In the end, he summoned Giselle after all and asked her the same question. She hesitated, her lips pressed into a thin line, her silence stretching between them like a taut string.
Griffith’s gaze was sharp, warning, but she remained unmoved.
Finally, she relented, though her voice carried no sincerity. “I only saw Alpha briefly yesterday when I delivered flowers. There was no other contact.”
Yet when her eyes met mine, they gleamed with something close to triumph.
When the others had left, Griffith exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath all this time. He took my hand in his, his touch careful, pleading. “Ellia, now you believe me, don’t you? I told you, in my heart, there’s only you.”
I withdrew my hand, letting it slip away from his grasp.
A flicker of disappointment crossed his face, but he quickly masked it. As if trying to shift the mood, he said, “Ellia, tomorrow I’ll be attending a celebration in another pack. I won’t be able to stay with you.”
Tomorrow. The day of his wedding to Giselle.
He pulled out a small, ornate box and handed it to me. “This is an enchanted transmitter, crafted by the healer. No matter how far apart we are, we’ll be able to hear each other’s voices. If you miss me, just call my name.”
I accepted the box without a word.
A fleeting shadow of guilt passed through his eyes. He hesitated, shifting his weight between his feet. “Ellia… I don’t want to leave you. Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
I smiled faintly. “But isn’t it important? Can you really afford not to go?”
