Chapter 42
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Chapter 42
- DEREK
The report sat on my desk, its edges curling slightly from how many times I’d already flipped through it.
I had been expecting something damning–evidence that Logan had schemed, that he had manipulated his way into Elena’s life while I had been drowning in grief. Or even that she’d been with him while she was still with me, despite her emphatic declaration that she’d
never cheated.
Instead, I had found something far worse.
The truth.
a
I ran a hand over my jaw, exhaling sharply. The information had come from Carly, one of the rogues my patrol had captured. I remembered her vaguely from the day I’d found Elena. I’d been on the verge of killing the interlopers when Erebus had scented Nox.
Everything that happened after that was still dream–like; the look on Elena’s face the moment her wolf recognized mine…
I thought back to the few couples who’d managed to find their fated mates at the Masquerade Ball. The singular focus on their mate, the way everything around them faded to nothing but pure connection–pure want.
I could still hear Erebus howling “My MATE!”
The rogues who had been with Elena had become an afterthought. I couldn’t have picked them out of a lineup.
But Carly had certainly recognized me.
Caught crossing the packland border from Moonstone, it had come out that she’d been staying with Elena and her family in the packhouse mansion. As soon as my Gamma heard
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Chapter 42
that, he brought her directly to me.
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She had been wary at first, her lips tight with distrust, but when it became clear she had no
real loyalty to Logan–only to Elena–she started talking. And what she had told me had
changed everything.
Logan had been in Elena’s life long before she had lost her memories. They had been
childhood friends. He had been there before me.
The knowledge settled in my chest like a slow burn, something bitter and sharp.
Elena hadn’t lied. She hadn’t betrayed me. She had just… moved on.
And why wouldn’t she?
J
I had all but forced her into rejecting our bond. I had told her to not bother coming back. I
had let her go before I even understood what she was to me.
Of course she had chosen Logan.
A man who had always been there. A man who had never turned his back on her.
I clenched my fists against the desk, my breathing steady, controlled.
I had spent so much time resenting her for what I thought was betrayal. Now, the weight of my own mistakes pressed down on me, suffocating in its clarity.
I had pushed her away. And Logan had been there to catch her.
I looked at the rogue girl Carly, and then up at my Gamma.
“Feed her,” I said. “Make sure she has what she needs.”
Brock, my Gamma, gave me a sideways glance, but responded with a curt, “Yes, Alpha.”
Carly looked confused. “You–you’re letting me go?”
“Is there a reason I should hold you? Have you done something wrong?”
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She shook her head. “No, sir. I just-” She looked helplessly at Brock, who stared straight ahead, giving nothing away. Ever the dutiful soldier. The girl trailed off and I narrowed my
eyes at her.
“And you’re not a member of the rogue faction that’s been wreaking havoc on our territory?”
Her expression hardened. “No.”
“Then you’re free to go,” I said, my tone indicating that that was the end of the
conversation.
I knew what she’d been about to say–that I’d never shown mercy to rogues before, that my reputation had certainly preceded me. But I had treated Elena, who I’d thought to be a
rogue, terribly. And look what it had gotten me.
And I knew this particular rogue had saved Elena’s life.
Before I could dwell too much my apparent change in policy, I exhaled, forcing the thoughts aside. There were other things to focus on.
I turned to the second report in front of me–the Moonstone Alpha’s response. Or rather, his lack of one.
Moonstone had refused to meet with me ahead of the Alliance Summit.
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