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00:00The night before my wedding, my hair was gone.
00:02The silver hair passed down through generations of the Warwick bloodline,
00:05the symbol of our lineage that could summon wolf packs under the full moon
00:08and make even the most feral beasts submit by instinct,
00:10had been shaved off while I passed out.
00:13I lay there with my bare scalp exposed, and I saw Zoe standing beside the bed.
00:16She wore a black tactical vest.
00:18She was fiddling with a bone blade in her hand.
00:20The blade had been coated with wolf bone extract.
00:22She grinned at Liam.
00:23She hasn't even completed her first transformation.
00:26What gives her the right to stand beside an alpha?
00:28Liam's inner circle howled along with her.
00:30Zoe, that's not really fair.
00:31One of them chummed in.
00:32That sleep sashage was a gift from the alpha himself.
00:34Wolf baid mixed with moonflower, enough to knock out a bear.
00:36The marking ceremony's tomorrow.
00:37Zoe waved a hand to dismissively.
00:39Not that it matters anyway.
00:40Once she's in our pack, her status was always up for re-evaluation.
00:42Looking like this, she's perfect for starting from the lowest rung.
00:46Amid the roaring laughter filling the room, Liam glanced at me.
00:48Just one glance, then he looked away.
00:50They're all brothers who fought alongside me in the north, he said.
00:52Just a joke, don't take it seriously.
00:53Just wrap a veil around your head tomorrow.
00:55No one will notice.
00:55He paused, his tone suddenly softened.
00:57And you're still the woman I'm going to mark.
00:59My Luna.
01:00I shifted my body slightly.
01:02The drug hadn't worn off yet.
01:03My limbs felt like they were filled with lead.
01:05He didn't wait for my response.
01:06He turned around and walked out of the bedroom with his men.
01:08The door closed.
01:09The room was left with just me and that herbal sashage, still swaying slightly above the headboard.
01:14The way he looked at me was cold.
01:15Cold as if he was staring at a stranger.
01:17He was my chosen mate.
01:18The mate I chose.
01:19Not the one the moon goddess chose for me.
01:21I thought choosing for myself meant I was guaranteed to be right.
01:24I spent six years proving one thing.
01:26I was wrong.
01:29Got it from the Scottish Highlands.
01:31Added some moonflower from the border.
01:33Best thing for sleep.
01:35Rest well.
01:36Be my most beautiful bride tomorrow.
01:40Natalie, don't be mad.
01:42Zoe's always had a big mouth.
01:44We drove all night.
01:47Crossed three states.
01:48We thought it was a surprise.
01:54I looked at the hair scattered across the carpet.
01:56It was dead.
01:56Living silver hair flowed with moonlight.
01:58When my grandmother died, her hair was silver to the very last strand.
02:00My mother broke a leg and her hair still fell silver to her waist.
02:03That was the power of the Warwick She-Wolves bloodline.
02:05Not decoration, but a vessel of strength.
02:07The root of sensing beasts calling upon moonlight and shielding the pack.
02:10Now it lay like snipped, dead electrical wires.
02:12Blanketing the floor in a dark mass.
02:14The moment it left my scalp, the luster died.
02:16I tried to extend my senses, reaching toward the window.
02:18Nothing.
02:18That sensory domain, once as clear as flowing water, felt like it had been filled with cement overnight.
02:22As if something, at some point, had already died.
02:25And I didn't even know when that moment had started.
02:29I was just curious.
02:31What kind of woman is worthy of Alpha Liam's mark?
02:35Now I see.
02:37Unworthy.
02:40Every wolf in that room understood exactly what she meant.
02:43Chosen mate.
02:44Pledged mate.
02:45I chose him.
02:46He chose me.
02:47I thought that was love.
02:48It wasn't until tonight that I realized.
02:50This so-called choice was nothing but a handout he could snatch back whenever he felt like it.
02:54Natalie.
02:55Zoe meant no harm.
02:59She's been like this since we were kids.
03:01Never thinks before she speaks.
03:03Don't hold it against her.
03:05Whether I think you're worthy or not, Liam's still gonna mark you.
03:09So what are you still upset about?
03:13Just drape a long veil over your head tomorrow?
03:16Who's going notice?
03:17I said nothing.
03:19I didn't cry either.
03:20From the moment I woke up until now, not a single tear had fallen.
03:24Liam sighed and reached for my hand.
03:26I pulled away.
03:28He froze.
03:29He probably never imagined I would pull away.
03:31After they left, I sat there, pressing my palms against my temples.
03:35That pain was back.
03:36Not the stinging from having my hair shaved off, but something deeper.
03:39A burning sensation like something was struggling desperately to break out from within.
03:43This feeling had actually been following me for six years now.
03:46Zoe is my second-in-command.
03:49She has no filter, but she means well.
03:51Let's leave it at that, okay?
03:53His voice softened.
03:55His calming scent washed over me.
03:57Natalie, I gave you the Sanch.
03:59If I knew Zoe would use it to pull something like this, I-
04:01He didn't finish.
04:03I looked at his face.
04:05A face I had looked at for so many years.
04:09Twelve years old, a bunch of young wolves were bullying me.
04:12Liam shattered one of their jaws.
04:14He got suspended for a month.
04:17He said it was worth it.
04:19Fifteen.
04:20My first awakening.
04:22But it wasn't a full wolf form, just the senses.
04:26He showed up at my father's estate gore the very next morning.
04:29He didn't wait a single day.
04:31That very day, something deep within my scalp trembled lightly,
04:35like the tip of a thread quietly pulling taut in a certain direction.
04:38I paid it no attention.
04:40All I saw was Liam standing in the morning light.
04:43His eyes red-rimmed.
04:45Eighteen.
04:46Before he was deployed to the north, he gripped my hand at the airport,
04:50eyes reddening, and said he'd come back.
04:53And hold the marking ceremony with me.
04:55He spent three years out there.
04:57I spent three years waiting for him in my apartment in New York.
05:02Every full moon, that thread buried deep in my soul would burn hot once.
05:06I thought it was longing.
05:08And now, that satchad was still hanging above the headboard, making me sick.
05:13I didn't press him for more answers.
05:15The answers no longer mattered.
05:18Did he know about Zoe's plan?
05:20Did it make a difference?
05:22He indulged her.
05:23Like he always did.
05:26That wasn't the first time he'd indulged her at my expense.
05:30Last year, I practically begged my father for permission to visit him in the Northern Territory.
05:34I stood outside his tactical tent for three hours.
05:36I had someone announced my arrival three times.
05:39Zoe had posted a sign outside the tent.
05:41No entry.
05:42Authorized personnel only, including Natalie.
05:45He walked out and looked at me.
05:46His face was cold.
05:48Blame yourself.
05:49I should have known back then.
05:51That was the first time I truly felt it.
05:54My place in his heart didn't even weigh as much as a prank from his second-in-command.
05:58Natalie, do you have to be this petty?
06:00Liam's voice was trembling.
06:01Zoe is my second-in-command.
06:03Do you know how many times she saved my life up north?
06:05She bled for three years in the Northern Territory.
06:08Gave way more than a sheltered princess like you who hides in your safe apartment.
06:11Moping about how lonely you are.
06:13You see every other woman as a rival in your head.
06:16Zoe's vision is far bigger than yours.
06:18What fills her heart is the safety of the entire pack.
06:21And you?
06:22You can't even see beyond the four walls of this apartment.
06:25Zoe tugged at his sleeve.
06:27Liam, that's enough.
06:29She's still the mate you're going to mark.
06:32So what?
06:33Liam shook off her hand.
06:35She's been living in her comfort zone for too long.
06:38Her world is this small.
06:40Zoe just wanted to test your alertness as a werewolf.
06:43It's the most basic prank in any pack.
06:45Why can't you just let it go?
06:46I sat on the bed and listened to every single word he said.
06:50That burning thread pulled tighter than ever before.
06:53Like something in a distant direction was trembling with fury.
06:56Not for Liam, but for me.
06:58I pressed my hand to my chest.
07:00I wanted to tell myself to let go of Liam.
07:02I thought I already had, but there was a dull ache in my chest.
07:07I looked at the hair on the carpet.
07:09My hair.
07:10And then I knew.
07:11I hated him.
07:13Once hatred takes root, there's no going back.
07:15The sky was growing light.
07:17The sound of a delivery truck came from the street below.
07:19Liam's expression shifted.
07:20He immediately took those inner circle members and slipped out through the fire escape.
07:23My mother, Sarah, pushed the door open.
07:25She was holding a cup black coffee.
07:26She glanced at the hair all over the floor.
07:27The cup wobbled in her hand.
07:29Coffee spilling onto the carpet.
07:30Natalie, who did this?
07:32I heard Zoe's soft laugh from the alley below.
07:35Mom, look at me.
07:36I need you to do something for me.
07:38Right now.
07:38I didn't dig through the ventry drawer.
07:40I didn't take out any ancient tokens.
07:42I closed my eyes and pressed down on my own chest.
07:44There was a thread there.
07:45It had been faintly present since the day I awakened at 15.
07:47Like a strand of silver spider thread buried deep within my wolf nature.
07:50I didn't choose that thread.
07:51It appeared without my permission the year I turned 15.
07:53It was the fated mate bond.
07:54True mate.
07:54Destined by fate itself.
07:56I had deliberately ignored it for six years because I thought the person I chose was the right one.
07:59Now I understood.
08:00The moon goddess never chooses wrong.
08:02I took a deep breath and gathered all my despair and rage into a silent howl.
08:06Pushing it out along that bond.
08:07It wasn't a cry for help.
08:09It was the first time in six years that I actively said, I'm here.
08:12That force was ancient.
08:13More primal than my family's blood.
08:15Like a current of silver electricity.
08:17It pierced through the steel and concrete of Manhattan.
08:19Through the morning light shooting towards a specific direction.
08:21Upper east side.
08:22On the other end of my soul someone was waiting.
08:24That end, almost in the same instant, without a moment's hesitation, responded.
08:27Meanwhile, upper east side, New York.
08:30The ancient estate that was never open to outsiders.
08:32Nicholas stood before the floor to ceiling windows.
08:34He was holding an old pocket watch in his hand.
08:36It was too old.
08:36The gilded edges worn down to the brass beneath.
08:38A photo was embedded inside the watch cover.
08:40The profile of a 15-year-old girl at her awakening ceremony.
08:43That silver hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall.
08:45Six years ago, he first sensed that bond at the awakening ceremony.
08:49That scent belonging to her rushed into his soul, like a flame locked into his very bones.
08:53But, she said, she had chosen Lian.
08:55So he sealed that bond deep within his soul and waited for her.
08:59Waited for six years.
09:00In those six years, that bond was like a piece of shrapnel buried in his marrow.
09:05He felt it every single day.
09:07And every single day, he had to actively suppress it.
09:09There were a few times he nearly lost control.
09:12His second-in-command found him more than once in the early morning.
09:15Half the walls of his study smashed apart by his bare hands.
09:19He never explained.
09:20He just cleaned it up.
09:22Kept waiting.
09:23His second-in-command appeared at the door and bowed his head.
09:26Alpha, our people in the city detected a mate bond activation signal.
09:30Source, Miss Natalie Warwick.
09:31Target locked on you.
09:33The second-in-command paused.
09:34A cautious surprise in his voice.
09:36We didn't have time to react.
09:37You had already accepted it.
09:38Nicholas snacked the watch cover shut.
09:40In those golden wolf eyes was a killing intent, suppressed for far too long, that had
09:44finally found a righteous outlet.
09:46His fingers squeezed the watch case until the metal let out a faint groan.
09:49Send a reply to Miss Warwick.
09:51The ceremony proceeds as planned.
09:53Leave the rest to me.
09:54The second-in-command was about to withdraw, but was called back.
09:57One more thing.
09:57Bring out my mother's coronation crown.
09:59Notify Paris to dispatch a team of jewelists overnight.
10:01Adjust the measurements to Miss Warwick's file.
10:03I want it in New York before sunrise tomorrow.
10:05Also, pull the application documents from the alliance.
10:08Joint confirmation from the three founding families.
10:10I submitted it three weeks ago.
10:11Understood.
10:12The final arbitration only requires notifying the three alphas to seal it.
10:15Complete it tonight.
10:16The second-in-command left to carry out the orders.
10:18Nicholas placed the pocket watch back into his chest pocket, right against his heart.
10:23Then, to the empty room, he said six words, very softly.
10:28Not waiting anymore.
10:29Not this time.
10:30By evening, the reply arrived.
10:32Just one line.
10:33The ceremony proceeds as planned.
10:35Leave the rest to me.
10:36Along with the letter came a high-end carrying case.
10:38Opened, a homemade lace wig.
10:40So finely crafted that even my wolf eyes couldn't tell it was fake.
10:43A full set of custom diamond crown and jewelry.
10:45I couldn't sleep at all that night.
10:47I sat by the window, fingers tracing the pure white wedding dress.
10:51For the first time in all these years, it wasn't Liam on my mind.
10:54I truly hated him.
10:55In just a few more hours, I would be wearing this wedding dress standing before another alpha.
11:00Nicholas, whom I had seen a few times at alliance meetings but had barely exchanged
11:04words with.
11:05And he sent a wig and a crown.
11:07Like it was nothing.
11:08I held the crown in my hands.
11:10Moonlight struck the diamond facets, scattering fine silver light looking exactly like the strands
11:15of my hair that had died on that carpet.
11:17The thread in my chest lay warm and quiet.
11:20Not burning.
11:21Just warmth.
11:23The bedroom door was suddenly shoved open.
11:25Liam.
11:26Behind him.
11:26Zoe.
11:27This time, he didn't bring anyone else.
11:29He saw me sitting there, holding the crown in my hands.
11:32The crest engraved on that crown was the wolf head emblem of the Lycan family.
11:36His face drained of color in an instant.
11:38Now we're even.
11:44I looked at those marks.
11:46A wave of nauseous trumped into my stomach.
11:49That's Sache.
11:50You inhaled it and fell unconscious.
11:52She shrugged.
11:52The curve of her lips carried no guilt whatsoever.
11:54But for an alpha male to smell it, the reaction is completely different.
11:57Wolf bowed.
11:58Not some sleep serb.
11:59A full dose knocks the she-wolf out cold.
12:01But the same out pushes a male alpha into a rut.
12:03This, I knew from the start.
12:04My hand froze.
12:05You knew.
12:06I looked into her eyes.
12:08You knew from the very beginning.
12:10Zoe met my gaze.
12:11She neither denied nor explained.
12:13In her eyes was only a raw, primal satisfaction of being marked by Liam.
12:16I was prepping your gear.
12:17Probably got some residue on my skin.
12:19Liam caught the scent.
12:20He lost control in front of me and went into a frenzy.
12:22Didn't even give me time to run.
12:24She recited the excuse, word for word, like a script she had memorized.
12:28So there it is.
12:28You lost your hair.
12:29I paid with my body.
12:31We're even.
12:31I understood.
12:32She knew about the dual effect of wolf fails from the start.
12:35That night was her design.
12:36Shave my hair, then use the residual herb to trigger Liam.
12:39Two birds with one stone.
12:40Strip away my bloodline marker, then use the mark to bind Liam to her for good.
12:43It wasn't an accident.
12:46Natalie.
12:47Given what happened, I need to give the pack an explanation.
12:51Tomorrow's marking ceremony.
12:53Let's postpone it for now.
12:55Postpone.
12:56Postpone again.
12:58I was 15 when he proposed.
13:00Now I'm 21.
13:02Six whole years.
13:04I had no more time to give him.
13:07I'm not postponing the ceremony.
13:10Natalie, do you have to be this impossible to reason with?
13:13Whether I'm easy to reason with or not, I'm putting on this wedding dress tomorrow.
13:21He stared at me for a long time.
13:22His gaze shifted from the wedding dress to the lion crown in my hands, then to my bare scalp.
13:27Fine.
13:28Since you have no intention of being considerate towards Zoe, all for a Luna title.
13:31He stopped at the door.
13:32Don't regret this.
13:33The door slammed shut behind me.
13:35I faced the mirror and put that wig on, securing the crown piece by piece.
13:41The woman in the mirror wore the crown of the lion family and a pure white wedding grass.
13:48She was nobody's second choice.
13:50Early the next morning, I stood before the mirror and put on that wig.
13:54I secured the diamond crown piece by piece.
13:56The pure white wedding dress was elegant and magnificent.
14:00It was time.
14:01My mother held my arm as we walked out.
14:04The apartment building's front door swung open, and I saw Liam.
14:07He was wearing an old leather jacket.
14:09Behind him were two mud-splashed pickup trucks idling by the curb.
14:12No stretch Lincoln, no wedding convoy.
14:14A few of his men slouched in the truck beds, looking hungover.
14:16There wasn't even a single decorative white rose on the vehicles.
14:21Natalie.
14:23My mom said the ceremony was canceled.
14:25The whole drive here, I kept thinking you really weren't going to stay with me anymore.
14:28But now, seeing you dressed like this and coming out, I knew you changed your mind.
14:33I looked at those two beat-up pickup trucks.
14:35Is this how an alpha comes to claim his Luna?
14:38You're the one who insisted on holding the ceremony today.
14:40Considering Zoe's situation, I had to follow the protocol for accepting an unranked stray into the pack to pick you
14:45up.
14:45We'll hold a proper formal ceremony later once things settle down.
14:48Unranked stray.
14:50Handmade lace trail.
14:51The Lycan family crown.
14:52Six generations of Warwick she-wolf bloodline flowing through me.
14:56And he said, unranked stray.
14:58The last half inch of warmth in my heart went completely cold.
15:02I am Natalie Wark, and I am nobody's backup plan.
15:09Look closely at what I'm wearing.
15:11I'm not going anywhere to be someone's sideshow.
15:16I told you yesterday, I have to give Zoe an explanation.
15:20She holds the real power.
15:21You hold the title.
15:22It's perfectly reasonable.
15:23You didn't have time to prepare?
15:27I let out a cold laugh.
15:29Liam, you proposed to me when I was 15.
15:34Six years.
15:36Six whole years.
15:38Who exactly-
15:38You're still holding on to that?
15:42Can you just try for once to see the bigger picture?
15:44Zoe just came down from the territory.
15:46The situation is complicated.
15:47Come with me today, you'll get everything you're owed.
15:48Do you really have to fight me on saving face right now?
15:50Liam instinctively turned sideways and reached for his gun.
15:52Heavy armored via back had just picked up truck gile and reached the scraping wall.
15:54Tires screamed against the asphalt.
15:55He snapped his head up.
15:56Those car doors slowly opened.
15:57Elite members in full tactical gear.
16:00Wolf emblems of the Lycan pack engraved on their chest plates sealed off the entire street.
16:04The luxury car boy trailing behind stretched for several blocks.
16:08Helicopters hovered overhead.
16:10The whole street went quiet.
16:12An alpha scent, carrying the raw edge of cedar and gunpowder, brutally crushed its way through
16:16the entire street.
16:17It wasn't meant to soothe.
16:18It was pure physiological domination.
16:21Liam's wolf let out a whimper deep in his soul.
16:23At the very front of the convoy, the door opened.
16:26Nicholas stepped out of the car.
16:27Tailored pure black suit.
16:28Golden eyes that held no warmth whatsoever in the morning light.
16:31He looked at Liam, looking down on him.
16:33Only one sentence.
16:34My true mate.
16:36You think someone like you can treat her with such disrespect?
16:39His voice wasn't loud, like a razor blade slicing through the air.
16:43Do you have a death wish, Liam?
16:45Liam's face went utterly white.
16:47One spoke of an engagement.
16:49The other spoke of a faded bond.
16:51Even the words were different.
16:52For the first time in six years, I realized, some things, the moon goddess had chosen for
16:57me from the very beginning.
16:58I had only pretended not to hear.
17:00And now, someone had come to settle the score on my behalf.
17:04Every last debt, collected one by one.
17:06Liam stood there, looking at me, then at Nicholas, who was radiating terrifying pressure.
17:12Natalie.
17:13What is going on here?
17:15Why is Nicholas saying you're his true mate?
17:17Because today is my bonding ceremony with him.
17:20I didn't look back.
17:21Liam, stop wasting my time.
17:23Footsteps chased after me from behind.
17:25Liam rushed forward, trying to grab my hand.
17:27An elite member's palm slammed into his chest, shoving him back.
17:30Liam's voice panicked.
17:31What did you say?
17:31You have a mate vow with me first.
17:32The one you bond with can only me.
17:34How could you-
17:35I am Natalie Warwick, and I am nobody's backup plan.
17:38I turned around.
17:39Six years.
17:40Liam, I gave you six years to choose.
17:43Every single time you chose to make me wait.
17:45I'm done.
17:46With that, I turned and sat in the back seat of the Mihach.
17:49The moment the car door closed, I saw Liam still frozen in place.
17:52Frozen.
17:53Lost.
17:53Nicholas stood beside the car, looking down at him.
17:55Liam, I'm genuinely curious.
17:57He pulled out a piece of heavy, textured letter paper.
17:59What made you think the silver wolf bloodline of the Warwick family, my life and family's
18:02true mate, would be willing to go to your pack and be an empty trophy?
18:05He unfolded the document.
18:06On the bottom left were pressed three bloodline signatures that could not be forged.
18:09The three founding families holding the highest seats in the North American Werewolf Alliance.
18:13Alliance ruling.
18:14Three weeks ago, I already submitted the application.
18:16This morning, the final arbitration was signed and filed across all of North America.
18:19Before sunset, this will be written into every single pack registry.
18:21In other words, the entire continent's wolf packs now know.
18:24You attempted to go against, on the alliance.
18:26Resolution of the three founding families.
18:29He withdrew the document.
18:31His eyes so cold, they seemed to want to nail Liam to the floor.
18:34Rather, Liam, you should be at the Northern Border Defense guarding your post right now.
18:40What are you doing in Manhattan?
18:44He paused.
18:46No wonder you never received that emergency mate contract termination notice sent to the front lines.
18:54Natalie was planning to tell you in person yesterday that she was dissolving the chosen mate contract and you hung
19:00a sleeping sashay over her bed and left without even giving her the chance to open her mouth.
19:06Abandoning your post without leave.
19:09Sneaking back into the core city.
19:11Right under the alliance's nose.
19:14Nicholas tilted his head slightly.
19:16What do you think the joint alphas would make of this news?
19:20A misunderstanding or an insurrection.
19:26Requiring a purge?
19:27He turned and sat in the car, giving orders into the comms unit.
19:31His voice was cold as ice.
19:33Convoy, move out.
19:34Going home.
19:36By the time the ceremony ended, the sky was already dark.
19:39The private estate was brilliantly lit.
19:42Wolfpack leaders and guests from all sides had gradually disperred.
19:45The master bedroom door was pushed open.
19:50In the mirror, the corner of his mouth curved into an arc, gentler than any expression I had ever seen
19:55on his face.
19:56Liam is outside.
19:57He wants to see you.
19:59I looked at him through the mirror.
20:01I don't want to see him.
20:02Nicholas flashed me a tactical hand signal.
20:04Small, short, sharp.
20:06The curve of his lips didn't fade.
20:08Do you want to see him now?
20:09He asked.
20:11I slowly nodded.
20:12Now I can see him.
20:14The basement.
20:15A reinforced room.
20:16Guards posted outside the door.
20:17When I walked in, there was a group of people standing in the room.
20:19Liam in the center.
20:20Those few interduccal members were there too.
20:22Zoe was there too.
20:23The moment that group saw me.
20:25The most submissive posture would a werewolf assume to show surrender.
20:29Luna!
20:30Please give Alpha Liam another chance.
20:32Luna, Alpha Liam does care about you.
20:35He talked about you every day in the territory.
20:37Said he'd come back and marry you as soon as the war was over.
20:39Said it for three years.
20:41Luna, you and Alpha Liam grew up together.
20:43All those years of history.
20:44You can't just...
20:45They scrambled over each other, listing all the ways Liam had been good to me.
20:49My heart felt nothing at all.
20:52Enough!
20:53Zoe suddenly spoke up.
20:54The only one among them who hasn't lowered her head.
20:57She stood there, chin held high.
20:59What are you begging for?
21:00What's so special about her?
21:02Zoe looked at me.
21:03A smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth.
21:05Natalie, I underestimated you.
21:07Yesterday you were here playing the victim and today you've lashed onto Nicholas.
21:10Playing the victim while grabbing benefits for yourself.
21:12I didn't think a sheltered flower like you would be so calculating.
21:16I said nothing.
21:18Liam spoke up.
21:21That voice was so, so harsh.
21:23I had never heard anything like it from him.
21:25Zoe, shut your mouth!
21:28Zoe froze.
21:29She turned her head to look at Liam.
21:31What did you say?
21:32Liam stared her down with deadly intensity.
21:34His golden Alpha eyes were bloodshot.
21:37I said shut your mouth.
21:38Bow your head.
21:40Zoe's face instantly flushed red.
21:42Liam, have you lost your mind?
21:44You're using Alpha command on me?
21:46You're making me bow my head to her?
21:48Liam roared, releasing his dominance.
21:50Bow your head!
21:52Zoe's knees buckled.
21:53Her neck finally dropped.
21:54The expression on her face was anger and even more so defiance.
21:57Liam, you're yelling at me for her?
22:01Who am I?
22:01I'm your second in command.
22:03She turned around and bonded with Nicholas just like that.
22:05And you're making me bow to her?
22:07Liam ignored her completely.
22:08He turned his head to look at me.
22:10His eyes were red.
22:10His voice was shaking.
22:12Nate, I was wrong.
22:14I didn't respond.
22:15He moved closer, trying to touch me.
22:16I stepped back.
22:17I know I screwed up.
22:18The hair thing, those things I said.
22:20But Nate, Zoe did save my life.
22:23Up north, when I was nearly torn apart by feral wolves, Zoe dragged me out of the wreckage.
22:27She said she wanted to test your alertness.
22:30And I just, I just didn't stop her.
22:32The inner circle members kept their heads down and chimed in.
22:35Luna, Zoe saved the alpha.
22:38The alpha owes her his life.
22:39He couldn't just slap her in the face.
22:41The alpha has you in his heart.
22:42He just didn't know how to refuse Zoe.
22:44Liam spoke again.
22:45The pleading in his voice was almost overflowing.
22:47Nate, you can hit me, yell at me, anything.
22:51Just don't abandon me.
22:53I'm begging you.
22:54Please, don't leave.
22:56I pulled a small lockbox from my handbag, opened it.
22:59I tossed that herbal-scented zacho at his feet.
23:01Then why did you do this to me?
23:03Liam looked down at the sashes.
23:05He couldn't say another word.
23:08The day before yesterday, you came to my apartment.
23:11I wanted to tell you in person.
23:13I was dissolving our chosen mate contract.
23:16Six years.
23:17I was done waiting.
23:19I paused.
23:20But you didn't let me finish.
23:21You just hung this sanshan over my bed.
23:24Said something about it being the best thing for sleep.
23:26Told me to rest well.
23:28Then you left.
23:29You didn't even leave me the chance to open my mouth.
23:32Liam's face went pale.
23:33Nate, I really didn't know Zoe would-
23:35Didn't know.
23:36I cut him off.
23:37You knew exactly the kind of person Zoe is.
23:39You knew she was waiting in the hallway.
23:40You knew she turned your indulgence into her hunting ground.
23:42You just never asked.
23:43Because if you asked, you'd have to make a choice.
23:45And you were never willing to choose for me.
23:46I looked down at the sashes at my feet.
23:48Liam.
23:49My voice was calm.
23:51Like I was recounting in an old story from a long time ago.
23:54You told me it was moonflower from the Scottish Highlands inside there.
23:57The best thing for sleep.
23:58I raised my head and looked directly into his eyes.
24:01But it was wolf bone.
24:03You knew that.
24:04You hung it there yourself.
24:06Liam's lips moved.
24:08No sound came out.
24:10You said you didn't know what Zoe was going to do.
24:12But Liam, what was inside that sasha you knew perfectly well.
24:16You just chose not to ask what would happen next.
24:19Because if you asked, you'd have to stop her.
24:23And you never, ever intended to stop her.
24:25The basement went silent.
24:26Even the sound of breathing seemed to stop.
24:28Liam knelt on the floor.
24:29Sweat slid down the side of his face.
24:31His mouth opened.
24:32Those defensive words rolled around on his teeth.
24:34And in the end, they crumbled into a puff of air that was nothing at all.
24:36He didn't deny it.
24:37That was the final answer.
24:39Nicholas walked in.
24:40No suit jacket.
24:41The sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his forearms.
24:44His collar was open two buttons, revealing the edge of an old scar.
24:48Those golden eyes burned in the basement.
24:50He didn't look at anyone.
24:52He looked at me.
24:53In that single glance was no question, no hesitation.
24:57Only the silent confirmation that exists between true mates.
25:00Are you okay?
25:02What else do you need me to do?
25:04Then he turned and faced the room full of people.
25:06He didn't say a single word.
25:09He simply released his alpha horror.
25:11That force rolled over every corner of the room like a black tidal wave.
25:16No one could raise their head.
25:17No one could breathe.
25:19The inner circle members lay sprawled on the floor like prey with their throats seized.
25:23Even their groans were crushed in their throats.
25:25Zoe's knees slammed heavily onto the stone floor.
25:28The crisp sound of bone hitting rock.
25:30Liam was still standing.
25:32Every muscle in his body was sphezzling.
25:34Veins bulged on his forehead.
25:36His jaw was clenched so tight.
25:38It creaked.
25:39He was resisting.
25:40Using that third-rate alpha bloodline of his to resist Nicholas' dominance.
25:44Nicholas looked at him.
25:45Like looking at a bug still twitching its legs.
25:51Neil.
25:52His voice was calm.
25:53No roar.
25:54No threat.
25:55Just two words.
25:56Alpha command.
25:57The most primal, most unbreakable physiological domination of a higher-ranking alpha over a
26:01lower-ranking werewolf.
26:02Liam's knees shattered.
26:04The bones of both legs dislocated under the weight of that command.
26:07A dull, muffled snap.
26:08Liam collapsed to his knees like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
26:12His knees hit the stone.
26:13Blood seeped through his pant legs.
26:15He let out a piercing wolf howl.
26:18It was no longer a human sound.
26:20It was the wimp of a beast being subdued.
26:22The people in the room trembled on the floor in a heap.
26:25Nicholas stood before them.
26:26One hand casually tucked into his pants pocket.
26:30All of you, raise your heads.
26:32The necks of those people were yanked up as if by invisible threads.
26:36Forced to lift their faces.
26:37Their eyes were filled with pure terror.
26:38Take a good look at your handiwork.
26:40Look clearly at her face.
26:42Remember this face.
26:43Remember this basement.
26:44Remember what you did to a she-wolf.
26:46Because from today on, you won't have the chance to forget.
26:50Zoe knelt on the ground, trembling all over.
26:53Her lips quivered, trying to say something, but no sound came out.
26:58Nicholas's gaze landed on her.
26:59Without a single extra movement, he just precisely crushed his alpha aura down on her.
27:04Like a giant palm pressing down on Zoe's spine.
27:06Zoe's entire body was sent flying sideways.
27:08Smashing heavily against the cold stone wall.
27:15That sound was no longer arrogance.
27:17No longer promotion.
27:18It was the expression she had never worn on her lace before.
27:21Absolute fear.
27:24Zoe Miller.
27:26His voice was neither loud nor soft, like he was confirming a name on a file.
27:29Former second-in-command of the Northern 7th defense line absent without leave.
27:33Deliberate use of wolf's pain.
27:34Pre-methitated assault and destruction of bloodline mark against the lunar of the life.
27:39I won't kill you.
27:40A pause.
27:41Not because your combat record deserves respect.
27:43It's because dying would be too easy for you.
27:45Zoe's pupils violently contracted.
27:47She opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
27:49No sound came out.
27:51Her lips were trembling.
27:52Not from cold, not from pain, but from the primal terror of an apex predator finally catching up with her
27:57mind.
27:58The terror carved into the bones of every werewolf.
28:00Nicholas didn't look at her again.
28:02He turned to those few inner sunny members still spalled on the ground.
28:05As for the rest of you...
28:06Those people were completely terrified out of their minds.
28:08Alpha, Spaniel!
28:09Whales echoed through the basement.
28:11We were just following orders!
28:12We didn't know what Zoe was going to do to the Luna!
28:15We swear we didn't know!
28:18You laughed.
28:19His voice was light as a snowflake landing on a blade's edge.
28:23The night she was stripped of her bloodline marker, in that apartment, after Zoe finished her speech, you laughed.
28:30Every single wolf laughed.
28:32Those people trembled violently.
28:34If someone humiliated your Luna right in front of you, and you laughed, what do you think I should do
28:40with you?
28:41He didn't wait for their answer.
28:43The bonds severed simultaneously.
28:46A chorus of whales erupted in the basement.
28:49Some thrashed desperately.
28:51Some reached out, trying to grab the hem of my dress.
28:54Some slammed-played their foreheads against the floor until they bled.
28:58It was useless.
28:59The speed of the bond severance was as precise as a surgical procedure.
29:02One by one, they collapsed on the floor, seldom spawning mammoth.
29:06Golden pupils faded into murky gray.
29:07Elite warriors who had once followed Liam into battle on the northern battlefields now turned into a pack of strays
29:12sprawl on the ground.
29:13They didn't even have the strength to stand.
29:15The basement fell silent.
29:16Only the ragged breathing of Liam sprawled on the floor.
29:19The faint pulse of Zoe, still unconscious.
29:22But it wasn't over.
29:25Nicholas turned around, and gave a single nod to the enforcers at the door.
29:30The branding iron.
29:32Two armored elites stepped inside.
29:34They were carrying a portable silver furnace.
29:36Inside the furnace burned the shorthand of a silver branding iron.
29:40The iron glowed white-hot in the coals, emitting a blinding silver light in the dim basement.
29:46Silver was lethal to werewolves.
29:48Contact with skin caused burns that could never heal on their own.
29:52The scars would remain on the body forever.
29:55Like a shame that would never fade.
29:57The enforcers moved toward Zoe.
30:00She was already unconscious.
30:02But the moment the searing silver branding iron touched her neck, she still let out a piercing scream.
30:08That sound tore through the basement, tore through the estate, echoing long into the night.
30:13The iron was lifted.
30:14A palm-sized scar was left on her neck.
30:16A broken wolf head, the mark of a rogue.
30:18In the world of wolves, this means this person has been expelled from all packs.
30:22Any werewolf who sees her has the right to attack her.
30:25Any werewolf who shelters her shares her crime.
30:27True fear finally appeared in Liam's eyes.
30:30He scrambled backward with his shattered legs.
30:32Broken sounds escaped his mouth.
30:37The enforcers didn't look at him.
30:39They simply carried out the order.
30:41A second iron fell.
30:44Liam's howl shattered into sobs in his throat.
30:47Then the inner circle members, one by one, the iron fell.
30:50The stench of burning flesh permeated the entire basement.
30:53Wailing, pleading, the sizzle of silver searing skin all blended into one.
30:57It was over.
30:58I stood in the corner of the room and watched it all in silence.
31:01I didn't open my mouth to plead for anyone.
31:02They didn't deserve execution.
31:04That would be too easy.
31:05They should live.
31:06Live as the lowest form of existence.
31:09Waking up every morning and remembering in that silver scar that would never heal exactly who they were.
31:14A discarded wolf.
31:16The fringes of any pack would be their fate.
31:19Expulsion by any werewolf would be their daily life.
31:22Death was release.
31:24I didn't intend to give them release.
31:26Nicholas turned around and looked at me.
31:28In those golden pupils, that overwhelming killing in Versed was slowly receding.
31:32Replaced by a quiet inquiry meant only for a mate.
31:35He mouthed two words to me without making a sound, but I read them clearly.
31:39Enough?
31:39I nodded.
31:40He reached out, gently picked up the wig I had taken off and left lying on the table, and placed
31:44it back into my hands.
31:45His fingertips didn't touch my scalp.
31:47Let's go.
31:48Leave this to the enforcers to clean up.
31:50I didn't look back.
31:51Every step walking out of that basement with the stone steps beneath my feet ground the past six years into
31:55the powder.
31:56Left behind.
31:57No longer belonged to me.
31:59By the time we returned to the main hall, Alexander's figure had already disappeared down the estate corridor.
32:06He really was here tonight.
32:08Nicholas had told me using tactical hand symbols in the car, he came as a witness, to bear witness to
32:12a high-ranking bonding registered with the Alliance.
32:14One of the three founding family heads of the North American Alliance, Alexander Koval.
32:20But in the end, Nicholas didn't let him enter that basement.
32:26This is my personal matter.
32:29I don't need anyone else to adjudicate for me.
32:32I looked at him.
32:33You could have let Alexander handle it for you.
32:37That would have been too clean.
32:39He pulled his cuffs down, covering that old scar.
32:42His tone was casual.
32:44Some debts.
32:45You need to settle with your own hands.
32:48He turned and walked into the night.
32:51I watched his back.
32:53For a long, long time.
32:56Over the next few days, the estate gates remained tightly shut.
32:59Liam's family sent people to plead with me several times.
33:02I didn't see any of them.
33:03This day, I was on the terrace basking in the sun.
33:05The maid came to report that Liam's mother was waiting outside the estate's warrant iron gate and refused to leave.
33:10I got up and went to the gate.
33:11Liam's mother stood on the stone steps.
33:14Her hair was disheveled.
33:15Her eyes were red and swollen.
33:16Seeing me come out, she crawled forward on her hands and knees and prostrated herself at my feet.
33:20Luna, please.
33:21You grew up with him.
33:23You know his true nature.
33:24When you were kids, he always saved the best prey for you.
33:27That was real.
33:28You can't say none of that counted.
33:29I looked down at her.
33:31I haven't forgotten.
33:32But I also haven't forgotten.
33:34He knew full well Zoe was waiting in the hallway, and he still hung that sashy over my bed, closed
33:39the door, and left.
33:41Without leaving me a single word's worth of time.
33:43Liam's mother froze.
33:45I also haven't forgotten what he said.
33:47When he told me I'd enter his family as an unranked stray.
33:51Her face turned ashen.
33:53Madam, we're done here.
33:55The tears poured from Liam's mother's eyes again.
33:58But Natalie, he does care about you.
34:00He was just blinded by Zoe.
34:01It was a judgment personally handed down by Nicholas.
34:04No one can change it.
34:05I took a step back, pulling the hem of my dress out of her grasp.
34:08Don't let the gate hit you on the way out.
34:09I turned and walked back into the estate.
34:12Liam's mother's cries came from behind me.
34:14I didn't care anymore.
34:16The estate's wart iron gate slowly closed behind me.
34:19Those cries would never reach inside again.
34:21That night, Nicholas came to my bedroom.
34:24He sat across from me, watching me remove the lace wig, revealing my scalp, now covered
34:30with a layer of short, dark stubble.
34:33You're quite unfazed.
34:35I touched my scalp, smiled a little.
34:38It'll grow back eventually.
34:40I've always been curious.
34:41Nicholas' tone carried a casual probing.
34:43How did you become completely dead set against Liam overnight?
34:46My hand paused.
34:49I thought I'd have to wait for you a lot longer.
34:51He continued.
34:52I turned around to look at him.
34:54Wait.
34:55What do you mean, longer?
34:56There was no trace of a joke in his golden eyes.
34:59It means...
35:01My wolf claimed you.
35:03A long time ago.
35:05I couldn't speak.
35:06Do you remember your awakening ceremony when you were fifteen?
35:09I blinked.
35:10That day, your scent rushed into my senses.
35:13My wolf roared the same word over and over in my mind.
35:16Mate.
35:17I knew.
35:18That was the soul bond the Moon Goddess personally tied for us.
35:22A self-dificated curve tugged at the corner of his mouth, but his golden pupils were startlingly
35:28dark.
35:29But the very next day, Liam proposed a chosen mate contract to you.
35:33And you said yes.
35:34True mate.
35:35Not chosen.
35:36Not pledged.
35:37Not a choice that could be taken back.
35:39A knot the Moon Goddess tied between his soul and mine with a thread I couldn't see.
35:45Tied tight since I was fifteen years old.
35:48He knew.
35:49He had always known.
35:51And he waited six years.
35:53Not because he didn't want me.
35:56Because he respected my right to choose the wrong person for myself.
36:01You have no idea how much strength it took me to force down the wolf inside me.
36:05That wanted to tear his throat out.
36:08You waited for him in New York for three years and then three more.
36:11As the alpha of the Lycan family, I could have leveled the Northern Territory and take
36:15you by force.
36:16But the one thing I could never trample on was the free will the Moon Goddess granted you.
36:21I thought you loved him.
36:23Until a few days ago, when Alexander relayed to me that you intended to dissolve the contract.
36:28Nicholas smiled, with a fervent that had been suppressed for six years, finally tearing
36:32through the disguise.
36:33In that moment I knew.
36:35No need to wait any longer.
36:37The Moon Goddess returned my Luna to me.
36:41The night I got the news, I shifted into wolf form in the forest orde and ran for an entire
36:45night.
36:45I opened my mouth.
36:47So if I had never seen clearly, if I had insisted on binding myself to Liam, wouldn't
36:53you have just waited for nothing?
36:56Then I would have just leveled his territory and taken you anyway.
36:59I choked on his words.
36:59You're impossible.
37:00He laughed.
37:01His eyes crinkled with a wild grin.
37:03My pack's strength is God knows how many times greater than his pathetic little territory.
37:06Stealing a mate?
37:07Was Alexander going to blow my head off with a silver bullet?
37:10I shot him a helpless look.
37:11Nicholas put away his smile.
37:12Looked at me.
37:13His gaze was steady.
37:14Natalie.
37:14No one will ever make you wait again.
37:16He reached out and touched my short, bristly hair with extreme gentleness.
37:19His fingertips carried the scorching heat unique to the lichen bloodline, but the pressure
37:22on my scalp felt like touching a berry freshly picked from a branch, still wrapped in morning
37:27dew.
37:27This is more proof of your strength than any silver hair could ever be.
37:31He pulled a blood-stained wolf fang from his pocket and gently placed it in my palm.
37:34The enamel of the fang was cold.
37:36The dried blood was a dark, rusty color.
37:38This is the fang of the enemy leader who killed my uncle.
37:40I kept it to remind myself what hatred and strength are.
37:43His fingers lifted the back of my hand, folding my curled nubbles together, wrapping the wolf
37:46hail inside my palm.
37:47Now I'm giving it to you.
37:49His golden pupils contracted slightly under the lamplight, reflecting my bald head.
37:52Because you taught me what is more powerful than hatred.
37:55Outside the window, the roses his mother had planted with her own hands swayed gently in
37:59the night breeze.
38:00I looked down at the wolf fang in my palm.
38:03The bloodstains touched my fingerprints.
38:05Those dried traces of blood had once been one person's hatred.
38:10And now, they had become another person's promise.
38:15I raised my head and looked at him.
38:17Nicholas stood before me, with golden pupils reflecting the image of my bald head.
38:21The smile still languid at the corner of his mouth, but the depths of his eyes were serious.
38:26He had long since grown into a forest within my heart, one that could never be shaken again.
38:31From that night on, every lamp in the estate was lit for me.
38:35A photo of me appeared on his study desk, not the silver-haired girl from the awakening ceremony.
38:40It was a bold woman with calm eyes.
38:43He said that one was better.
38:46I asked him why.
38:48Because this one, you chose for yourself.
38:52Some strength doesn't need long hair to prove it.
38:57I strung the wolf fang onto a chain, and wore it close to my chest.
39:02Not as a warning.
39:04As a token.
39:05The silver hair grew back slowly over the following months.
39:08Still a moonlit silver.
39:10Still flowing with the power of the Warwick bloodline.
39:13But this time, when I extended my senses and reached out the window,
39:16that sensory domain, once sealed solid with cement, was flowing again.
39:20Clearer than before.
39:21Reaching further.
39:22I could even sense the lost heartbeat of a stray pup crossing Central Park two blocks away.
39:26I was a little stunned.
39:27Nicholas walked into the study and saw me spacing out.
39:30What's wrong?
39:31He asked.
39:32I thought after it was shaved off, even if it grew back, the senses wouldn't return.
39:37He sat down beside me.
39:39The silver hair is a vessel.
39:41But what fills that vessel is your own.
39:44Zoe shaved off your vessel.
39:46But no one can shave away your power.
39:48It was always there, it just temporarily couldn't find an outlet.
39:53I looked at him.
39:56You knew all along it would grow back.
39:58I've always known.
39:59He shrugged dismissively.
40:01That look on his face made me want to laugh.
40:03The Alliance sent several inquiries about the follow-up to the exile of Liam and his former
40:07subordinates.
40:08Nicholas replied with only one line.
40:10Handled per the code.
40:12He didn't say another word about it.
40:13Zoe was reportedly sighted by someone on the western border.
40:17The silver scar on her neck made it impossible for her to stay in any pack for more than three
40:21days.
40:22She never came looking for me.
40:24Probably knew it was useless.
40:25Liam's mother still occasionally had letters delivered.
40:28Each letter was shorter than the last.
40:31The final one had only one line.
40:33On the old northern battlefield, he wowed it all night long alone.
40:37I folded the letter and placed it in the deepest part of a drawer.
40:42No reply.
40:44Some wounds no apology can heal.
40:47When winter came, all the roses on the back hill of the estate bloomed.
40:50Nicholas said his mother planted them when she was alive.
40:53They hadn't bloomed in decades.
40:55This year, for some unknown reason, they all bloomed overnight.
40:59I stood among the flowers.
41:01My newly grown silver hair had it already reaches the waist.
41:04Moonlight spilled over it, flowing with living silver.
41:07Nicholas walked up from behind and draped a wool shog over my shoulders.
41:11Cold?
41:12I shook my head.
41:13He rested his chin on the top of my head and stood there quietly for a long time.
41:18There's one thing I've never asked you.
41:20He suddenly spoke.
41:23What?
41:23That morning.
41:25The moment you sent that signal along the true maid bond.
41:28Were you afraid?
41:30I thought about it.
41:33I was.
41:35Afraid you wouldn't respond.
41:36He turned me around and looked at me.
41:38His golden pupils were so gentle under the moonlight that they didn't belong to an alpha.
41:43I would never not respond.
41:45He said.
41:46I waited six years.
41:47Wait another six.
41:48Wait another sixty.
41:49As long as you call, I will always answer.
41:52I looked at him and smiled.
41:53The wind blew in from the back hill.
41:56The roses all across the garden swayed gently under the moonlight.
41:59Those flowers were white as snow.
42:02White as my silver hair.
42:03White as everything that starts over from the beginning.
42:05I placed my hand in his palm.
42:08Let's go home.
42:10He squeezed my hand tightly.
42:13Okay.
42:14Okay.
42:15I Hofstra said.
42:15I had to cut, right?
42:16That's all.
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