It has been a week since everything took a turn, one that Tanner still isn't sure is the right direction.
The pack house has returned to its usual rhythm. No drama, no chaos. People have resumed their daily routines, gone back to their jobs, their responsibilities- life, at least on the surface, appears normal. But nothing feels normal to Tanner.
Despite the return to routine, Tanner feels out of place. He has tried his best to immerse himself in his duties, supporting his Luna, performing his responsibilities to the pack, being present and accountable in every way expected of an Alpha.
He gives her the rights according to their relationship, fulfills his obligations without hesitation. But none of it satisfies him. None of it feels whole or fulfilling. Something inside him feels deeply wrong, like an emptiness he can't fill.
As he walks through the quiet, echoing hallways of the pack house, his mind is set on one destination-- one place his father mentioned to him lately. A place where he could find answers. Help.
Once in the car, he drives with single-minded focus. He doesn't take detours. He's heading to the woman who had severed the mate bond between him and Jess.
He needs to confirm it for himself whether the bond between him and Jess was truly broken. Because if it was, then why is he still haunted by him?
It doesn't take long before he arrives. The compound is drenched in the scent of pure magic.
He steps out, his footsteps quick and determined. He knocks several times until finally, the door creaks open.
"Alpha Hale?" The woman looks startled.
"Why did you lie?!" Tanner snaps before she can say anything else.
"Lie about what?" the woman asks, confused but alert.
"You said you completely broke the mate bond. That there's nothing left between me and that boy. Nothing at all binding us anymore! You said there would be no aftereffects! You told me that the moment the bond was broken, I would be free, free from everything that binded us together! But do you know what's happening to me?!" His voice rises, frustration boiling over. "The exact opposite of everything you said! So tell me, did you lie?! Was it about the money?! Were you just after being paid while failing to actually break the bond?!"
His voice is loud, laced with anger, desperation.
"Alpha Hale," she begins, trying to remain calm and composed, "you saw it yourself. If there is any true confirmation that the bond is gone, it was in that mark you gave him. You saw it disappear. That was one of the thing that showed your bond. I confirmed, the bond is no more. There is no bond between the two of you now."
"No. No, no_ you don't know that! There is! If the bond was really broken, then why do I still feel this way? Why am I still drowning in the need for him? Why does everything in me still crave him when I'm with my Luna?! Why do I still feel so empty with her?" He paces, hands in his hair. "It's like a drug... and I'm addicted. I feel like I need him just to breathe! Just to function! Do you hear me?! I feel thirsty for that drug!" he yells, slamming his fist against the wall.
He turns on her again, eyes wild. "Explain it! Explain why I still feel this way if you say the bond is truly gone!"
She takes a nervous breath. "Alpha Hale, if you're feeling this way even after the bond has been severed… then maybe the bond wasn't the reason you felt that way in the first place."
Tanner's head snaps up. His eyes blaze. "Elaborate," he demands, voice sharp.
Even she seems hesitant now, her words slow and cautious. "It could be that… part of what you felt was from the bond. But not all of it. It's possible you wanted him genuinely, not because of the bond but because…"
Before she can finish her sentence, Tanner punches the wall again, harder this time. The walls shake under the force of it.
"If you ever say anything like that to me again, I swear I will send you straight to hell! Do you hear me?!" he says, his voice dangerously low. "I'm leaving. And tomorrow first thing in the morning you're coming to the pack house with a remedy. I don't care what it takes. I want this thing out of me!"
Without waiting for a response, he storms off and drives away furiously.
Back at the pack house, Tanner strides through the hallways, headed toward his study, the place he now spends most of his time, buried in solitude.
But on the way, he hears muffled voices coming from one of the rooms. The one Charlotte often uses.
He stops.
His wolf senses sharpen, picking up the voices through the door.
"Did you find him?" Charlotte asks.
"No. I honestly have no idea where he disappeared to," a man's voice replies. "But Dad said there's only one way to make sure Tanner never gets him pregnant..."
Tanner's heart skips.
"...and that's for you to get pregnant first. If you do it before Jess, it'll close ways for Tanner. Once he gets someone else pregnant first, Jess won't be able to carry his child anymore... So..."
"Are you stupid, Eryx?!" Charlotte snaps. "Jess is already pregnant! Which part of that don't you get?! The baby is already growing inside him, and you're still here talking about stopping it from happening?"
"Just calm down. We still have time before that baby develops fully. We'll find Jess, and we'll get rid of it. So... did you share a night with your so-called husband or not?"
"I did."
"You did?! He actually agreed to do it?"
"Yes, what?"
"Does that mean you're pregnant?"
"I don't know. I haven't felt anything strange in me."
"Charl, you have to be. That's the only way to stop Tanner from being the one who inherits the power."
"Okay," she sighs. "But just so you know, I'm not keeping the baby of a man who doesn't love me. Once I get pregnant, I'm getting rid of it."
"As long as we achieve what we want, that's what matters. I'm going to check if there are any updates."
Hearing that, Tanner stumbles away from the door, breath shallow. One word echoes in his head... pregnant. Jess is pregnant. That's all he heard.
Charlotte's words ring in his ears: Jess is already pregnant with...His baby.
Tanner stumbles into his study, slamming the door behind him. He presses his fingers to his temples, trying to process everything.
"What on earth is going on?!" he mutters to himself, voice shaking, his whole world spinning out of control. "Was Jess telling the truth?!"