Broken Ring, Broken Bond Chapter 01

Broken Ring, Broken Bond Chapter 01

At our three-year courtship anniversary party, Julian Blackwood, the Alpha of the Crestmoon Pack, brought his first love along.

In the private booth, everyone yelled to play “Never Have I Ever”.

Tessa was tipsy, her cheeks flushed pink, and she stared at me provocatively.

“I carried Julian’s pup before.”

The entire booth went dead silent instantly.

The wine glass in my hand froze mid-air.

She drawled another line slow and lazy—

“More than once. He was the one who drove me to the Pack Hospital.”

I looked at my Alpha.

He was pale as a sheet, and didn’t contradict a single word.

I looked down at my phone, at the formal bonding hint I’d typed out and was ready to send.

My finger hovered there for a long time.

Finally, I deleted it, calm as anything.

I made an excuse to go to the bathroom, and booked the earliest one-way flight to Paris.

Julian texted me, rushing me. [Tessa’s drunk. Come help her out, don’t be childish.]

I didn’t reply.

The plane took off at dawn.

This time, I only bought a one-way ticket for myself.

…

Julian and I never had our official marking ceremony.

In three years of courtship, he kept saying once the joint project with the Crestmoon Pack Group wrapped up, he’d name me his future Luna in front of the Pack Council.

But last night, one sentence from Tessa was all it took to make me see—I was never the one he actually wanted to claim publicly.

When my plane landed in Paris, it had just finished raining.

I turned my phone on, and Julian’s texts popped up one after another.

[Aurora Brooks, where the hell are you?]

[Tessa threw up, don’t actually leave her alone in the bathroom.]

[It’s just three years of courtship. We can celebrate it some other day, don’t blow this out of proportion.]

The last text was sent at 3 a.m.

[Where are you?]

I dragged my suitcase standing in the airport lobby, stared at the line of text for a few seconds, and texted back two words.

[Business trip.]

Right after I sent it, my phone rang immediately.

I didn’t answer.

He called again.

On the third try, I answered.

Julian’s voice was deep, rough from a sleepless night.

“Aurora, where are you?”

“Paris.”

He went quiet for two seconds.

“Are you insane? You flew all the way to Paris overnight just because Tessa said a few drunk words?”

I stuffed my passport back into my bag, my voice steady.

“They weren’t drunk words, were they?”

His breath caught.

I heard the click of a lighter, and he snuffed it out just as fast.

“It was all stuff from before we met.”

“Stuff from before doesn’t count anymore?”

He sounded annoyed, his tone turning cold.

“Aurora, I don’t owe you a play-by-play of every single thing that happened before I knew you.”

I hummed softly.

“So I don’t owe it to you to stay, either.”

Julian was silent for a moment, like he’d finally reined in his temper.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. Send me your address, I’ll have my driver pick you up to your hotel. Get some rest, I’ll fly out to see you tomorrow.”

“No need.”

“Aurora.”

He bit out my name, like he was warning me not to push it too far.

“Three years, you should know where I draw the line. I don’t like people threatening me by disappearing.”

I looked out at the wet, gray sky through the airport glass, and suddenly thought of the lights in the private booth last night.

When Tessa said that line, everyone was staring at me.

And Julian didn’t deny it.

He just stayed silent.

Sometimes silence sounded worse than an admission.

I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle.

“Julian, I’m not threatening you.”

Tessa’s muffled voice came from the other end.

“Alpha, my head hurts.”

Julian responded instantly, low and soft.

“Drink some water first.”

When he spoke to me again, there was a edge of impatience in his tone.

“You heard her, she drank too much last night and still feels awful. Can you not pick this time to cause trouble?”

I laughed.

“So my leaving counts as causing trouble, huh?”

“Aurora, you know that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

He froze.

I didn’t wait for him to answer.

“Take care of her. I’m going to check into my hotel.”

“Aurora, don’t you dare hang up on me.”

I hung up.

My phone buzzed a few more times, I just turned it to silent.

My professor’s assistant was holding a sign at the exit, and called my name in English when he saw me.

I walked over, and he smiled and took my luggage.

“Welcome back, Ms. Brooks. Everything’s ready at the gallery. Professor Blake said if you decide to stay, the lead designer spot in the studio is yours permanently.”

I curled my hand around the ring box in my bag.

Before last night, I’d planned to hand him the mate ring I made on our third courtship anniversary, and ask him to formally name me future Luna in front of the Pack Council.

That ring was a mate ring I designed myself.

I engraved a tiny line inside the band.

[Only You.]

Now it was lying at the bottom of my bag, pressing hard enough to make my palm ache.

I looked up at the muted blue-gray sky.

“I’ll stay.”

The assistant smiled.

“That’s wonderful.”

I was not without a way out.

The Brooks family wasn’t as prominent as the Crestmoon Pack, but we had our own lawyers, our own businesses, and our own standing.

For the past three years, I’d only blunted all my edges for Julian, kept them tucked away clean.

My phone screen lit up again.

It was Julian.

[Come back when you’ve thrown your little fit. Tessa has a follow-up appointment tomorrow, I don’t have time to coddle you.]

I flipped my phone screen-down.

Raindrops slid down the car window, like a sentence cut off halfway.

This time, I didn’t look back.