Chapter 16
I refused without hesitation.
“No. My parents and family are in Blood Moon Pack. Shadowclaw Pack… I’m done with it.”
Benjamin forced a smile, his face quickly hardening.
His guardian wolf stirred, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
“Lanie, you’ll regret this. You’ll come crawling back!”
“I won’t give you that chance.” My perceptive wolf, still humming with the residual power from its recent awakening, sharpened my senses. I knew this was the right decision, even if my heart ached.
Zoe Jackson gestured, and his pack’s enforcers subdued Benjamin and Adam, binding their hands and feet before loading them onto a Blood Moon Pack transport. Zoe’s warrior wolf pulsed with barely contained power; the act of dominance was clear.
A flicker of apprehension, however, crossed his face. His wolf, accustomed to absolute control, sensed a shift in the dynamic.
“Lanie, does this scare you? Do you think I’m too forceful, not gentle enough?”
He’d risen to the top of the Jackson Pack using less-than-gentle methods.
He didn’t want to display this side of himself to me, to reveal the insecurity simmering beneath his Alpha facade.
I looked at him.
In that moment, the distance between us, usually vast, seemed to shrink.
The scent of his pheromones, usually overwhelming, now felt almost…vulnerable. My wolf sensed his unease.
I shook my head, smiling.
“Why would it? This is perfect.”
Two less threats to my newly found freedom.
I hadn’t expected Benjamin and Adam to follow me to Shadowclaw Pack.
I’d imagined that without my interference, they’d pursue Qiana openly. Wouldn’t they end up together, living under the same roof? Especially since Qiana seemed interested.
Her wolf, however, held a deceptive calm.
I figured they were just adjusting to my absence. People get attached to things; a sacred artifact kept for generations, a bond shared for over two decades. It’s natural to feel a sense of loss when that changes.
But time, like a Blood Dormancy Period, heals all.
I returned to the Jackson Pack den with Zoe Jackson. On the transport, the rumble of the engine mirrored the turmoil in Benjamin and Adam’s minds. What had they accomplished?
Their guardian and shadow wolves both felt the sting of failure.
They’d been too late.
Why had I gotten married?
They recalled my earlier hesitation when they’d hinted at their feelings. They’d seen my internal struggle. I was torn then. I didn’t want to hurt either of them. Choosing one would deeply wound the other. That’s why I’d delayed making a decision. I’d even preferred maintaining at
platonic blood bond. My feelings for either of them hadn’t reached the point of true love.
Their wolves understood that too. They didn’t want to ruin their long-standing pack bond.
So they decided to force my hand.
That’s when Qiana appeared. Her facade was thin; a little investigation revealed her family wasn’t as impoverished as she claimed. She came from a small village; her parents, though struggling, managed to send her to the Pack’s university for art and design studies. They even paid for her education. She’d transferred her residence to the university. After graduation, Qiana borrowed a significant sum of money from home, severing ties with her family.
She’d latched onto me after working at the Pack Council. Benjamin and Adam had only planned to use her as a catalyst, to make me jealous and
confront my feelings, forcing
me to choose one of them.
