By morning, Alpha Kaidan was already awake. He lay in his own room for a while, staring at the ceiling as the events of the previous evening kept coming back to him. He had spent most of dinner thinking about Naomi and all the little things she used to do without being asked, things he had never considered important enough to notice until she stopped doing them.
It was strange. Alpha Kaidan had lived with Naomi for four years, yet somehow he was only now realising how much of his daily life had quietly involved her.
Alpha Kaidan finally got out of bed and dressed for the day. When he stepped into the hallway, he expected to see Naomi coming out of her room or perhaps hear movement from downstairs, but the house was unusually quiet.
He walked downstairs and found Grace arranging things in the dining area.
"Where is Naomi?" he asked.
Grace looked up immediately. "Madam left early, Alpha."
Kaidan frowned. "She left again?"
"Yes, Alpha. She went to the healer quarters."
He glanced toward the entrance. "When?"
"About an hour ago."
An hour ago, and she hadn’t told him. Alpha Kaidan’s expression tightened as he remembered how Naomi used to tell him whenever she was leaving the house, even when he had barely acknowledged her. She would mention where she was going, what time she expected to return, and sometimes remind him about something he had scheduled for the day. Now she left.
"She didn’t tell me she was leaving."
Grace hesitated. "Madam didn’t want to disturb you, Alpha."
Alpha Kaidan stared at her. She didn’t want to disturb him; those words shouldn’t have bothered him, but they did.
Naomi had spent years making sure she never disturbed him, yet she had always found a way to make herself available whenever he needed something. Now that she had stopped doing that, he suddenly noticed the difference.
"Is she eating there?" he asked.
Grace nodded. "She said she would eat after seeing her patients." Alpha Kaidan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"So she won’t be coming back for breakfast?"
"I don’t think so, Alpha." He said nothing.
Grace continued arranging the table, but Alpha Kaidan remained where he was, staring at the empty chair Naomi usually occupied. He didn’t understand why he was standing there. She had work. She was a healer now.
He had always told her to focus on herself, hadn’t he? So why did it bother him that she was actually doing it?
"Alpha Kaidan." He turned at the sound of his mother’s voice. Christine walked into the dining room, with Serena following behind her. Serena looked perfectly comfortable in the pack house, as though she had never been away from it.
"Good morning," Christine said. "Good morning, Mother."
Christine looked toward the untouched table, then at her son. "You’re not eating?" "I’ll eat later."
Serena stepped closer. "Alpha Kaidan, you haven’t eaten properly since yesterday." "I said I’ll eat later."
Serena’s expression softened. "You seem distracted." Alpha Kaidan didn’t answer.
Christine noticed it too. "Is this about Naomi?"
His eyes moved toward her. "What about Naomi?"
"She has been behaving differently." Alpha Kaidan’s jaw tightened. Serena lowered her eyes, pretending to be uncomfortable with the conversation. "Maybe she just needs some time."
Christine scoffed softly. "Time for what? She has already spent years in this house."
"Mother."
Christine looked at him. "I’m only saying that you shouldn’t let this situation distract you. Naomi knows the arrangement you both agreed to. She shouldn’t suddenly expect something different just because she’s finished her healer training."
Alpha Kaidan didn’t respond immediately. The words should have settled something in him; instead, they reminded him of Naomi’s face when she had asked him for a divorce.
She hadn’t been asking for more anymore; she had been asking to leave. That thought returned, unwanted and irritating.
Serena reached for his arm. "Please don’t let it upset you, Alpha Kaidan. Naomi has made it clear that she wants to focus on her own life now. Maybe that’s a good thing for both of you."
Alpha Kaidan looked down at her hand on his arm.
For some reason, he thought about Naomi’s hand slipping away from his after he had given her the healer pendant. She had thanked him; that was all.
She hadn’t smiled; she hadn’t looked at him the way she used to; she hadn’t even worn the pendant. Something about that still bothered him.
"I need to go," he said.
Christine frowned. "Where?" "The healer’s quarters."
Serena’s hand slowly dropped from his arm.
Christine looked at him in surprise. "Why?"
"I want to speak to Naomi." Serena forced a small smile. "About what?"
"I don’t know yet."
He walked away before either woman could say anything else.
By the time Alpha Kaidan reached the healer quarters, Naomi was already busy. He stopped just outside the main room and watched her for a moment.
She was speaking to one of the younger healers while preparing medicine for a patient, her attention completely focused on what she was doing. She looked different here. More confident and more comfortable.
There was none of the hesitation he had become used to seeing around him.
A patient smiled at her as she handed him a small bottle.
"Thank you, Healer Naomi."
"You’re welcome. Take it exactly as I explained, and come back if the pain gets worse." "Yes, Healer."
The man left.
Naomi immediately turned toward another patient without noticing Alpha Kaidan standing nearby. He waited; he wasn’t sure why.
Usually, when he entered a room, people noticed immediately. Naomi certainly used to. She would stop whatever she was doing and come to him, even if she had been busy.
But now she didn’t even look his way.
Finally, one of the healers noticed him and bowed.
"Alpha Kaidan."
Naomi looked up; her eyes met his for a moment. "Alpha Kaidan." That was it.
Alpha Kaidan stepped inside. "Can I speak with you?"
Naomi glanced at the patients waiting around her.
"I have patients."
"I can see that."
She looked at him again, then turned to the healer beside her. "Please take the next patient. I’ll be with you shortly."
The healer nodded. Naomi walked a few steps away from the others before facing him. "What do you need?"
Kaidan studied her face. There was no anger in it.
That almost made it worse.
She wasn’t fighting with him. She wasn’t trying to make him jealous. She wasn’t even trying to get his attention.
She didn’t seem interested in whether he gave it to her anymore.
"You left early this morning."
"Yes."
"You didn’t tell me."
Naomi looked at him calmly. "You were sleeping."
"You could have woken me."
"For what?"
Alpha Kaidan frowned. Naomi waited for his answer.
He didn’t have one.
He could have told her that he wanted to know where she was going. He could have said she was his mate and he should know, but after everything that had happened between them, those words sounded wrong even in his head.
"I just wanted to know," he said finally.
Naomi nodded. "Now you know." She turned to leave.
"Naomi." She stopped.
Alpha Kaidan looked at her back. "How are you?"
She turned slowly. "I’m fine."
"You’ve been working a lot."
"I have patients."
"I know."
Another silence settled between them.
Then Naomi gave him a polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "If that’s all, Alpha Kaidan, I need to get back to work." She walked away.
Alpha Kaidan stood there watching her. She hadn’t been rude; she hadn’t ignored him.
She had treated him like everyone else, and somehow, that bothered him more than if she had been angry.
For four years, Naomi had given him her attention without him ever having to ask. Now he was the one standing there, wondering how to get hers, and he didn’t like how much he wanted it.