Zephyrine


    Finished


    “And what do you know about battle? Huh?! What in the hell do you know aboutbat or duels?” Nyroth shouted, but I ignored him, heading straight into my chamber.


    “You should let her be. Maybe this is even better to get rid of her,” I heard his mother say, but as usual, I ignored them both.


    Making this decision, I knew I would never be the same again. After five years of retirement, I was taking up the de once


    more.


    I had left Luna Tahlia the moment the loyal guardsmen of ckbridge Pack, those who now believed she was framed, camé


    over.


    My words had split the pack in two; those who had been brainwashed were now beginning to switch sides. She hadn’t wanted me to take this fight.


    “Let another man do <i>it</i>, Zephyrine. We can hire a warrior who has fought on the battlefield,” she pleaded, but I shook my head. I would handle it.


    This wasn’t some friendly duel or spar. This was the fight that would decide the legacy of Young ck.


    I had ced her in safe hands, helped settle her mother to bed, and then left for Hue Pack to retrieve my chest and leave there for good only to be attacked by my mate, furious at the news of mying duel.


    I pushed the door to my chamber open and sighed softly, steadying my nerves. I could already hear him approaching.


    The door flew open, and he appeared, jaw tight.


    “Zeph, if you really want to die early, you should have told me so I could strangle you myself. Why in hell must you punish me this way?!”


    “If you hadn’t backed the false im against Luna Tahlia, maybe I wouldn’t have to go through all this. You are the real architect!” I snapped back.


    He sighed and shrugged, his usual habit before giving some half–hearted apology.


    “Zeph, you can’t go on with the duel. What is with you and that Luna anyway?”


    “She was cheated on by her mate, her Alpha, the father of her pup. He reced her with someone younger, mated her on their marital bed, and made her watch. I can feel her pain… and I can rte.”


    “You make it sound like you’re a saint, Zeph,” he muttered angrily. “Yesterday, at the council, you hugged another man in front of me, and you think you’re a saint?”


    “Says the man who mated with his childhood crush over and over while still bound to me.” My voice was calm now, no anger left. That was how I knew Nyroth and I were truly done.


    What connected us was only the mate bond, a pull that made me attracted to him at certain moments, but the Lycannar had over me was different, dangerous, undeniable.


    I turned away, but his voice burst out, sharp with jealousy.


    power


    “So you’re leaving me for a psychopath? A murderer? Someone who doesn’t even know the difference between right and wrong? Who believes he can spill blood whenever it suits him?<b>” </b>


    I swallowed and turned to face him.


    “know he’s unstable. I know he’s dangerous. But trust me, he makes me feel better than you ever could.”


    “What?<b>” </b>


    Yes. He’s obsessed but only with me. He stalks only me. And when he doesn’t fit in, it’s because he doesn’t have to. You fit in


    <b>9:30 </b>PM


    perfectly… yet what good is that if you stand by and do nothing when others insult me?”


    Finished


    His face went pale at my words, but I didn’t wait for his reaction. I pulled out the drawer, took my chest, and headed for the door.


    In the living room, Pam and Olivia waited with triumphant smiles. They thought this duel would be my end.


    I was about to walk past when Nyroth stepped forward, blocking my way.


    “I won’t reject you, Zeph,” he said tightly.


    “I don’t care about that anymore. If you can lie with another woman while still mated to me, and I can kiss another man and feel more connected to him, then maybe the mate bond is nothing at all. Maybe we were never meant to be lovers, only to help each other find the one we were truly meant for.”


    “Don’t feed me that horseshit! I am not some matchmaker who will hand you over to the Lycan King. You are going nowhere.”


    He grabbed my arm, and I yanked free, but in the process, the chest fell, its lid flying open. The contents scattered.<fn55b8> The source of th?s content is fin?novel</fn55b8>


    <i>The </i>invitation scroll from the Lycan King to my brother rolled to Pam’s feet. My mother’s bracelet glinted on the floor, and the broken hairpin my brother had given me years agoy at Nyroth’s feet.


    I felt the tension spike in the air. I hurried to snatch up the scroll, folding it back into the chest, then reached for the bracelet and ced it inside.


    When I went to grab the hairpin, Nyroth was faster. He picked it up, staring at it in confusion, his brows furrowing.


    “Where did you steal this?”


    I nearly sagged with exhaustion. Snatching it from his hand, I shoved it into the chest.


    “It’s mine,” I said tly.


    But then his grip caught my wrist again, different this time. When I turned, I saw something new in his eyes. Horror.


    “You stole that hairpin from Ka, didn’t you?”


    I bristled.


    “It was gifted to me by my brother on my tenth birthday. Go ask your crush where she keeps hers.”


    And with that, I walked out, vowing to leave the pack for good. Yet somehow, deep down, instead of weakening, the mate string between Nyroth and me only seemed to grow stronger.


    <b>Send </b><b>Gifts </b>