Chapter 5
He shot me a cold glance, like the sharpest winter wind, then carried the giggling Emily straight into the master bedroom.
The door wasn’t fully shut, and soon her drunken, sticky laughter leaked out, along with Jeff’s low, indulgent murmurs of “Stop messing around.”
Moments later, he emerged with a dark expression, voice clipped. “Where’s the herb for sobering up? The ones you used to keep?”
Back when he often came home drunk, I had always stocked the most convenient shelf with carefully wrapped bundles of herbs I’d prepared just for him.
But now, there was no need.
Without looking up, I continued tidying the books in my hands and said flatly, “Gone.”
He hadn’t expected that answer. Stunned, he forced down his temper, as if clinging to the last shred of dignity. “Fine. Then text me the name—I’ll buy it myself.”
I said nothing, only wiped the dust from a book’s spine.
His patience snapped. With a curse, he snatched my phone from the desk, trying to unlock it himself. The screen lit up and dimmed again, error messages flashing after each failed attempt.
Finally, his face darkened, disbelief twisting his features. “Tess! When did you change your password?!”
I calmly walked over, retrieved my phone from his tense grip, the glow of the screen reflecting my expressionless face. “I changed it. Do I need a reason?”
His rage erupted. “Tess! How long are you going to keep this up?!”
I only looked at him coolly. He spun away, storming back into the bedroom, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the walls.
All night, the flimsy walls echoed with Emily’s coy moans and breathy whispers:
“Jeff~ kiss me… hold me tighter… you smell so good…”
By dawn, the sky outside burned with an eerie crimson. A rare moonstorm struck the Eastern Pack.
The air rippled with visible silver currents of energy, the ground trembling with low vibrations. Every werewolf’s blood surged violently out of control.
Jeff jerked awake, Alpha instincts eclipsing reason. His first reaction was to seize the panicked Emily in his arms, shielding her tightly as he barreled downstairs, seeking the sturdiest corner of the house.
Only when the violent tremors finally subsided did his taut nerves ease slightly.
And then it struck him—where was Tess?
He glanced up toward the silent second-floor bedroom.
But by then, I was already at the airport, passing through the werewolf-only terminal for boarding.
Beside my suitcase, my phone lit up again and again with Jeff’s calls. I ignored them. Just before boarding, I sent him a single message:
[Break the mate bond.]
Then I snapped the SIM card in half and tossed it into the trash, discarding a past that no longer held any worth.
The moment the message reached him, Jeff froze.
He stared at the words, unable to comprehend, rereading them over and over.
Beside him, Emily quickly noticed his shift. A flash of triumph darted through her eyes, but she forced out tears instead, clinging to his arm. “Jeff… Tess must hate me… It’s all my fault… Once she comes back, I’ll move out right away. I’ll never bother you again…”
Jeff rubbed his temples, his voice uncharacteristically irritable and distracted. “Don’t overthink. I won’t let her drive you away.” Out of habit, he opened the mate-bond app on his phone, ready to force-locate me and order me home.
But then he froze.
His gaze locked on the newest post auto-pushed from the werewolf community platform. His breath caught.
It was my final update:
[I’m free.]
Beneath the words was a photo of the official transfer document stamped by the Western Pack’s Elder Council. Effective immediately.
Just then, his phone rang sharply. The caller ID: the old Alpha.
The moment Jeff picked up, the elder’s voice thundered in outrage.
“Jeff! What the hell are you doing?! Look at the pack chat! What is this link Tess just posted?! You’re dissolving the mate bond?! This is madness!”
