but it didn’t turn down the edge, the unforgiving ache ripping through me.

Nathaniel grimaced, speaking in a low voice. “Angie, listen. Sure, Yoan is my homie, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I still love you.”

“So it’s true,” I whispered, though my heart was crumbling and though I fought to keep my features still. “The rumours—they’re true. You and Yoan are mates. How long?”

His eyes softened, looking into mine with what might have been a plea for forgiveness. “Since just after Hazel was born. That’s when it began to grow stronger, and from that point… we got close, closer than I could control. Angie, I resisted, I really did. But that is the weird thing — I have loved you so long. “All my heart shall ever be yours, not hers.”

I exhaled slowly, keeping my breathing steady. “Don’t fool yourself, Nathaniel. You’re just going to end up hurting her in the process. She’s your true mate. Isn’t that what you want?”

I was so steady, as if every word I said went deeper into my soul.

“Let me break it down for you,” I said. “Sign the divorce papers. Let me go. Forget about me.”

His eyes widened, a panic in his face. “No, Angie, please. I… I’ll reject her. For you. I don’t want to lose you. Can’t you believe me?”

“Believe you?” They ripped loose, jagged as broken glass. “When the hell do you ever see me, Nathaniel? Not truly. You’re not paying attention, because you’re marching to the drum of your own righteousness. But it hardly matters now. Years of this — of her — and I’ve starved on scraps of your attention. Consider me sated.”

His hand twitched toward mine, then dropped. “Angie—don’t. We’ve been through storms, we are building —”

“Ruins.” I backed up, the distance between us glacial. “The Moon Goddess did not weave our threads together. She snipped them. Look closely.” I thrust the divorce papers in front of him, ink wet. “Sign. Or don’t. Either way, I’m done pursuing the specter of what we weren’t.”

Nathaniel stared at the decree, the silence between us stifling and thick, more damning than any argument we could have had. Outside, the frost-rimed window framed winter’s brooding early grip on the world, a grim reflection of the lifeless wasteland we had cultivated over the last ten years, choice by obstinate choice.

When he finally responded, his voice was low as well, but the unmistakable weight of his Alpha authority was woven through it like steel. “I’m never going to sign those papers.”

My anger rose, a heat that crested the chill in the room.

“And what about Yoan? What?” I demanded, my voice shaking with anger.

“Do you think this isn’t ripping her to shreds? She’s your mate, Nathaniel. You can’t keep denying it —"