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Chapter 4

ผู้เขียน: Ethereal
The next morning, I left for my final prenatal examination before leaving Blackridge.

The physician needed to confirm that my baby was healthy and that I could safely make the journey.

Near the Pack Administration Center, an SUV ran a red light and struck the back of my car.

The seat belt tightened across my abdomen. Pain tore through me.

I instinctively reached for Ronan through our Mate Link.

The connection was still there, but he had closed his side of it. No matter how many times I called, he did not answer.

There was no answer.

I called the Blackridge Administration Center.

“Where is the Alpha? I’ve been in an accident.”

The employee hesitated.

“Miss Ashford fainted from low blood sugar this morning. The Alpha left with her and said he was taking her to the hospital.”

“Tell him to contact me.”

“I’m sorry. His phone is turned off.”

An ambulance arrived minutes later and took me to the werewolf hospital alone.

After the examination, the physician placed the report in my hands.

“The baby is six weeks old and still healthy. The impact caused no injury, but your Mate Bond is dangerously unstable.”

She looked at the mark on my neck.

“If you intend to leave Blackridge, do it soon. You should avoid any further emotional distress.”

I signed the forms myself and waited for my medication.

The waiting room was filled with pregnant she-wolves and their mates. One man knelt to tie his mate’s shoe. Another supported his pregnant wife as she walked.

The seat beside me remained empty.

Then I saw Lydia’s latest post.

I fainted from low blood sugar this morning, and a certain Alpha insisted on bringing me to Moon Lake to recover. Being taken care of so well by your boss might not be such a bad thing.

A man’s hand appeared in the corner of the photograph.

He wore the Blackridge Alpha ring.

Ronan had not taken her to the hospital.

He had decided she needed him at Moon Lake, turned off his phone, and left the Pack to handle everything else without him.

Ronan finally called that afternoon. I could hear water in the background.

“The Administration Center said you were looking for me. What happened?”

“There was an accident.”

“Was it serious?”

“It’s been handled.”

“That’s good,” he said. “I’m dealing with a situation near the border. I’ll be home tonight, and we can talk then.”

He did not ask why I had needed the hospital or whether I had been hurt.

I ended the call and returned to the Alpha Residence.

My luggage was already packed. I took only my identification, clothes, and the medication prescribed for my pregnancy.

Before leaving, I placed three documents in the center of Ronan’s desk.

The dissolution of our Mate Bond.

My withdrawal from the Blackridge Pack.

My renunciation of every right I held as Luna.

My pregnancy report lay on top.

At eleven that night, my car crossed the Blackridge border.

The Moon Council’s order took effect.

I closed my eyes as the mark on my neck began to disappear. Pain ripped through my body, but I covered my abdomen and did not look back.

At that exact moment, Ronan opened the door to the Alpha Residence.

The agony of our Mate Bond breaking drove him to his knees.

Then he looked up—and saw the pregnancy report on his desk.
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  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 11

    Two years later, the Moon Council certified me as one of its senior Moon Seers.I had participated in six negotiations between Packs, helped recover eleven missing young wolves, and evaluated several cases involving coercive mates.My jewelry brand had grown as well. I created a complete lunar cycle after New Moon, and I called the final collection First Light.The studio now employed twelve designers, most of them women who had left controlling Packs or broken mate relationships. I never asked them to turn pain into art. I only gave them a place where their work belonged to them. Some designed paired pieces, while others created single rings, pendants, and cuffs. Completion had no required shape in my studio.Maya brought three year old Lyra to the gallery on the last day of my First Light exhibition.Lyra ran around the central display, then pointed at a silver necklace."Mommy, why does this one have only one moon?""Because one is enough."She nodded as if she understood, then noti

  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 10

    After Lyra's first birthday, Ronan requested one private meeting through my representative.He had respected every Council restriction during the previous year. He had never appeared at my home or studio without permission, and he had never used his visits with Lyra to send private messages to me.I agreed to give him twenty minutes.We met in a conference room at Moon Council headquarters. Ronan arrived early. He had not brought flowers, gifts, or anything connected to our former Mate Bond.He had lost weight. Only a pale scar remained where my mark had once rested on his neck."Thank you for seeing me," he said."You have twenty minutes."Ronan studied me for a long moment."Lydia left Blackridge.""That was her choice.""I haven't blamed everything on her. I know I was the one who betrayed our Mate Bond."I said nothing."I believed that being fated mates meant you could never leave. I treated your patience as something I owned, and I called your pain jealousy. You told me that you

  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 9

    Seven months later, I gave birth to a daughter at the Silverpine werewolf hospital.She arrived five days early, but her cry filled the entire floor. The nurse placed her in my arms. Her small hand closed around my finger, and her silver gray eyes opened briefly before drifting shut again.I named her Lyra Vale.I chose Vale because it was the name I had been born with, not because I wanted to erase Ronan from her life. His identity remained on her bloodline record. I simply refused to let the first word attached to my daughter be the name of a Pack that had nearly cost her life.Maya waited outside the delivery room and cried harder than I did when the physician announced that we were both safe. She entered with white tulips and immediately denied it."I was not crying. The disinfectant irritated my eyes.""I can't smell any disinfectant.""It was here earlier."I decided not to expose her lie.Under Moon Council regulations, my representative sent Ronan the health report, bloodline r

  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 8

    I did not return to Blackridge for the Mate Bond dissolution hearing.My attorney submitted the hospital records, Ronan's false border schedule, the Moon Lake photograph, and our communication history. The evidence showed that Ronan had repeatedly abandoned a medical appointment after learning I needed him and had made himself unreachable while I faced a threatened miscarriage.He requested another meeting before the hearing.I selected No on the response form.Maya watched me sign it from the sofa in my studio."You don't want to see him regret everything?""No.""You loved him for most of your life.""That is why I know what he would say. He would talk about our twenty one years together, our fate, and how he never meant to hurt me." I handed the form to my representative. "None of that changes the fact that I protected our child alone in a hospital."I was not responsible for teaching Ronan why he had been wrong.The hearing lasted three hours.My attorney called after it ended and

  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 7

    The Luna Office officially closed during the third week after Serena left.The medical program for young wolves lost its director, and two assistance programs with neutral Packs were suspended. Blackridge did not collapse, but its members finally saw how much responsibility Serena had carried.Reports that once arrived organized on Ronan's desk began to pile up. Two partner Packs demanded new negotiations because Serena had personally built the agreements, and her departure had weakened their trust in Blackridge.Several families also requested transfers to Silverpine. They did not accuse Ronan of abusing them, but they no longer trusted an Alpha who had ignored his pregnant Luna's medical crisis. Ronan approved every request because refusing them would only confirm their fears.A Pack Council elder confronted Ronan during a meeting."Alpha, when will you appoint a new program director?"Ronan looked at the empty Luna seat and gave no answer.Lydia entered his office after the meeting

  • What I Saw When I Touched You   Chapter 6

    A physician examined me again on my second day in Silverpine."The baby is stable," she said as she put away the monitor. "The dissolution may continue to affect you for some time. You cannot shift, and you must avoid any intense emotional pressure from the former Mate Bond.""The Moon Council has blocked his calls through the Bond.""Good. You need rest more than anything else."Maya rented an apartment for me in the center of Silverpine. It was not large, but the windows overlooked a public garden. Young wolves played downstairs every day, and sunlight crossed the living room from morning until late afternoon.I placed my clothes in the wardrobe and stored the pregnancy reports and Council documents in the bottom drawer of my desk.I kept only the possessions that had belonged to me before Blackridge or that I had chosen for myself. I left the ceremonial Luna jewelry behind. Those pieces had never been gifts in the ordinary sense. They belonged to an office I no longer intended to ho

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