Chapter 7

Rosa struggled with all her strength. "John, you bastard! Let go of me!"

John slapped her across the face. "You bitch! Don't act like you're all pure after you've been with Kyle for ten years! You should be glad that I even want you!"

Rosa froze for a moment. By the time she snapped out of it, John had already stripped off all his clothes.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

Rosa shifted into her wolf form before raising her knee to strike John's groin with all her strength.

Caught off guard, John doubled over in pain and passed out. The rain had stopped.

Rosa looked up at the moon. Their bond would dissolve tonight. Time was running out.

Determined to give Kyle one last chance, Rosa sprinted with all her strength back to the fortress.

However, when she opened the gates, she didn't see Kyle rallying the guards to rescue her. Instead, she saw Kyle and Ivy holding each other tightly.

Ivy was nestled in Kyle's arms. "Alpha Kyle, I didn't think you'd go this far for me…"

She looked up at him, and her eyes were full of adoration. "Do you really care more about me than Luna Rosa?"

"How many times do I have to say it, silly?"

Kyle tenderly brushed her nose. "Now and forever, you're ten thousand times more important than her."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ivy gasped. She covered her mouth and looked toward the gates in shock. "Luna Rosa, when did you get back?"

Kyle stiffened. "Rosa?"

He instinctively released Ivy and strode toward Rosa, reaching out to steady her. "What happened to you?"

Rosa avoided his touch. "Sorry to disappoint you by not dying back there and ruining your fun."

Kyle furrowed his brows. "It's not like I didn't send others to rescue you. Stop being snarky."

Gazing at the person she'd loved for ten years, she found him utterly unfamiliar. She shook her head. "I just have one question. Are you sure you want to keep being by Ivy's side?"

Kyle explained, "I'll have her under my control in no time…"

Rosa didn't hear the rest. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:00 pm.

Since Kyle chose to be with Ivy, Rosa saw no reason to stay and turned away.

Kyle noticed the time, too. As he watched Rosa leave, he smirked.

He'd never told Rosa, but he'd never forgotten when their bond would end.

Two hours were plenty. He could enjoy Ivy's tender embrace first, then honor that tedious ten-year-old promise later.

With how much Rosa loved him, she'd surely wait for him.

"It's alright, babe. Stop crying. I'm all yours tonight."

Kyle turned to comfort Ivy. He was confident that he could tame this fiery wolf tonight.

Rosa didn't go to the altar. Instead, she went to the cliff at the edge of the pack's territory alone.

Standing at the edge, she looked up at the moon.

"You sure are full of yourself, Kyle," she whispered into the empty night. There was a mocking smile on her lips. "You think you still have two hours, but what you don't know is that ten years ago, Father left me a fail-safe in our bond."

When the blood curse was being cast, Henry had made the witch advance the timeline by two hours.

It was the final protection Henry had arranged for her.

Henry had said, "Rosa, if that man truly loves you, he won't hesitate to be there early to wait for you. But if he can't even spare two hours and spends that time on other things, then he doesn't deserve to have you."

And now, his words had become reality. It was now 10:05 pm. Just five minutes ago, their bond had dissolved.

Rosa closed her eyes, feeling the Alpha mark Kyle had left on her rapidly vanish. The heavy chains that had bound her for nine years were finally broken.

A flash of silver shimmered for a beat. Rosa transformed into a white wolf before looking back one last time at her former home.

She then leaped forward, sprinting into the boundless wastelands without so much as a backward glance. "Goodbye, Kyle. Goodbye forever!" she thought.