“Yeah, but there is a vague mention in pack law that states if a mate on either party isn’t satisfied with their other half, then they can make some kind of declaration that will sever any potential tie. If seen to be true that as a mated couple they were not right for each other, the Alpha of the pack has no choice but to declare you to be separated, and under pack law, his word is well, the law. You’d have to follow it until eventually, you believed it?” Rupert said, shrugging. “It has never been done.”

Lucas ran a hand down his face. “She knows. If not now, she will find out. After today. Fuck!”

“Dude, don’t you want this?” Ben asked.

“No!” He glared at his friends. “You guys don’t feel this. You don’t know what it means to … she’s right fucking there. Okay. I know how important she is. I want her and severing that connection isn’t going to work.” It couldn’t work. He refused to believe it was that easy.

“Well, the good news is I happen to ace at pack law,” Rupert said. “Where there is one loophole to help one, there is always another for the opposite party.”

Chapter Two

“Sweetheart, you know you don’t need to come to the pack meeting,” Eliza said.

Mabel smiled at her mother. After the last few days she’d just experienced, she had to do this. The only way for her to come back home for good was to take matters into her own hands. She hadn’t told her parents, but this was the only way. “I want to. It’ll be good. I haven’t been to a pack meeting in like forever. I want to know what I’m missing out on.”

The lies kept on rolling off her tongue, and she hated them.

This wasn’t fun for her, and she didn’t know if this was fun for Lucas. Then again, from what she’d been subjected to in town, she doubted he cared. To everyone around them, he was a victim.

A precious fucking victim.

She shook her head, irritated by the fact so many people felt sorry for him. He didn’t deserve it, but then again, who was she to tell anyone how they should or shouldn’t feel?

She was the last person to be giving advice. She’d tried to run away from her problems, and that hadn’t solved anything.

Following her parents into town, she kept her head bowed and went over the speech she had planned in her head. It was all logical. She’d tried to find other ways, but Lucas had arrived at her parents’ front door every single morning, and she couldn’t do this with him anymore. There had to be a way to sever whatever connection he had.