Chapter 6
Alaric’s gaze flickered, something shifting behind his golden eyes. Sensing the shift, Rachel
quickly adjusted her approach.
“You’re right, Alaric. I must have been overthinking it,” she said, her voice suddenly softer,
more agreeable.
Then, right on cue, she winced. She clutched her leg, her expression twisting in pain.
“Is it your leg again?” Alaric immediately forgot everything else. His voice turned urgent as he swept her into his arms without a second thought.
“Where’s the healer?” he barked. “Someone call them now!”
Mina remained in the infirmary for two more days.
The pack nurses applied salves to her wounds on schedule, but they were only surface treatments–antiseptics and healing powders meant to keep infection at bay, not ease the agony of raw, unhealed flesh.
The pain was relentless, burning deep into her bones, yet she never made a sound.
They fed her broth, forced nutrient–rich tonics past her lips, hooked her up to IV drips that never seemed to run dry. And yet, she grew thinner. Like a porcelain doll that would shatter under the slightest pressure.
When Alaric entered the room, the sight before him sent a strange, unexpected pang through his chest.
Mina was drenched in cold sweat, her teeth sinking into her lower lip so hard that the skin had nearly split.
Bitt she didn’t cry.
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*The Mina he remembered had once been so fragile, so spoiled, that even a pinprick wordd ded her into a fit of wails–demanding his attention, his comfort. She would cling to him Antil he
til he gave in, until he soothed her with soft words and the warmth of his presence,
But now… Now she endured.
And something about that unsettled him.
His jaw tightened. “Do you even know what you’re doing?” Alaric’s voice dropped to a dangerous growl as he snatched the medicine from the nurse’s hands.
The nurse paled, stumbling over her apologies. “I–I’m sorry, Alpha Alarict I didn’t mean-
The box of medicine tumbled from her hands, scattering across the cold stone floor with a sharp “clatter.” Mina flinched instinctively, Alaric caught the movement, and for a moment, his breath hitched.
The nurse took her chance to flee, disappearing out of the room before Alaric could say
another word.
“You’re in pain, yet you don’t even complain?” he muttered, almost to himself.
Then, more quietly, as if speaking to a memory rather than the woman before him: “You
used to-”
You used to whine about the smallest things. You used to run to me over the most trivial of injuries. You used to need me.
He didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he looked at her, waiting.
This was the moment—she would finally cave–where she would surrender her pride, apologize for everything, and cling to him the way she always did.
He had already given her an out. He was even willing to let go of what she had done to
Rachel.
All she had to do was bow her head, say the words, maybe even shed a few tears–just enough to remind him of the girl he used to know.
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Chapte
And if she did, perhaps he would reconsider the wedding delay. Perhaps he would shorten it to six months. Maybe even three.
Perhaps…
Alaric leaned forward slightly, watching her intently as he spoke his final offer. “As long as you realize your mistakes and apologize to Rachel properly, I can forgive you.”
The words hung heavy in the air, thick with expectation.
Mina finally met his gaze. Then, just as he predicted, she said, “I’m sorry.”
Alaric’s chest loosened ever so slightly. “I apologize for everything I’ve done wrong in the past.” But then she continued. “And regarding the bounding delay, I’ll inform your grandmother myself. If you wish, I can even propose dissolving the bond entirely.”
Silence.
Alaric felt his breath hitch, his heartbeat a dull, thundering echo in his ears.
“What?” His voice came out lower than intended, almost guttural.
“Do you even understand what you’re saying?” His composure cracked, raw disbelief cutting through his tone.
His mate. His future Luna. The woman he had declared to the pack as his own–Suggesting breaking the bond?
“So that’s it?” His eyes darkened, burning with something dangerously close to fury. “Just because I abandoned you in the mountains, you’re willing to throw everything away?”
His voice rose, each word hitting like a whip. “Do you really think I can’t live without you?”
Mina didn’t answer.
Didn’t react.
Didn’t fight back.
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And for some reason, that–more than anything–drove him mad. The Mina he knew would have fought.
She would have cried, screamed, begged for his attention–would have torn the entire estate apart before even entertaining the idea of leaving his side.
But now, she simply stared at him, eerily calm. Like he no longer mattered. A sharp, unbearable tightness coiled in his chest.
Alaric turned abruptly and stormed out of the room, the door slamming behind him with a
force that rattled the walls.
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