Alpha Kaidan’s expression flashed for a brief second. His whole body went still. Something moved behind his eyes, fear, maybe, or something closer to sorrow. She couldn’t tell which.
But almost as fast as it appeared, his face hardened right back into stone. His eyes turned cold, his chest rising and falling too quick.
"What did you just say?" he asked, voice low through clenched teeth.
Naomi swallowed hard, heart hammering. "Let’s end the bo..."
She didn’t get to finish. Alpha Kaidan didn’t let her. He closed the space between them with an anger she’d never once seen from him, the kind that seemed to fill the whole room before he’d even said a word.
"Have you lost your mind?" he barked, eyes burning. "Who do you think you are to say that to me?"
"I... I just thought..." she stammered, scrambling for words.
"You don’t get to decide when this bond ends, Naomi!" he shouted over her. "So don’t you ever say that to me again."
She stared at him, genuinely lost as to why he’d be angry, when this should’ve been exactly what he wanted. Every instinct told her this should feel like relief for him, not rage.
Ending it meant he’d finally be free from a bond he never wanted, free to be with Serena openly without worrying about how it looked. It would make his mother happy. It would make the whole pack happy. So why was he fighting it? She searched his face for an answer and found nothing but the same locked door he always kept between them.
Whatever the reason, she couldn’t stay here any longer, playing mate for money she no longer needed. She’d endured it all for her training. Now that she’d finished, what reason was left to stay?
"I’m tired, Alpha Kaidan," she said softly. "I can’t keep doing this."
They were never meant for each other. He loved someone else. And she hadn’t had a single truly happy day in this bond, not one she could point to and call whole.
"If you’re tired, then pay me back every cent I spent on you," he said, jaw tightening. "You think you can just walk away because you finished your trial today?"
"But we had an agreement," she said, voice shaking.
"The agreement never said when you’d stop being my mate, did it?" he shot back coldly.
"But..." she looked up at him, searching his eyes. "You don’t even love me. So why do you still want me here?"
She’d assumed he’d be relieved she was choosing to leave. But his refusal left her completely unsure what to think anymore. Her mind scrambled to make sense of it, turning the moment over and over, finding no shape to it that made any sense.
She held his gaze, some small foolish part of her hoping he’d say it. That he loved her. That one single word might undo years of damage, might rewrite everything that had come before it in one breath.
Alpha Kaidan’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Her chest twisted painfully at the silence. He hadn’t loved her while Serena was gone. What made her think he’d start loving her now that Serena was back?
She let out a shaky breath and nodded, accepting it. Tears spilled down her face before she could stop them, and she wiped them away fast. She wouldn’t fall apart again, not in front of him. Not after everything she’d already given him for free.
"I don’t want to be here anymore," she said, firm despite the tremor still in her voice.
"Naomi!" he breathed out, frustration tightening every word.
"I’ll pay back every cent you spent on my training once I start healing on my own," she said, pulling off the bonding ring and holding it up between them. The metal caught the light for a moment, small and ordinary in her fingers, strange to think something so light had carried so much weight. "But this, this is done."
"You’ve completely lost your mind," he muttered, staring at her like she’d gone insane.
Had she, though? No woman should willingly accept this kind of pain. She’d endured it once, back when she didn’t love herself enough to walk away. She couldn’t keep living like that anymore. She’d built a whole self around surviving him, and she was done building.
"This was never the bond I wanted," she said, sniffing back tears. "I always dreamed of something warm. A real home."
Alpha Kaidan stared at her, clearly unsure where this was going.
"I want someone who actually loves me. I want pups with someone who wants them with me. And this..." she said, gesturing at the space between them, "this isn’t that. This is my biggest regret."
Alpha Kaidan’s eyes went dark instantly, like her words had struck somewhere raw. His jaw clenched so hard it looked like he was holding himself back from something, from hitting someone. From hitting her.
"Your biggest regret," he repeated, voice tight through his teeth.
"I see it now," he added sharply. "You want out so you can be with him."
She blinked, confusion spreading across her face. Be with who? What was he even talking about?
"What are you talking about? Be with who?" she forced out.
"Enough, Naomi. Stop playing innocent, because you’re not," he shouted, gripping her wrist tight.
Tears streamed freely now, her chest heavy as she tried to yank her hand free.
"What did he promise you, huh?" he demanded, eyes blazing.
"Promised me what? Who?" she asked, confusion tightening into fear in her chest.
"Money? Land?" he pressed, eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Then his hand slid to the small of her back, holding her in place. "Or was it the sex? Better than mine? Is that why you’re leaving me for him?"
He didn’t get to finish. Her hand moved before her mind caught up, and she slapped him hard across the face.
Alpha Kaidan’s expression cracked. For a moment neither of them moved, both frozen, both stunned by what had just happened. The sound of it seemed to hang in the air between them long after her palm had already dropped back to her side.
Four years, and this was the first time she’d ever raised a hand against him.
Her heart shook with both hurt and fear. Hurt, because he genuinely believed she’d betray him like that, when there had never been anyone else, not once, not even in thought. And fear, because she had no idea what he might do to her now for striking him. Maybe he’d break her hand for it. Maybe this was the moment everything finally tipped over into something she couldn’t take back.
He’d been inside her only last night, growling her name against her skin like it meant something. If he truly thought so little of her, why had he even come to her bed? Why had his voice sounded like that, low and wrecked, if none of it was real to him?
She swallowed the sob rising in her throat and straightened her spine.
"I won’t let you disrespect me," she said, forcing her voice steady despite the fear twisting through her stomach.
His mouth twitched, face still dark with fury. He stepped closer, hand rising toward her cheek. Her stomach dropped, certain he was about to strike her back. He didn’t. Instead he tipped her chin up, holding her gaze, his fingers surprisingly gentle for a man who’d just been shaking with rage.
"You’ve grown some backbone," he said quietly, staring straight into her eyes. "But next time, keep your hands to yourself."
He let go slowly and stepped back.
"I proposed this bond, and I will be the one to end it, when I decide to," he said, voice even now. "For now, you’re still my mate, Naomi."
Her breath caught, confusion flooding through her all over again. What did that even mean? Why wouldn’t he agree to end it? None of it lined up with anything he’d shown her in four years.
His mouth curved slowly into a smile, like he finally had her exactly where he wanted her, weak, confused, and out of words.