Chapter 1

Wren's POV

I dragged Hazel out of a rogue camp and lifted to High Priestess and tonight I caught her naked in my mate's bed.

The smoke hits first. Then the scent. Sweat, slick, heat — and underneath it, my mate's mark layered all over another she-wolf's skin.

Neither of them even moves.

Hazel sees me first. She screams, white as bone.

"Wren —"

Caden turns his head. His eyes find me. And before I've moved an inch, before I've made a sound, his body shifts — instinct, pure instinct — to put hers behind his.

He shields her. From me.

I stand there breathing through my mouth.

I watch him pick her clothes off the floor. One piece at a time. Soft, practiced hands. He dresses her like she's made of glass. He walks her to the door and murmurs, "There's someone waiting for you outside. I'll deal with this."

I haven't lifted a finger. He's already afraid I'll go feral.

The door clicks shut. It's just me and him now.

I stare at the face I've known since I was a pup. The boy who used to chase me through these woods.

Now, it's a stranger's face.

The past few moons, I've been too busy to date Caden. The moonlit hunt I won at the warriors' draw, the festival passes I bought for the two of us, the private dinners he booked at the Ridge — every single one I had to cancel for a healing or a late shift.

Hazel always offered to step in. "Don't let them go to waste, Wren." Honestly, I was grateful.

And my mate never made me feel guilty.

"I support your work, Wren. However long it takes, I'll wait."

That's what he told me. Always in that low, patient voice that wraps around my ribs. I never thought twice when I told Caden and Hazel to have fun.

And lately, something had been off in my chest. A dull ache right under my ribs. A pull in the bond. Some nights it twisted hard enough to wake me up.

I figured it was the workload. Not enough sleep.

Now, I finally get it.

My wolf knew. She knew before I did.

Caden lights a black-leaf roll, takes a slow drag, then finally looks at me.

"Got nothing to say?"

He's the one who broke the bond. So why am I the one with my hands shaking?

"Caden. Are you serious right now?"

He flicks ash onto the floorboards. Voice flat.

"I'll own my part. But Wren — be honest with yourself. What have you given me these past few years?"

"You're always too busy. Always a healing. Always rounds. I asked you to share a meal — you had a patient. I asked you to a hunt — you had a shift. I have to schedule a fight with you three days in advance."

He says it with a hint of self-pity. Like I'm the one who climbed into another wolf's bed.

"Hazel's different."

His voice softens around her name.

"She listens. She remembers what I say. She actually shows up. Every date you couldn't make — she made them with me. In her heart, I come first."

Every word cuts straight through my chest.

"Caden, I've been like this since the day you met me! I never changed!"

His brow knits like I'm slow.

"I know. You haven't. But I'm done waiting."

I cross the floor and slap him.

"How dare you do this to me! Don't forget I'm your fated mate!"

He doesn't dodge. The roll falls from his fingers, sparks scattering across the bed.

He looks up. Finally — finally — there's something in his eyes.

"You done? Hit me again if you need to. Just don't take it out on Hazel."

I open my mouth.

The pack mind-link pings, sharp and loud.

[Healer Sutton. Emergency surgery. Thirty minutes. ]

Caden laughs. Soft. Quiet. It threads into my ear like a needle.

"Off you go, Ms. Healer. Your mate just bedded your best friend, and you're running back to save a life. You're the patientest she-wolf I've ever known."

My claws dig into my palms.

I turn around before he can see the tears.