Chapter 12

The assistant bowed and left.

The brothers slipped out while they were talking.

Ethan thought with his word as Alpha, a week would be enough.

A week later, the assistant's face was still panicked.

Even after yelling and firing a crowd of people, no location.

He'd used every tool he had.

He didn't know if Elara would forgive him when he found her.

But he couldn't even do the first step.

A few more days and he snapped.

He dropped everything at the Pack Headquarters and went to every city Elara had ever said she'd want to live in.

Hoping dumb luck or the Moon Goddess would help.

He didn't find her by searching blind.

He heard about her at the Pack Headquarters, from another wolf's mouth.

I'm not stupid.

After a few days of Adrian acting odd, I understood what he meant.

But I couldn't figure out what Adrian actually saw in me.

As Alpha King of the Wyndham Pack, he had more beautiful she-wolves around him than he could count. I didn't stand out.

Not looks. Not skill, either?

I'll admit I was a good Beta aide.

But to a wolf at Adrian's level—

A good aide is just a useful tool.

Who falls in love with a tool?

So I kept circling it. I couldn't work out why he'd want me.

At the end of the day, he pulled his car up next to mine like he did every night.

He'd asked to drive me home more than once. His ears still went red when he did.

Free ride. I wasn't going to say no.

At my building, looking at the clean line of his profile, I asked:

"Alpha Wyndham. If I'm not misreading this, you have feelings for me?"

"Why? We didn't know each other before."

"I'm not exactly a stunning she-wolf in your Pack. My work is decent. Why me?"

Adrian's face went from red to serious.

He looked at me head-on. "You might not remember me. But to me you're still the brave she-wolf I knew back then."

"We were in Pack Academy together. That's when you helped me."

"I fell for you on my own. I still have."

I frowned.

Not because of the confession. Because I couldn't remember any Adrian from Pack Academy.

Adrian was striking now. Even with his serious face, wolves threw themselves at him.

If he'd been in my Pack Academy, he'd have been noticed. I'd have remembered.

"Are you upset? I'm not asking you to say yes now."

"I just want a chance. Or even just for you to know how I feel. I can go back to being nothing, if that's what you want."

Before I could answer, he got it all out at once.

I smiled at how nervous he was.

"I'm not angry. I'm just thinking — if we were really at the same Academy, given your looks, I'd have remembered you."

"I don't have any memory of you. That doesn't add up."

He breathed out.

He pulled a photo from his wallet and handed it over. "In Pack Academy, because of my family, I was overweight."

"My personality wasn't much easier than it is now."

"The other pups picked on me."

"Then you transferred in, and when I was being picked on, you stepped in."

"I was grateful. After that, I fell for you. Your sharpness, your strength — everything."

"I'm sure I'll only love you in this life."

"I was going to tell you. You transferred out first."

"We only had one year. My looks changed a lot. Not remembering me makes sense."

I took the photo. My own face stared back at me.

In Pack Academy I'd transferred twice because of my family.

I'd been a wolf who stepped in when things were wrong.

If Adrian had met me then, it fit.

Looking at that stern little heavy boy in the photo, my chest tangled.

After a silence I spoke.

"Alpha Wyndham. The wolf you loved is the Academy version of me. The current version — you know the shape of her."

"I've Severed a Bond. I've been hurt. I'm working again."

"I'm not that brave she-wolf anymore. I'm ordinary now. And you know my situation."

"My former Alpha might still come at me. I'm trouble."

I laid it all out.

Twelve years of quiet love. I'll admit it got to me.

Reality cut in fast.

We weren't teenage pups anymore.

The feelings wouldn't be simple.

And I'd changed. What if Adrian only loved what he'd built up in his head?

What if he got me and regretted it?

These were things I had to weigh now. I couldn't walk blindly into a Bond again.

I was serious. Adrian laughed.

Then, under my puzzled stare, his face went serious again. "I found you earlier than you think."

"I've been watching you for seven years."

"Ethan Sterling got to you one step ahead of me."

"I know you haven't changed. You're still the same wolf. Sharp. Brave. Strong. Kind."

"A bad Bond clouded your sense of yourself. You never changed."

"And you're underestimating me. My feelings aren't that light."

"I've never built you up into something perfect. I love what's actually there. If you don't mind, give me a chance. I'll prove it with time."