The Dormant Wolf: Rejected By My Alpha Husband

Catherine POV:

The flight was a blur. We stopped in Italy for refueling.

I stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The wind felt like freedom.

Kaden stood beside me. He didn't smell like lies. He smelled of ozone and steel.

"I wasn't going to jump," I said.

"I know. You were just looking."

I looked at my hand. The platinum wedding band was a shackle.

I pulled it off.

"Do it," Kaden said.

I threw it. The ring arced and vanished into the whitecaps.

I fell to my knees.

"I, Catherine," I whispered, "reject the bond. I reject the past."

Thunder cracked. The rotting connection in my chest didn't snap; it dissolved like sugar in hot water.

"May we be strangers," I finished.

Kaden offered a hand. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"We have a new identity waiting in Zurich," Kaden said. "Kate Harding. Geneticist. Single."

"Perfect."

Catherine Hale was at the bottom of the ocean. Kate Harding got into the car.

Derek POV:

I was peeling an apple for Anjelica.

Suddenly, the knife slipped.

Pain exploded in my chest. A void opened up inside me, cold and absolute.

My wolf, Shadow, threw his head back and howled.

Gone, Shadow whimpered. Mate is gone.

"What?" I gasped.

I ran out of the room. I burst into Catherine's room.

Empty.

No note. No scent. Just the smell of bleach.

Dr. Evans walked by. I grabbed him by the throat.

"Where is she?"

"She left! After the donation!"

"Donation?" I froze.

"The blood," Evans stammered. "For Anjelica. We took three pints."

I let him go. Three pints? From a crash victim?

"I signed a general consent," I whispered. "I didn't order an execution."

"Anjelica said..." Evans started.

"What did she say?"

"She said you wanted her dry."

I staggered back.

I tried to Mind-Link. Catherine?

Silence. Dead air.