Alpha's Secret Bride

He nodded once. "I understand."

"No." She shook her head, her voice tightening as she fought to keep herself composed. "I don’t think you do."

She looked at him for another moment before turning toward the villa. "You may be the father of my pups, but you are not walking back into my life as though the last several winters never happened."

He watched her turn away. "I know."

She didn’t answer. She walked toward the nursery, and Brandon followed several steps behind her. When she reached the pups, she took Bryan’s hand and lifted Charlotte into her arms.

"Come to my chamber."

Bryan looked over his shoulder at Brandon, clearly reluctant to leave him again. "But, Mother..."

Emma continued walking without stopping. "Come on."

Bryan hesitated for another moment before following her, glancing back at Brandon one last time as he disappeared through the villa doors with Emma and Charlotte.

Brandon remained in the courtyard, watching the doors close behind them. His jaw still stung from the slap, but he barely noticed it. Emma hadn’t forgiven him, and he knew he had no right to expect her to. She had spent two winters believing he was dead, and no explanation could erase what those winters had done to her.

Still, she hadn’t told him to leave.

Brandon lowered his eyes for a moment before looking toward the doors again. For the first time in two winters, he allowed himself to hope. He had finally found his way back to them.

Inside Moon Estate, the servants kept their voices low after Brandon’s arrival. They moved quietly through the villa, carrying out their usual duties while giving him and Emma as much privacy as they could. Brandon sat alone in the living chamber, his untouched wine was on the table in front of him as his eyes moved around the chamber.

The portraits on the walls caught his attention first. He had never noticed them before. Brandon had once shown Emma the house. The fireplace still stood in the corner, and the couch beneath the windows was exactly where it had been that day. Everything looked familiar in some ways, yet strangely different now that he was seeing the house after two winters.

Soft footsteps came from the hallway.

Brandon looked up as Emma entered the chamber with a brown envelope in her hand. She didn’t greet him or take a seat. She walked straight to the table, placed the envelope in front of him, and folded her hands in front of herself.

He glanced at the envelope before looking at her. "What’s this?"

"Open it."

He pulled the envelope closer and opened it. Several documents had been arranged neatly inside, and the title on the first page caught his attention immediately.

Bond Severance Agreement.

His fingers stopped against the edge of the paper. He read the title again before lifting his eyes to Emma.

"I had them prepared months ago," she said quietly, keeping her gaze on him. "In case you ever come back someday."

Her voice faltered slightly. "I truly believed you had abandoned us."

He looked down at the documents again. He turned the first page, scanned the beginning of the agreement, then closed the folder without reading further.

"I see."

She waited, but he said nothing else. After a moment, he pushed the envelope back across the table toward her.

"I’m not signing them."

Her eyes narrowed. "You don’t have a choice."

He rested one hand on the closed folder and looked at her. "I do."

She stared at him, and her fingers slowly tightened against her arms.

"My choice is not to make a decision while you’re still bleeding," he said.

Something shifted in her expression, but she quickly looked away.

"You think this is only about anger?"

"No." He kept his voice low. "I think it’s about pain."

She gave a short, bitter laugh and looked back at him. "You know what pain feels like now?"

He didn’t answer immediately.

"I’ve always known."

"No." She shook her head. "You don’t."

Her voice rose slightly as she stepped closer to the table. "You weren’t here."

Brandon’s hand tightened against the edge of the folder, but he said nothing.

"You weren’t here when Bryan had nightmares, when I had to sit beside his bed until he finally fell asleep. You weren’t here when I almost left my pup without a mother. You weren’t here while I was carrying Charlotte, when there were moonfalls the pain was so bad I didn’t know if I would make it through. I remember lying there, praying I would live long enough to hold her."

Her voice faltered. She looked down for a moment before continuing.

"You weren’t here when Charlotte cried herself to sleep because she wanted her father. You weren’t here when every knock at the door made me turn around thinking palace security had finally brought news about you."

She wiped quickly beneath one eye, but another tear slipped down before she could stop it.

"Every time, I hoped it was you."

She looked at him again, and the hurt in her face made Brandon lower his eyes.

"Only to find out it wasn’t."

Brandon lowered his eyes to the documents on the table. His thumb moved slowly along the edge of the folder before he finally let his hand fall to his side.

"I deserve everything you’re saying."

"You deserve far more."

Emma’s eyes glistened as she looked at him. She pressed a trembling hand against her chest and drew in a slow breath, trying to steady herself.

"I mourned you," she said. "I mourned a man who was still alive. Do you have any idea what that did to me?"

He said nothing. His gaze remained lowered as Emma’s fingers tightened against her chest.

"I still love you."

The words came out so quietly that she seemed to regret saying them the moment they left her mouth. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I wish I didn’t."

Brandon’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t move toward her.

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. "But loving you isn’t the same as trusting you. I don’t trust you anymore."

She reached for the envelope and rested her fingers on the corner of it.

"If I take you back today, how do I know you won’t disappear tomorrow?"

He looked at her for several seconds without answering. Then he slowly rose from the couch and walked toward the large window overlooking the gardens.

Outside, Bryan and Charlotte were chasing butterflies across the grass while two guards followed at a respectful distance. He rested one hand against the window frame and watched them for a moment. A faint smile touched his face before he spoke.

"They’ve grown."

Emma remained by the table, watching him quietly.

He kept his eyes on the pups. "I missed Bryan’s sixth and seventh birth moons. I missed seeing you carry Charlotte, and I missed being by your side when you gave birth to her." His smile faded as he lowered his hand from the window. "I missed so much. I missed everything."

He turned back toward Emma.

"If I could change that, I would."

She looked down at the documents. Her fingers rested on the envelope, but she didn’t pick it.

He returned to the table and placed one hand on the envelope.

"I’m asking for one thing."

She looked up.

"Time."

Her brows drew together.

"I don’t expect your forgiveness," he said. "I don’t expect your trust, either. And if you decide you don’t want me staying here, I’ll respect that."

He paused, keeping his eyes on hers.

"But don’t ask me to end our bond while you’re still standing here telling me you still love me."

Emma’s lips parted, but no answer came.

He left his hand resting on the envelope between them.

Neither of them reached for it.

She looked away, her fingers resting on the edge of the envelope. She didn’t push it back toward him, but she didn’t take it back either.

He watched her for a moment before gently sliding the envelope across the table toward her.

"Keep these."

She looked down at the envelope.

"If one day..." He paused, his fingers tightening slightly against the table before he continued. "...you still want me to sign them after you’ve had time to think, I will."

A faint smile touched his lips, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

She lifted her eyes to him. "You’d really sign them?"

"If that’s what you want."

She studied his face, waiting for some hint that he was only saying it to keep her from ending their bond. Brandon didn’t look away. He simply stood there, letting her make up her own mind.

A knock sounded at the door.

Before either of them could answer, the door opened and Bryan rushed into the living chamber, with a maid hurrying after him.

"Father!"

The maid stopped near the doorway, slightly out of breath. "I’m sorry, my Queen Luna. I tried to..."

"It’s all right, Iris," Emma said. "You can leave now."

Iris bowed and stepped back into the hallway.

Brandon barely had time to turn before Bryan ran straight into him. He dropped to one knee and caught him around the waist as he threw both arms around his neck.

"I knew you were still here!"

Brandon laughed softly and pulled him closer. "Where else would I be?"

Bryan squeezed him tighter before finally letting go.

A moment later, Charlotte appeared in the doorway, clutching her favorite stuffed wolf against her chest. She saw Brandon and immediately held out both arms.

"Fafa!"

He reached for her and lifted her into his arms. Charlotte settled against his shoulder, her small hand curling around the collar of his shirt as she rested her head against him.

Bryan looked up at his father.

"You’re leaving again?"

He glanced toward Emma before answering. "I have to return to Nightclaw Estate before moonfall."

Bryan’s face fell.

"Can I come with you?"

Brandon looked at Emma again. She gave a small shake of her head.

"Not today, Bryan."

He lowered his gaze to the floor.

"Oh."

He reached over and gently ruffled his pup’s hair. "I’ll come back tomorrow."

Bryan looked up immediately. "You promise?"

"I promise."

The pup studied his father’s face for a few seconds before holding out his little finger.

"Pinky promise."

A quiet chuckle escaped Brandon as he shifted Charlotte securely against his chest and hooked his little finger around Bryan’s.

"Pinky promise."

Bryan finally smiled.

Emma stood by the table, watching Brandon with the pups. Her eyes dropped to the brown envelope still resting in her hands. She ran her thumb slowly along its edge before looking at him again.

Brandon had promised to return tomorrow.

It was such a simple promise.

Yet after two winters of waiting for him, she knew better than anyone how much a promise could hurt when it was broken.

She wanted to believe him.

She wanted to believe that this time, he would stay.

But wanting to believe him was not the same as trusting him.

And that was the part of her heart she still couldn’t give back.

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