Chapter 8

It wasn't me.

Instead, it was a teenage pup, Amber Clawe, who was responsible for gathering wild fruit and produce in the pack. She was looking at him with a fearful and bewildered expression on her face.

Carlson froze to the ground. He swallowed thickly and asked, "It's you? Why are you wearing Ayna's clothes?"

"Ayna gave it to me," Amber replied timidly.

She'd only just finished answering him when a warrior rushed over to the watchtower and reported urgently, "Alpha! We just came back from doing a headcount, and none of us has seen Ms. Radolf anywhere. Someone saw her leaving the pack after the surgery last night."

The cold wind swept across Carlson's face like a ruthless blade.

He stood rooted to his spot, his mind completely blank.

"Alpha, Ms. Radolf has only just had an eye removed, and she's at her most vulnerable state now. Should we send someone to go after her?" the warrior asked hesitantly.

Carlson immediately snapped back to his senses and balled his hands into fists. His tone was resolute, yet it was tinged with a hint of panic that he didn't even realize was there.

"What should we go after her for? She's just doing this to force me to submit to her. She can go ahead and suffer for a bit with that stubborn demeanor of hers!"

He paused for a moment as though he'd only just thought about something. He then cocked his eyebrow and feigned composure as he said, "Send out an invitation to every pack in the vicinity and invite them all to my and Selena's marking ceremony."

He figured that I wouldn't be able to stay away from him if I knew that he was going to be holding a marking ceremony with another she-wolf. He was so sure that I wouldn't be able to get over him because I'd loved him for 15 years.

However, he never heard a single word from me over the next few days. He busied himself preparing for the marking ceremony, personally selecting everything from the tiny flower bouquets to the embellishment on their garments, and yet, I still hadn't said anything, even until the date of the ceremony itself.

Carlson was beginning to get restless.

The marking ceremony was held with extraordinary grandeur at the Moon Altar.

There was a path lined with rose petals that stretched out for a mile, fine wines and hors d'oeuvres flown in from human society, a bridesmaid troupe in the hundreds, and even a number of major human celebrities were in attendance.

Members of the surrounding packs watched with envious eyes, whispering marvels at the wealth and power of the Alpha of Moonshadow Tribe.

The horn sounded, and the marking ceremony officially began.

Carlson stood on the platform and silently activated his mental link, frantically searching for my figure in the dense crowd below him, but he couldn't find me.

He couldn't see me anywhere. He also couldn't smell my familiar scent anywhere either.

"Carlson?"

Selena's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts just then.

She wore an elaborate Luna robe as she slowly walked down the aisle toward him while being escorted by her maid of honor.

Carlson instinctively reached out to steady her. The fabric brushed against his palm, and he lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on the buttons on her cuffs.

His fingers then froze at once.

This wasn't my handiwork.

I once told him that the buttons on sleeve cuffs were too troublesome and cumbersome, and I would always make alterations to the sleeves every time I made him something.

He finally realized belatedly that I had already decided to leave the day I agreed to make the ceremony garments for him the other day.

This hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment thing after all. I'd already been thinking about it for a while before that.

"Alpha Carlson, do you take Selena Fang to be your mate?" the officiant asked, his voice echoing around the Moon Altar. "In sickness and in health, in strength and in weakness, will you always share her glory, never to leave her for life?"

Never to leave her?

These words stabbed Carlson right in the heart like red-hot needles.

Many years ago, that adorable little white wolf pup covered in mud tugged on his sleeve and asked him innocently, "Carl, will you still never leave me even if you find yourself a mate next time?"

Carlson's breath caught in his throat, and his chest hurt so badly that he couldn't breathe.

"Carlson? What's on your mind?" Selena asked, reminding him once more.

He managed to draw himself out of his memories. However, when he lowered his head and looked Selena in her eyes, he felt all of his blood run cold at that moment.

He was staring at my eye.

My unique silvery eye, which could only belong to a white wolf, was now on Selena's face, and it looked strangely incongruous with the rest of her features.

He stared at the eye and suddenly realized that all the sound seemed to have vanished from his ears. His mind was now filled only with the image of me on the operating table—covered in blood and biting down hard on my lips, trying not to make a sound despite the excruciating pain.

"Carlson? Carlson!"

Selena's smile had frozen on her face, barely concealing her embarrassment.

It wasn't until the officiant reminded Carlson again that he finally apologized.

Just as he was about to say, "I do", the large LED screen behind them flickered for a bit. The screen that was supposed to be playing a cute video of his and Selena's wedding photos suddenly changed.

Several large wolves were seen pinning down a she-wolf in a dimly-lit cave, their crude panting and howling echoing loudly throughout the altar.

The moment Carlson saw the face on the screen, his pupils dilated immediately as a mixture of shock and rage filled his eyes.

He was just too stunned to say anything at all.

The she-wolf in the very center of the video was none other than Selena, now dressed in pure white—his fated mate that he was about to mark!