Third Person’s POV


    Adide gasped, a shiver running down her spine as pain prickled her neck.


    +8 Pearls


    She fought the urge to reveal her wolf ears, but her nails dug half–moon trenches into her palms.


    “Alpha Lance, it hurts,” she said, her voice deeper than usual, a barely noticeable tremor betraying her difort–not from his rough touch, but from the “mates” talk.


    As the Frostfang Pack heir, she’d been taught, “Vulnerability only shows when wounds scab.”


    “Haha!”


    Alpha Lance’sughter shook the tent. “So delicate! Wait till you taste a bear’s warhammer on your shoulder–that’s real pain!”


    His p on her shoulder was rough yet familiar.


    Adide wasn’t one could not endure hardships, but the cold had left her skin raw and sensitive.


    Lance’s calloused fingers felt like needles.


    After his jest, Lance said, “We’ll capture Frostbite Town before reinforcements arrive, then face them in the final battle. Adide, I expect great things from you and Ulrik on the battlefield.”


    Adide thought for a moment and felt she really ought to tell everyone about the end of her mating bond with Ulrik.


    Otherwise, when Ulrik and Velda arrived with the reinforcements and everyone still thought she and Ulrik were mates, everyone would be really embarrassed.


    And it could cause a lot of mistrust among them<b>. </b>


    Though feuding with Velda, they were currently allies.


    Before she could speak, someone said, “Ulrik’s lucky to have a fierce she–wolf like Adide as his Luna.”


    Abbott smiled at her. “If he ever bullies you, tell me. I’ll sort <b>him </b>out.”


    “Don’t be silly. Aire picked him. He can’t be <b>that </b>bad. Let’s not gossip <b>and </b>risk their rtionship,” someone else <b>said</b>.


    Mention of her mother’s choice silenced Adide.


    Alpha Lance sensed her secrecy but didn’t press.


    +8 Pearls


    Over these days, she’d only eaten her fill on the first day and today. Otherwise, she’d been half- starved, sleeping heavily despite the gnawing hunger.


    But tonight, after a rare full meal, sleep cluded her.


    The life here were truly tough. It was admirable how her father and brothers had persevered for years in such conditions.


    She was confident she could endure the same, but there was something that weighed on her mind–the unresolved issue with Ulrik. She hadn’t properly exined her situation to Lance or her father’s old subordinates, and it was beginning to bother her.


    How could she broach the topic?


    If she told them <b>that </b>the mate her mother had chosen for her had abandoned her shortly after carning battlefield glory, and was now seeking a bond with a she–wolf like Velda, would they understand?


    It was likely they’d misinterpret her motives, thinking she was here to prove herself superior to Velda.


    In the capital, she paid no mind to gossip.


    But here, on the battlefield where her father and brothers had fallen, she couldn’t bear the thought of her loyalty being misconstrued as petty jealousy.


    Sooner orter, the truth woulde out. Once Ulrik and Velda arrived with the reinforcements, her secret would be exposed.


    Adide sat up, and the snoring around her ceased.


    Everyone had been sleeping soundly yet alert. Her movement had immediately roused them.


    Avery, not hearing any bugle call, asked through the curtain, “Adide, can’t sleep?”


    “Got a lot on my mind,” Adide said gloomily, hugging her knees.


    Everyone else sat up too. Ang, leaning against Adide’s shoulder with her eyes still shut, asked, “What’s the matter?”


    Adide said, “I want to tell Alpha <b>Lance </b>about Ulrik and <b>me</b><b>… </b>Do you think he’ll assume I’m here topete with Velda<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    Avery gasped. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”


    Adide rolled her eyes. “If even you think that, everyone else will too.”


    Paisley scratched her head. “So what if they think you’repeting? Aren’t you better than her? You’re <b>a </b>Silver w Gamma now.”


    +8 Pearls


    Avery said, “Right, Adide always wanted to be a general like them. She’s not here for Velda.”


    “But will others believe that?”


    Paisley shot back. “They’ll think you’re using the battlefield to prove yourself after being left.”


    Halbert added, “It doesn’t matter what others think. What matters is what Lycan Erasmus and Alpha Lance think–they’re the ones who decide your fate here.”


    Everyone fell silent. They all knew it was true.


    If Lycan Erasmus and Alpha Lance believed she was treating the battlefield as apetition with Velda, it could affect her standing and future.


    Send Gifts