(Alexis's POV)
The morning after our sacred grove ritual with Victoria, my study felt like a cage. Every breath carried Grace's lingering anger through our mate bond - cold, precise, and more devastating than any rage could be. The memory of yesterday's council meeting haunted me: Grace's request to sever our bond, the dangerous flicker of our pup's energy, the way she'd withdrawn her petition with clinical detachment rather than forgiveness.
A sharp knock interrupted my brooding. "Alpha King." Beta James's voice carried carefully masked concern. "The Luna collapsed near the sacred springs."
My wolf surged forward with a snarl, but years of control kept my voice steady. "Explain."
"She was reviewing defensive formations where the attack occurred. Dr. Sarah says the residual energy from last night's ritual in the grove, combined with her pregnancy..." He hesitated. "The Luna's omega powers are destabilizing, sir."
I was moving before he finished speaking, tracking Grace's scent - honey and moonflowers now tinged with pregnancy's sweetness and something sharper, like lightning before a storm. The sacred clearing opened before me, ancient willows guarding waters blessed by the first Omega wolf.
Grace knelt by the spring's edge, her formal Luna robes - the same ones she'd worn to yesterday's council meeting - pooled around her like captured moonlight. Her auburn hair fell in a curtain around her face, but I could see her hands tracing ritual patterns in the blessed water with precise, measured movements. Even in apparent weakness, she maintained rigid control.
Her omega powers reached out visibly, seeking comfort in the springs' ancient magic. The sight twisted something in my chest - remembering how I'd felt her presence retreat from our pack bonds while Victoria and I performed the healing ritual last night.
"You shouldn't be here alone." My voice came out rougher than intended.
Grace didn't startle as she once might have. Instead, her shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly before she lost balance on the smooth stones. My Alpha speed had me catching her before she fell, but the instant my arms went around her, she stiffened like a blade.
"Remove your hands." Her voice carried the kind of cold authority I'd never heard from her before. Gone was the soft, yielding omega who sought my approval. This Grace wielded her words like ice-forged steel.
The instant I released her, she stepped away with fluid grace, maintaining careful distance. Only our mate bond betrayed the cost of her composure - underneath her icy exterior, exhaustion and pain swirled like a winter storm.
"The sacred springs are pack territory," she stated flatly, adjusting her robes with precise movements. "You have no grounds to question my presence here."
"Your omega powers are destabilizing." I fought to keep the Alpha command from my voice. "After yesterday's council meeting and last night's..."
"Ritual with Victoria in our sacred grove?" Her smile held no warmth. "Don't worry, Alpha King. I've learned my lesson about expecting mate bond sanctity."
The formal title struck like a physical blow. "Grace-"
"Luna Grace," she corrected, her voice carrying the same detached politeness she'd used in the council chamber. "If we're to maintain pack hierarchy, let's do so properly."
I watched her attempt to perform the cleansing ritual one-handed, her injured arm held carefully still. Through our bond, I felt each spike of pain she refused to acknowledge.
"The ritual requires full immersion." I moved closer, noting how she subtly shifted to maintain distance. "Your omega powers are affecting the pup's energy."
"Concerned about your heir, Alpha King?" Her voice remained perfectly level, but the words cut deep. "How interesting that pack succession finally draws your attention."
The bland delivery made the accusation worse. This wasn't the emotional hurt of before - this was calculated distance, carefully constructed walls.
"Let me help with the ritual." I kept my own voice carefully neutral. "The spring's magic will stabilize both you and the pup."
"The same way you helped Victoria last night?" She met my eyes, her honey-gold gaze now hard as amber. "You've made your priorities clear, Alexis. Don't pretend otherwise now."
Despite her protests, I could see her strength wavering. The pregnancy made her more sensitive to pack energies, and last night's ritual in the grove had left powerful residual magic. When I reached for her robe's fastenings, she didn't fight me - but her compliance felt like indifference rather than submission.
"This changes nothing," she stated as I helped her into the water. "I'm allowing this solely because our pup needs the spring's blessing."
The ritual required silence as I began the sacred cleansing. Each mark on her skin - testimony to an attack I should have prevented - had my wolf howling in distress. But Grace remained distant, her omega powers forming a subtle barrier between us.
"The pup's energy is unstable," I said quietly, noting the flickering pulses through our bond. "The spring's magic would work better with both parents' energy aligned."
A flicker of conflict crossed her face before her healer's instincts won out. "Fine. But only for the pup's sake."
I moved behind her in the sacred waters, carefully placing my hands on her shoulders. The instant our skin connected, our mate bond flared like northern lights. Grace's small gasp told me she felt it too - that primal recognition between true mates that no amount of emotional distance could fully suppress.
"Focus on the pup," she commanded, but her voice had lost some of its ice.
I let my Alpha power flow into her, our combined energy creating patterns of light across the water's surface. Grace's omega abilities responded instinctively, weaving with my strength in the way that had once made us legendary among the packs.
Her scent surrounded me - now enriched with pregnancy's sweetness. My wolf stirred restlessly, wanting to reclaim what was ours. When Grace unconsciously leaned back against my chest, seeking support as the ritual's power built, it took every ounce of control not to pull her closer.
"Your heart's racing," she observed, her clinical tone belied by the slight tremor in her voice.
"You know why." I kept my hands steady as I channeled more energy into our shared connection.
"Physical attraction isn't enough anymore." But her fingers curled into my forearm as another wave of power washed through us.
"This isn't just physical." I moved one hand to her abdomen, feeling our pup's energy strengthen under our combined power. "This is mate bond truth, Grace. Our wolves recognize-"
"Our wolves are not in charge here." Yet she remained still as I began washing her hair with the blessed water, my fingers working through auburn strands that still felt like silk against my skin. Her next words came out barely above a whisper, "Our wolves' judgment led us here."
The ritual required me to trace specific runes along her shoulders, down her spine. Each touch sent sparks through our bond. Grace maintained her emotional distance, but her body remembered mine. When my fingers brushed a sensitive spot beneath her ear, her sharp intake of breath had nothing to do with pain.
"We could be this again," I murmured, drawing the final blessing rune at the base of her neck. "Strong together, our power unified-"
"Stop." Grace pulled away abruptly, though not before I felt her slight shiver. Water droplets caught the morning light as she turned to face me, her eyes blazing. "You lost the right to talk about unity when you performed sacred rites with her in our grove."
She moved to leave the spring, but a wave of dizziness hit her - the ritual had taken more energy than she'd admit. I steadied her with hands at her waist, and for a moment, we were pressed together, her heart racing against my chest.
"Let go," she ordered, but her voice lacked its earlier ice.
"The moon-blessed cloth first." I reached for the ceremonial fabric, needing to maintain some point of contact. As I dried her hair, a memory surfaced - our first moon run together, Grace laughing as I awkwardly tried to clean mud from her curls after she'd slipped in the stream.
I felt the exact moment she caught the same memory through our bond. Her careful walls cracked, just slightly, letting through a wave of such pure grief that it staggered me.
"I remember too." Her voice had softened, revealing the first real emotion I'd heard from her. A single tear traced down her cheek, catching the filtered sunlight. "That's what makes this so much worse."
"Grace..." I brushed away her tear with my thumb, relief flooding through me when she didn't immediately pull away.
"Don't you see?" Her eyes met mine, centuries of pack magic swirling in their depths. "That's why this hurts so much. Because I remember how pure it was, how completely I trusted you. And now..." She drew a shaky breath. "Now I know better than to make that mistake again."
She stepped out of my reach, efficiently wrapping herself in the blessed cloth. The brief vulnerability vanished behind her walls, but not before I glimpsed the depth of pain beneath.
"The pup's energy is stabilized," she stated, back to her formal tone. "Thank you for your assistance, Alpha King."
"Please," I caught her hand before she could leave. "Don't go back to that cold formality. Not after what we just shared."
"What we shared was a healing ritual for our child." She withdrew her hand with fluid grace. "Nothing more."
She paused at the clearing's edge, her voice barely a whisper. "The worst part isn't that you betrayed me, Alexis. It's that you made me strong enough to walk away."
I watched her leave, her spine straight despite the weight of unshed tears. My wolf howled in frustration, recognizing that our mate's new strength might be the very thing that kept us from winning her back. I realized that Grace's transformation wasn't just about building walls - it was about learning she could survive without them too. And that knowledge burned worse than any rejection, because a Grace who didn't need me was infinitely more dangerous than one who simply didn't want me.