When I Died, My Mate Was With His Sweetheart

He ran his thumb over the engraving. His insides stirred again, the primal part of him yearning for the connection that the initials represented. 'We’re mates,' he growled softly within him.

The first gift I had ever given him, back when I was still an eager young twenty-year-old, was a simple tie. It wasn’t much, just a small, thoughtful gesture from a woman who loved him with her whole heart. He had treasured it, worn it to every important meeting, even when Claudette was still hovering around like a ghost from his past.

Now, here I was again, pouring my love into something more meaningful, something more valuable. But the weight of that gift felt heavier in Klaus’s hands than it ever had before.

He drove back home, the silence of the car suffocating. When he stepped inside, he laid out the rings and tie clips on the dining table, next to the feast he had prepared earlier. The food was cold now, untouched. He opened a bottle of champagne he had been saving for a special occasion—something we would have shared, laughing, talking about the future, about pups and plans for our pack.

He poured a glass, his fingers shaking just slightly, and picked up his phone. His heart thudded in his chest as he stared at the open chat.

[Mavis, I received your gift. I like it very much.]

He hit send.

[Please come back. I’ll explain everything, and I promise this won’t happen again.]

The minutes dragged into hours, the silence growing louder with every tick of the clock. The cold food mocked him from across the table, the champagne now flat and bitter.

Klaus prowled beneath the surface, agitated. "She’s not coming back," he growled. Klaus tried to push the thought away, but his patience had run thin.

His thumb hovered over Irene’s name in his contacts. She had always been there whenever I had stormed out, giving me a place to cool off and vent my frustrations about Claudette. But when Klaus tried to call, the line went dead. He was still on her blacklist.

Irene. She was a friend I treasured. Even in our previous pack, before going to the Snowfall Pack, she was always on my side. And when I found out that I was mated with Klaus, I immediately chose him and went here. Surprisingly, Irene left the Sapphire Valley Pack together with my family when she heard that I was leaving.

Klaus slammed the phone down on the table, his jaw clenched tight. He snarled, pushing at the edges of his control, but he ignored it. Anger bubbled beneath the surface, threatening to erupt.

'Why wasn’t she answering?'

The next day, Klaus walked into the office, his movements stiff and sharp, his usual calm shattered. The first thing he did was turn the photo frame on his desk face down. The picture of us, smiling and happy, was too much to look at.

He was angry. Angry at me for disappearing, angry at himself for not stopping me. He had always prided himself on control, on keeping his emotions in check. But now, he was losing it.

Just as he was about to immerse himself in paperwork to drown out the thoughts, Benedict entered the room, his face pale and his hands shaking.

“Klaus, there’s… there’s a call,” Benedict stammered, his voice barely a whisper. “It’s from the royal warriors.”

Klaus barely glanced up, his brows furrowing. “What is it this time?” he muttered, his patience already wearing thin.

Benedict swallowed hard. “They… they’re asking you to identify Mavis’s body.”

Klaus froze. His heart seemed to stop in his chest as the words registered. He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "Is this some kind of sick joke, Benedict? Tell Mavis to stop playing games and come home. She’s done enough."

But Benedict’s hands trembled as he handed Klaus the phone, his face ashen. “It’s not a joke.”

The line was silent for a moment before a cold, official voice crackled through. “Mr. Klaus of the Snowfall Pack? This is Captain Gregor of the Royal Warriors. We found a body matching the description of your mate, Mavis. We need you to come to the location to confirm.”