Since Alpha You Love My Half-Sister, I'll Bond with Your Uncle

“Wendy, are you absolutely sure you want to sign this document?” The Elder’s voice rang in my ears—cold, distant. “Once your bond with Alpha John is dissolved, you’ll lose everything tied to the Blackthorn Pack.” I gripped the pen so hard my knuckles turned white. “Yes. I’m sure.” But just as the tip touched the paper— BANG! The door was kicked open with a violent crash. Alpha John stormed in, eyes bloodshot, and wrapped his hand around my throat. “You dare?!” Blood slipped from the corner of my lips… but I laughed. Because I knew—he would never discover the truth. That his dear uncle, Alpha Vincent, was hiding in my closet at this very moment. And the fresh bite mark on my lower belly… still burned from last night. As if fate was mocking me, my sweet little sister Penny sent a message right then: “Sis, wanna know a secret? That miscarriage you had? John planned it. He made it happen.” Then the TV flickered to life with a breaking live broadcast— There she was, Penny, gently stroking her swollen belly as she smiled into the camera. “John and I are expecting our baby next month,” she announced proudly to the entire Pack. And Alpha John—my “husband”—stood beside her, lovingly kissing her forehead. Like I never existed. Like I wasn’t the Luna written in law. “Miranda,” my wolf snarled in my head, “Rip those traitors apart—now!” But I didn’t. I wiped the blood from my mouth, and dialed the number I hadn’t called in five long years. “Vincent,” I said calmly, “Come get me.” Chapter 1 “Please… please, come get me,” I sobbed, clutching the phone tightly. “I have to leave this place. I’ll agree to any condition.” A sharp, worried voice answered instantly. “What happened, Wendy? Are you hurt?” I wiped my tears and cleared my throat. “I’m fine. I’ve just had enough of this fake place.” “When should I come for you?” the voice asked. “In seven days,” I replied. “This is the last time, Wendy. Don’t disappoint me again.” The call ended. I slowly got up from the floor. But another voice echoed coldly in my mind—tinged with disdain. “Only now you want to leave? What were you waiting for?” I closed my eyes. It was her—Miranda, my wolf soul. “Wendy, you’re free to go,” the nurse said kindly. I nodded and smiled at her, then limped out of the pack hospital. In my heart, I wished for a message or a call—but there was nothing. The phone stayed silent, and oddly, that silence brought me relief—no more lies to fabricate. In the living room, the holographic TV was broadcasting the pack’s celebration. My mother didn’t even glance up. She was feeding peeled grapes to Penny. “Our sweet Penny, always so good. Not like someone else who can’t even serve tea without breaking a cup.” My fingers tightened around the tray, the cracked rim digging into my palm. Three days ago, Penny had “accidentally” knocked the tray from my hands. Now my mother was smiling at her, eyes full of affection. “Look at you, so graceful. Not clumsy like Wendy.” Penny bit into a grape, her gaze flicking toward me. “Mom, Wendy’s just tired. She stayed up late helping me organize council documents,” she said with a syrupy smile. “Right, sis?” Alpha John lounged on the sofa, idly toying with the emerald bracelet Penny had given him. “Organizing? More like creating chaos. Last time it was the clan’s financial report—if Penny hadn’t stayed up to fix it, who knows what kind of mess we’d be in.” Miranda: “Page seven of that report had Penny’s lipstick mark. She used correction fluid to hide the right figures.” That error was deliberate—Penny’s fault. But I was the one who took the fall. My mother patted Penny’s hand. “Teach her? Don’t waste your time. You should just focus on learning from Alpha John. Someday, you’ll make a fine Luna for the Blackthorn Pack.” John pulled Penny closer by the shoulder. “Of course. Unlike someone else, who wasn’t even worthy of a proper bonding ceremony. Just a secret wife, hidden in the shadows.” Then my mother snapped. “Why don’t you go die with that useless father of yours?” It wasn’t the first time she said she wished I’d died with my father. My brother’s death anniversary had only passed a week ago. How could she... Penny quickly grabbed her hand. “Mom, don’t be mad. Wendy didn’t mean to upset you…” She paused, her voice dripping with honey. “But John’s right. If Wendy learned more from me, maybe she wouldn’t be such a disappointment.” I looked at Alpha John, and my heart shattered again. Alpha John, Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack. The man I had loved for ten years. He never looked at me—until five years ago. Penny had run away from her own bonding ceremony. I found him by the cliffs in a storm, about to jump. That night, he was drunk beyond recognition and whispered in my arms, “Wendy, don’t leave me.” That night, he slept with me—and I let him. The next morning, he said he’d marry me. I thought it was finally my turn to be happy. I said yes without hesitation. But a year later, Penny returned in tears—and he forgot all about me. He swore he’d never look at her again. Told me I didn’t need to worry. But he was lying. He took her back. They betrayed me—right under my nose. He treated me coldly, kept our bond a secret, while parading her around. Two months ago, I was forced to lure in a stalker who had been secretly filming Penny. While I was running for my life, Penny sent me ninety-nine videos of her and Alpha John having sex—all in one night. Even in the hospital, my knees torn open from the chase, my phone kept buzzing—one clip after another. “Did you die or what?” John’s voice cut through, cold and impatient. He snapped his fingers in front of my face. I blinked, then smiled. “What’s wrong, darling?” “There’s a council banquet tonight. Don’t go.” “Why not?” He sneered. “Penny said you spilled wine on Elder Lady last time. It embarrassed the pack.” It had been Penny who knocked my elbow. But now it was my ‘clumsiness’ again. He glanced at my bare collarbone. “If Penny hadn’t fled the ceremony that year, I never would’ve…” “Some people just aren’t cut out for public events,” my mother added mockingly. They all laughed and walked away. I sighed and sat on the couch. Then I heard Penny’s giggles by the door. She held up a pregnancy report. “John, the pack doctor says the pup is healthy.” “Three months along—just in time with our wedding date.” John rushed over to take the paper, his fingers brushing the ultrasound image tenderly. “You’ve worked so hard.” He bent to kiss her belly. “Baby, Daddy will give you the world.” So while I was in an operating room, they had already gotten married—and were expecting a child. And I remained the secret he refused to acknowledge. Miranda: “You’ve always known what they were. What are you still hoping for? John’s pity? Penny’s guilt? Your grape-feeding mother to say ‘I’m sorry’?” “I just… feel so defeated,” I whispered. “Of course you do. You waited for him ten years, and he gave the ring to someone else.” Miranda scoffed. “But now, finally—you’re choosing to run.” “I’m not running,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m ending it.” No tears. I contacted the elder. “This is Wendy,” I said. “I’m ready to sever the bond.” “Are you sure, Wendy? You insisted on marrying him in the first place,” the elder asked. I nodded. “Yes. This is my final decision.” “Alright, I’ll send the documents. Both of you must sign and return them within six days for the process to be complete.” “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll make sure Alpha John signs.” Suddenly, the front door slammed open. Alpha John stormed in, brows furrowed. “Sign what?!” he roared. Chapter 2 “What are you trying to get me to sign, Wendy?” My grip on the phone tightened instantly, the elder’s words — “must be signed within six days” — still reverberating in my ears. “It’s nothing,” I said quickly, shoving the phone into my clothes. “Just a follow-up confirmation from the doctor.” “You’re lying.” Miranda’s voice slithered through my mind like ice over a frozen lake, sharp and merciless. “You really think you can hide it from him? What does he even see you as? Less than a dog.” He suddenly seized my wrist, the pressure nearly enough to shatter bone. “Unlock it.” “The password’s my birthday.” He typed in 0617. The screen stayed black. On the second attempt, a vein on his temple began to pulse. “You told me your birthday was June 17!” Miranda cackled. “Five years of marriage and the only date he remembers belongs to a dog.” “That’s the birthday of the Pomeranian you gave Penny.” “Five years of marriage, and you remember a dog’s birth, not mine.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Wendy, I...” “Enough!” I wrenched my arm from his grasp, my nails raking a red line across his wrist. “You remember the day she fled her wedding vow for word, but last year, when I was burning with fever ironing your moon-crest embroidered suit, you took Penny out to her favorite restaurant.” “Enough!” Alpha John snapped coldly. Behind him, his wolf shadow flared, baring its fangs. “Penny already swore before the Moon Goddess. It’s you who refuses to move on.” I didn’t respond. I walked past him and headed upstairs. Just as I reached the top, Penny’s saccharine voice chased after me. “John, look at the gift I picked for Wendy…” She swung the shopping bag into my room. She saw me in the room, holding my late brother Ronald’s backpack, grieving in silence. “You’re still keeping Ronald’s stuff? So morbid. Dead people’s things bring bad luck.” My hand froze on the drawer handle. Inside lay Ronald’s heart transplant consent form — the signature line still blank. “Don’t touch that.” “I’ll be gone soon,” I said softly. “Then you’ll finally have everything you’ve always wanted.” “Oh no,” she stepped closer, her voice venomous, “I haven’t taken everything yet.” Then, she screamed and fell to the ground, red marks “appearing” on her wrist. “Wendy, I just wanted to look at your dad’s ring…” The ring wasn’t worth much — but it was the last thing I had of him. The only thing that hadn’t yet been stolen. She held up her bare hand, nails secretly digging into her flesh. “Why did you hit me?” Alpha John stormed in as Penny pointed at me, trembling. “She said… said she hated me for stealing Ronald’s heart!” “You’re insane!” He gripped my jaw, his fingers biting into my skin. “Ronald died of heart failure!” I stared at Penny’s hidden hand. On her middle finger was Ronald’s graduation ring — the one I had left by his urn. “One week ago,” my voice turned eerily calm. “The hospital found a matching heart. The day before surgery, we were told the donor backed out.” Penny’s smile faltered for a second before she burst into tears. “John, she’s lying again…” Miranda observed coldly: “Her left eyelid twitched twice — classic sign of a lie.” Then, “accidentally,” Penny knocked over the urn on the nightstand. Ronald’s ashes spilled across the floor, mixing with his beloved dried sunflowers. “She couldn’t even spare the dead,” Miranda whispered. “And you still want to forgive her? She’s the real stray dog here.” Miranda’s ethereal claws sliced the air, forming a shimmering ward. “She deliberately struck the moonstone seal with her elbow. That dust she scattered with the sunflower petals — that’s silver poison powder. It’ll keep a wolf’s soul from ever reincarnating.” “You spilled his ashes!” I lunged forward — —but Alpha John’s slap landed first. The edge of his ring tore my lip. Then came my mother’s wolfbone staff, slamming into my back. “Throwing a fit over some ashes? You’re just like your wretched father — pathetic!” “You finally understand,” Miranda’s voice was gentle, too gentle. “It wasn’t a misunderstanding. They’ve been killing your brother together — from the very beginning.” Penny crouched beside the ashes, dabbing a bit on her fingertip and smearing it at the corner of her eye. “Wendy, I’m sorry… The truth is, John begged the doctor to give the heart to me. He said he couldn’t live without me.” She leaned into my ear. “Did you know? The night before Ronald’s surgery, I unplugged his monitor.” I stared at the faint needle scar on her ring finger — the one she gave herself while faking heart failure. Alpha John was cradling her now, checking her “wounds.” My mother delicately wiped the ashes from Penny’s shoes. No one saw the blood trailing down my palm as I picked up the shards of Ronald’s urn. I closed my eyes. Six more days. And I’ll be free — forever. Chapter 3 I opened my eyes to the stark white ceiling of the hospital. I sat up, and the pain made me cry out. The door opened. A nurse walked in, smiling gently. “Wendy, back again. You’re practically a regular now.” She held a clipboard with a thick stack of my medical records from the past six months. Knife wounds, burns, fractured bones—the ink piled high like a mountain on the paper. “What happened this time?” I groaned. “An Omega brought you in,” she explained. How long had I been lying here? Long enough for the Omega sweepers to come and go, long enough that even a wolf’s natural healing couldn’t mend my cracked ribs in time. “Wendy… are you…” The nurse’s voice softened, “Are you being abused?” “I’m fine,” I cut her off quickly. “I’m just clumsy. It was an accident.” “An accident?” she looked up, and the corridor’s moonstone lights shimmered in her eyes. “But this time, it’s three fractured ribs, and…” She hesitated, then added in a whisper, “Wendy, you’re pregnant.” Tears welled up in my eyes as I placed my hand over my belly. “That’s his spawn,” Miranda growled in my mind, voice laced with contempt. “He put fate inside you while crying out another woman’s name. You really want to keep that humiliation?” I trembled as I answered, “I don’t know… but it’s still a life.” “You want to raise it? Just so John can control you again?” she scoffed. I still remembered clearly how it happened. Three months ago—right when Penny sent those sex tapes. That night, Alpha John staggered into my room, drunk, mistaking me for Penny. He kept murmuring, “Penny, don’t leave me…” over and over. I let him hold me. I let him leave chaotic Alpha marks all over me— Just so I could pretend, for a few hours, that I was wanted. The next morning, he woke up cold and accused me of seducing him. “The child is strong,” the nurse said, her voice floating faintly. “But you lost a lot of blood. If you’d arrived thirty minutes later…” I stopped listening. All I could see were the videos Penny had sent. I knew I no longer had the strength to raise this child. How could I bring a baby into such misery? “Wendy?” “I’ve decided to have an abortion,” I told her. The clipboard fell to the floor with a loud smack. “Wendy! You’re four months in. Abortions at this stage are extremely risky for werewolves, and—” “I don’t have a husband,” I stared at the cracks on the ceiling. “The father… his heart belongs to his fated mate.” I shrugged. “My mind’s made up. Please give me the necessary forms.” As I signed, a drop of blood from my fingertip soaked into the rune on the paper, vanishing instantly— A binding magic. Once signed, there was no turning back. “You’re finally making decisions for yourself. Finally listening to me—and to yourself.” I closed my eyes, and for the first time, my heartbeat felt steady. “Thank you, Miranda.” “Don’t thank me,” she replied. “We’re symbiotic. As long as you live, I can roar.” “Tomorrow morning at eight,” The nurse tucked away the forms, her eyes full of worry. “May the Moon Goddess protect you.” My phone buzzed. A string of missed calls lit up the screen. The last message was sent half an hour ago: “I’m at the border of Blackthorn. This time, I’ll get you out, Wendy.” I smiled faintly and sent a short reply. Then I checked the phone again— No messages from my mother. None from Alpha John. Not even Penny. As I walked out of the ward, I heard Penny’s laugh echoing down the hallway. “John, the pup kicked today!” Turning the corner, I saw Alpha John kneeling, resting his head against Penny’s belly. The Alpha token on his wrist was pressed gently to her rounded stomach. “I’m so happy you have a supportive husband through your pregnancy, Penny,” said the pack doctor. And right before my eyes, Alpha John kissed Penny. “It’s my honor, Penny. You complete me.” “My Luna,” he rose and kissed her forehead with a tenderness I had never known. “When our baby is born, I’ll hold the grandest celebration for you at the Moon Goddess’s altar.” “Do you still believe that Alpha ever loved you?” A sharp pain struck my heart. But I couldn’t help asking: “Then what was I?” Nausea surged. I rushed into the restroom and gripped the sink, retching. “Well, if it isn’t Wendy.” Penny’s voice rang from the doorway. “Enjoying your little peep show at my checkup?” “Get out.” “Still not dead?” She stepped closer. “When I left you lying in Ronald’s ashes, I thought you’d finally go keep him company.” “Kill her,” Miranda whispered. “She doesn’t deserve to breathe your brother’s name.” “You threw away Ronald’s ashes?” I looked up sharply, catching the blue ceramic shards stuck to her heels— The remains of his urn. Penny smirked. “Not just tossed them—I had an Omega bury them with dog shit. That useless heart of his should’ve gone to a mutt anyway.” I yanked her hair backward. “You venomous bitch! Killing him wasn’t enough, you had to desecrate his ashes?!” “Help! Wendy’s gone insane!” Penny screamed, suddenly curling up on the floor, clutching her stomach and writhing. “My baby… it hurts…” The bathroom door slammed open. Alpha John burst in. “What did you do to her?!” “She killed Ronald! She destroyed his ashes!—” SMACK. The slap was sharp and brutal. My vision blurred from the sting. His voice was ice. “Ronald’s life was always meant to save Penny’s.” Penny scrambled into his arms, And behind his back, she pinched his waist. In a whisper only a bonded Alpha could hear, she said: “Kill her, John.” Alpha John’s gaze darkened. He stepped forward, boot stomping down on the hem of my skirt, pinning me to the cold tile. Penny stood behind him, smiling cruelly, mouthing the words: “Die already.” “Alpha John…” I looked up into his eyes, hoping to see even a flicker of the light I had chased for ten years. But all I saw was hatred—cold, final. “She—” I began, desperate— “Shut up.” he cut me off, raising his hand toward my abdomen. Behind him, Penny stealthily stabbed his arm with her hairpin, Making it appear as though I had attacked her. In that instant, John’s rage exploded. He didn’t slap me again— He shoved me. Hard. My stomach slammed into the marble sink. I looked down at the pool of blood, And heard my own heartbeat slow… fading… Inside me, the faint flutter of the baby’s movement… disappeared. “Help… me…” I reached out, trying to grab the hem of his trousers— But caught only air. “Now do you believe me?” Miranda’s voice roared through me like a midnight storm through a forest. “He’ll kill you—for her. They all hate you… because you’re still breathing.” He didn’t look back. He just walked away, arm wrapped around Penny’s waist. His voice was full of unfiltered disgust: “Just die here, you worthless trash.” Chapter 4 I crawled toward the bathroom doorframe, struggling to escape. Warm liquid soaked through my jeans. "Help... me..." My throat was choked with blood. The moonstone lights in the hallway twisted into blinding streaks in my blurred vision, until a pair of nurse’s shoes stopped in front of me. “Oh my God! Call the doctor!” The nurse’s long hair brushed my cheek as she pressed down on my abdomen, making me arch in pain. “Wendy, look at me! Don’t sleep—” As my consciousness began to fade, I heard the snap of surgical clamps. Someone whispered in my ear, “Moon Goddess… protect her…” The beeping of the monitor pierced the silence, and I opened my eyes to a sea of blinding white. The nurse was gently wiping my lips with a cotton swab. “You’re awake?” Her eyes darted away, her fingers twisting the bedsheet into folds. “The surgery was successful, but… we couldn’t save the baby.” Somewhere in my chest, a hole opened, but I felt no ripple. I had planned to sign the abortion papers this morning. Alpha John and Penny had taken away my right to choose, using the cruelest means possible. “Do you need to contact any family?” I tugged at my cracked lips. “I don’t have family.” “No family? Do you really believe that?” Miranda’s tone suddenly sharpened. “You’ve been making excuses for yourself, Wendy. Your family never loved you. The only person you can rely on is yourself.” My heart seemed to be pierced by something. “I always wanted to find a place to settle, but…” “You’re always running away.” Miranda’s cold laughter rang in my mind. “Running from your past, running from your future. The only thing left for you to do is face everything in front of you.” The elder had notified me to pick up the papers from the council. Alpha John was sunk into the sofa, not even bothering to lift an eyelash. “Why didn’t you die at the hospital?” “I was surprised too.” I placed the papers on the coffee table. His amber eyes narrowed into slits as he glanced at the title. Penny walked in from the kitchen, holding a fruit platter, her hair adorned with the moonstone hairpin my father had given me. It was the raw star-gem my father had exchanged three months' worth of hunting for on my eighteenth birthday. “John, don’t say it like that. Wendy, I made you some soup…” “Why aren’t you drinking it?” Penny tilted her head, dipped her finger in the soup, and smeared it on her lips. “This is made with Ronald’s favorite sunflower petals.” Alpha John suddenly spoke from the sofa, his eyes glued to the holographic TV. “Don’t be ungrateful. Penny spent three hours making it for you.” Penny quickly added, “John, don’t scare her. Wendy, I know you’re still mad at me,” I interrupted, “No need.” “I heard there’s a moonlight gathering tonight?” Penny’s smile froze for a moment, then turned sickly sweet. “You know about it? I picked out a dress for you. Let’s go together?” She handed me a shopping bag containing a ridiculously short skirt—only worn by low-tier wolves for sacrificial rites. Alpha John sneered. My mother, tapping her wolfbone staff on the floor, added, “Don’t bring this bad omen to embarrass us.” An apple rolled to my feet. As I bent down to pick it up, she struck my hand with the staff. “What are you picking up for?” Her voice was sharp as a knife. “Your brother died because of you! Now you want to kill John and Penny’s baby too?” Penny immediately helped her up. “Mom, calm down, Wendy hasn’t done anything wrong…” “Mom,” Penny pouted, shaking Alpha John’s arm. “Wendy just needs to relax.” Late at night, I stumbled across a partially open door to the study. “If we don’t get rid of her, the elders will start to suspect.” “Why rush?” Alpha John’s voice reeked of alcohol. “The miner we sent last time failed. This gathering’s full of opportunities.” I gripped the railing tighter, my knuckles turning white. The “accidental” mining disaster three months ago—it was their doing. “I’ve arranged everything,” Penny chuckled softly. “Once she’s drunk, we’ll drag her to the back of the altar. Once the video’s out, she’ll never show her face in the pack again.” “You’re ruthless.” Miranda’s voice turned icy, her words laced with an undeniable threat. “You’re the one who’s ruthless.” Alpha John’s voice was laced with affection. “Once she’s ruined, I’ll bond with you openly…” I walked downstairs with the papers in hand. Alpha John was at the bar, mixing whiskey. “The hospital needs a family member’s signature.” I pushed the papers in front of him, my fingers whitening from the force. He didn’t even glance at it, grabbing a pen and stabbing it onto the paper. “Your worthless life means nothing to me—” He didn’t finish his sentence, but the pen had already signed. “Do you think his words matter to you?” Miranda’s voice was soft but carried an unmistakable coldness. “You’ve been seeking his approval all along, but he never cared about you.” I bit my lip, the pain slicing through me. “I know… I’ve always known.” “You’ve never truly seen him,” Miranda’s tone softened, her words filled with bitter truth. “He only harms you, and you’ve been changing yourself for him all this time.” My mother sneered. Penny snickered behind her hand. I took back the papers. My phone buzzed in my palm. I opened it to the only contact and typed: “See you at the altar. Proceed as planned.” Chapter 5 “It's time to go, Wendy!” Penny’s voice echoed from the stairwell, deliberately sweetened to a sickening degree. I peered through the gap in the wardrobe and saw her linking arms with Alpha John. The moonstone hairpin in her hair gleamed directly at the hallway security camera. It was a new addition from Alpha John last week, under the pretense of “protecting the soon-to-be Luna’s safety.” “I’ll be right down after I change.” I forced a smile in the mirror, my fingertips grazing the faint needle marks on my collarbone. Three days ago, Penny had “accidentally” injured me with a hairpin, and the spot was still unnervingly pale. From downstairs came my mother’s curse: “Stop dawdling! The ceremony’s about to begin!” Alpha John’s footsteps paused at the entrance. As the door slammed shut, I immediately pulled back the carpet, revealing three metal boxes hidden in the compartment. These were the gifts Alpha John had given me, and I dumped them all into the trash. Just then, my phone buzzed. A holographic image of a courier appeared. “Miss Wendy, as per your instructions, three packages have been sent via the wolf pack’s Falcon Courier and are expected to arrive at the altar square at 7:59.” He shook a whistle in his hand, the token for activating the packages. “Good.” I reached into my boot and retrieved the recorder, pressing play. The recording of Alpha John’s secret meeting with a pervert came through: “Just cripple her with a bullet, don’t kill her. I want her to watch Penny wear the Luna crown.” As Alpha Vincent’s warriors escorted me to the hovercraft, the bells of the square rang seven times. The warrior in the driver’s seat handed me a glass of amber liquid. “Alpha of Winsor pack ordered this. It’s Moon Goddess wine to suppress the tracking spell.” I tilted my head back and drank it all, tasting a familiar bitterness on my tongue. The phone suddenly vibrated crazily with a message from Alpha John: “Where are you? If you don’t show up, I’ll feed your brother’s ashes to the dogs!” “Penny’s already wearing her Luna gown. Do you want the whole pack to laugh at you?” “Final warning: You must apologize to Penny tonight, or else!” I set the phone to silent and opened the live feed on my tablet. Penny was standing beside Alpha John in a tight-fitting dress. “Why hasn’t she come yet?” Penny’s voice echoed through the microphone, dripping with feigned innocence. “John, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed her…” Before Alpha John could respond, three ribbon-wrapped gift boxes suddenly fell from the sky, landing in the center of the altar. The top card had my handwriting on it: “To my husband and sister — Congratulations on your success.” Gasps rippled through the crowd. The council members whispered among themselves. Alpha John’s face turned ashen, and as he reached to tear off the ribbons, his fingers were pricked by a needle that suddenly shot out. It was my special trap, coated with a herb that temporarily paralyzed Alphas. The first box opened, revealing the papers. The red seal of the council gleamed in the moonlight. Penny’s fake smile froze instantly, and she flustered as she tried to block it. Whispers filled the room. “Sever the bond?” “Wait… I thought Penny was his Luna?” “I thought Penny was his soon-to-be Luna…” The second box opened, and Alpha John staggered back, as though struck by lightning. Inside the transparent container was a surgical specimen with a clear label: “Patient: Wendy, 16 weeks pregnant, severe hemorrhage due to violence.” Next to it, an ultrasound photo with the fetus clearly marked in red pen. On the back was my handwriting: “He doesn’t even know he had a child.” Penny screamed, lunging toward the projector. Suddenly, a swarm of reporters surged forward. “Alpha John, did you know Wendy was pregnant?” “What is your relationship with Penny?” The third box automatically opened, but instead of an object, it projected a hologram. The screen showed Ronald lying in his hospital bed. Penny, dressed as a nurse, snuck into the room, holding a wrench and disconnecting the monitor lines. The image shifted to Alpha John’s study, where he was stuffing money into the hands of a pervert. “Make sure the mine collapse is clean this time.” “No! This is fake!” Penny screamed, rushing toward the projector but was thrown back by the suddenly activated moonstone barrier. Alpha John stood frozen, while Penny’s face went pale. Chapter 6 "Welcome to the Winsor pack, Wendy." Vincent personally opened the hovercraft door, and the Moon Goddess tattoo on his sleeve glimmered faintly in the moonlight. I stepped onto the carpeted steps, feeling the wolf fur beneath my feet. "Sorry to keep you waiting for five years, Alpha." I gently touched the vengeful sigils I had stitched into my skirt, a warning etched into the fabric. “This time, it’s not a game.” Alpha Vincent was the Alpha of the Winsor pack, and a strong contender for Alpha King. He was a head taller than Alpha John, with broad shoulders that seemed to block out the entire moon. The old scar on his left brow was a battle wound from his youth, earned while hunting snow wolves. I couldn’t help but remember that birthday party five years ago. To this day, I could still smell the wolf’s poison mixed into the champagne that Penny had poured on me. I had been wearing my mother’s old Moonstone gown, which I had secretly borrowed, but the hem was burned with holes by one of Alpha John’s friends’ cigars. He, however, had held Penny close and laughed, saying, “Who are you trying to seduce? This rag should be thrown into the mine.” Penny’s nails had scratched across my arm. “Wendy, not all clothes are sexy, some are just cheap.” She had purposely spilled oyster juice all over my dress. Alpha John had only knocked my forehead lightly with the bottom of his champagne glass. “Go wash up in the kitchen. Don’t dirty my party.” That rainy night, I fled the party and hid in the abandoned silver mine, but I was cornered by three drunken warriors. One of them yanked the hair from my head. “I heard you’re the discarded she-wolf of Alpha John. Perfect for us to play with.” When the knife sliced through my skirt, a shadow crashed through the door, and Vincent was there. Soaked to the bone, he snapped the wrist of one of the wolves and kicked the last corpse aside. “Get lost.” When he kicked the body aside, the Alpha mark on the back of his neck glowed red in the rain. I trembled in the corner, but he shed his coat and wrapped it around me, gently wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth. “Don’t come to places like this again.” His warmth seeped through his wet shirt. Later, I learned that night he had been investigating the gold mine smuggling, but he had exposed his location to save me. “Thinking back to that birthday party five years ago…” Vincent’s gaze held mine, his throat bobbing slightly. He finally spoke. “Actually, I first saw you not at that party.” I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What do you mean?” His eyes drifted to the distance, as though lost in the memory. “At the Spring Festival five years ago, at the Moon Goddess Market, you were crouched at an old woman’s stall, carefully choosing a handmade flower crown. Your eyes were so bright. You picked up a wreath of daisies and put it on your head, smiling at yourself in the mirror. That moment, I...” His voice trailed off, his ears flushing a shade of red. I stared at him, stunned. I had no idea there was such a past. Back then, my heart and eyes were all for John, and I never noticed the figure in the corner of the market watching me. “I watched you from afar, wanting to approach, but I saw you suddenly run off toward another direction—John had arrived. You ran to him, holding up the crown to show him, but he frowned and knocked it to the ground, saying that thing wasn’t worthy of him.” Vincent’s fists clenched unconsciously. “You stood there frozen, your eyes red, but you still bent down and carefully picked up the crown. After that, I silently watched you, seeing you hurt time and time again by John, but I couldn’t do anything about it.” My chest tightened. I never knew such a silent, deep affection had been watching over me for the past five years. All the moments when I was hurting alone, there had been a pair of gentle eyes watching from behind. “Later, I found out you were with John,” he chuckled bitterly. “That night, I stayed on Moon Goddess Mountain until the first rays of dawn touched my skin. I told myself, as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. But when I saw you so brutally hurt, I realized I couldn’t stay silent anymore…” “I watched the gathering video.” Vincent handed me a cup of warm Moon Goddess wine. “John’s face looked like it had been pierced by a silver bullet.” “I lost the baby.” “It’s what I wanted. But… it still hurts.” He knelt before me, gently touching my hand. “Let it hurt,” he said softly. We sat in silence for a while. Then I spoke again. “Alpha John and Penny killed my brother. My mother knew, but still signed the papers agreeing to it.” Vincent sighed deeply. “My nephew has always been a terrible person.” His fingers paused on my palm. He didn’t yell like Alpha John did, calling me “useless.” Instead, he took off a wolf tooth pendant from his neck. “This was taken off the first snow wolf I hunted. When a pup loses its mother, it bites onto the wolf’s tooth to learn how to run.” The pendant touched the surgical scar on my abdomen, and it suddenly glowed faintly. Vincent’s thumb brushed over an old wound on my hand. “Back in the alley, you said ‘I’m fine,’ but you ended up crying for half an hour in the mine cart.” “They almost killed me too,” I added. Vincent’s fingers stopped, and he raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly. I stared at him. “I’m here now. I want those bastards to pay for everything they’ve done to me.” When Alpha Vincent suggested getting married the next day, I caressed the ring he handed me—the inside of the band engraved with my name. Tomorrow, I would become the wife of Alpha John’s uncle. Tomorrow, I would begin planning their destruction.