Chapter 3

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, not understanding what I meant as he watched me warily.

My gaze dropped to the crown in Mia's hands, and I let out a cold laugh. "I just... hope you don't regret this later."

"I'm warning you, don't try any tricks!" Kyle pulled Mia behind him protectively, every nerve on alert, and Mia looked deeply moved.

I had no interest in admiring their lovestruck eye contact. Instead, I glanced at the tactical watch on my wrist. "It's almost time."

"What?" Kyle blinked, not understanding what was going on.

A deafening rumble suddenly came from outside the villa as an entire group slammed through the villa gate. Two ranks of werewolf warriors in dark red battle armor, fully armed, walked in one after another.

The leader, a giant of a man nearly two meters tall, walked straight toward me.

"How dare you?! Who are you?!" Before Kyle could release his Alpha's aura, the giant werewolf fell to one knee in front of me, his right fist clenched as he slammed it into his breastplate. "Captain of the First Unit of the Northern Bloodwolf Guard, here on the King's orders to escort the Crown Princess home."

"C-Crown Princess...?" Kyle stared at me in disbelief, forgetting to comfort Mia in his arms. He knew I came from the North, but he had always thought I was just an ordinary noble werewolf exiled by her family.

For five years, I had never mentioned my family. I had always seized the dirty and exhausting work for myself, and I had never shown any hint of being a princess.

"You're really the Crown Princess of the North? Why didn't you ever tell me?!" Kyle's voice came out dry.

I ignored him and gave the Bloodwolf Guard captain a small nod. "Follow the list. Move everything."

"Yes, Ma'am," The captain said and waved his hand. The warriors behind him broke formation at once. Their movements were so practiced as if they were here to clean the place up completely.

"What are you doing?!"

Kyle finally reacted, roaring as he shifted and called for the villa guards. However, it was completely silent outside, and no one answered his calls.

"Stop yelling," I said faintly out of kindness. "Your guards could not last three seconds against the Bloodwolf Guards. Relax, they're not dead. Just passed out."

The leather couch, the imported carpets, the paintings on the walls, the vintage wine in the cabinet, and even the double-door fridge in the kitchen—nothing was spared.

"Stop!" Kyle rushed forward in a panic, trying to block them.

The Bloodwolf Guard's captain stepped in front of him, expressionless.

Before Kyle could explode, I pulled a thick stack of receipts from my bag and flicked them right into his face. The papers fluttered through the air and scattered across the floor. "Every piece of furniture in this house went on my card."

I then walked toward Kyle slowly, watching his face go from flushed red to an ugly, darkened expression. I laughed, feeling strangely light. "Kyle, you set the terms of the pact. Separate finances. For five years, you focused on building your pack. I have been the one paying for this home. Since you want to break the pact, we can do it by the rules."

Kyle glared at me, his eyes blazing. My smile grew brighter.

In barely ten minutes, the once luxurious villa had been stripped down to bare walls and a floor coated in dust to the point that even the curtains were gone.

"You... you maniac!" Kyle pointed at me with a shaking hand. "You've moved everything out! What are Mia and I supposed to do?!"

I shrugged. "True love is priceless. Sleeping on the floor is romantic too, right?"

Mia stood in the middle of the empty living room, wrapped in her robe as the cold wind blew in through the bare windows and made her tremble all over.

"Oh. Right." As if I had just remembered something, I turned and walked toward the control console.

That was the command center for the entire territory's defense system. I had designed the system myself. It had been my biggest project over the last five years, and it protected this land from Rogues and other packs.

If it was something that belonged to me, I was not leaving him so much as a toothpick.

"What are you doing?" A bad feeling rose in Kyle's chest.

I had no intention of answering him.

My fingers flew over the keyboard as I entered a string of commands.

[System self-destruct sequence initiated. Counting down... 3, 2, 1…]

"No!" Over Kyle's desperate roar, the console spat out a cloud of black smoke. Every monitor went dark at once. At the same time, the defensive grid and sensor towers along the distant borders began to scream failure alarms, one after another.

Red warning lights flashed wildly in the night, and harsh sirens echoed across the entire compound.

"Selene! You're mad!"

Kyle unleashed his aura and charged at me, only to feel my own aura slamming into him at the same moment.

It was an Alpha's aura, purer and older than his!

He collapsed halfway charging toward me, and both his knees crashed to the floor.

"Cough... cough..." Kyle clutched his chest in pain, and a thin line of blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth.

I looked down at this pathetic man from where I stood. "Kyle, go ahead and show your delicate little wife what it truly means to carry the responsibility of an Alpha."

I turned away without a backward glance. "Move! We're going back to the North!"

Surrounded by the Bloodwolf Guard, I walked straight out the front door and boarded the helicopter waiting on the lawn, never once looking back.

When the rotors started roaring, I glanced down at the two tiny people below. Kyle was struggling to stand, holding a sobbing Mia in his arms. But this was only the beginning.

Without my strength behind it, this rich but soft southern territory was a piece of fresh meat without anything to protect it.

It would not take long for the hungry wolves circling nearby to tear it apart.

The heavy knot in my chest finally loosened by half, scattered by the howling wind.

As for the half that remained…

I gave my first order the moment I returned.