After My Alpha Claimed His Mistress, I Fled

Synopsis

My fingers trembled as I smoothed the white silk of my ceremonial gown one last time. Three years. Three years I'd spent designing every detail of this dress, from the silver moon embroidery cascading down the bodice to the delicate wolf prints hidden in the lace hem. Today was supposed to be perfect. I lifted the twin mate pendants from their velvet box, watching them catch the morning light streaming through my bedroom window. The intertwined wolves I'd carved seemed to dance, their eyes set with matching sapphires that Ethan had helped me choose on my eighteenth birthday. "One for you, one for me," he'd whispered then, pressing his lips to my temple. "When we complete our bond, we'll never be apart." My wolf, Luna, stirred weakly within me. She'd been quiet since the binding ceremony three months ago, still adjusting to the foreign essence that now mingled with our own. *We're stronger now,* I reminded her, though the words felt hollow.