جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

“Fill in the mate's name and hand the form to the registrar.” Adrian Blackwood tapped one knuckle against the desk, then checked his phone for the third time in less than a minute. Claire's name kept flashing across the screen, and with every missed call, the line between his brows deepened. “It isn't complicated, Ivy.”No, it wasn't.I held the pen over the blank marked REGISTERED MATE, but I didn't write my name as I had in my first life.Back then, I'd thought the form was the last step between me and everything I'd ever wanted. Once the registration cleared and Adrian marked me at the full-moon ceremony, I would become the future Luna of Black River Pack. We would build a life together in Blackwood Manor, and the mate bond would finally mean as much to him as it had always meant to me.We hadn't even made it ten minutes past the council hall before Claire saw the public marriage notice. Her final text landed on Adrian's phone: [Congratulations. I won't stand in your way.] Then she

Over the next three days, I canceled the full-moon venue, the catering contract, and the floral order. Every refundable deposit went into my personal account. Then I began sorting through the life I'd built at Blackwood Manor, one object at a time.The perfume Adrian had bought me, our framed photographs, and the crystal sculpture engraved with both our names went onto a resale app. The only things I planned to take were my mother's brooch, four medical textbooks, and one carry-on suitcase.I also visited the pack bank and revoked the automatic authorization between my accounts and Adrian's. The banker asked three times whether I understood what I was giving up. In Black River, no woman expected to become Luna and voluntarily walked away from the Blackwood family's money. I withdrew only the wages I'd earned working as a medical data analyst. I didn't touch a cent that belonged to Adrian.He came into my room just as I confirmed the sale of the vintage turntable he'd given me for my bi

Adrian's mother came to the hospital the next morning with a box of nutritional injections and a worried frown that had nothing to do with me.“It's getting colder at North Ridge,” she said while arranging the syringes on my bedside table. “I hope Adrian packed enough suppressants for Claire. Those two were inseparable growing up. Adrian has always treated her like a little sister, and he has never known how to say no when she needs him.”In my first life, Mrs. Blackwood had always advised me to be the bigger person. Years later, when I grew too sick to shift, she blamed me for failing to take proper care of Adrian's home.“Mrs. Blackwood,” I said, no longer calling her Mom, “the mate registration has been filed. Claire's name is on it.”The box slipped from her hands and hit the floor.Once she realized I wasn't joking, shock gave way to a joy she couldn't quite hide. Claire came from an old bloodline and had grown up beside Adrian. In Mrs. Blackwood's eyes, their shared history made

Adrian stayed away for the next few weeks. Claire didn't.She waited outside the institute for three hours, pale and trembling as she told anyone who passed that she had never meant to steal my mate. By the time security called me, a small crowd had gathered.Her timing was no accident. It was the institute's annual open house, which meant reporters and delegates from half a dozen packs were moving through the lobby. If I raised my voice or showed the slightest impatience, tomorrow's headlines would read: FATED MATE ATTACKS ALPHA HEIR'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND.Claire seized my sleeve as soon as I stepped outside. “Ivy, I'll withdraw from the registration. Please stop punishing Adrian. He barely sleeps anymore.”“All right.” I opened the Black River Council portal on my tablet and pulled up the dissolution request. “Sign here, and I'll submit it for you.”Her sobbing stopped for half a beat.Adrian arrived before she could recover. The moment she saw him, Claire clutched her chest and swayed.

The institute turned Claire's records over to the Black River Council. The investigation moved quickly after that.Claire didn't suffer from severe aftereffects of silver poisoning. She had used an outdated diagnosis from her early treatment records to support her story, then repeatedly overdosed on beta blockers to create acute symptoms. She had also collected premium medical benefits from the pack for treatments she didn't need.Her loneliness had been real. Her attachment to Adrian may have been real too. Her helplessness was not.When the council investigator confronted her, the sweet, helpless act vanished.“I only took what should have been mine!” Claire pointed at Adrian, her voice breaking into a shout. “We grew up together. Everyone assumed I would become his Luna before he found his fated mate. I was there first. Why should Ivy have taken everything from me?”Adrian recoiled as if she had struck him.“You used our childhood to keep me tied to you?”Claire didn't answer. She r