Chapter60
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I could never wrap my head around Evelyn’s logic, but this wasn’t bad news.
Still, Vanessa was the real linchpin-though her recent moves had fizzled out, barely making a ripple.
Finishing breakfast, I curled up on the couch, plotting my next move.
Maybe prod Vanessa again, push her to step up her game?
Nah.
That she-wolf was already teetering on the edge of unhinged.
One more nudge, and she might go full feral-definitely not ideal.
My thoughts hit a pause.
I hadn’t checked in with Frank yesterday.
He’d been looking after my meals, even warned me to stay safe. I owed him a call.
Frank already knew I was okay-Alpha Gideon had dropped by the penthouse that morning-but he didn’t mention it, just smiled. “Glad you’re safe.”
We chatted for a bit, when another call buzzed in. Sabrina.
That gossip-hungry she-wolf.
I told Frank I’d call back, then answered. “Sabrina, what now?”
“Oh my God, Vivian, have you been living under a rock? Did you see the Blackwoods’ statement? Evelyn’s dragging your name through the mud! I’m livid!”
“What mud?”
I told her to hold on, then pulled up the pack’s news feed.
Twenty minutes earlier, the Blackwoods had posted a “clarification” video about Vanessa’s scandal on Helixon’ official channel.
Until now, the public had been clueless about the male wolf in that video.
Paid influencers kept their jaws shut, and pack insiders didn’t leak to outsiders.
That’s how celebs could hide bond dramas or messy affairs while the masses stayed in the dark.
The Blackwoods could’ve stayed out of it.
But they’d chosen to wade in.
I watched Evelyn’s press conference, my blood simmering like a pot of wolfsbane tea.
Evelyn declared herself the mother of the wolf in the video, claiming to know the full story.
The Blackwoods and Quinns had arranged a pup-bond years ago-two powerful packs, perfectly matched.
Alpha Adrian and Vanessa, despite the age gap, had always been close; both families waited for her to reach
bonding age for the ceremony.
Then I’d slithered into the picture.
Evelyn accused me of scheming to claw my way into a powerful pack, seducing Alpha Adrian despite his
betrothal with underhanded tactics, forcing him into a bond.
The Blackwoods had never accepted me, she spat.
Over the past two years, Alpha Adrian had seen my true gold-digging nature-I was greedy, even snuck off
with another wolf while he was away on pack business.
Evelyn said her son was devastated.
A joint project had brought Alpha Adrian and Vanessa closer, nothing more.
Her conclusion? Vanessa wasn’t the mistress. I was.
To back it up, she paraded “evidence”: text records of me demanding a massive bond-breaking payout, a
photo of me with a middle-aged wolf in a hotel hallway at midnight, a recording from yesterday at the
Blackwood where I “brazenly” demanded Helixon’s shares, and-most absurdly-a decade-old betrothal
contract between Alpha Adrian and Vanessa, sealed with their packs’ scent marks.
I was practically struck speechless.
On the other end of the line, Sabrina, waiting for me to erupt, gasped.
“You’re laughing? How can you laugh right now? The Blackwoods are whitewashing Vanessa’s mess by
dumping all their filth on you! You’re just gonna take that?”
“Channel that fire you had at the charity gala-when you nearly shifted mid-snarl to defend me-and slap
them back down!”
“Rip those lowlifes to shreds!”
Sabrina’s curses poured out.
This was the same Sabrina-the Cloud Pack’s darling socialite, always draped in silk and sweetness, her
voice soft as a summer breeze.
Now she was growling like a cornered wolf.
I gave a self-deprecating smile.
“What if she’s telling the truth? They’ve got all this ‘evidence’ laid out-airtight, with scent and everything.”
“Bullshit!” Sabrina snapped.
“Every wolf in the pack knows what Vanessa’s really like. I used to think Alpha Adrian was a catch-sexy, charming, loyal to the bone. I was jealous of you, girl! But ever since he got tangled up with her? It’s like he rolled in a dumpster full of rot. Stinks to high heaven, makes your fur stand on end. His whole ‘golden wolf’
vibe? Shattered into dust.”
“And that nonsense about a ‘fated bond’ set up ten years ago? Oh please. They might as well claim they’re soulmates from a past life, bound by the moon’s curse!”
Sabrina’s righteous fury roared on.
She’d known me back when Alpha Adrian and I were inseparable-when he’d nuzzled my neck in public, marking the air with our combined scents, when he’d called me his “moonlight” and swore he’d fight any wolf
who dared harm me.
Back then, Sabrina and I were barely more than acquaintances-polite nods at pack gatherings, trading
pleasantries laced with the usual she-wolf niceties.
But when Sabrina’s life imploded-when her mate cheated, her family disowned her, and she plummeted from the pack’s elite to a rogue-adjacent outcast, shunned by even the pups-I was the one who stepped up.
Her so-called friends, her blood relatives, her allies-they’d all turned tail, pretending they didn’t recognize her
scent.
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Some even snapped at her, warning her to stay away.
But me? I’d let her crash at my place, shared my meals, let her cry when she couldn’t hold back the shifts.
Sabrina would never forget that night-she’d sat in the snow, howling into her phone as call after call went
unanswered.
She’d scrolled through her contacts, numb, dialing one dead end after another, when somehow, she’d hit my
name. And I’d answered. I hadn’t hung up. I hadn’t brushed her off. I’d listened, my voice steady even as hers
cracked, and said I’d help.
Whether I could help hadn’t even mattered.
That’s a bond stronger than any mating vow.
I stayed quiet, letting Sabrina vent, but she wasn’t having it.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? If you’re scared of them, I’ll march to Blackwood territory myself, shift, and
tear their ugly masks off with my teeth!”
“I can handle this. Thank you for having my back, for believing in me. That’s enough.”
I’d already dragged my parents into this mess.
Cassie, Alpha Gideon-they’d been pulled into the crossfire too.
I wasn’t about to let anyone else get burned.
Sabrina opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her throat.
“You’re too damn clever for your own good,” Sabrina grumbled. “They’re practically begging you to sink your claws in, and you won’t even bare your teeth.”
I laughed softly.
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“I appreciate the thought, but just watch from the sidelines, okay? Let me handle this my way.”
“You’re stubborn as a mule with a bone. Fine, I’m done with you.”
