After we left the tribunal, Lucas clicked his tongue with a touch of wistfulness."Well, I guess I wasn't really needed this time. You young folks sure are something. One minute you're swearing lifelong loyalty, the next you're tearing each other apart."In the end, you just sort it all out on your own. I suppose that's what happens when life has been too easy for too long."Mom and I looked at each other and smiled through tears. At last, Rex's name had been cleared.Word spread quickly throughout the Black Wolf pack.Soon, many of those who had once joined in to accuse us quietly sent messages to apologize.They said Rex was a true warrior. He saved that Omega from being torn apart and shielded her from harm.Some of Rex's old friends even stood up for him, insisting he was an honest, passionate werewolf who always shared the best cuts of meat with the weaker members when they hunted.Ella's family couldn't go around in the Black Wolf pack anymore. Wherever they went, people
After that day on the cliff, Kellen had started digging into the truth behind Rex's death.As he investigated, Ella's manipulations began to surface one after another. Everything that happened between Kellen and me was all because of her interference.In the end, she even forced me off the cliff.Only then did Kellen finally realize that the one he truly cared about was always me.Just as he had slowly forgotten the feelings he once had for me, he was now beginning to break free from every promise and lingering attachment to Ella.He captured Ella and the huntsmen who'd helped her, taking brutal revenge against them.As the torture dragged on, Ella coughed up blood and hurled curses at him."You think this is all my fault? What about you? Wasn't it you who forced her to apologize for my father with her blood in front of the whole pack? Wasn't it you who destroyed Rex's body and hurt her?"Do you want me to remind you how vicious you were when you swung that bone knife?""Shut
We hadn't left the Black Wolf pack's territory. Hector took me to a hidden camp deep in the mountains, where Mom was also staying.As soon as I stepped inside the tent, I saw Mom wiping away tears, sitting on a fur mat.Next to her stood an older werewolf in silver-patterned armor, his face contorted with anger as he struck the ground hard with his stone staff.Hector and I exchanged a look, then hurried inside."Mom," I said."Mr. Lucas Reynard," Hector greeted the old werewolf respectfully.Mom went pale the moment she saw me, soaked and covered in ice. "What happened to you?"As I didn't want to tell her the truth, I held her hand to comfort her. "I'm fine, really. I just slipped crossing the river and ended up drenched."Hector glanced at me but didn't expose my lie. Instead, he turned to Lucas and asked quietly, "Mr. Reynard, why are you here?"Lucas shot him a glare. "You've got a lot of nerve asking me that! The Silvermoon pack's allies are suffering in the Black Wolf p
I never would have guessed Ella had suffered that much. But at the same time, I was more confused than ever."If Rex helped you, why did you let him be exiled?" I asked.Ella scoffed. "Of course, I did it to break you and Kellen up. If I didn't stir things up between you, how could I ever hope to become his mate?"Her words hit me like a slap, sending a chill straight through my spine."So, you spread those rumors through the pack just to drive Rex to his death and to make sure there'd always be a blood debt between Kellen and me, so we could never go back to the way things were?"A trace of approval flickered in Ella's eyes. "You're not as dumb as I thought. But really, that's only what I wanted you to think."No matter how fast gossip spreads in the pack, news from the Frozen Wastes always travels slower. So, I went there myself."I told your brother that everyone in the pack shunned you because of him. I said as long as he was alive, he'd only drag you down. If he died, you'd
Kellen really had blamed Ella unfairly this time. She hadn't lied.Before I left, I entrusted Mom to the guards from the Silvermoon pack who had come to help us. Then, I returned alone to the stone house in the Black Wolf pack one last time.When I pushed open the door, the stone house was eerily quiet. I thought Kellen wasn't home, so I turned and walked toward his study.I lit the pine oil lamp and began searching his stone cabinets, digging out the scrolls that mapped out the pack's mineral deposits and all the private transaction records he'd made with other packs. I stuffed everything into a leather satchel.Once I finished, I headed into the bedroom. I hesitated when I saw someone lying on the bed.Kellen was usually so alert. No matter how exhausted he was, he'd always sense someone approaching. But now, the air in the room was thick with the smell of alcohol.I took a couple of steps forward and accidentally kicked an empty wineskin. My body pitched forward, and my forehe
This couldn't be happening!I was his mate. How could he suddenly lose all sense of me?There was only one explanation.Kellen looked down and saw that the moonstone pendant had split in half.A jolt of dread ran through him. He threw aside the blanket and searched the house frantically, checking every corner. Finally, under the bed, his fingers found the other half of the moonstone.The edges were jagged and cracked beyond repair. There was no putting it back together.Ella came in carrying a plate of roasted meat. She froze when she saw him clutching his chest with a pale face as his eyes locked on the broken pendant in his hand.A shadow of malice flickered in Ella's eyes, but her voice stayed gentle. "It looks like it's broken for good. Why not just carve a new one with Lilith?"If this had happened before, Kellen would have tossed the stone into the fire and grabbed her chin, teasing, "Forget it. I only want your name carved into my pendant."But now, he just kept staring