공유

Scent of a Secret

작가: Owaji
last update 게시일: 2026-04-13 19:36:54

Amora stepped out of the examination room with the envelope clutched tightly in her hand. Too tight.

Inside that paper was the evidence of a True Alpha heir—a child that, by pack law, Duncan could take from her the moment it drew its first breath. Her inner wolf, usually a quiet, submissive creature, was curled in a protective ball deep in her chest, snarling at anyone who walked too close.

She needed to leave. The clinic’s sterile scent of antiseptic filled her lungs and was making her head spin.

One step.

If she just reached the elevator, if she could just leave, she would figure it all out later.

She took another step.

Then another.

And then she stopped. The air in the hallway didn't just change; it polarized. A wave of pure, unadulterated Alpha Authority washed over her, making her knees want to buckle by instinct.

Duncan Alonso .

He was standing at the far end of the hallway, a predator in a charcoal suit. Even in a human setting, he radiated a lethality that made the other shifters in the waiting room lower their heads.

Beside him was Katherine Brown.

Katherine’s hand was draped over his arm, her scent—sharp lilies and expensive chemicals—trying desperately to mask the lingering trace of Amora that still clung to Duncan ’s skin. Katherine was a high-ranking Beta, beautiful and ruthless, looking at Duncan like he was a prize she had finally won.

A perfect picture they made!

Amora’s heart slammed against her ribs. Hide it, she pleaded with her wolf. Mask the scent.

She turned to flee toward the side corridor.

"Amora."

The word wasn't a request. It was a Command. The Alpha vibration in his voice snapped through the air, forcing her feet to lock in place.

The sound of her name stopped her cold.

Her entire body stiffened. For a moment, she considered pretending she hadn't heard him. But she knew better. He wasn't a man people ignored.

"I'll be right back, darling," Katherine’s voice drifted over, smooth as silk. "The silver-treatment for my migraine is taking forever."

The click of Katherine’s heels retreated. Amora forced herself to turn around. She didn't lower her head this time. If she was no longer of his pack, his Command shouldn't have full power over her. She fought the urge to bare her throat.

Duncan approached, his silver-grey eyes scanning her. He didn't just look at her; he scented her. His nostrils flared slightly.

"What are you doing at a clinic, Amora?"

"I didn't realize the Silver Crescent territory extended into my private medical business," she snapped.

Duncan ’s eyes darkened. He stepped closer, invading her space. His soft scent and the electric charge of a coming storm threatened to overwhelm her. His gaze dropped to the envelope. Mt. Sinai Shifter Obstetrics.

A cold, mocking smirk twisted his lips.

"Ob-gyn?" he repeated. "Your timing is predictable, Amora. The ink on the divorce decree isn't even dry, and suddenly you’re at a fertility clinic?"

Amora’s stomach turned. "It’s not what you think."

"Isn't it?" Duncan stepped even closer, his height looming over her. "A baby is a classic strategy for a rejected mate. A way to force a claim. To increase the settlement. Did you think a pup would buy your way back into my bed?"

The humiliation burned, but it was quickly replaced by a flare of Alpha-born rage. Her wolf flashed her eyes—a brief, hidden shimmer of gold.

"You think I would use a life as a bargaining chip?" she whispered. "You think I’m that desperate for your blood-stained money?"

"I think omegas reveal their true nature when they lose their status," Duncan said, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.

Amora let out a soft, jagged laugh. She stepped into his heat, her nose inches from his chest. "You really believe that. You think everything is a contract. But tell me, Duncan ... if I wanted your wealth, why would I have spent five years being your silent shadow? I could have demanded a Luna’s Tithe a hundred times over."

Duncan paused. His wolf shifted behind his eyes, confused by her sudden defiance.

"You're right about one thing," Amora added, her voice trembling with restrained power. "People do reveal themselves. And today, I see exactly what you are. A King with no heart."

"Careful, Amora," Duncan warned. "You are still on my lands."

"Not for long." She stepped back, breaking the magnetic pull of his presence. "Whatever is in this envelope... it has nothing to do with you. You made sure of that when you severed the bond."

"Duncan ?" Katherine appeared, re-attaching herself to his arm. She looked at Amora with a thin, predatory smile. "Is there a problem with the help?"

Amora met Katherine’s eyes. For a second, Amora’s scent flared—a sudden, intoxicating burst of Luna-grade power that made Katherine flinch back.

"No problem," Amora said, looking directly at Duncan . "Just a ghost saying goodbye."

She turned and walked away, her spine straight, her wolf howling in silent triumph as she exited the building.

Katherine's fingers tightened slightly around Duncan 's arm as she watched Amora disappear. There was a faint curve to her lips.

"A bit dramatic,” she murmured. “Your ex- wife, I assume?"

Duncan didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the empty hallway.

"Amora Cortez," he said finally.

***

Duncan didn't go back to the pack house immediately. Despite having an important meeting. He went to the penthouse—the place he had shared with Amora.

The silence hit him first. It wasn't the peaceful silence he usually preferred. It was an absence.

"Amora?" he called out. His wolf paced restlessly under his skin, scratching at his subconscious.

No answer.

His jaw tightened.

The living room was exactly as it had been.

The folder still sat on the table.

He walked into the kitchen. The chocolate torte she had made for their anniversary sat on the counter, its sweet scent now tinged with the bitterness of decay.

A single slice was missing. He stared at it longer than necessary.

Then looked away.

He moved to the bedroom. The safe was open.

Inside, the five-million check sat untouched. Beside it lay the black diamond necklace he had given her for their second year. The expensive dresses, the designer bags, the jewelry... everything he had used to "pay" for her time… was neatly arranged in the closet.

She hadn't taken a single cent.

He walked into the small guest room she had occupied in the final months. It was empty of her belongings, but the air was thick with her scent. Lavender. Wildflowers. And something else... something he hadn't noticed at the clinic.

A faint, metallic sweetness.

His wolf let out a low, mourning whine. Duncan gripped the doorframe, his knuckles turning white.

Amora Cortez had walked out of his life with nothing but the clothes on her back and a secret that was beginning to howl in the back of his mind.

Why had she stayed for five years if it wasn't for the money?

Why?

And why did his chest feel like it was being ripped open now that her scent was finally fading from his walls?

이 작품을 무료로 읽으실 수 있습니다
QR 코드를 스캔하여 앱을 다운로드하세요
댓글 (1)
goodnovel comment avatar
Zuzu_1
She stayed because she wanted it to fool… argh
댓글 더 보기

최신 챕터

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   White Dire Wolf’s Wrath

    The ambiance inside the tower did not just grow warm; it began to sing.Alpha Malphas’s giant obsidian broadsword hung suspended in the air, the toxic purple electricity crackling along its jagged edge just inches above Duncan’s defenseless human face. The giant’s muscles were locked, his massive frame straining to drive the blade downward, but he could not move. An invisible, crushing weight of pure light had seized his arms, anchoring him in place.Amora Cortez did not slide into a traditional four-legged shift. She didn't grow the thick, snow-white fur of the fabled White Dire Wolf. Instead, her physical form became translucent, blurring at the edges until she looked like a walking galaxy.She became the raw, blinding energy of the moon itself.The silver-green fire swirling in her eyes expanded, shooting upward into the high rafters of the tower. Streams of brilliant, liquid starlight poured from her fingertips, wrapping around her body like protective ribbons. The sheer spiritu

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   A Mortal Alpha

    Inside the blinding silver fire, a sudden, heavy silence fell over the altar room. The chaotic roaring of the magical energy died down, leaving behind a sound like a rushing, powerful wind. From the center of Duncan’s fading chest, a massive silhouette began to rise.It was the great silver beast, the ancient, royal wolf spirit that had defined the Alonso bloodline for generations.The spirit wolf hovered in the air above the stone altar, its massive form translucent and glowing with a brilliant, metallic silver light. It did not look at Malphas or the cowering shamans. It turned its huge, glowing head downward, its silver eyes fixing onto Duncan’s pale, shrinking human face one last time.The silver beast raised its head toward the shattered ceiling of the obsidian tower. It let out a final, mournful howl that vibrated through the very stones of the castle, a sound of absolute goodbye, of a king laying down his crown.Then, with a sudden, graceful dive, the great silver wolf plunged

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   Weak Human Sound

    Duncan led the strike team through the narrow stone pipe of the drainage, his hand gripping his iron blade so tightly his knuckles turned white. Up ahead, the faint sound of rhythmic, deep chanting began to echo through the iron grates."We are directly beneath the altar room," Oscar whispered, his blue eyes scanning the shadows above. He wiped a streak of dark grease from his cheek. "The air is thick with shadow magic. My skin is crawling.""Zach, Heidi, stay behind Remus," Duncan ordered softly. He looked up at the rusted iron grate built into the ceiling. "This is it."With a sudden burst of desperation, Remus and Oscar slammed their shoulders into the heavy iron grate. The rusted bolts snapped with a sharp crack, and the metal panel slammed onto the obsidian floor above. One by one, the suicide squad hauled themselves up into the dark heart of the castle.The main altar room was terrifyingly massive. The walls were made of smooth, polished volcanic glass that reflected the toxic

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   Let Me Finish It

    Katherine the Wraith stood twenty feet away, her tattered white dress swaying in a wind that no one else could feel. Her ink-black eyes stared directly at Zach and Heidi, her smoky talons twitching with an unnatural hunger.Duncan did not move. He kept his iron hunting knife raised, his human muscles tight, standing as a physical wall between the demon and his children. His chest throbbed with a dull, agonizing ache, a constant reminder that his royal wolf core was completely shattered.Before Katherine could lunge, a sudden rustle of dead leaves broke the freezing silence from the eastern edge of the clearing.A figure stumbled out from behind a massive, twisted black tree.He looked like a ghost. He wore torn, filthy leather armor that hung loosely off his gaunt frame. His hair was long, matted with dirt and dried mud, and a thick, unkempt beard covered his hollow cheeks. His left leg dragged slightly as he walked, leaning heavily on a notched wooden spear. He smelled of cheap moon

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   A Rescue Mission Begins

    Duncan Alonso sat in a heavy wooden chair, his face hollow and deathly pale. His royal black coat was torn, and his hands were wrapped in clean white bandages. The internal trauma from the broken ritual had left his physical wolf core feeling like a frozen wasteland. Every breath felt like inhaling shattered glass, but his silver-grey eyes burned with a cold, terrifying desperation."You shouldn't be standing, Alpha," Remus said softly, stepping into the room. The Beta’s chest was heavily wrapped under his shirt where Malphas’s shadow whip had struck him. "Your core hasn't stabilized. If you encounter a high-ranking enemy and try to force a shift, your internal lines will collapse permanently.""If I stay in this room while Malphas drains her, I am already dead," Duncan said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that lacked its usual royal vibration. He stood up slowly, his knees trembling slightly before his iron willpower forced his posture straight. "Who do we have left?"Oscar Wayne s

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   Into the Dark Moon Territory

    Amora woke up with her cheek pressed against a floor of solid, polished black volcanic glass. The room was massive, shaped like the inside of a hollow tower. High above, there were no windows, only jagged tears in the stone roof that revealed a sky of permanent, twisting gray clouds. This was the dark heart of the northern peaks, the absolute center of the Dark Moon territory.Amora tried to push herself up, but a sharp, burning pain flared across her wrists and ankles.She looked down and choked back a sob. She was chained to a massive black stone altar. The cuffs around her limbs were made of forged ironwood, wrapped in thick, glowing purple vines of shadow magic. Every time she tried to pull against them, the vines dug deeper into her skin, eating away at the tiny spark of spiritual energy she had left."Do not waste your breath, little Luna," a deep, rumbling voice echoed off the black glass walls.Alpha Malphas stepped out from the shadows near the base of the altar. In his own

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   What About Leo?

    The doors of the Grand Hall groaned shut, cutting off the distant, pathetic weeping of the broken outcasts. Xavier and Katherine were gone, cast out into the cold human world without their wolves, their money, or their pride.In the massive obsidian room, a heavy, suffocating silence returned. The

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   The Silver Lining

    "More pancakes, Amora? That Alpha pup is going to need every calorie to fuel those growth spurts. You’re eating for a future King now!" Susan Wayne, Oscar’s older sister and the pack’s lead healer, beamed as she slid another stack of golden-brown pancakes onto Amora’s plate. Susan was a whirlwi

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   Shadows of the Past

    Amora watched him for a heartbeat, the reality of his presence finally breaking through her shock. Before her mind could even process how he had found her, her wolf, exhausted and mourning surrendered. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in the damp wool of his jacket. "Oscar,"

  • His Rejected Mate, His Contract Wife   Ghost of a Luna

    Duncan didn't sleep that night. The penthouse lights stayed on until dawn, but the modern luxury felt like a cage. The chocolate torte sat on the coffee table, its scent of sugar and cocoa now masked by something that made Duncan’s inner wolf pace the perimeter of the room. It was the scent

더보기
좋은 소설을 무료로 찾아 읽어보세요
GoodNovel 앱에서 수많은 인기 소설을 무료로 즐기세요! 마음에 드는 작품을 다운로드하고, 언제 어디서나 편하게 읽을 수 있습니다
앱에서 작품을 무료로 읽어보세요
앱에서 읽으려면 QR 코드를 스캔하세요.
DMCA.com Protection Status