Chapter73
We were practically pack celebrities now-every wolf in the court recognized me.
The bond-breaking papers, stamped with the pack elder’s seal and etched with old wolf runes, were signed without need for mediation.
Outside the court, Alpha Adrian pressed his copy of the bond-breaking certificate into my hand.
The paper smelled of his wolf, fading now that our bond was severed.
I stared at it, baffled.
“Why give this to me? It’s yours. You’ll need it to prove the bond’s broken if you ever take another mate.”
“Keep it,” he said, his voice rough, his wolf’s gaze lingering on my
throat.
My mind reeled.
This is a bond-breaking certificate, not a mating contract.
Under the watchful eyes of the court wolves,I pulled him aside. “You’ll need this when your wolf finally lets go. When you find a she-wolf worth your loyalty. So-” I slapped the certificate against his chest, “-take it, Alpha Adrian. Bury it, burn it, frame it. Just keep it.”
His chest tightened, his wolf’s hackles rising faintly.
“My wolf won’t let go. I won’t seek another. Not after-”
“Save the drama for the pups,” I cut him off.
“From now on, your scent’s your own, mine’s mine. Here’s to us both finding peace. Alone or not.”
“Peace? With who?” His wolf’s eyes flashed, and I caught a whiff of his jealousy-sharp, like vinegar.
No doubt his mind had latched onto Alpha Gideon’s scent, still clinging to my sleeve from the other night.
I sighed, my wolf’s nose twitching at the faint smell of jasmine on the breeze.
“Can’t a she-wolf just be happy solo? Hunting her own prey, howling at her own moon?”
“For real? Your wolf’s not aching for a new bond?
”
I didn’t answer. Just gave him a small smile. “I’m out. Catch you never, maybe.”
I turned and walked away.
Alpha Adrian took two steps after me, then froze.
His wolf’s gaze burned into my back as I climbed into my car, but I didn’t glance back.
He stood there until my car disappeared, then he tore the certificate to shreds.
The wind carried the scraps away, and for a moment, his wolf let out a low, guttural whine.
I drove home, the scent of freedom clinging to me like pine.
72.9%
VIP Ad-Free
15.31 0
I tucked my certificate into the old oak box where I kept my first shift tooth and a dried sprig of wolfsbane. Slipping into my softest loungewear,I brewed a pot of floral tea.
It was over. Finally.
I smiled, sipping my tea.
That afternoon, the pack enforcers called.
Vanessa had faked a “seizure,” her wolf’s body trembling, but the healer’s report smelled fishy.
Her lawyer was howling for a medical release, claiming her “wolf’s spirit was fractured.”
Her wolf was just playing possum to dodge the enforcers’ teeth.
Alpha Gideon got the same update. He didn’t lift a paw to intervene-just let the Quinns squirm.
The Quinns had scrambled to the hospital the second they caught wind she’d stabbed Alpha Gideon, but he’d barred their entry with a single growl.
Damien, Vanessa’s brother, looked like a wolf who’d lost his pack.
He’d been trying to grovel to Alpha Gideon about the frozen loan, but Vanessa’s stunt had buried that hope.
Still, blood was blood.
The Quinns wouldn’t abandon their own, even a rogue.
Pissing off Alpha Gideon meant losing their claws in Cloud Pack
The Blackwoods were likely marked as enemies too.
Now, the two packs should’ve circled their wagons-bonded through a mating, maybe.
But Alpha Adrian, his wolf still raw from breaking ours, refused to even share air with the Quinns.
In the hospital, Vanessa lay with her eyes shut, but her wolf’s ears swiveled at every sound.
Outside, the Quinns muttered.
Damien’s phone rang.
“Alpha Adrian and Vivian… their bond’s truly broken? The elders confirmed it?”
His voice carried, and Vanessa’s eyes snapped open.
Her wolf’s pupils dilated, glowing with greed.
Perfect.
Alpha Adrian’s wolf was free to claim hers now!
She ripped out her IV., but the drugs she’d taken to fake the seizure left her wolf’s muscles weak.
She collapsed.
73.2%
VIP Ad-Free >
15:31 D
< Chapter 73
The pack rushed in at the thud.
Damien lifted her back onto the bed. “Can you chill for one moon cycle?”
“Is it true?”
Rewards
Menu
Vanessa grabbed his arm, her nails sharp enough to draw blood.
“Alpha Adrian’s bond is gone?”
“Even if it is, he’s not mating with you. Let it die.”
“No! He’s mine! His wolf knows it!”
“Vanessa, stop acting like a feral pup. If Alpha Adrian’s wolf wanted yours, he would’ve howled for you weeks ago. After what you did to Vivian-”
Damien’s jaw tightened, “-you think his wolf’ll even let you near him now?”
“He’ll bond with me! I’ve got a plan! Trust me!”
Damien and the other Quinns fell silent, staring.
Was her wolf truly this deluded?
All afternoon, I simmered-my wolf pacing, hackles up-at the thought of Vanessa slithering free.
The black-clad wolf, her friend, had sworn he acted alone. Their chats showed no direct orders, just her
whining about me, dropping hints sharp as thorns.
I skipped dinner, my wolf’s appetite gone.
Thinking Alpha Gideon might be discharged, I decided to visit.
I reached for my phone, then hesitated.
Called Frank instead, his wolf’s voice gruff but friendly.
He said Alpha Gideon was home.
“I’ll head over now.” Glancing at the moon, just rising. I added,
“That alright? Or is he resting?”
“Come on up. He’s been… restless.”
Frank’s tone held a hint of amusement.
He gave me the code to the penthouse-and twenty minutes later, I stood at the door, a bag of ripe berries in
hand.
Frank answered. “You didn’t have to. You’re practically pack now.”
I smiled. “Where is he?”
Frank nodded down the hall.
73.4%
VIP Ad-Free >
1531 #O
Chapter 73
“Bedroom. His wolf’s been dozing, but he’ll hear you.”
“Thanks,” I said, handing over the bag.
I knocked once, then stepped in.
Rewards
= Menu
Alpha Gideon was propped against the headboard, in a robe the color of midnight, his wolf’s scent thick in
the air-warm, dominant.
Only then did it hit me: visiting an alpha, alone, after dark? My wolf’s instincts prickled.
I started to leave the door ajar, but his voice rumbled. “Close it.”
I froze, then mumbled, “Oh,” and shut it.
<The Alpha Regretted Having An Affair
