Chapter 6: Every Word He Signed

Gideon's POV

Toby came into my study at moonrise and laid a single sheet of paper on my desk.

A gold ring sat on top of it.

I knew the ring before I knew the paper.

"What is this?" I said.

"Read it," Toby said. "All of it, Gideon. Every word."

He didn't say Alpha. He hadn't called me Gideon in front of the pack in years.

I picked up the paper.

The heading said LUNA RELEASE.

My first thought was that it was some mistake of the clerks.

My second thought was the signature at the bottom.

It was my own. Bold, careless, the pen pressed hard on the last stroke.

I read the first line, and the second, and the third.

The Alpha of Ironwood hereby releases his mate, Maeve Calder, from the office of Luna and from every bond of the pack.

The Luna asks nothing of the pack and takes nothing from it.

The bond is to be considered ended by the Alpha's own word.

Under it, in green wax, was the Moon Elder's silver seal.

I read it again from the top.

The paper shook, and I realized the shaking was in my hand.

"When did I sign this?"

"Three nights ago." Toby kept his eyes on the floor. "At eleven fifty-two. She slid it between two border treaties."

I remembered the treaties.

I had checked the clock that night and never looked up at her.

I grabbed the paper again and searched it for a way out.

There was none. The Elder's seal had dried three days ago.

"Why didn't you stop her?" I said. My voice came out cracked.

"I read it when I filed it for her." Toby finally looked up. "Alpha, you signed it. I'm your beta. I can't tear up what you sign."

"You could have told me."

"She asked me not to." His eyes were red. "And you signed it yourself."

I picked up the phone and called the Moon Elder at home.

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