Third Person’s POV
Velda smirked. “I can’t mimic her meekness. But if I were to <b>pretend </b>to be sweet <b>and </b>coo…”
She crossed her arms, <b>forced </b>a sugary grin, and drawled, “Honey…”
She shuddered dramatically. “Ugh, goosebumps! How does she stand being so
fake?”
Ulrik shuddered too, but the act reminded him of Adide her gentle voice always firm, her posture <b>straight </b>as a wolf’s pride
g, never bending to please.
Velda strode onto the boardwalk, herbat boots tapping sharply.
It was a pity they couldn’t keep half her assets, but with Adide gone, Velda would be the undisputed Luna.
She no longer had to persuade herself with the title of “secondary mate.”
Ulrik stayed <b>behind</b>, sitting on akeside bench.
<b>The </b>parchment he received that afternoon zed like <b>a </bser, piercing through his mental fog.
Memories, buried by battle and ambition, surfaced slowly<b>–</b>ripples on theke <b>bringing </b>fragments to light.
He remembered the first time he saw Adide at a werewolf gathering, <b>standing </b>by a floor–to–ceiling window, conversing with
elders.
When <b>he came </b>to <b>Frostfang </b>to court her, <b>she </b>sat on a leather <b>sofa</b>, twirling her father’s old badge. “<b>I </b>want a mate who honors wolf
<b>traditions</b>—no lovers, no breeders. <b>Can </b>you do that?”
He’d pledged his life to her then, his heart swelling with <b>pure </b>joy.
He <b>recalled </b>the wedding preparations, the emergency orders on the day of their bonding ceremony.
When he <b>said </b>goodbye to Adide at the pack <b>borders</b>, the <b>heart</b>–wrenching <b>reluctance </b>he still vividly <b>remembered</b>.
At that time, <b>his </b><b>mind </b>was filled with the iplete <b>bonding </b><b>ceremony</b>–he was supposed to fully mark her in the bedroom, yet all he <b>could </b>do was watch her figure <b>grow </b><b>smaller </b>in the distance, the white hem of her dress lifted by the airflow, like a silver wolf eager to spread its wings.
Later<b>, </b>as the campaign <b>against </b>the Northern Tribe <b>progressed</b>, many wolf warriors perished.
He didn’t <b>know </b>when his turn would <be</b>, and at that <b>moment</b>, he stopped thinking about Adide, focusing instead on strategizing with <b>Velda </b>and the wolf warriors on how to defeat the enemy.
He witnessed Velda shift into a massive <b>gray </b>wolf, her <b>ws </b><b>bared </b>against the Northern Tribe’s wolves.
In <b>that </b>moment, he realized female wolves could be so powerful.
+15 Bonus
He began to see Adide’s carefully coordinated scarves and handmade cooldes as relics of a parallel world.
On nights in the trenches eatingpressed rations, he preferred listening to <b>Velda </b>analyze enemy fortifications, watching her
dagger trace <b>attack </b>routes in the sand, her eyes reflecting <b>determination</b>.
He fell for Velda when she shared her beliefs: <b>female </b>wolves needed no special protection–strength was its own shield
Her confidence, her sharp analysis of battle <b>ns</b>, <b>her </b>unwavering gaze–she was everything Adide wasn’t.
Her noble life, he understood, was safeguarded by the blood of wolf warriors.
He conveniently forgot the seven graves in Frostfang’s cemetery, bearing Adide’s family names.
<b>Returning </b>to Frostfang, Adide walked past the Packhouse.
The pack grounds bore signs of renovation. The Packhouse <b>and </b><b>the </b><b>Alpha </b><b>and </b>Beta residences had all been refitted with new doors, erasing all traces of blood and w marks.
Even the bloodstains on the walls, those that refused to wash away, had been covered with a coat of whitewash.
Elder Halsey had called in favors from distant n members to help unload <b>and </b>organize the moving truck.
After the bustle died down<b>, </b>Halsey and Adide strolled the za.
Frostfang used to be lively and bustling, but now it <b>was </b>eerily quiet.
<b>Halsey </b>said, “Frostfang’s yours to rebuild. The Omegas <b>are </b>just <b>the </b>few you brought from Bloodmoon, and the wolf guards are rmingly few. You need to <b>recruit </b>new members. I can help with the Omegas.”
“Thank you,” Adide said. “Jessica and Ivy will handle it.”
“No trouble at all. We’re <b>Davidson </b>kin,” <b>Halsey </b><b>sighed</b>. “Your father, Alpha <b>Bentley</b>, used to <b>share </b>battle stories. We were so
proud of him. Now, no Davidsons step into the arena.”
Adide fell silent. “Honores in many forms.”
“Sever ties with the Tenars,” Halsey warned at the pack’s edge.
“I understand.”
“One <b>day</b>, Ulrik will regret this.”
“Maybe,” <b>Adide </b>said firmly. “But I don’t <b>care</b><b>.</b>”
Halsey nodded approvingly and <b>turned </b>to leave Frostfang
<b>Adide </b>returned to the Packhouse and tasked Jessica with recruiting new Omegas <b>for </b>the pack, emphasizing the need for careful
selection.
Adide still <b>resided </b>in <b>her </b>old house, which bore no traces of renovation.
<b>Since </b>her departure for Bloodmoon, it had stood empty, save for routine cleaning.
The year with Bloodmoon felt like a nightmare.
Had she not be Alpha Ulrik’s Luna, her family’s fate might have been different.