INICIAR SESIÓN"Maggie leaked the patrol route and helped the hostiles breach the barrier. All evidence has been made public."Logan solemnly set the tribunal report in front of me. "She will receive Black Moon's harshest punishment, and I've stripped her of every title. Wendy, don't you want to know what happens to her?"I looked at the document and felt nothing. "No. That's your job as Alpha."Logan slid the Black Moon Alpha seal slowly across the table toward me."Then what about this? All of Black Moon is yours. The mines, the military authority, the estate, the Alpha's seat. Everything."No one in the council chamber spoke.He stood before me, the wound on his shoulder still bandaged, his eyes almost pleading.I regarded the seal coldly. "What's the condition?""Come back." His voice was urgent. "I don't need any of it. I just need you by my side."I shook my head. "I won't go back. You think an entire territory can make up for what happened?""I know it can't." Logan's voice dropped, heavy with
"Black Moon's western defense line has been breached. Maggie escaped from the interrogation room and opened an internal passage for the Red Fang pack." Karl's distress call came straight to the Northern council chamber, his voice taut with urgency.My brow furrowed, and I shifted into battle mode. "Have the civilians been evacuated? Where's Logan?"Karl gave a rapid-fire report. "Over three hundred people are still trapped in the medical tower. Logan suffered a silver blade wound but is still directing the evacuation."The Elder hesitated. "Do we send forces? For Logan?"I rose without hesitation and threw on my battle cloak. "Deploy our forces! For the border and for those three hundred people."When my unit reached Black Moon territory, Karl was distributing the last batch of medicine.Logan leaned against a wall, his shoulder wound in almost the same spot as mine had been.When he saw me, his eyes brightened for an instant."Wendy, you came to see me."I didn't look at his wound. I
"I've already removed Maggie as chief secretary."Logan had waited two hours in the Northern council chamber, and his opening line still sounded like he was looking for credit.I tossed a communication stone onto the table. "That's not why I agreed to see you."He recognized the serial number on the casing and stared at it in shock. "Wasn't it destroyed?"I looked at him coldly. "You destroyed the copy."Logan hurried to assure me, "Wendy, I believe you now."I cut through his pretense without mercy. "No. You just realized Maggie isn't worth losing me over."Logan pressed the stone.The stone played back every exchange between Maggie and the Red Fang pack. She had leaked the patrol route. She had told them to direct the attack toward me.The hostiles asked what would happen if I died.Maggie laughed. "A contract mate won't die that easily. Just leave her breathing."Logan stared in disbelief. "Why would she do that?"I answered flatly. "Because as long as I looked incompetent, she coul
"The silver poisoning in your shoulder hasn't cleared yet. The awakening ceremony needs to be postponed by at least three days." The Northern healer re-dressed my wound.My father looked at my shoulder with worry. "Does it still hurt?"A warmth stirred inside me. "Not anymore."He didn't press. He simply had someone bring a bowl of hot soup.The soup had no peanuts and none of the scallions I disliked.Three years away, and my father still remembered.Logan's calls came from morning to night."The barrier needs your power.""Maggie has moved out of the estate.""I've arranged a proper mate ceremony."The last was a voice message."Wendy, I won't punish you for leaving the territory without permission. Come back. We'll start over."I deleted the messages and handed my phone to an attendant."From now on, don't forward any personal calls from Black Moon."Three days later, I walked onto the awakening ground.When my white wolf power returned, every wound on my body vanished.An Elder pla
"Wendy, come back!"The backlash of the broken contract drove Logan to his knees before the altar. He finally felt the pain of all twelve stitches, one by one.During the first stitch, I was still waiting for him.During the fourth, I saw Maggie's livestream.During the eighth, I discovered he had shut off the bond.By the last stitch, I had stopped calling his name.Logan clutched his shoulder, gasping in pain. "Wendy, I didn't know it hurt this much. If you want to punish me this way, I'll take it."I looked down at him. "Breaking the contract isn't punishment. It's an ending."Logan braced himself on the altar and stood, stubborn as ever. "I don't accept that! You want a proper ceremony? I'll give you one right now. I'll take the charm back. Maggie won't stay at the estate."I walked toward the exit with my suitcase, unwilling to waste another word. "The contract is broken. Whether she stays or goes has nothing to do with me."He blocked the door, still grasping for something to hol
"What did you say?"Logan still gripped my wrist, his face blank with disbelief.I looked at him calmly. "I want to dissolve the contract."He frowned. "Your wound hasn't healed. Your emotions are running high. Go back to the estate. We'll talk after the celebration."I shoved his hand away and stepped back. "There's nothing to talk about."Logan reached up and touched my face, the gesture as tender as it had always been."Wendy, I know these past few days have been unfair to you. The next batch of healing serum is all yours. Maggie will move back to the side wing. And at the celebration, you'll stand beside me."I turned my head away from his touch, a bleak sorrow rising in my chest. "And then what? You keep giving her my charm. You keep saving her first whenever danger strikes. You keep believing her even when the evidence says otherwise.""I won't.""You just crushed the evidence."Logan was quiet for a moment. "There were too many questions surrounding that communication stone. Wen







