My Mate Destroyed My Pack for His Mistress

Something electric surged through me as Saint's fingers brushed my arm. My breath caught in my throat—a sensation I hadn't felt since before Thaddeus poisoned my wolf bond.

"That's... impossible," I whispered, jerking away from his touch.

Saint's eyes widened. "You felt it too."

I pressed myself against the cave wall, my heart hammering. "What is it?"

"The true mate bond," he said softly, keeping his distance. "The one that was always meant to be."

Another surge of electricity sparked between us as his gaze met mine. This wasn't the corrupted connection I'd had with Thaddeus—this was something pure, ancient, powerful.

"No," I shook my head violently. "I can't... I don't trust..."

"I know." Saint's voice was gentle, patient. "After what he did to you..."

I flinched as he reached toward me, then stopped when he saw my reaction.

"I won't touch you without permission," he promised. "Not ever."

Something in his eyes—honesty, pain, longing—made me pause. The scars on his shoulder seemed to pulse in the firelight, proof of a truth I'd been denied my entire life.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

"I tried," he said simply. "The night before Thaddeus destroyed your pack. He had me exiled as a rogue before I could reach you."

I closed my eyes, memories rearranging themselves like puzzle pieces finally finding their proper places.

---

"We need to get the wolfsbane out of your system," Saint said three days later. "It's been too long—the poison has settled deep."

I nodded weakly from my position on the furs. The silver poisoning from my torture had left me barely able to stand.

"There's someone who can help," he continued, moving to the cave entrance. "A healer I met during my exile."

The woman who entered an hour later moved with the fluid grace of someone accustomed to surviving in harsh conditions. Her dark hair was streaked with silver, her eyes sharp and knowing.

"Elena Cross," Saint introduced her. "She's been helping rogues heal for decades."

"Another victim of pack politics," Elena said by way of greeting, her eyes assessing me with clinical precision. "What was used on you?"

"Wolfsbane," I replied. "Thaddeus poisoned my wolf bond with it."

Elena's expression darkened. "That bastard. No wonder you can't shift."

She set down a worn leather bag and began preparing something that smelled bitter and sharp. "This will hurt," she warned, mixing herbs in a small stone bowl. "But it's the only way to draw out the poison completely."

"I've endured worse," I said, though my hands trembled.

Saint knelt beside me, his eyes meeting mine. "May I hold you through this?"

I hesitated, then nodded slightly.

The first spoonful of Elena's antidote sent fire through my veins. I arched off the furs, a scream tearing from my throat as the medicine worked against the wolfsbane embedded in my tissues.

"Stay with me," Saint murmured, his arms strong around my shaking body. "Fight it, Scarlett."

Days blurred together as Elena administered the antidote in increasing doses. Each time, Saint held me through the agony, his voice a constant anchor as my body purged the poison that had kept my wolf dormant.

"Your wolf is still there," Elena told me during a brief respite. "The bond was damaged, not destroyed. Thaddeus wanted you to believe you were nothing without him."

On what must have been the fifth day, as the last of the antidote burned through my system, something deep within me stirred.

"Saint," I gasped, clutching his arms. "Something's happening—"

My bones began to crack and reshape before I could finish speaking. Pain unlike anything I'd experienced—even during Thaddeus's torture—ripped through me as my body remembered its true nature.

"That's it," Elena urged. "Let it happen."

I screamed as my spine elongated, my limbs reshaping themselves. Saint's arms tightened around me, his own partial shift allowing him to withstand the force of my transformation.

"Your wolf is coming back," he whispered in awe.

Light exploded behind my eyes as the mental block shattered completely. A presence I'd thought lost forever surged forward—my wolf, stronger than before, furious at her imprisonment.

With one final, triumphant howl that echoed through the cave, I completed the shift.

I stood on four powerful legs, my senses sharper than they'd ever been. Saint stepped back, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Scarlett," he breathed.

I caught my reflection in a small pool of water near the cave entrance—a magnificent silver-white wolf with ethereal blue eyes stared back at me. I was larger than before, my fur gleaming with an otherworldly light.

"My wolf," I whispered through our renewed bond. "You came back."

A fierce joy filled me as I realized what this meant—I was no longer broken. I was no longer powerless.

I was whole again.