(Alexis's POV)
The evening had started pleasantly enough. The evening sun cast long shadows through my office windows as Victoria swept in, her emerald eyes bright with their usual warmth.
"I brought dinner," she announced, setting down an elegant basket. The familiar scent of her signature moon-blessed pastries filled the air. "You've been working too hard lately, Lex."
A smile tugged at my lips despite the mountain of paperwork on my desk. Even after all these years, Victoria still looked out for me like when we were cubs.
"You didn't have to—"
"Of course I did." She began arranging plates with practiced grace. "When's the last time you ate a proper meal? And don't say Grace makes sure you eat—"
Her voice caught on my mate's name, and suddenly tears welled in her eyes. Before I could ask what was wrong, she flew around the desk and threw herself into my arms. The unexpected contact made me stiffen, but the scent of her distress stopped me from pushing her away.
"Vix?" The childhood nickname slipped out automatically."
She tried to turn away, but not before I caught sight of the bruises on her wrist. The marks stood out starkly against her pale skin.
"Marcus..." The name came out as a broken whisper. "Since you became Alpha King instead of him... he says it's my fault he lost the position."
Red tinged my vision. Marcus, my half-brother, had always been volatile, taking after our stepmother in his cruelty. His bitterness at losing the Alpha King selection to his unloved brother had only made him worse.
Victoria trembled against me, not releasing her grip. "He's getting worse, Lex. These bruises..." She pulled up her sleeve, revealing more dark marks. "Sometimes, when he's angry, he talks just like your stepmother used to..."
The words triggered a flood of memories I'd spent centuries trying to suppress. Suddenly I was six years old again, curled in a dark corner as my stepmother approached with that silver-laced whip.
"Worthless half-breed," she would snarl.
Victoria's quiet sob kept me anchored to the present. She stayed pressed against my chest, her tears soaking my shirt. She seemed so small, so vulnerable—just like that young wolf who had found me dying after my stepmother's worst beating. Her small hands pressing against my wounds, her developing healing powers the only thing that kept me alive...
I didn't push her away. How could I, when she'd saved my life? When she was suffering at the hands of my own half-brother?
A surge of distress suddenly pulsed through my mate bond, making my wolf stir uneasily. It's Grace's distress call. But before I could process it, Victoria went rigid in my arms.
"How could hostile wolves appear in our territory?" she gasped, eyes wide with fear. "This hasn't happened in ten years..." Her voice dropped to a calculating whisper. "Did Grace know I was coming? Is she trying to manipulate you into leaving me alone?"
The suggestion should have angered me, but doubt crept in like poison. Grace had always been wary of my friendship with Victoria...
"If you leave now, I'll die," Victoria's voice cracked. "Even my best friend has abandoned me... what's the point of living?"
Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed against me, skin burning with fever. Panic seized me as memories of my stepmother's torture flashed through my mind. I couldn't lose another person I cared about to abuse...
I sent Beta guards to check on Grace. Victoria needed me more right now—she'd saved my life, after all.
Only later, racing through sterile corridors with Victoria's unconscious form, did the true horror of my choice become clear. The scent hit me first—my mate's blood, mixed with something else... something precious I'd never noticed before.
"Alpha King!" A nurse's face was pale with urgency. "The Luna... she's been critically injured..."
The world tilted on its axis as I burst into Grace's room. The sight of her battered body, monitored by beeping machines, made my Alpha instincts roar in fury and shame.
But nothing could have prepared me for her words:
"I want to sever our mate bond."
My gentle, understanding Luna would never say such things. This had to be the shock talking, the trauma of the attack...
"You're not thinking clearly," I said firmly, fighting down my rising panic. "The attack—"
"Where were you?" Her voice cracked with pain I couldn't deny. "When I was being torn apart by rival wolves, where were you?"
The accusation hit like a physical blow, but my cursed pride wouldn't let me admit my mistake. "I had pack business—"
"You were comforting Victoria over a scratch!" Even broken and bruised, her anger was magnificent. "Our unborn pup died while you were wiping away her crocodile tears!"
Pup. The word echoed in my head like a thunderclap. Before I could process this earth-shattering news, the pack healer burst in.
"Luna, Alpha King," she exclaimed, face bright with relief, "the pup's aura has stabilized! Your protective instincts saved your child's life."
A pup. My heir. The reality crashed over me like a tidal wave. Grace was carrying my child, and I'd abandoned her to rival wolves while comforting another woman.
"Grace," I reached for her, desperate to make things right. "Let me—"
"Don't touch me." Her words froze me in place. The honey-golden eyes that once held such warmth now showed nothing but bitter resignation. "I don't want your guilt-driven attention."
"You can't be serious about severing the bond," I tried again, my voice nearly breaking. "Think about our pup—"
"I am thinking about our pup." Her hand drifted protectively to her stomach. "I'm thinking about whether I want our child to grow up watching their father choose another woman over their mother at every turn."
"Isn't it?" She laughed, the sound devoid of humor. "You felt me being attacked through our bond, and you dismissed it. You sent Beta guards while you personally rushed Victoria to the hospital for a fainting spell."
Each word hit like a physical blow, but my pride and memories of owing Victoria my life made me defensive. "You don't understand what Victoria's been through—"
"And you don't understand what I've been through!" The power in her voice made the lights flicker. "Every day for three years, watching you run to her, defend her, choose her—"
"I have never been unfaithful!"
"Physically? No." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "But emotionally? You've never been faithful to me for a single day of our marriage."
"You need rest," I said finally, retreating behind my Alpha king authority. "We'll discuss this when you're thinking more rationally."
The look she gave me then—a mixture of resignation and bitter understanding—would haunt me for days to come.
"Of course," she whispered. "Dismiss my feelings, just like always. Go back to Victoria. I'm sure she needs you more than your mate and unborn pup do."
"Rest," I commanded softly,don't want to argue with her in her current emotional state "We'll talk when you're calmer."