When His Fated Love Returned, I Left the Pack

I had been mated to my calm and dependable Alpha Darion Silverclaw for three years,yet during all that time,he never learned how to show affection.He never even gave me gifts during Moon Festivals or winter celebrations.

Everyone around me always said the same thing.

"Alpha Darion is a gifted scholar of moon magic,holds a high rank in the Silverclaw Pack,and he is loyal.He would never betray his mate.Isn't that enough?"

I kept repeating those words to myself too.But the very next day,while passing one of the grand restaurants inside the Crestfield Territory,I saw him there,hosting a welcome feast for his first love who had just returned from a distant kingdom across the sea.

Rare moon lilies and carefully wrapped spirit stones filled the table.Darion's face,usually cold and distant,carried a warmth I had never once received from him.

That night,I searched through every crystal file inside his study and found a hidden moon journal linked to his wolf magic.

The last entry was written on the day Briona Wintermoon left the northern territories.Thousands of entries filled the pages,soft words and enchanted photographs recording every memory of their time together.

So Alpha Darion Silverclaw was never truly cold after all.When it came to the woman he truly loved,his heart burned fiercely.

I finally accepted the truth that he had never loved me.I picked up my communication crystal and contacted my business partner.

"I'll do it.I'll help open the overseas trade route.I'm leaving the pack lands with you."

***

Darion,who always returned to the pack house on time,did not come home until nearly midnight that night.

The moment he saw me,surprise flashed across his face before quickly disappearing.

"You're still awake,Isara?"

I stayed silent.He sighed softly and walked over to wrap an arm around me.

"Isara,there was an error during the moonstone experiment today.I truly couldn't leave."

"I'll return early tomorrow and cook for you myself.We'll celebrate your birthday then and make up for today.Alright?"

The arm around my waist felt stiff.A faint trace of another woman's scent still clung to him.Even his wolf carried it clearly.

"Oh,so you still remember my birthday?"

A bitter smile touched my lips as I stepped away from his embrace.

Last year during my birthday,I had told him beforehand that I reserved a table at a restaurant inside the central pack city,yet he never came.

I waited there alone for three hours before he finally answered my call.

"Why are you waiting for me?Was today important?"

The impatience in his voice was obvious.He had completely forgotten,yet somehow,I became the unreasonable one for disturbing him.

He had always remembered.The only reason he offered to make it up to me tonight was because he felt guilty.

And even that guilty apology could never compare to everything he prepared for Briona.

Something twisted painfully inside my chest,so sharp it almost stole my breath away.

"Isara,what is your problem?I already said I'll make it up to you.What else do you want?"

Darion frowned deeply as if I were the difficult mate who refused to understand him.

Throughout all these years,I had rarely disturbed him or interfered with his duties as an Alpha.

I was about to speak when his communication crystal suddenly lit up.

He glanced at the name,and all the coldness on his face disappeared instantly.He answered without hesitation.

"Darion,I think I caught frost fever.I feel so weak..."

The soft and helpless voice echoed clearly through the silent room.

I watched his eyes tighten.He immediately grabbed his coat and headed toward the door as though he had forgotten his own mate was standing there.

"Briona,I'm taking you to the healer hall.Put on something warm and wait for me.I'll arrive soon."

After ending the call,he pulled a gold bank token from the cabinet near the entrance and rushed outside.

"Darion,"I called his name.

He paused for only a second before answering,"Isara,Briona just returned to the Cresfield Territory.I'm the only friend she has here."

"Don't make trouble out of this.You're just overthinking."

Then he left without looking back.The sound of the door locking echoed through the empty house,and my mind turned blank.

Three moons ago,I suffered a sudden burst of pain from acute stomach sickness.The pain woke me before dawn,so unbearable that I could not even sit upright.

I grabbed Darion's hand and begged him to take me to the healer hall,but he pulled away from me.

"Isara,I need to travel with my elder today.This moon research is important."

"I'll call your mother to come over.Just stay in bed and wait."