Chapter 6: The Alpha Who Began to Regret

Three days passed, and Derek still couldn't find Chloe.

Every lead ended in a dead end. The airport records showed that she had left the city, but no one could tell him where she had gone.

"How can one person disappear so completely?" Derek snapped, slamming the report onto his desk.

Ryan stood silently in front of him. He had followed every order, contacted every reliable source, and searched every city Chloe might have chosen. Nothing had worked.

"Alpha, perhaps the Luna doesn't want to be found," Ryan finally said.

Derek's eyes narrowed. "She's my mate. She can't simply disappear."

"But she may have chosen to leave."

The words hung in the air. Derek's expression darkened, and his wolf stirred restlessly beneath his skin.

Chosen to leave? Chloe had always fought for him. Even when he humiliated her in public, she returned. Even when he brought Camilla to their most important events, Chloe stayed by his side.

He had mistaken her patience for weakness.

That evening, Derek returned to their bedroom and opened the drawer beside the bed. Inside lay an old photograph from their first winter together. Chloe was laughing as his wolf carried her through the snow, her arms wrapped around his neck.

He remembered how she had looked at him then—as if he were her entire world.

For six years, he had convinced himself that she wanted the Thorn Pack's fortune. Yet she had walked away without taking a single jewel from the private vault.

If money was all she wanted, why had she left everything behind?

For the first time, doubt crept into his heart.

The following morning, Ryan rushed into his office with a sealed envelope.

"Alpha, the town hall has confirmed it. The Luna filed to terminate the mate bond."

Derek went completely still.

"What did you say?"

"The application has been accepted. The final review is scheduled for the seventh day after filing."

Derek snatched the document from his hands. There, beneath Chloe's signature, was the clause he had never bothered to read.

"If no child is produced within six years, either party may choose to terminate the mate bond."

His fingers tightened around the paper.

She had known about this clause all along. She had been preparing to leave while he was busy punishing her.

"Cancel it," he ordered.

Ryan hesitated. "Alpha, the decision belongs to both parties. You cannot cancel her application by yourself."

"Then bring her back. I'll speak to her personally."

"What if she refuses to return?"

Derek's wolf growled, but the sound couldn't hide the sudden fear in his chest.

"She won't refuse."

Yet even as he said it, he remembered the last time he had seen Chloe. She hadn't cried, begged, or accused him. She had simply looked at him with exhausted eyes and walked away.

Meanwhile, in a quiet coastal town, Chloe sat in a small apartment overlooking the sea. Her lawyer had arranged a temporary place for her while the paperwork was processed.

She had changed her phone number, closed her old accounts, and asked that her new address remain confidential.

For the first time in years, she could wake up without wondering whether Derek would bring Camilla home or whether the pack would laugh at her again.

The peace was unfamiliar, but she was beginning to cherish it.

Her lawyer called that afternoon.

"The town hall has acknowledged your application. Unless there is a valid legal objection, the process will continue as scheduled."

"Thank you," Chloe replied. "I don't want any money from the Thorn Pack. I only want the bond ended."

"Are you certain? Once the bond is severed, you may not be able to restore it."

Chloe looked out at the endless blue water.

She remembered the man who had once carried her through the snow, the man who had promised to protect her from every darkness. Then she remembered the same man ordering the guards to lock her in a pitch-black room.

"I'm certain," she said.

That night, Derek received another message from Camilla.

"Derek, I heard Chloe has filed to end the bond. You can't let her do this. What will happen to the pack if its Luna leaves?"

He stared at the message, irritated by the way Camilla spoke as if Chloe's departure were merely an inconvenience.

"This is between Chloe and me," he replied.

Camilla called immediately.

"But Derek, I'm only worried about you. What if she never comes back? You deserve someone who truly understands you."

"Enough, Camilla." His voice was sharp. "I never promised you anything beyond your position as my assistant."

He ended the call before she could respond.

For years, he had used Camilla to hurt Chloe, believing that Chloe would always stay. Now the woman he had taken for granted was preparing to leave his life forever, and he could do nothing to make her return.

Derek opened Chloe's contact one more time. His thumb hovered over the call button.

Then he typed a message.

"Chloe, please. Just give me one chance to explain."

He sent it and waited.

Far away, Chloe's new phone lit up with a notification from an unknown number. She read the message once, her expression unreadable, then placed the phone face down on the table.

She had spent six years waiting for Derek to explain himself, to trust her, and to choose her without conditions.

Now, with only a few days remaining before the bond was severed, his words meant nothing.

Derek stared at the unanswered message until dawn.

For the first time in their marriage, he was the one waiting for Chloe—and she was the one who had chosen not to answer.