Julian’s POV
The sensation hit like a sledgehamr to the skull. I groaned, forcing myself upright as my hand scraped across my face. Every muscle in my body scread with exhaustion, as if I had been battling for days without pause.
Sothing was completely off. This didn’t feel right at all.
I am an Alpha. My wolf’s regenerative abilities are formidable. We can handle our liquor, but this crushing weight in my head was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The pain felt like soone had been pounding on my brain with a mallet. I struggled to recall exactly how much I had consud the previous evening. It hadn’t been particularly excessive.
This shouldn’t be affecting this way. The sensation reminded more of being poisoned than simply overindulging.
I forced my legs over the edge of the mattress, the movent causing the entire room to tilt dangerously. I desperately needed clarity. Staggering toward the connected bathroom, I doused my face with frigid water. The icy shock provided marginal relief.
My reflection in the mirror revealed exhaustion carved deep into the lines around my eyes. The cold water managed to clear so of the ntal haze.
I knew I needed sothing stronger and colder to combat this relentless headache completely.
Then Seraphina crossed my mind.
Typically, her delicate fragrance of wildflowers and honey perates every corner of this section of the house. It’s the aroma that greets each morning when consciousness returns. But today, I detected nothing.
"Seraphina?" I called, my voice rough and strained.
Nothing but silence answered .
I convinced myself there was no cause for alarm. As Luna, she had nurous responsibilities. Perhaps she had departed early for the pack house to handle administrative matters. Today’s schedule included extensive inventory assessnts. She could be anywhere, managing crucial pack business.
I decided to focus on my own obligations. Several docunts required my attention before I made my way to the pack house.
Settling into my worn leather chair, I retrieved the thick folder I needed to review. That’s when sothing unusual caught my attention.
The safe.
It was a massive steel vault embedded in the wall, containing ergency funds, historical legal docunts, and so of the pack’s most precious heirloom jewelry. While properly sealed, the small silver combination dial appeared wrong sohow. Shifted from its usual position.
I approached it, my curiosity rapidly transforming into a growing pit of dread in my stomach. Why would anyone have accessed it? Only Seraphina and I possessed the combination.
I entered the numbers with trembling fingers, though I couldn’t understand my sudden nervousness. The heavy door opened with a muted clang.
I peered inside.
The legal docunts remained untouched. The jewelry collection was intact.
Most of the ergency cash reserves had vanished. My heart plumted into my stomach. We were talking about a substantial sum.
A terrible, icy realization struck with devastating force. Nobody else had access to this vault except Seraphina. Absolutely nobody.
My thoughts began racing frantically. What possible reason would my mate have for stealing from the pack? Why would she rob ? What could possibly be happening? Sothing was catastrophically wrong. The headache I had been fighting returned with renewed brutality.
She had fled.
The thought was horrifying, searing through my consciousness. No, she couldn’t have done this. She loved . She had made promises.
I attempted to reject the possibility, but the missing money served as undeniable evidence. I needed explanations imdiately.
I closed my eyes and extended my consciousness, seeking my Beta through our ntal connection.
Holden. What’s your location?
His response ca instantly, tinged with bewildernt. Alpha? I’m in the main kitchen, organizing the morning duty rosters. Is there a problem?
Absolutely. Tell , have you encountered Luna Seraphina today?
Holden hesitated briefly, and I sensed the odd delay even through our link. No, Alpha. Not since yesterday afternoon. I assud she was in your company. What’s wrong?
His confirmation validated my worst fears. She hadn’t simply stepped out for pack duties. She was truly gone.
The revelation hit like a physical assault. Not this again.
Rage began building rapidly, but underneath it lurked a profound, devastating anguish. I secured the safe, determining I would address those missing funds later. My priority was locating her. I needed to confront her directly and demand explanations.
I rushed back to my bedroom to grab clean clothes and prepare properly, planning to organize a comprehensive search operation.
I burst through the door, ready for action, but froze at the sight of sothing resting on the bed.
Seraphina’s distinctive handwriting: To My Julian.
My breathing caught. My hands resud their violent trembling, worse than before.
I didn’t need to open it to understand its aning. This letter could only signify one thing. It was her final farewell.
An overwhelming sense of crushing, suffocating pain descended upon . It felt as though my very soul was being torn apart.
Slowly, I reached for the letter. The paper felt cold against my skin as I unfolded the pages within.
I began reading, and with each sentence, everything around started collapsing.
My dearest Julian,
I know you are hurt. I know you will be angry, maybe even furious, and you have every right to be. But please, try to understand.
I love you. I need you to know that love is why I stayed so long. I will never be able to love anybody the way I love you. You are my mate, the other half of my soul. But sotis, Julian, love is just not enough to stay.
I really, truly tried. I fought every day to be the Luna you needed, the mate you deserved. But the longer I stayed, the more I realized that I was only here for your needs, not my own. The more I stayed, the more you unknowingly broke my spirit and crushed my soul. I’m just so tired, Julian.
I need to be free. I need to be whole again.
Maybe one day, in a long ti, you will look back and forgive . If you don’t, I still want you to know that I am truly sorry.
Now, for the last things I must tell you. You are going to be a good father to Roxanne and to your baby.
You can finally be with Roxanne.
I know that deep down, you and Roxanne have always wanted to be together. I was always the reason why you could never be together. I was the duty, the barrier. But now, I am giving you the freedom to do whatever you want. Live the life you always wanted.
The anguish she described, the destruction of her spirit—it was my doing, pushing her away while clinging to her out of obligation, while keeping Roxanne waiting in the shadows. I had destroyed her.
Tears threatened to spill, but I forced them back, the hurt now blending with rising waves of guilt and confusion. I reached the letter’s conclusion.
By the way Alpha Dorian helped .
My jaw clenched. Dorian? Of course he had. I rembered how he looked at her.
Even though he helped escape, please do not trust him. I don’t trust him, and neither should you.
Do not worry about . I am never going to return.
Goodbye, my love.
I released the letter. It drifted to the floor, a silent testant to my life’s destruction.
I stood there, surrounded by the sterile, empty atmosphere of the room, my hands balled into ineffective fists.
Seraphina had vanished. She had lied to and filled with hope that we would remain together, only to abandon to another woman as if I were property to be transferred.
My soul wasn’t rely damaged; it was obliterated. The exhaustion and headache suddenly made perfect sense; the alcohol must have been tampered with, enough to incapacitate an ordinary person, but only sufficient to weaken an Alpha.
She had orchestrated this entire escape. She had stolen the money and most importantly, she had probably been betraying with Dorian all along, right under my nose.
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