Chapter 3: Mate

It started as a typical day. The Silver Pine Pack was hosting a summit for the Alphas of neighboring packs, a rare but formal occasion. I had my duties, ensuring everything ran smoothly, but unease prickled at my senses. The gathering brought together wolves from across the country, and I hated the thought of strangers invading the space I called home.

I was mid-conversation with Callum when it happened. The air shifted, charged with a tension that made my skin crawl. Then I caught it—a scent I knew too well, pine and musk, a cruel reminder of a life I had fought to leave behind.

My head snapped up, and there he was. Alec. His golden eyes locked on mine, the word slipping from his lips like a vow.

“Mate.”

I froze, fury and heartbreak surging through me in equal measure. Callum stepped protectively in front of me, his posture stiffening as Alec approached. But Alec’s focus never wavered.

“Evelyn,” Alec growled, his voice low and guttural. “It’s you.”

I took a step back, my hands curling into fists. “Stay away from me,” I hissed, the venom in my voice sharp enough to cut.

Alec halted, his expression pained. “I’ve been looking for you. I need to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing to say,” I snapped, my heart pounding in my chest. “You have no place here, Alec.”

The tension between the three of us was suffocating. Callum’s protective stance didn’t falter, but I placed a hand on his arm, silently telling him to stand down. This was my fight.

Alec’s eyes searched mine, desperation etched into his features. “Please, Evelyn. Just give me a chance to explain.”

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow. “Explain? Explain how you believed her lies? How you chose her over me without a second thought? There’s nothing you can say that I want to hear.”

Alec’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t retreat. “I didn’t know. I swear, Evelyn. I know now. I know the truth.”

“Too little, too late,” I said coldly, turning on my heel. But as I walked away, I couldn’t shake the weight of his gaze or the word that lingered in the air between us.

Mate. It led him to a small inn where I worked, oblivious to his arrival. When our eyes met across the room, his golden gaze locked onto me as if the years had fallen away. I turned sharply, the years of anger and heartbreak rising like a shield. I wanted nothing to do with him, but his presence, as always, threatened to unravel the resolve I had built.

“Evelyn,” he said, his voice a low rumble. The sound was both a balm and a blade, stirring memories I had fought hard to bury. But I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay rigid. This wasn’t a reunion—this was an intrusion.

I froze. He had no right to say my name like that, as if it belonged to him. As if he hadn’t chosen someone else. My heart raced, a traitorous drumbeat I couldn’t silence.

“What are you doing here, Alec?” My voice was sharper than I intended, but I couldn’t let him see how deeply his presence affected me.

His golden eyes softened, a flicker of regret crossing his features. “I was looking for you. I know the truth now, Evelyn.” His voice faltered, as though the weight of his own revelation threatened to crush him. “I found out what Miriam did. Her lies... they caught up to her.”

My chest tightened. Of course she had. Miriam had always spun her web of deceit effortlessly, but even the cleverest lies unravel eventually. It was her own arrogance that betrayed her, slipping truths in the presence of those who could piece them together. Alec had found out on his own, too late to undo the damage but enough to realize how deeply he had erred. But her confession came too late. The damage was done.

“So what?” I snapped. “You think you can just show up here and make it all better? You think your realization changes anything?”

Alec took a step closer, his towering frame filling the space. “I was wrong,” he admitted. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it right if you’ll let me."

"You think that’s enough?" I snapped, my voice cutting through the air like a whip. "You think some grand declaration erases years of pain? Alec, you didn’t just break my heart—you shattered my trust. And trust isn’t something I give out twice."”

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow in my own ears. “You can’t fix this, Alec. You made your choice. You chose her.”

“I chose a lie,” he countered, his voice rising. “If I had known the truth…”

“But you didn’t,” I interrupted, my throat tightening. “You didn’t see me then, and I don’t think you really see me now.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Alec’s gaze searched mine, as if trying to unravel the barriers I’d carefully built over the years. But I couldn’t let him in. Not again.

“Leave,” I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper. “Please.”

For a moment, I thought he would argue. That he would fight for me the way I had once fought for him. But then he nodded, his shoulders sagging under the weight of my rejection.

“I’ll go,” he said. “But I’m not giving up on you, Evelyn. Not this time.”

For a moment, I stood frozen, his words echoing in the silence. A small, treacherous part of me wanted to believe him, to let the warmth of his promise melt the ice I had wrapped around my heart. But the scars of the past were still too raw, too deep. Shaking my head, I pushed the thought away, clinging to the walls I had built so carefully around myself.

And just like that, he was gone. But his words lingered, a promise I wasn’t sure I could believe.