Urdon Pov
I was walking down the hallway near the guest rooms when I heard it. Soft crying coming from behind one of the doors. The kind of crying where someone was trying to be quiet but could not quite manage it.
I stopped walking and listened. It was coming from the room where Freda had been staying. She was in there crying and trying to hide it.
My wolf immediately wanted me to go in there. Wanted me to kick down the door and hold her and tell her everything would be okay. Wanted me to comfort my mate because that was what mates did for each other.
But my pride kept my feet planted exactly where they were. She had betrayed me. She had let Kyran touch her during her heat. She had bitten him hard enough to draw blood. That was not something I could just forgive because she was crying now.
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms and drew blood. The scent of Kyran was still burned into my memory, sitting in my nose like smoke that would not clear. Every time I thought about it, I got angry all over again.
"She betrayed me first," I said quietly to myself. "She made her choice when she let him help her instead of coming to me."
I turned away from the door and walked outside. I needed air and space. I needed to hit something until my hands stopped shaking.
The training yard was empty because it was still early morning. The sun was just starting to get hot, and the grass was still wet with dew. I looked around and saw a few young wolves stretching near the equipment shed.
"Alpha," one of them said, and bowed when he saw me. "Good morning, sir. Do you want to join us for training?"
"Yes," I said. "Everyone, line up right now. We are doing combat drills."
For the next three hours, I fought every single wolf who stepped up to face me. I pushed my body harder than I had in months. My muscles screamed, and sweat poured down my face until I could barely see. My knuckles split open and bled from hitting too hard without wrapping my hands first.
My ribs ached from taking hits I should have dodged. My legs felt like they were going to give out. But I kept going because the physical pain felt better than the emotional pain in my chest.
Better than thinking about Freda crying alone in that room. Better than remembering how she used to look at me with love in her eyes. Better than feeling the mate bond getting weaker every day.
"Alpha, you are bleeding," a young female wolf said nervously. "Maybe you should take a break."
"I am fine," I growled at her. "Who is next?"
"Sir, maybe you should rest," another wolf suggested carefully. "You have been fighting for hours without stopping."
"I said who is next? '" I shouted loud enough that everyone in the yard jumped.
They all took several steps back from me. Nobody wanted to fight me when I was like this. I was not teaching anymore; I was not training them. I was just hurting people because I needed to hurt something.
"Why does the Alpha look so angry?" a young female wolf whispered to her friend. She thought I could not hear her, but I heard everything.
I spun around and stared directly at her. Her face went pale, and she immediately bowed her head low enough that I could not see her eyes anymore.
"You want to know why I am angry," I said. My voice came out cold and hard.
"No, sir," she said quickly. "I am very sorry, sir. I spoke out of turn, please forgive me."
"Mates should be loyal," I said loudly enough that everyone in the training yard could hear me. "They should trust each other and support each other and be there when things get hard. But some mates do not understand what loyalty means. Some mates think they can do whatever they want with whoever they want and there will be no consequences."
The entire training yard went completely silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was staring at me now. They all knew I was talking about Freda; they all knew something was very wrong between the Alpha and the Luna.
I could see the questions in their eyes. I could see them wondering what had happened. Could see them already starting to gossip in their minds about what they would tell their friends later.
"Training is over," I said. "Everyone, leave now."
They did not need to be told twice. The wolves scattered like leaves in the wind. Within a minute, the training yard was completely empty except for me.
I stood there in the center, breathing hard and feeling sweat and blood drip down my arms. My whole body was shaking from exhaustion, but I still felt restless. Still felt like I needed to keep moving or I would fall apart.
My tattoo burned hot against my chest. It had been burning on and off all day. Every time I thought about Freda, the burning got worse. Every time I remembered her scent mixed with Kyran's, the pain intensified.
"She deserves this," I said out loud to the empty training yard. "She brought this on herself; she made her choices, and now she has to live with them."
But even as I said the words, I did not fully believe them. Part of me knew I was being unfair. Part of me knew I should go back to her room and actually talk and listen instead of just accusing her of things.
But I was too angry, hurt, and too proud to admit I might be wrong.
I walked back toward the pack house as the sun started to set. My whole body ached, and I just wanted to shower and sleep, and forget this day ever happened. But as I got closer to the guest room hallway, I heard her again.
Quiet sobs coming from behind her door. She was still crying. Had probably been crying all day while I was out in the training yard, taking my anger out on innocent pack members.
I stopped outside her door and pressed my hand flat against the wood. I stood there for a long moment just listening to her cry. My wolf whined inside me and begged me to go in there. To open the door and hold our mate and make the crying stop.
"This is for her own good," I told myself quietly.