The Price of Failing a Bond

The Price of Failing a Bond On the second day of Alpha Andy’s “Routine Patrol and Pack Bond” with his junior assistant, Scarlett, I completed all my administrative handovers within the pack and went to the High Elder to process my Pack Withdrawal. In less than ten minutes, my phone vibrated with a notification: Alpha Andy had “APPROVED” my departure. “Looks like she is leaving.” “Do you think Alpha Andy wanted to get rid of her from her position?” “I don’t know. It looks like Alpha Andy is good enough to her. She is the one complaining. Maybe she’s self-aware enough to leave.” “She is always making a fuss out of a molehill. Who knows if she is the spy another pack!” “Yeah, a future Luna from another pack only brings frustration to our pack. It’s better for her to leave early. Not only from her position, but from our pack.” “I agree. How could she be in that high position but for Alpha Andy. If she is on herself, she won’t survive a day outside.” “Why are we low-level wolves worrying about her? She’s Alpha Andy’s future fated mate. I dare say she gets a lot of gold coins from him, so she’ll live an adequate life.” “Who knows?” While I packed up my personal belongings, my pack-mates hurled sarcastic remarks, watching my embarrassment with glee. Laugh as you like, but soon we won’t be pack-mates any more. I was used to it. I, Lynda Roskruhe, was from another pack. My grandfather and Andy’s grandfather became friends due to a joint fight against the common enemy. When Andy and I grew up, we fell in love with each other. He persuaded me to live with him. So I moved here and helped him with the pack business. We had a very happy time. Then everything changed after Scarlett became his assistant. From the very beginning, Scarlett and I didn’t get along. My fiancé, Andy? To everyone’s great surprise, he always took Scarlett’s side just like the other pack members. He said she was young and innocent, and that I should help her to be familiar with the work. Initially, the pack 第1章 Amused by the absurdity, I opened the file. It was the multi-million-gold hunting ground development project I had recently surrendered to Scarlett. It was always like this: I did the grueling work. Scarlett took the glory. If a conflict arose with rival packs, I took the blame. I had refused at first, but Andy used “the greater good of the pack” to guilt-trip me. When I stood my ground, he gave me the cold shoulder for weeks in private. No wonder everyone else thought I was leaving the position, not the pack. In the world where I grew up, my parents always taught me that in a werewolf partnership, a Luna must respect and yield to her Alpha. Not wanting our relationship to fall apart, I compromised and gave in. I foolishly thought Andy would eventually recognize my good intentions. Instead, when he fought with me to secure the “Alpha’s Guard” title for Scarlett, he went so far as to ice me for three whole months. Even when I contracted Wild-Wolf Fever and burned with a forty-degree fever in the Shaman’s hut, he refused to visit me once. He forced me into a corner just to hand over the multi-million-gold hunting ground I had bled for a whole month to complete. That was the moment my heart died. Now, I left. Finally. For real! “I’m not at the pack compound,” I replied calmly. “Not at the compound?” Andy’s voice dropped dangerously low. “It’s patrol hours right now, Lynda. Leaving your post without authorization—do you know how much of your monthly income gets deducted under pack law?” “I know. But I’ve already...” Just as I was about to state my withdrawal, Scarlett’s gentle, delicate voice echoed from the other end. “Alpha Andy, if Lynda doesn’t want to do it, don’t force her. Let me handle the map drafting.” “No way. You stayed up so late yesterday calming the border skirmishes. You need to rest today.” Andy’s tone turned impossibly tender—a stark contrast to his harshness toward me just a second ago. Scarlett continued to insist she wasn’t tired, but Andy took a firm stance: “I am the Pack Leader. Resting is an order. Do you dare disobey me?” Scarlett giggled softly. “I just feel bad making Lynda work so hard.” “How could her workload compare to yours? You traveled with me on patrol and handled treaties, while she sits at the compound doing nothing all day.” “Besides, she’s my future mate. The pack belongs to her too—isn’t it her duty to carry her weight?” Andy let out a scoff. With a single sentence, he erased years of my contributions in securing resources and managing internal affairs. I felt no rage, jealousy, or heartbreak—only numbness. It had happened far too many times. Sensing my silence, Andy assumed I acquiesced, and his tone softened slightly. “Lynda, do you really think I’m just giving you grunt work? I’m trying to forge you into someone better. As Alpha’s mate, you need more responsibility and drive for our pack.” “You should learn from Scarlett. She stayed up until four in the morning verifying border tracks. I’ve never seen an assistant so outstanding and hardworking.” Scarlett chimed in with a giggle, “I think Lynda is very capable too.” Her words sounded complimentary, but her tone was laced with condescension toward a Luna. Andy missed the malice completely and snorted, “If she had half your capability, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep.” “Don’t forget, all the hunting grounds recovered this year were secured by you.” The two played off each other flawlessly. I didn’t utter a word, nor did I care to argue. Scarlett had snatched every single one of those hunting grounds from my hands. Andy knew it better than anyone, yet he feigned ignorance. He simply assumed that after five years of living together, a female werewolf like me could never survive in any pack without his protection and would never leave him over “minor” issues. “Alright, Scarlett and I have a banquet with the Silvermoon Pack later tonight. Finish the draft and send it over as soon as possible.” Without waiting for my reply, he hung up. Not even one minutes later, my phone chimed with a notification from the pack’s public network. It was a new projection shared by Scarlett. I knew it was her provocation, only to me. I couldn’t see the projection from Andy’s phone. The two were seated before a lavish feast of roasted game and Moon Essence. She leaned herself against Andy’s shoulder. On the table stood an exquisite carved-bone box, just the right size for a wolf-fang bonding ring. I scrolled down further and saw a projection Scarlett posted the previous night. At four in the morning, she and Andy were knocking back an ale at a wild tavern, surrounded by empty casks. So, Andy’s idea of “hard work” was heavy drinking. And the “pack banquet” tonight was just a two werewolf party. I let out a bitter laugh, lacking any urge to confront him. Confrontation was pointless. He always had a million excuses. Even if I backed him into a corner with logic, it wouldn’t bring an apology or remorse—only endless silent pressure. In the past, I would do everything to soothe his ego and walk on eggshells. Looking back, that time would have been far better spent training and accumulating experiencing and knowledge. An Alpha’s devotion for you will fade, but your personal strength and wealth will never betray you. With that thought, I walked toward the border with determination and meanwhile, contemplated my next move. Just as I stepped out of the pack border, my phone chimed again. It was a transaction alert from my financial ledger. Andy had tapped into my private vault and withdrawn 200,000 gold coins. 第2章 Everyone in the pack assumed I stayed with Andy to leech off his status as Pack Leader and of course, his wealth. The truth was, he held the key to my personal vault. He claimed his own funds were needed to expand the pack’s armaments. So, for years, pack expenses and high-tier mana crystal purchases were funded by my earnings as an administrator in the pack and a secret top-tier bounty hunter and also support from my parents. I used to believe a partnership required joint effort, without bean-counting who contributed more. It wasn’t until recently that I noticed something wrong: despite my high income from the pack and being a top bounty hunter, I had zero savings and barely enough to buy high-grade healing potions. When I audited my ledger, I discovered the truth. Andy frequently used my funds to buy lavish gifts for Scarlett. He gifted her limited-edition pelts worth thousands of gold, pure mana crystals worth tens of thousands, and even rented out the entire Moonlight Temple for hundreds of thousands of gold just to celebrate her birthday. No werewolf in the pack had known he paid for them. Nor did I. Until later. Yet over all these years, he was unwilling to buy me a new set of leather armor to replace my two-year-old gear. Anything over a hundred gold was “too expensive,” and he would hand me a plucked wild flower instead, preaching that we needed to save for our pack’s future. When I confronted him back then, Andy got mad and accused me of lacking trust, and declared he would never touch another coin of mine. Recalling this, I dialed his phone again. I tried a dozen times, but he refused to pick up. Seeing this, I stopped hesitating. I walked straight into the Spirit-Gold Bank in the central citadel and permanently cancelled his access to my vault. Less than a minute later, Andy called back. “I was sorting through prey earlier and missed your call. What’s wrong?” he asked, acting innocent. My tone was flat. “It’s nothing now.” “Oh.” He paused. Then, he continued. “My vault access just got blocked by the bank. Something’s wrong with the ledger.” “I know,” I stated directly. “I canceled it.” “Why did you cancel it out of nowhere? Are you out of your mind?” “Call it what you want. Didn’t you say you’d never use my gold again?” Andy choked on his words. I had never tallied finances with him before. When Andy became the new pack leader, I suffered a critical injury that required 100,000 gold for a High Shaman to heal. Coincidentally, he had secretly taken all my savings to fund a dangerous hunting expedition that failed miserably. Expecting me to be furious, he apologized with reddened eyes. I comforted him instead, telling him gold didn’t matter as long as he could use it to build his dream. I had thought my sincerity would strengthen our bond, but it turned out eventually that it only nurtured his sense of selfishness and entitlement. Andy didn’t dwell on it for long. After a brief silence, he sighed, his tone defensive yet arrogant. “Fine, I get it. You’re still mad that I didn’t take you on the pack bonding patrol, so you’re throwing a tantrum.” “Lynda, I thought you had grown mature, but you’re still so petty.” “I promise you, once this patrol is over, we’ll hold Moon Blessing. I’ll set aside all pack duties and take you to the Snow Mountains for a Pack Seclusion. Satisfied?” “I didn’t bring the pack’s treasury tokens on this trip. Go unfreeze the vault right now and stop acting up. The Silvermoon banquet tonight is crucial—I need to buy that high-tier mana core as a protective amulet for Scarlett.” “I’m giving you ten minutes, or I’m going to enforce pack discipline.” Fearing I wouldn’t obey him, he threw in a threat before hanging up. In the past, whenever he threatened punishment, I would yield. But he failed to realize that I gave up not because I wasn’t afraid of his status. It was only I loved him. I simply considered how exhausting managing a pack was and I didn’t want to add to his stress. Now I realized that I was a joke. While I tried to lighten his load, his troubles were entirely self-inflicted. If that was the case, why bother? I sent him a brief message via phone: “If you lack funds, ask the elders or ask Scarlett. Since this trip was to secure her promotion anyway, it’s only fitting that she covers the costs.” After sending it, I shut down the phone. I didn’t want to run wild, so I mounted my Mountain Horse, and rode back to our private estate in the valley to pack my things. I had bought that valley castle entirely with my own money. It had the layout and view Andy favored. I had even considered adding his name to the deed back then, but a sudden gut feeling stopped me, and I kept it solely under my name. Looking back, I was relieved I had left myself an exit strategy. Once packed, I listed the castle with a territory broker. The next day, I visited the Wolf Council and handed the signed?Pack Withdrawal Application and the documents showing I had no administrative duty within the pack to the presiding Elder. When I signed it days ago, I was worried about how to explain it to Andy. But he had been in a rush to catch a riding-falcon, grabbing his gear without looking and signing his wolf mark on the last page. “Take a look at it,” I had urged him back then. “No need. You’re my future mate—do you think I don’t trust you?” I smiled bitterly. That so-called trust was merely his eagerness to brush me aside so he could hurry onto his flight to escort Scarlett. The Elder told me that the Alpha himself needed to verbally confirm my withdrawal from the pack. “The Pack Leader must confirm it in person.” Resigned, I powered up my phone again. The moment it turned on, a flood of missed calls and angry messages from Andy appeared on the screen. Because I hadn’t granted his access to the vault, he had tried sweet-talking at first, but his final message was a toxic rant threatening to strip me of my fiancé status and banish me from the pack. I showed the messages to the Elder. The Elder sighed, pity evident in his eyes. He filed the paperwork and told me that I was allowed to leave the pack and join the other pack freely. I knew Andy’s threats to strip me of my fiancé status were bluffing tactics. Whenever I displeased him in the past, he used that threat repeatedly. It was always my fear of losing him that drove me to apologize, submit to his demands, and beg him to keep the bond intact. He was convinced I loved him enough and also I couldn’t survive without his protection, making it his ultimate trump card to control me. But he forgot that affection was like a pack’s food reserve. If you kept consuming without replenishing, it eventually ran out. Because I set the castle’s price well below market value, it was sold within a week to a wealthy high-tier wolf merchant. I finalized the contract at the broker’s office, set a handover date with the buyer, and returned to the valley castle for the last time. As I pushed the heavy doors open, the sound of laughter echoed from inside. 第3章 My custom-made pair of furry claws protection at the entrance was gone. In their place stood a pair of delicate soft-leather claws protection alongside Andy’s favorite combat claws protection—a birthday gift from Scarlett. I realized Andy and Scarlett were inside. Weren’t they supposed to return from their patrol in two days? Just then, Scarlett walked out upon hearing my footsteps. She wore my Moonstone and Andy’s Alpha Signet. She carried herself with the casual air of the castle’s mistress. “Lynda, why are you back at this hour? I thought patrol duty hadn’t ended yet.” She glanced at me and seemed casually touched a carved crystal glass nearby. It fell down and broken. “Oops, sorry.” She drew back her hands and looked at me defiantly. I recognized it instantly—it was the sacred water glass Andy had given me for our future bonding ceremony. I used to treasure it, polishing it carefully every day. Andy walked out from the living hall. Seeing Scarlett broke my cherished glass on purpose, he turned a blind eye. Catching sight of me, his expression flickered with brief joy before darkening completely. “You skipped patrol duty again?” “Lynda, even if you are my fiancé, you can’t keep disregarding pack discipline!” “That’s the pack’s war division, not our house! If you don’t follow rules, how am I supposed to command the rest of the warriors?” Rules? I almost laughed out loud. When it came to breaking rules, who in this realm could compete with Andy? A year ago, right after our pack stabilized, Andy broke protocol to drop Scarlett—a junior assistant with zero combat or management experience—into a high-ranking administrative role. Despite my doubts, I yielded when Andy claimed she possessed a special “soothing power” and I painstakingly taught her how to handle affairs. Yet Scarlett spent her days grooming herself and sleeping. After slacking off during regular hours, she would deliberately stay until midnight just to post a photo of the empty council hall to the pack’s main network. When I reported this to Andy, he dismissed it, saying Scarlett was a delicate female wolf and just needed more rest. When I asked him to monitor her actual output, he claimed he lacked time. When I suggested installing tools for oversight, he claimed it violated pack privacy. Later, major mistakes occurred in hunting ground management, costing the pack tens of millions of gold. Scarlett remained completely unrepentant. When I finally lost my patience and tried to remove her from the council, Andy used his Alpha pressure to stop me. He had locked eyes with me and demanded, “Are you jealous? Are you afraid that a weak junior assistant will prove to be more capable than you?” Scarlett stayed, proceeding to poach my allied packs and territories. Andy saw it all, turned a deaf ear, and publicly praised Scarlett as “the most promising female wolf in the pack”, while branding me as a bitter, petty villain in private. I used to feel wronged. Now, I was wide awake. Now, I knew that he didn’t belittle me in public because he didn’t want his pack members to consider him to be a disloyal leader. Now, I realized that with my skills as an administrator, any elite pack would have welcomed me with open arms instead of letting me be sidelined and disrespected here. Let alone my secret status as a top bounty hunter. I remained silent. Scarlett gently patted Andy’s back, coaxing him softly, “Maybe Lynda knew you were coming back today and came to welcome you.” Andy visibly bought her flattery, his posture relaxing with smug satisfaction. “Fine, let it be this once. But how did you know I was returning today?” Scarlett smiled. “Andy, did you forget? Lynda loves you and she knows everything that you do and everything you say. Right, Lynda?” She gave me that provocative look again. Andy huffed. “Lynda, you never put this much thought into patrolling, but you sure are quick to dig into gossip.” “Don’t think this excuses you, though.” “Your petty stunt of freezing the vault threw my reputation out the window in front of the Silvermoon Pack. In the end, Scarlett had to borrow gold from her friends just to settle the mana core payment.” “If you want my forgiveness, it’s not impossible.” “But before that, we need to compensate Scarlett properly.” “Her current hut is broken, making it unlivable. Clear out the master bedroom in this castle and let her stay here for a while, and I’ll call things even.” I shook my head. “I’m afraid not. I’ve already sold this castle.” “Sold it?!” Andy’s eyes widened. Before he could press further, Scarlett gasped, covering her mouth. “Did you sell this place to buy an even larger castle on the Sacred Mountain to apologize to Andy?” Andy found the idea entirely logical, his brow smoothing out as he raised his head proudly. “Indeed, we’ve lived in this castle long enough. It’s time for an upgrade. I’ll throw in some funds from the pack treasury, but don’t sell this place just yet—it’ll serve nicely as Scarlett’s new outpost.” Scarlett feigned shyness. “That wouldn’t be right... I should pay market rent for an outpost.” “Rent?” Andy’s face darkened. “I’m your Pack Leader. How could I charge my assistant rent?” “No, I insists on paying something.” “Fine, two hundred silver coins for a year.” The two played their parts smoothly. Andy acted generously, waving off rent that easily was worth tens of thousands of gold annually in this prime valley location. Yet back when we were seeing each other, he used to split the bill down to the copper for a piece of roasted venison. The contrast between love and indifference could not have been obvious “Well? If you agree, I might reconsider our relationship,” Andy offered conditionally. “There’s no need to reconsider...” “How could there not be? If I forgive you too easily without teaching you a lesson, what if you relapse into your bad habits?” Andy cut me off, convinced I was searching for an out to improve our relationship closer. Scarlett giggled beside him. “Andy makes a good point, but please forgive Lynda for my sake. After all, you two have been together for five years—it would be such a waste to throw it away now.” Andy pretended that he was in deep thought. Scarlett took the initiative, wrapping her arm lightly around his arm and swaying playfully to persuade him. Andy told her to stop fooling around, though his face beamed with satisfaction. “Fine.” He turned back to me, adopting a kind tone. “Since Scarlett is speaking up for you, I’ll pardon you this time. You’d better thank her properly—after how you treated her, she’s still defending you.” “Alright then, regarding our relationship...” “You misunderstand me.” Before he could finish, I cut him off coldly and handed him a duplicate of the Pack Withdrawal. “What I meant was...” I paused for a few seconds before I finished my sentence. “The Council has granted my leaving. Of course, thanks to your message to approve that.”