For a long moment, she simply stood there, staring at the familiar wooden doors carved with the ancient symbols of the pack. This place had once been filled with warmth, laughter, and the quiet comfort that only bonded mates could share.
Now it felt cold.
Distant.
Unfamiliar.
Slowly, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The air smelled the same—cedarwood, fire smoke, and the lingering scent of Caleb’s wolf—but the warmth that once lived in those walls had vanished.
Even though everything between them had already begun to crumble, Aria still wanted to speak with him one last time.
Ending a relationship was painful enough.
But ending a mate bond blessed beneath the Moon Goddess was far more serious. It was not something wolves treated lightly. A bond tied by fate and sealed by the Moon was sacred.
It should never be broken without a final conversation.
She opened her mouth to call his name.
But before the sound could leave her lips, something else reached her ears.
A faint groan.
Low.
Breathy.
It came from the bedroom.
Aria froze instantly.
Her wolf stirred uneasily inside her mind, lifting its head in alarm as she listened more carefully.
She recognized that voice.
It was Caleb.
But the soft moan that followed did not belong to her.
The realization struck her like lightning.
Blood roared in her ears as her heart seemed to stop beating entirely.
Moments later, the bedroom door swung open.
Caleb stepped into the hallway.
He was half dressed, his shirt hanging loose and his hair disheveled, completely unaware of her presence.
He walked forward casually—
Until his eyes suddenly landed on the pale feet standing before him.
His steps stopped.
Slowly, his gaze lifted.
Up her legs.
Up to her trembling hands.
Until it finally met her eyes.
Electric gray.
Aria’s expression was empty.
Hollow.
She looked as though her soul had already left her body.
Caleb’s face drained of all color.
Shock and guilt flashed across his features as the truth dawned on him.
She had seen everything.
Neither of them moved.
She stared at him in silent disappointment.
He stood frozen in horror.
Then footsteps sounded from the doorway behind them.
Lupas entered the house.
He was one of the pack scribes, a wolf tasked by the elders to witness important legal rites—especially those involving the breaking of sacred bonds.
When he noticed the tense silence in the room, his brows furrowed slightly.