Chapter 5

Patience's POV

My brother, a werewolf warrior, vanished during a border mission five years ago.

I had scoured every place he was last seen but found nothing.

After entombing my parents' ashes, I'd head to the borderlands.

No matter how slim the chance, I wouldn't give up.

I smoothed my clothes and stepped out.

It was drizzling. The fine raindrops tapped against the surface of my umbrella, making a soft, rustling sound.

I hadn't walked far when I overheard two staff members.

"So many cars and senators coming in. Which big shot passed?"

"Haven't you seen the news? It was the gentleman from the Gross family."

"Goodness, the Gross family! So who will take over?"

"Who else? Their powerful 'heavyweight.'"

In this city, the Gross family was an immovable giant, a name everyone recognized but few dared to provoke.

Rumors about the Gross family were always tinged with a sense of mystery.

The Gross family was actually a werewolf family.

They belonged to the Mandala Pack.

The Alpha of Mandala possessed Lycan blood. He was super powerful.

Stepping outside, I was greeted by the cold rain.

A long line of vehicles had parked by the roadside.

Closest to me, the door of a Maybach opened. The umbrella-bearer quickly stepped forward.

A tall figure stepped out, his black suit outlining broad shoulders.

The umbrella hid the upper half of his face, revealing only his sharp jawline and thin lips.

His hand hung by his side, commanding attention.

The Alpha aura radiating from him seemed to freeze the air.

I instinctively turned away, but the man seemed to sense my gaze.

He turned his head slightly, and our eyes met. My nape glands suddenly burned.

His eyes were deep-set, narrow and blade-like, with a faint upward tilt at the corners, yet no trace of laziness—instead, they resembled the cold stars of the Arctic.

His golden pupils were calm, unrippled by any emotion.

Though he was a guest at a funeral, no sorrow touched his face—only detached indifference.

"Mr. Gross, this way, please," the umbrella-bearer whispered with reverence.

Mr. Gross? My heart skipped a beat.

"Could this be the new leader of the Gross family, the one who never appears in public?" I thought to myself.

At that moment, my wolf stirred in my mind—not with anger, but with an unfamiliar fluttering, as if recognizing a familiar scent.

The next second, Mr. Gross's guaiac wood pheromones drifted toward me, mixed with the faintest hint of silver moon grass.

The moment the scent touched my glands, my wolf whimpered softly.

She kept rubbing against that scent in my mind, as if trying to confirm something.

I tightened my grip on the urn in my arms.

These pheromones... they stirred a resonance in my wolf, the kind shared only between mates. Yet I already had a mate.

After a brief moment, he withdrew his gaze and passed by me.

Not until I sat in my car did I realize my palms were damp with cold sweat.

The desolation and sharpness in those eyes had been overwhelmingly oppressive.

I pulled out my phone. A text from Kelsey appeared, "Madison and Hattie have gone back to their house. Come home so we can talk."

I drove back to the Ironclaw packhouse.

When I returned to the villa, Kelsey was sitting on the sofa, a cup of cold coffee in front of him.

He stood up and approached.

"Have your parents' ashes been settled? Everything went smoothly, right?"

"I've placed them," I responded flatly, my gaze sweeping past him to the empty corner of the room.

"Madison didn't mean to target you. She's just getting on in years."

As Kelsey spoke, he reached out to embrace me. "I'm sorry for what happened today. I'll make it up to you. Anything you want, I'll get it for you."

Make it up to me? A wave of chilling sorrow washed over me.

Gently, I pushed his hand away and said, clearly and deliberately, "All I want now is to end our mateship."

Kelsey frowned, his familiar, oppressive aura flickering with agitation.

"End our mateship? Over today's little incident?" He dismissed it so casually, as though it were insignificant.

As if I was just being unreasonable, challenging his authority as an Alpha.

"It's not just about today," I said, my eyes fixed on him. "If we end our mateship, you can be with Hazel openly. And you won't have to hide the scent of another on you anymore."