After His Betrayal, I Chose His Alpha Brother

At eleven o'clock at night, as expected, Neil's call came through.

His voice was loud on the line, tinged with a hint of excitement: "Allison, don't wait up for me tonight."

Allison didn't respond, and he added, sounding uncertain, "The Deltas in the pack know I’m about to have my mate pairing ceremony, and they’re throwing me a celebration."

This excuse was all too familiar.

Ever since the Delta Robert's ceremony, Neil had used it seven times.

Meaning he'd been out under the guise of a celebration for an entire week.

Through the receiver, the blaring music and shouting crowd cut through the stillness of the night.

When Allison didn’t reply, Neil called out again, his tone cautious, probing. "Honey, what’s wrong? Are you mad?"

He waited quietly for her response, and Allison glanced at her wristwatch.

For some reason, she blurted out, "It’s eleven."

Outsiders might not grasp the significance of this statement.

But it was part of an unspoken understanding between them.

Allison knew.

Neil knew.

It was a rule he’d set during the early days of their engagement.

Back then, he had just become a Delta in the pack, and Allison was climbing the ranks, often attending late-night pack gatherings before returning home.

One night, almost at dawn, she came back to find him curled on the sofa like a cozy wolf pup.

Upon seeing her, he drowsily approached, tentatively.

"Allison, can’t you be home before eleven?"

They hadn’t been engaged long at that point.

Initially, his personality was lively and cheerful.

But her frequent late nights had made him suspicious and sensitive.

Allison looked into his watery eyes, a trace of spiced honey cake frosting lingering at the corner of his lips.

On his birthday, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse him.

So, she agreed.

"Two weeks."

During that period, he’d call without hesitation: "Allison, it’s eleven o’clock, time to come home."

His tone was like that of a little housekeeper.

Eventually, when he said, "It’s eleven," Allison would instinctively answer, "Time to come home."

It became their unspoken game.

But unspoken games can end without you realizing it.

When did it stop?

For the first time, Allison pondered this question.

Maybe it was when he settled into his role as a Delta?

Maybe it was all his pack duties?

Or perhaps even longer.

He hadn’t said those words in ages.

As if certain she’d always make it home on time.

Yet he might have forgotten one thing.

It was a privilege she granted out of a moment of weakness.

She could withdraw it anytime she wished.