Chapter 379 The Public Reckoning


    Leiss‘ POV


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    44


    Finished


    My eyes widened and my body trembled as those strange gazes stabbed at me like knives.


    Just moments ago I’d been full of swagger; now I was utterly humiliated.


    I went berserk, lunging forward to grab one of the women. My voice came out cold as if squeezed through my teeth. “Who told you toe? Who sent you?”


    She panicked for a second and struggled, saying nothing.


    Rage boiled in me; I abandoned any pretense of gentility and pped her. “Get out! All of you -get out!” I roared.


    But they didn’t leave. They kept drifting along the red carpet, as if deliberately shaming me.


    Myposure was on the brink of copse. I grabbed another woman and ground my teeth, “Tell me! Who sent you?”


    The air felt like an ice cave and a volcano at once.


    Then a gentle yet frigid voice came from backstage: “It was me.”


    I snapped my head up. Kelly walked out slowly, wearing a in, dark–blue dress so old- fashioned it shed with the banquet’s ostentation.


    <i>That’s </i><i>the </i><b><i>dress </i></b><i>she </i>wore <i>the </i><i>day </i><i>she </i><i>was </i><i>brought </i><i>to </i><i>you</i>, a wolf howled in my head.


    My chest lurched–memories flooded in.


    That day I’d mocked her for being an Omega from the slums, a Cindere who dared dream of being a princess–vulgar and worldly. I humiliated her and belittled her, never treating her as my equal.


    To punish her arrival I’d even secretly hired rogues to raid her Pack… until she cut the bond herself.


    For a month I’d been numb without her, and then I begged her three times toe back. She agreed.


    I swore I would treat her well, only her.


    But now she stood there and the chill in her eyes felt like a midwinter gale slicing into my core.


    <b>19:14 Thu</b>, <b>Sep </b><b>25 </b>


    …


    :


    Chapter 379 The Public Reckoning


    I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out.


    Finished


    She took a step forward and stopped two meters away, smiling sweetly but with an unapproachable air. “Leiss, they’re your old lovers. How could you not invite them to your marking ceremony?”


    A metallic, nauseating taste rose in my throat as if her words had pierced me.


    I stumbled forward, my voice trembling as I pleaded, “I was wrong, mate. I truly was wrong! I was a terrible man, but I’ll be good to you from now on–only to you!”


    I was willing to pledge every promise, treasure every vow–anything–if only she would stop looking at me like that.


    I was panicking, utterly frantic.


    <i>Why</i><i>? </i><i>Why is </i><i>she </i><i>doing </i><i>this</i>? the wolf in my head wailed.


    I could think of nothing else but to salvage her, no matter how slim the chance.


    Kelly’s POV


    Every eye felt like a de cutting into this farce.


    The hall plunged into a deathly silence; the once–boisterous clinking of sses froze midair.


    Only the mingled pheromones in the room stirred like a pack sensing blood.


    Guests exchanged nces–some shocked, some delighted–but no one dared speak first.


    The cheerful background music now sounded painfully inappropriate, like a soundtrack to my


    vindication.


    I stood before Leiss with a heart of iron, yet a small smile crept across my face.


    From the day I severed the bond, I had been nning this moment.


    The soul–rending pain of unbinding was nothingpared to the hatred I bore him.


    You did <i>it</i>, <i>Kelly</i>. <i>Even </i><i>the </i><i>Crimson </i><i>Moon </i>alpha looks like a <i>drowning </i>mutt <i>before </i><i>you</i>, my wolf Kelly murmured with satisfaction.


    I’d waited a long time for this.