Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Three years later.
The name Elara Whitmore, Regional Trade Authority of the Southern Territory, was known on every trade route in the south.
Once the Whitmore Pack's daughter. Now a Council-certified merchant authority. Third-tier Pack status granted.
She ran thirteen salt mines, seven iron forges. Even the river fleet reported to her.
Word was she was ruthless in business, fast with decisions, no mercy shown.
Word was also she had never bonded.
Cain had spent three full years tracking her down.
He reached out to former officers, asked merchant caravans, sent men all the way along the river routes to follow the trail.
The information came in piece by piece.
She settled in Irongate first. Then moved to Riverside Haven.
Her salt business had grown so large the Alpha Council's own supply chain used her shipments.
The day he got the confirmed location, he rode three hundred miles through the night.
By the time he reached Riverside Haven he was barely recognizable.
Three days of stubble, clothes torn, eyes sunken.
The Alpha who had ridden out in full battle armor three years ago looked no different from the refugees at the city gate now.
He went from shop to shop asking where the Regional Trade Authority kept her office.
The city guards turned him away three times. The gatekeepers hit him twice.
Finally someone told him: the Authority was doing her rounds in the south quarter today, she'd come back through the main road in the afternoon.
He crouched at the street corner and waited the whole afternoon.
The sun was going west when an SUV came from the far end of the road. The tinted window was partway down.
He saw Elara.
She wore a formal coat. Her hair was pinned up cleanly, only one pin through it.
Three years. She was thinner.
And her eyes were different.
Those eyes had no love in them. No hate. No hope.
Cain's legs moved on their own. He pushed through the guards and threw himself in front of the vehicle, knees hitting the road.
"Elara."
The car stopped. The window rolled down. She looked out at him, a small crease between her brows.
"It's been a while, General Calloway."
Cain froze.
She called him General Calloway.
Not Cain. Not by his name at all. General Calloway.
"Elara, hear me out."
"It's Authority Whitmore."
She corrected him.
He went still for a second, then swallowed hard.
"Authority Whitmore. Fine. Elara. Call me whatever you want."
"I want you dead."
Cain went stiff on the ground, then dropped fully to his knees.
"I know I shouldn't be here. I know I don't deserve to be."
"But I have been looking for you for three years. From the Capital Territory to Irongate, from Irongate to Riverside Haven."
"I gave up my Alpha status. I gave up my battle rank."
He reached into his coat and set something on the ground in front of him.
A torn and weathered Bond Decree.
"I've carried this decree for three years. Every hour I've been sorry. I'll give up everything. I just need to know you can forgive me."
Elara's gaze stopped on it for a moment. Then she looked away.
"Did you bring that to humiliate me?"
She let the curtain fall.
"Move on."
The guards pushed him to his feet.
"Walk away. Our Authority is busy. She doesn't have time for this."
Cain watched the carriage until it disappeared.
He knelt on the stone road for a long time before he moved.
People in the street recognized him.
"Isn't that Cain Calloway? The general who won the border wars? How did he end up like this?"
"You haven't heard? He's the one who confessed to sleeping with his fated mate's sister on the day of their bonding ceremony. That's our Authority. He's the one who betrayed her."
"She's such a good person. What he did — he had it coming."
Cain heard all of it. He just stayed kneeling, shoulders moving.
He came back several more times.
He didn't dare go near her office. He just crouched in the alley near her residence and waited.
Each time her car passed, he'd stand in the crowd and watch from a distance.
One time he ran up to the car and pushed a letter through the window.
What he wrote didn't matter. She took it without looking at it and tore it in half.
The last time, he knelt in front of her gate from early morning until sunset.
She walked out and went right past him.
"I've already reported you to the Enforcers. Harassing a Council Authority carries consequences. Think about what you're doing."
"Elara, do you hate me that much?"
His voice was worn down to almost nothing.
She looked down at him. Her eyes were calm.
"Hating you takes too much. You're not worth the energy. Leave. Don't come back."
Cain was quiet for a long time. He got up, limping, and started to walk.
He took a few steps and turned back like he had something to say.
Her door was already shut.
He stood outside for a while. Then he pulled a cloth package from his coat and set it on the doorstep.
He turned and walked into the dark.
The next morning a servant brought the package inside.
Inside were years of saved pay and rewards, in banknotes. And a single item — a Protection Seal from the Alpha King. The one token he had been allowed to keep in recognition of his service.
A note was tucked in, handwriting rough.
This is everything I have left.