My Alpha Only Ever Said Fine. novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After the abortion, I sent my Alpha mate, Asher, a mind link.

Just like always, his response came back calm and detached. “Fine.”

Hearing that familiar reply, I laughed.

Back when we’d first become mates, I followed the warriors to the pack border to report in to him. All I got was, “Fine.”

I once told him that if he couldn’t reach me for twenty-four hours and couldn’t pick up my scent, he should come find me.

His answer was always the same. “Fine.”

Even when I got caught in a hunter’s trap and took a silver bullet, he barely reacted.

I disappeared for three days and sent him message after message through the mind link.

Every reply was the same. “Fine.”

That was when I finally uncovered the truth.

He’d had a Dark Witch cast a Silence Curse deep inside our bond.

Every call I sent only triggered a preset echo from his wolf soul. None of my words ever

reached his real consciousness.

So of course, he never knew… that two weeks ago, I’d told him I was about to undergo the

Wasteland Trial-and vanish for three years.

Or that I would be terminating his child today.

His energy and affection had always belonged to the Omega girl who filled his Instagram

feed.

[1000-Day Streak. Also Joy’s birthday.]

The post included countless screenshots of their conversations. They had talked every day for years.

I hit like without a second thought.

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Then I left a comment.

[Definitely a good day.]

It was the day I crawled out of that trap years ago.

And now, the day I was finally walking away from Alpha Asher for good.

After returning to my Moon Goddess Suite, I buried myself in sleep.

When I woke up, the pain in my lower stomach had eased a little. So had the ache in the

mate bond.

But I still couldn’t get used to the emptiness. My flat stomach. The silence in the pack house.

Out of habit, I almost sent Asher a mind link to ask why he still wasn’t home in the middle of

the night.

But the second that cold “Fine” echoed in my head, reality came crashing back.

My wolf, Liz, sneered inside my mind.

“Two years already. How have you not gotten used to his auto-replies by now?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Just then, a sound drifted up from downstairs.

I stood at the top of the stairs and watched Asher change into dry clothes.

He was soaked through, and the servants hurried around him.

He rubbed his wet hair with a towel as he walked upstairs step by step.

The sweet scent clinging to him, a scent that didn’t belong to me, rushed straight into my

nose.

“Joy said she was craving my venison, so I ran some over to her place.”

“Got caught in the rain on the way back.”

He paused, then asked, perfectly calm, “Why are you still up?”

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“Hm.” My tone stayed flat.

He stepped into the bathroom and asked, casual as ever, “So, what’d you see the healer for

today?”

He plugged in the hair dryer and turned it on.

“Had an abortion.” My voice was swallowed by the roar of the machine.

He always did this. Never gave me the time to speak.

My gaze drifted to the cord around Asher’s neck. It was red.

Whenever he wore a white shirt, the color showed faintly through the fabric.

Even in the middle of summer, he refused to take that jacket off.

It was just a cheap freebie Joy had picked up at a street market.

“Asher,” I asked from where I leaned against the doorframe, “where’s your wedding ring?”

He switched off the hair dryer and ran a hand through his hair.

“Took it off a while ago. I don’t like feeling restricted.”

“Then why wear the necklace?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“That’s different,” he said. “It’s soft.”

“Rings are stiff-they get in the way. You’re the only one who actually likes wearing one.”

I lowered my eyes to the ring on my finger again.

A wedding ring?

I’d taken the real one off a long time ago.

The one on my finger now? Picked it up at a werewolf black market stall. Ten bucks.

The diamond was so fake it was almost laughable.

Not that Asher ever noticed.

Or maybe he’d simply stopped paying attention to me a long time ago. Hadn’t held my hand

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in forever, either.

“Alright. Go get some sleep.”

Asher rubbed the top of my head before turning and walking into his suite.

Ever since I got pregnant, we hadn’t slept in the same bed again.

He said he stayed up late and didn’t want to disturb my rest.

But every night, Asher still went to pick Joy up after her late night training sessions.

He’d take her out for a bite, walk her home, and wouldn’t get back to the pack house until two

or three in the morning.

Even after they got home, they’d keep talking through the mind link.

One time, I got up at five in the morning to use the bathroom and noticed the lights in the Alpha suite were still on. Soft laughter drifted from inside.

Back then, I really would have walked in and asked what they were talking about.

Was there really that much to talk about in the world?

And if there was, why did Asher turn into a mute every time he looked at me?

But none of that mattered anymore.

My phone screen lit up-the confirmation for the Secret Realm training.

I hit “Confirm” and headed back to the Moon Goddess Suite to sleep.

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