Chapter 9
I threw on a coat and stood up. “Take me to him.”
Outside the villa, Gamma Samuel stood at the base of the stone steps in a white shirt. Always the cool, refined gentleman. Only now, his hair was a mess, blood still drying at his temple. He looked like a man dragged through hell.
The second he saw me, his expression shifted. He rushed forward.
“Felicia,” he said, voice hoarse, “please–give me the Moonshade fruit.”
I looked at him quietly. “I only have one. If I give it to her, what happens to me if I ever need it?”
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“I swear,” he said, dropping his gaze for a heartbeat, “I will protect you with my life from this day on.”
I laughed. Just once. “Like how you protected me during the hunt?”
His face went pale. “That was… it was an accident. Larissa was alone–I couldn’t leave her.“”
“The Moonshade fruit is rare,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m not handing it over for free. Three conditions. Agree, and it’s yours.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Name them.”
“One–kneel here, all night.”
He flinched.
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“Two–you will attend my wedding day. You will stand there and listen when I announce who I’m marrying. No excuses.”
He clenched his jaw. “And the third?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Fulfill the first two and we’ll talk.”
With that, I turned on my heel and walked away. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d do it. Gamma Samuel was proud–too proud to kneel before anyone, especially in front of the pack’s servants. But just as I reached the door, I heard it.
Thud.
I spun around.
He was on his knees. Just like that.
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My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t know if it was shock, pity, or… something else. He was really going to do it. For Larissa.
If one day he realizes he not only mistook the wrong woman… but also chose the wrong fated mate–will he regret it?
I couldn’t let go of that compass Larissa had. Something about it gnawed at me, so I eventually asked Queenie to dig around during the next witch gathering.
But surprisingly, we didn’t find the answers there–we found them on the black market.
That compass… it’s nearly extinct on the werewolf continent. Turns out, it was crafted by a dark witch.
Its purpose? To deceive a werewolf’s wolf. To fake the bond of a fated mate.
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Anyone wearing it can manipulate a werewolf into believing they’re their destined
one.
The moment I found out, my first instinct was–Samuel really was my true mate.
But now? None of that matters anymore.
I’ll never accept him as mine.
So let everything go according to the original plan.
That night, snow began to fall.
And he knelt through all of it.
By morning, when I opened my window, I saw him still there. Covered in snow, his lips pale, his shoulders stiff.
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I tossed the Moonshade fruit down. He caught it, fingers trembling.
“Thank you, Felicia,” he said, voice raw from cold and fatigue. Then he paused. “I’ll come to your wedding day…”
He looked up, something unreadable in his
eyes.
“To marry you.”
I blinked. Wait–what?
He thought I was asking him to attend so he could marry me?
I nearly laughed out loud.
No, Samuel. I want you there to watch me marry someone else.
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After he left, Queenie came in and said Larissa had been saved. Samuel had stayed by her side the entire time, not sleeping, not leaving. I didn’t feel a thing hearing it.
Not anger. Not jealousy. Just… nothing.
The night before the wedding, I was trying on my dress in front of the mirror when I heard something outside.
“Who’s there?”
A flash of red swept past the balcony.
Beta Kevin dropped in like he owned the place, holding a gift–wrapped box and grinning like trouble. “Wedding present.”
I raised a brow. “It’s not even the wedding yet. Why now?”
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“I might not be around tomorrow,” he said, shrugging. “Got some travel plans.”
I glared. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He stepped closer, that smirk softening into something I didn’t quite understand. “Felicia… do you really want me to stand there and watch you marry another man?”
My throat tightened. Before I could say a word, he was already backing away.
“If you’re not afraid of me crashing your big day,‘ he said with a wink, “I’ll be there.”
And then he disappeared into the night like the maddening enigma he was.
I opened the box.
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Inside was a bag of pine nuts–shelled, cleaned, perfect.
My favorite.
I hadn’t eaten them in years. Samuel hated the smell, so I just… stopped.
But Kevin remembered.
He knew.
He must’ve always known.
The day of the wedding, every wolf in the Moonfang Pack came.
The front of the Packhouse was packed with people, murmuring excitedly.
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“It has to be Gamma Samuel, un
“Of course. Everyone knows Felicia’s loved him for years. Who else could it be?”
I stood at the top of the stairs beside my father, Alpha Godfrey. The four candidates stood below–Samuel, Kevin, Jeffrey, and Elbert.
My father smiled and reached for the groom’s crown.
I stepped forward.
“Dad, let me announce it.”
I took the crown in my hands and looked out at the sea of faces.
Jeffrey and Elbert stood calmly, clearly aware they were never in the running.
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Larissa was there too, glaring up at me with tear–reddened eyes.
Samuel… his eyes were lowered, but his fingers were clenched so tight I thought they might snap.
And Kevin?
He leaned against a column, arms crossed, smirk intact–but his eyes were different. Guarded. Almost unreadable.
I took a breath.
“I, Felicia Howell, choose Kevin Menzie as my mate.”
The crowd froze.
Samuel’s head snapped up, shock written
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across every inch of his face.
Kevin’s smirk faltered, his phone slipped from his hand and hit the ground.
I smiled at him, heart racing.
“Kevin Menzie,” I said, “will you be my groom?”
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