C2

“I will sign the papers,” I whispered into the device, my voice breaking as the final remnants of my old life shattered. “Tell the Alpha I am returning to the pack house to strip myself of his name right now.”

I hung up and forced my trembling body to move. Every step away from the alcove felt like fire, but I dragged myself through the crowded stone tunnels of Moonveil International Port before the elite guards could smell my shame.

“Move! Clear the path for the Alpha!” a stern voice roared near the western gates.

A line of heavy armored trucks, all bearing the obsidian crest of the Blackmoor pack, tore through the iron gates. A dozen high-ranking warriors jumped out, shifting halfway into their beast forms to push back the trembling lower-ranking wolves.

Kairo Vale leaped from the lead vehicle, holding the door open with total submission.

Gali Blackmoor stepped into the pale light. His heavy leather boots crushed the loose gravel, and his thick winter furs draped over broad, scarred shoulders that leaked pure, terrifying dominance.

“Did you track the scent?” Gali demanded, his voice a low growl that made every wolf in the area drop their heads.

“The tracks are messy, Alpha,” Kairo muttered, bowing his head. “The rogue attack last night drove us too far into the neutral zone. The wolfsbane they slipped into your meat forced your beast to wildness. You claimed that female to survive the poison, but we had to hunt the remaining assassins before we could secure her for you.”

“I gave that female my word,” Gali snarled, his jaw clenching as his golden eyes scanned the terrified crowd. “I told her I would make her the most honored partner in the Blackmoor pack. A true Alpha never breaks a vow to his true match. Find her.”

Before Gali could shift to hunt, a communication crystal flared in Kairo’s hand, buzzing with the frantic voice of the Blackmoor Crescent Keep housekeeper.

“Alpha! Your chosen mate has returned to the den, but the scent of another male is all over her skin!” the housekeeper squealed. “The omegas say she has been sneaking out to the border taverns for two seasons. She drinks with rogues, and last night she told a whole bar that you are a broken, crippled wolf who does not deserve to lead!”

“She said what?” Gali’s chest heaved, his claws extending with a sharp click.

“She said you are way out of her league, Alpha! She wants to strip the bond and run!”

Gali let out a low, dangerous rumble that shook the stone walls. His family had forced Kairo Vale’s weak cousin onto him two years ago to weaken his bloodline, a male he had never even looked at. Now that his position was absolute, he wanted a clean break, but this was a blatant insult to his wolf.

“The original pack resources I set aside for her exile are gone,” Gali ordered, his voice ice cold. “She disgraced the pack laws. Rewrite the decree. She leaves Myhill CrestHALL with nothing but the clothes on her back!”

“Right away, Alpha!”

Gali turned back toward the dark alcove, trying to calm the raging beast inside his chest. He pushed the heavy iron door open, expecting to find the trembling, beautiful female he had claimed in the dark.

But the stone room was empty.

“She is gone?” Gali roared, his aura exploding through the hallway.

Kairo fell to his knees under the pressure. “We will search the entire territory, Alpha!”

“Put every tracker on notice!” Gali barked, his eyes flashing crimson. “I do not care how many pack resources it takes. Find the female from last night. I will keep my promise to her, no matter what!”

Six winters later, at the Myhill CrestHALL transit gates.

“Stay close to me, boys,” I murmured, pulling my three young pups tightly against my side as we stepped off the cargo transport.

Even in rough, simple wool tunics, my face drew the eyes of every warrior guarding the border. My small family looked entirely out of place among the fierce warriors of the northern territories.

The three boys wore heavy cloth masks over their small faces, but their huge, round eyes blinked up at the massive stone city, their long eyelashes fluttering as they watched the strange wolves pass by.

“Look at those little ones,” a passing delta whispered to her mate. “They make me want to run back to the den and start a family.”

I ignored the whispers, my heart hammering against my ribs as I looked at the towering walls of Myhill CrestHALL. Six years ago, Gali Blackmoor accused me of absolute betrayal, throwing me to the mercy of a ruthless pack council.

A moon later, my belly began to swell with the stranger’s pups, seemingly proving the Alpha’s worst accusations. My foster parents, Mr. Smith Loko and Mrs. Hela Loko, threw me into the frozen wasteland to save their own skin.

I knew these pups belonged to the shadow wolf from the port. I almost shifted to leave them in the snow, but my soul could not do it.

They were my own blood, my own pack.

To protect them from the rumors, I fled deep into Frostfang Hollow, taking a grueling job washing dishes at a rogue tavern just to buy scraps of meat and medicine for my pregnancy. The exhaustion nearly killed my wolf.

In my ninth month, my vision failed and I collapsed into a snowdrift.

When I woke up, I was deep in the hidden caves of the mountains, my three perfect boys howling softly against my chest. To this day, I still do not know who cut them from my womb or who left us safe in the high peaks.

The lone mountain wolves who raised us said they found us by a miracle. For five winters, we lived in total peace, far away from the politics of the great packs.

But as the boys grew, their internal wolves began to stir. They needed proper training, a real pack alliance, and a future.

When I went to register their names with the grand ledger, the old shaman gasped. The magic ink revealed the truth: my bond with Gali Blackmoor was never broken. The divorce papers I signed six years ago had never been sealed by the Alpha’s blood.

Because I was still legally his mate, Gali’s name would automatically be stamped as the father on my pups’ birth records. The Blackmoors would kill rogue bastards before letting them bear their crest. I had to find Gali, get his blood on the decree, and dissolve the bond before he discovered my boys.

I felt no hatred for the Alpha; I had brought shame to his house first. But my blood boiled when I thought of the stranger from the port.

“I will make you the most honored partner in the pack,” he had promised.

What a filthy lie.

“Mommy, my wolf is restless — I need to find the trees,” Leori murmured, tugging hard on my tunic with an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

I snapped out of the dark memories, looking down at Kairo Vale, Malek Thorncrest, and little Leori. My chest filled with absolute warmth.

The betrayal of the past had broken my life, but it gave me my boys.

“Hold on, Leori,” I whispered, looking around the crowded terminal. “We just need to find the Alpha’s den, and then we can leave this place forever.”