Chapter 10
“Did any of you… see where Ariel went? When did she leave the house?”
Damon’s lips were dry–he licked them unconsciously, voice hoarse and low
The Omegas all shook their heads. “Alpha, Luna left early this morning with a
suitcase. We don’t know where she went.”
She left? But… where could she have gone?
His mind blanked out in waves of white noise. No matter how hard he thought,
he couldn’t come up with a single place she might’ve gone.
Ariel’s parents had long since remarried and started new families of their own
-there was no chance she’d go to them.
That left only her friends.
“Hello? It’s Damon. Is Ariel with you?”
“Huh? Alpha, no–she’s not here.”
Chapter 10 The Gif
Over and over, the same conversation.
Not one of them knew where Ariel had gone.
He dispatched his highest–ranking beta warriors in every direction.
They combed every corner of Thornfang Pack.
Still no sign of Ariel.
Utter despair closed in around him like a vice.
It felt just like back then–when she had rejected him the first time.
Ariel was the only person he’d ever truly loved. She was his heart, his soul, the
most essential part of him.
Now it felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest with their bare
hands.
He collapsed under the weight of it.
“Ariel… don’t do this. Don’t play
Damon shouted her name until his voice cracked, his eyes bloodshot,
completely unhinged.
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.
He ran upstairs.
There, in his study, the little sticky note that read “Open in two weeks” peeled
off with a soft sound.
He clutched the box like it was a lifeline.
Maybe.. maybe she left me a note inside. Maybe she wants me to find her.
His hands trembled as he tore through the layers of wrapping.
And then, in the center of the box, he found it.
A document–signed in Ariel’s hand.
11:34 AM
Chapter 10 The Gi
An official mate bond dissolution form.
“No!”
He staggered back, eyes wide. “No–this can’t be happening…”
He clutched the paper in his fists, dropped into the chair behind him, numb
with shock
“Ariel loved me. She loved me so much. There’s no way she’d leave me.
Someone must’ve switched the gift she meant to give me!”
He grit his teeth and clung to the idea like it was the only thing keeping him
afloat.
Then he summoned every staff member in the house and interrogated them
one by one about the study drawer and the gift box.
To avoid lies
he used his Alpha aura.
“Alpha, we only clean. Without orders from you or Luna, we’d never touch
anything we’re not supposed to!”
Chapter 10 The Gin
No one admitted to touching the box.
Which meant….
The mate dissolution form was real.
It was the only thing Ariel had chosen to leave behind.
Deep down, Damon knew the truth. The box was the same one she’d given.
him two weeks ago. There wasn’t a trace of any other scent on it.
He just didn’t want to admit it.
This this was his last desperate denial.
In just thirty minutes, Damon felt like he had lived through a century of agony.
And now, it dawned on him.
The day he couldn’t feel her mate mark?
That wasn’t a fluke.
Chapter 10 The Gin
He remembered… witches had a potion that allowed one–sided removal of
the mate bond.
But the side effects were severe–it would temporarily destroy a werewolf’s
natural healing.
And just like that, the tide of regret came crashing down, drowning him.
www
He realized it too late. Far too late.
Ariel was gone.
For good.
He stared at the signature on that form–every line of her name written so
precisely, so deliberately.
She meant it. She was done with him.
But why?
He couldn’t stop asking himself.
11:34 AM
Chapter 10 The Gif
Why did she leave?
In his mind, every moment they’d spent together over the past few weeks
began to replay, again and again.
And slowly, all the little signs–the subtle changes, the moments that hadn’t
felt quite right–rose to the surface.
