جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 15

The next day I held a grand memorial service for Derek.Many of the royal city's most prominent figures attended.They stood before Derek's portrait for perhaps half a minute, then crowded around to thank my mother and me for directing relief supplies to the southern mining region after an explosion."Without you opening the warehouses and moving supplies in advance, who knows how many more wolves would have been displaced and forced to live as rogues?""Leon was still approving the paperwork when your relief convoy rolled out."I scratched my head.No need to thank me.It wasn't my money anyway.The Master was royalty too. The crown lived on pack taxes; sending aid wherever disaster struck was simply what it owed the packs.Someone muttered that Leon cried poverty every time there was a disaster, and a companion cut him off before he finished.An elderly engineer cut through the chatter and hurried toward me, beaming. "The portable water purifier you designed is finished.""They teste

That night Derek came storming into my bedroom."Selena, how dare you play me?"I will never mark you. Try me."Viola's perfume still clung to his guard's uniform.I blinked innocently."I did exactly what you asked."What, you don't like it?""You vicious she-wolf!"Derek's eyes were red with fury."I was even going to give you a pup. Clearly, you don't deserve to be the mother of my child!"Every day, more nonsense."Selena."The low voice came from behind me.Kane walked out of the bathroom in nothing but black trousers, shoulders and back bare."The night's still young. Are you really going to waste it on him?"Mm.The Master was playing my candidate number one again.Derek froze.The moment Derek recognized Kane, his entire face twisted."Selena, you shameless bitch!"Let him curse me.I wasn't Selena anyway.I smiled at his misery, only for Kane to cut me a warning glance.His look plainly promised that he would deal with me later.He turned back to Derek and rolled his wrist."Y

When the coronation ended, the priest did not leave.By tradition, an Alpha King's mating ceremony was more elaborate. He and his chosen mate had to seal their bond publicly at the Moon Goddess Festival, with a priest as their witness.Kane had clearly prepared for this. He had even brought the documents.The priest opened the mating contract, but he did not begin the prayer."Miss Ella, before I witness this bond, I must confirm that your mating bond with Derek Blackwood has been dissolved."There it was.I knew there was no avoiding this."Derek and I were never truly mated."The crowd below the altar stirred again.I looked at the Moon Goddess Stone and spelled it out, one word at a time."At our wedding, all we completed before the Moon Goddess's altar was a vow declaring our choice of mate."That vow created only a faint life-link. We were supposed to proceed to the bonding ceremony, but Derek ran away before it even began."So Derek and I were never bonded, and we never marked ea