Chapter 2

On a calm Friday, I decided to break out bond. When I handed him the bond breaking papers, I still held on to a shred of hope.

I had gone over to the temple to apply to break out bond and all that was left were these documents.

I thought he might at least look through them and asked why I was leaving. I had even thought of the words I would say to him.

But Luke didn’t even check his phone. He easily took the documents and signed without care, as though it was an unimportant memo or everyday pack business.

Seeing his careless behavior, pain tore through my inner wolf. My hands shook slightly as I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Have you even read it yet?" I could not help asking.

A frown seized his face as I said this, but his eyes remained glued to his phone as he continued typing furiously.

"Doris told me to sign it. What could be wrong with it? If you’ve got nothing else, don’t just stand there. Leave." he said impatiently.

I took in a shaky breath as I gripped the paper tightly in my hand. It seemed Doris was all that mattered to him. My inner wolf shook as I tried to calm down, realizing I meant absolutely nothing to him.

When I looked up, all I saw was a gentle smile on his face as he looked at the screen of his phone. He looked like someone in love, but not with me.

I couldn't help myself, so I glanced at his screen.

Sure enough, he was texting Doris.

I was standing right there, yet he was exchanging flirtatious messages with Doris.

Every word was intimate.They even planned which bar to meet tonight for a drink.

I walked out of the room in a daze. All day, my mind remained in this state, it was hard to concentrate.

The sudden ring from my phone interrupted my deep thoughts. I looked at the call. It was Luke.

I guessed that he was calling to urge me to apologize to Doris in the group chat again.

I did not want to answer the call, but the phone rang over and over, as Luke called me over seven times.

I was still in the pack cleaning up work, so he called the phone there and the phone was brought to me.

"Alpha Luke’s on the line. Seems urgent," the guard said, handing me the phone.

I took in a deep breath and reluctantly answered the call.

"What is it?" I asked coldly.

The moment I picked up the call, Luke's angry voice scolded me over the phone. Someone would have thought I was a servant taking orders.

"Alice! You dare ignore my calls? Have you gotten brave this past few days and lost your mind?" he asked.

"What exactly do you want?" I asked, cutting him off.

"The temple called and asked to see us both for a final mediation before they approve breaking our bond. What is this about? Do you know anything about this?" He asked with a snort.

My entire being froze. So, he finally found out. Did he remember that he’d signed the bond breaking papers? But my thoughts were interrupted as the next second he threw accusations down at me like a storm.

"Alice, I never thought you would stop so low. You actually have someone impersonate a temple staff and called me? How far will you go? All this was to threaten to break our fate? I am impressed!" He shouted.

I was stunned stiff by his accusations. What was he saying? My inner wolf churned in confusion.

"Forget it. She may be playing hard to get. Taking out a bond breaking agreement was to force you to go home with her," I suddenly heard Doris say. Her voice was deliberately gentle.

"Go to our den? For her? She actually faked an illness instead of letting me rest after a hunt and I could not rest all day," Luke said with a sneer.

I let out a hollow laugh. I recalled that night vividly. His bloody scent mixed with alcohol after a hunt made me dizzy and affected my inner wolf to make me sick.

He knew this, but he returned soaked. When I felt dizzy and fell, he did not lift a brow. I had quickly called for healers and he stopped them from entering saying they were annoying him that night and locked me inside our den.

The next day, when he saw I was too weak to get out of bed, he complained I might affect his mood and packed his bags to temporarily move into Doris’s den, leaving behind the den smelling of blood and alcohol.

I stayed alone, relying on leftover herbs, barely hanging on for six days before my condition eased.

But ever since then, my wolf had left with chest tightness every time it rained or got damp.

After all I went through, he reduced my pain to a disturbance that did not let him rest? I gripped the phone tightly.

"Alice, I said in the group chat you’re suspended from pack activities for two weeks. Got a problem with that?" he suddenly lying asked.

"You can fire me from pack business outright. Or I can just resign. Your choice," I answered.

Luke did not seem to be expecting my response, as he paused, then his tone softened a little. I could guess he thought I was finally giving in.

"Since you’re showing a bit of humility, there is no need to fire you. Let’s change your punishment," I heard him say, "Doris says she is willing to let go of all your side remarks but from now on, all your share of the hunted prey will go to her. Aren’t you going to thank Doris for giving you a chance to redeem yourself?"

His words were too amusing, that I laughed in disbelief.

Luke was always good at twisting facts like this. I was the one who was humiliated by their flirting and bond they had not bothered to hide, yet he made it sound as though I was in the wrong way.

It was how it had been for a while. There was nothing Doris could do wrong.

If she made a mistake during a hunt, it would be my fault for not have trained her well.

If she offended a foreign pack, it would be my fault in some way. Luke always had a way for twisting everything to absolve Doris and blame me.

I have long had enough of their nonsense.

"Thank her for the offer, but I’ll just resign the position of pack administrations. It’s better for everyone," I answered calmly.

Before he could say anything, I hung up the phone.

The moment the call ended, I realized I was still standing on pack grounds. The werewolves around were all staring at me. When I met their eyes, they quickly looked away.

Just then, another call came from an unknown number.

"Hello, this is Werewolf Temple. We’re calling for a final confirmation—do you and the Red Moon Pack alpha still want a bond breaking mediation?"

"There is no need. Proceed with the bond breaking," I answered.

"Understood. Then please come collect your fate string next weekday."

I hung up, letting out a long breath.

Seven years of bond had finally coming to an end.

I just had to clear up my belongings in the pack administrations office.

I immediately wrote a formal resignation and took it to the Werewolf Personnel Division. When the director handling my formal resignation, she scoffed and handled it quick.

My eyes were immediately drawn to a pot of flowers on the table. Luke had given everyone a flower that bloomed on my birth month when we had our Bonding Ceremony.

He had said; "These flowers have long lives, as will our bond,"

I had stared at the flowers too long, the director noticed.

"Don’t bother staring. It’s not yours anymore. Your resignation’s processed. You can go," she said in a tone full of mockery.

I snapped back to reality, gave a bitter smile, and said nothing.

My inner wolf felt the indifference the entire Red Moon Pack treated to me. There was very little they could do to hurt me any more, but they were determined to try.

I walked back to my desk to find trash had been dumped on my desk covering my belongings.

On my desk were crumpled papers, soda cans, snack wrappers, while some of my personal items had all been tossed to the floor.

I looked around. It was clear that news of my resignation had spread. I saw the pack watching with sly grins, clearly enjoying the show.

It seemed even the smallest respect they had left for me was gone now I had resigned.

I picked up my things without a words and walked out. Now I was done with Luke, I no longer had time for his pack. I used to have dreams of traveling the world, but it was not possible as Luke stayed in his territory, but now it was known the agenda again.

I took a deep breath and felt a rush of freedom pour into my inner wolf.