The moon hung low and heavy over the Voss estate gardens that night, casting a silvery glow across the winding stone paths and blooming night jasmine. Elena had fled the pack gathering hall hours ago, seeking refuge in the one place that had always brought her peace — the private rose garden her mother had tended before she passed.

She sat on a marble bench beneath an ancient wisteria arch, the deep burgundy dress from the gathering now replaced by a soft cream sweater and leggings. The cool night air brushed against her skin, but it did nothing to soothe the storm inside her.

The bond wouldn’t let her rest.

It throbbed like an open wound in her chest — raw, pulsing, alive with Nikolai’s regret and her own conflicting emotions. Her healing gift had been restless for hours, golden light flickering intermittently along her arms as it yearned to reach across the distance and mend the Alpha who had shattered her heart.

Footsteps on the gravel path made her tense.

She knew it was him before he even appeared. The scent of cedarwood, leather, and wild forest reached her first, wrapping around her like a dark embrace. Her body reacted instantly — pulse quickening, warmth blooming low in her belly, the bond flaring so strongly her hands began to glow.

Nikolai stepped into the moonlight.

He looked wrecked.

His raven-black hair was messy, his powerful frame tense beneath a simple black shirt. His ice-grey eyes, usually so cold and commanding, were red-rimmed and filled with devastating vulnerability. He stopped several feet away, as if afraid to come closer.

“Elena,” he said hoarsely. “I know I shouldn’t be here. But I couldn’t stay away.”

She didn’t answer right away. The golden light around her hands brightened, then dimmed as she fought for control. The bond pulled at her mercilessly, demanding she go to him, touch him, heal the broken man standing before her.

But her heart — still bleeding from every public rejection, every cruel word — held her in place.

“You knelt in front of your entire pack,” she whispered finally, voice trembling. “Do you have any idea what that did to me?”

Nikolai took one careful step closer, then dropped to his knees again on the gravel path. The sharp stones bit into his legs, but he didn’t flinch. He simply looked up at her with raw, open desperation.

“I would kneel every day for the rest of my life if it meant even a chance at your forgiveness,” he said, voice rough with emotion. “I meant every word I said tonight. You are my true mate. My Luna. I was a fool to ever deny it.”

Elena’s breath hitched. Tears welled in her hazel-green eyes as the golden light of her gift spilled brighter, reaching instinctively toward him. She could feel his pain through the bond — deep, crushing guilt mixed with fierce longing. It echoed her own wounds so perfectly it hurt to breathe.

“I still love you,” she admitted suddenly, the words slipping out before she could stop them. Her voice cracked. “I think I’ve loved you since that night on the road. When I felt your wolf recognize me even as you were dying. The bond… it’s part of me now. It won’t let me stop loving you.”

Nikolai’s breath caught. His silver-flecked eyes glistened with unshed tears as he stared up at her like she was his salvation.

“Elena…”

“But I don’t trust you,” she continued, voice breaking. Tears slipped down her cheeks. “How can I? You chose her, Nikolai. You looked me in the eye and chose the woman who stole from me. You humiliated me in front of hundreds of people. You threatened my father. You made me sign away the future I had dared to dream about.”

She pressed a hand to her chest, where the bond throbbed painfully.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see you dancing with her. I hear your voice telling me I was nothing but a power-hungry heiress. I feel the way my heart shattered when you forced those papers in front of me. My gift still wants to heal you. It aches to go to you right now and take away your pain. But my heart… my heart is terrified you’ll break it again.”

Nikolai remained on his knees, shoulders trembling under the weight of her words. A single tear escaped down his sharp cheekbone — a sight that would have been unthinkable for the ruthless Alpha just weeks ago.

“I know,” he whispered, voice wrecked. “I hate myself for what I did to you. Every night I dream of that road. Your hands. Your voice. The way you stayed with me even when you could have left me to die. And then I wake up remembering how I repaid you.”

He bowed his head, baring his neck in complete submission.

“I don’t expect you to trust me yet,” he said softly. “I haven’t earned it. But please… let me stay close. Let me prove with actions what my words can never fully express. I will dismantle every wall I built. I will burn every bridge that led me away from you. Just… don’t ask me to walk away. I can’t. My wolf won’t survive it. *I* won’t survive it.”

Elena’s golden light reached further, brushing against him like a caress. Nikolai inhaled sharply at the contact, his powerful body shuddering as her healing energy soothed some of the torment inside him.

“I want to believe you,” she whispered, tears falling freely now. “Gods, Nikolai, I want to run to you and let you hold me. The bond is tearing me apart. It wants us together so badly. But trust… trust is something you broke. And wounds like that don’t heal overnight. Not even for someone with my gift.”

She stood slowly, wrapping her arms around herself as if trying to hold her shattered pieces together.

“I still love you,” she said again, voice barely above a whisper. “But love isn’t enough right now. Not after everything.”

Nikolai remained on his knees, looking up at her with devastated silver eyes. The moonlight highlighted the tears on his face and the raw vulnerability in his expression.

“Then I’ll wait,” he said quietly. “As long as it takes. I’ll be here every day, proving I’m the man — the mate — you deserve. Even if it kills me.”

Elena took a shaky step back, the bond screaming in protest at the growing distance. The golden light around her slowly faded as she turned away.

“Goodnight, Nikolai,” she whispered.

She walked back toward the mansion, leaving the Alpha still kneeling in the garden, surrounded by moonlight and the heavy scent of night-blooming jasmine.

Nikolai stayed there long after she disappeared, head bowed, fists clenched against the gravel.

The wounds they both carried ran deep.

But for the first time since the nightmare began, a fragile thread of hope wove itself through the pain.

He would keep fighting.

And maybe — just maybe — one day she would let him heal the wounds he had caused.