The Alpha's Surrogate: My Heart, His Treason

My mate, Alpha Kaelen, refused to complete our sacred bond. Haunted by his mother's death in childbirth, he brought in a surrogate to produce an heir, and I accepted it for the good of the pack.

Then I overheard him planning a secret bonding ceremony—not with me, but with her.

He told me he loved me, but it was her face he saw when he held me. He'd lie about rogue attacks just to spend nights at her cottage.

At the annual gala, an ice sculpture shattered. He ran right past me as I bled on the floor to save the surrogate from a twisted ankle.

He then used a forbidden life-force transfer to heal her tiny scrape, nearly killing himself in the process, while the pack healer told me my own deep cut could wait.

He believed his betrayal was meant to protect me, that my love for him was so absolute I would simply understand.

As he lay unconscious from the ritual, I walked into the Elder's council hall and submitted my application to perform the Ritual of Severance, a ceremony to permanently break our bond and erase me from his life.