Third Person's POV
Adelaide looked into Lance's brown eyes, deep as a starless night.
Amid the crackling pine fire, she sensed his cedar pheromones, sharp with glacier cold and bitter with gunpowder from his battle-stained armor.
Her nape gland prickled, releasing the Frostfang Alpha's soothing silvergrass scent.
After a pause, she said, "Alpha Lance, if we bond and you later find your Second Chance, she'd be your mistress. I've already severed one mate bond. Another would shame my parents and weaken my wolf."
Lance's wolf paced restlessly in his mind, eyes locked on the moon sigil at Adelaide's collarbone.
He suppressed the urge to leap up and pressed down on his hat.
When she mentioned severing a mate bond, his wolf clawed at his consciousness, "Her cedar carries silvergrass—she's our true mate from the Moon Goddess!"
He feigned indifference, but his lips curled upward involuntarily.
He said, "I won't love anothe
Adelaide's POV"Alpha Adelaide, I think moon-white is quite nice. The faint blue really brings out your skin tone. What about an accessory? Would a string of red coral beads suit you?" Beata rummaged through my jewelry box."No red. Keep it simple, nothing too grand," I said, selecting a pearl hairpin and a moon-white ribbon for myself."This is too simple," Beata remarked."Whether it's neat or not will be seen once it's worn," I replied, taking the clothes to the dressing room. I changed into them, tied my hair into a simple ponytail with the ribbon, and secured it with the pearl hairpin.I twirled around and asked them, "What do you think?"The Omegas were mesmerized. Beata promptly instructed Omega Urvva, "Quick, get the lipstick, earrings, perfume, and necklace!""Yes!" They sprang into action, searching for various accessories.Beata seated me at the vanity, applied lipstick, redefined my brows, hung a string of pearls around my neck, and tied a silver butterfly pendant at my wa
Adelaide's POVWhile packing, a new Omega rummaged through the box and found a stack of hand-knitted items. Unfolding one, she laughed. "This knitting's all over the place. Why's it here?"Ivy lunged, snatched the fabric, and stuffed it back, hissing, "Put it back!"Intrigued, I pulled out a scarf—a "checkerboard" with wavy horizontal stripes and inconsistently thick vertical ones. A "striped hat" was worse, with garish colors and loose stitches revealing the scalp.The rest were even worse, riddled with holes and frayed edges."Whose 'masterpiece' is this?" I chuckled.Ivy shot me a meaningful glance.My fingers froze mid-air as I dropped the scarf. "Did I… knit these?"Ivy snorted, "As a kid, you pestered Luna Airella to teach you knitting. After a month of lessons, you made these. She kept them all in a box."I stared at the misshapen fabrics, suddenly recognizing the frayed scarf Alpha Lance used to wipe his sweat in his camp tent.I wheeled on Ivy, "Did I… give these to anyone?"
Third Person's POVLance learned from Caldwell that after Adelaide dissolved her mate bond, the rumors spread were largely Madison's doing.Though it was a dissolved bond, Madison framed it as Adelaide being abandoned, leading many powerful packs' Lunas to disdain her.Otherwise, Rosemary couldn't have caused such a stir.Now, Madison's birthday invite to Adelaide likely harbored ill intent.While Adelaide shouldn't attend, Lance respects her choice if she decides to go.After pondering, Lance said, "Visit the Frostfang Pack and ask Miss Davidson if she'll attend."Beta Ralph replied, "Yes, I'll go now."With that, he left.Adelaide's POVWhen Madison's invitation arrived at the Frostfang Pack, I was polishing my father's wolf-head dagger.I just knew her birthday was tomorrow. The invite arrived today, clearly not giving me time to prep a gift. I had to pick something from the pack's storeroom.The gold-embossed wolf claw sigil on the parchment gleamed coldly, contrasting sharply wit
Third Person's POV"After all, in the Blackthorn Pack, people obey both my orders and yours; they won't necessarily follow hers," Lance said.Adelaide replied with a smile, "Actually, she's not that hard to deal with. Although she did make things difficult for me, her methods were rather crude, which paradoxically made it easier to handle her."Lance nodded slightly and said in a low voice, "Crude? That's the perfect word for it. Priscilla never mastered any real tactics. Spoiled from childhood, she resorted to tantrums and coaxing, always relying on others to fight her battles."He shared a memory. "I remember when we lived in the palace, the tricks she played on other priestesses. Once, a priestess was pregnant, and the old Lycan King would often accompany her. My mother wanted to summon her, so she feigned illness.""Priscilla sat in cold water to pretend she was sick, but she couldn't stand the cold and immediately got up, grumbling that if they didn't come, they shouldn't abuse h
Third Person's POVAfter the door closed, Clarissa rested her hands on her knees, still somewhat uneasy. "What did you hope to achieve by probing Adelaide just now?"Lycan Erasmus smiled. "I merely wanted to see if she would defend Lance and to tease her a bit.""And now that you've seen she will defend him, how does that make you feel?"Erasmus's smile turned somewhat wistful. "I'm happy for him, of course. At least I know Adelaide's feelings for him are genuine."Clarissa gazed at him for a long moment before saying, "The former Lycan King also had feelings for another she-wolf. But regarding Alpha Bentley as a brother, he would always avoid any occasion where Airelle was present or when she visited the palace. It was his greatest respect for his brother.""Indeed, Airelle never knew of the former Lycan King's feelings."Erasmus's face momentarily froze, his smile fading and replaced with gravity. "Thank you for the reminder. I understand."After a moment of silence, he asked, "Does
Third Person's POVAdelaide's heart pounded, her wolf claws silently lengthening beneath her sleeves.She finally grasped Lycan Erasmus's intent —— he was using Velda to undermine Alpha Lance's military prestige.And she was a key piece in this chess game."Lycan Erasmus, I don't follow your implication," she said, straightening her spine, "but perfection in battle is impossible. Resources are limited. Alpha Lance left Velda at the rear; she violated orders. How is that Alpha Lance's fault?"Her cedar pheromones surged, striking the gilded wolf-head emblem in the hall like a hammer.Erasmus locked eyes with her, his gaze inscrutable yet slowly curving into a smile. "I haven't even started, and you're already defending him."Adelaide was baffled but sensed an odd hostility, or something like it.His final words, tinged with mockery, sent a chill down her spine —— what did "already defending him" even mean?As the Frostfang Pack's Alpha, she was attuned to royal nuances.The veiled moti