Then he stepped into view.
Rivik.
I blinked. What was he doing here?
Behind me, Ellie gasped. Through the bond, I felt her shock, and then something else. Something that made the bond between us fizz and expand, warmth flooding through her chest like sunlight breaking through clouds.
The mate bond. His bond.
I smiled, despite myself.
"Rivik?" Ellie's voice was barely a whisper.
He stood at the edge of the clearing, his pack slung over one shoulder, his eyes moving from me to Ellie and back again. He looked tired, but his expression was neutral.
"I'm coming with you," he said simply.
Nathan poked Ellie and snapped something. Ellie replied, clearly explaining Rivik’s presence. I didn’t recognise the words Nathan was saying now, but the tone told me he wasn’t overjoyed to see the alpha who’d humiliated him in front of his pack. I grinned, and so did Rivik, clearly catching the joke.
"What about Hanging Rock?"
"Ryke is alpha now." Rivik said. "The pack is his to lead."
"You just—" I stopped, shaking my head and trying to process what I was hearing. "You walked away?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
His eyes flicked to Ellie for just a second. It was barely a glance, but it was enough. Enough for me to see the truth written all over his face.
Because of her.
Through the bond, I felt Ellie's confusion deepen, tangled with something that felt dangerously close to hope. She didn't understand. Didn't know what he was really offering, or what it cost him to stand here in front of us and admit he'd given up everything.
“They needed an alpha who could lead them, protect them, fight for them. I didn’t feel I would be the best choice for that honour from now on,” he said carefully. I understood. When Ellie had told me that she had no choice but to leave with Nathan and the others, I had faced the idea of letting her walk away. I had spent an entire night feeling pain I never wanted to encounter again. The thought of living like that for the rest of my life was unthinkable. I had seen wolves lose their fated mates. They faded away, or they ended their own suffering rather than live with it.
"I need to talk to you," I said quietly. "Alone."
Rivik nodded once.
I turned to Ellie, cupping her face briefly. "Stay with Dev. I'll be right back."
She caught my wrist, her eyes searching mine.
"Trust me."
Through the bond, I felt her hesitation, her fear that this was somehow a choice between us. But after a moment, she nodded and let me go.
I jerked my head toward the trees, and Rivik followed without a word.
We walked until we were out of earshot, the silence between us heavy and thick. When I finally stopped and turned to face him, he was already watching me with that same calm, measured expression.
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday. After you left."
"Ryke agreed?"
