From Warm to Wrong

My mate-to-be, Ethan, said he had some urgent work come up right before our planned full moon trip. He bailed.I was missing him like crazy, so I immediately drove for over ten hours to his city.I hadn’t told Ethan I was coming. There I was, flowers in hand, standing outside his mansion, ready to give my destined mate a sweet surprise.But then I caught the mixed scent of Ethan and another female werewolf.The scent was sickeningly familiar.Amber Collins. Ethan’s ex-mate.I fought back the burn in my nose, my eyes already red, and pushed the door open.And what did I see? Them, sharing a glass of red wine, cuddled up, practically on top of each other.When Ethan finally noticed me, he jerked his arm away from Amber, walked stiffly over, his voice laced with panic."Scarlett, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"…Tears welled in my eyes. I struggled to keep my voice steady, trying to sound as calm as I could.“I wanted to surprise you.”Ironically, the surprise had turned into a

Hearing my question, heavy with wolfish authority, Ethan’s face immediately iced over, his golden wolf eyes flashed with impatience.“Scarlett Hayes, what are you trying to say?”I pushed down the bitterness and rage in my heart, my voice still cold as ice.“You and Amber Collins, sharing a roof in the mansion I bought for you, sharing moonlight. While you tell me, your destined mate, to go to a hotel. Ethan, don’t you think you’re going too far?”Once, to avoid being separated from Ethan, I’d offered to transfer my pack duties here to be with him.But Ethan had flatly refused.He’d been very firm at the time, saying,“Scarlett, we've only just started our careers. We have to put the pack’s honor and status first.”“Besides, I'm swamped with work every day, and we wouldn’t be living together anyway. Even if you moved here, we’d still barely see each other, right?”Ethan was adamant about not marking me before we officially announced our permanent bond to the elders.On our dates, no ma

Amber Collins, clutching the cheek I’d scratched, stood up to back him up, her voice shrill, "Scarlett Hayes, I'll let this slide this time, for Ethan's sake. I won't report you to the Elders for attacking another wolf. But don't let it happen again.""Now get out, and stay out of our sight for a while!"My fists clenched, knuckles cracking. I walked right up to Amber, step by step.Her bravado vanished. She backed away, trembling slightly."Wh-what do you want? This is Ethan's territory!" she stammered.I wiped my tears and kicked her clothes scattered on the floor. "Didn't you hear what I said? I told you to get out. Now! Get out of my territory!""Scarlett Hayes!"Ethan suddenly lunged, yanking Amber behind him. He threatened me in a low growl, "Amber’s already doing you a favor by not pressing charges for what you did today. Don't push it! Don't make me use the old ways to settle this!"I let out a cold laugh, looking him straight in the eye, my Hayes family pureblood aura flaring,

A few months after I started helping him out, Ethan actually asked me to dinner. At the restaurant where he worked.To be honest, before I even went, I kind of guessed Ethan knew something.Sure enough, after we sat down, Ethan slid a piece of paper across the table to me. It had a sum of money written on it.His face was a little flushed, and his voice was quiet, a bit awkward."Scarlett, I know about the funding. Thanks for helping me out behind the scenes, and for paying for me to join the 'Silver Moon Pack'.""Take this for now. Consider it an IOU. I'll definitely repay you properly in the future!"I had to laugh at how serious he looked. I quickly pushed the paper back."Ethan, don't stress about it," I explained. "Let's just be normal packmates. And really, you don't have to pay me back."That day, no matter how much I tried to refuse, Ethan couldn't get me to take that "IOU."But after that, he'd often bring me bread he’d bought from his job for breakfast. When I was at pack rit

After saying goodbye to Logan Mitchell and getting back to the pack inn, I found a ton of missed call requests on my phone.All from Ethan Reed, buzzing with anxiety and anger.Since I hadn't responded, he'd sent me a barrage of mind-link messages, full of threats and unreasonable demands.[Scarlett Hayes, Amber Collins is fine. The pack physician checked her and said she was just weak from the Blood Moon ritual and getting overly emotional. It's not a big deal, but her soul is quite fragile, so she can't handle any more stress. You have to take responsibility for this!][I’ve thought about it since I got back. Maybe you were just so worked up today because you care about me too much. Your wolf lost control, and you made a mistake. To a certain extent, it's understandable. After all, you're the great Miss Hayes, used to getting your way.][But you can't go too far, you know? Like how you used a spell to forcibly break our bond, and you scratched Amber with your claws – that was too muc