Chapter 15

Hannah felt like every cheesy romance flick paled in comparison to this moment. She threw herself into Evan's arms, tears soaking his shirt as she mumbled, "I should've told you how I felt sooner."

From that day on, they were inseparable, their bond natural and effortless. While Hannah's life in Westron Town bloomed with quiet joy, Belmor Town was a whirlwind of chaos.

It started when Brittany stormed the Sullivan pack's den, waving a pregnancy test and broadcasting her condition to anyone who'd listen. The Sullivan Business's stocks tanked overnight, catching Charles's attention. Without hesitation, he had Derek hauled home and forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for reflection. But Derek collapsed mid-punishment, landing in the hospital.

When the healer announced Derek's excessive drinking had left him infertile, Charles's face twisted with shame. The next day, he summoned the Kane pack to the old den.

Lawrence scoffed at Charles's generous offer. "Charles, my daughter's carrying the Sullivan pack's only heir, and you think this payout's enough?"

Brittany, desperate to avoid another stint of scraping by, tried to intervene, but Lawrence's stern glare silenced her. Charles, a wolf who'd weathered countless storms, sneered at Brittany's belly. "This is the Sullivan pack's final offer. Reject it, and your daughter's the laughingstock of Belmor Town for getting pregnant out of wedlock."

His confidence slapped Brittany's pride. Everyone once called Hannah Derek's ultimate lapdog, but now Brittany was the one wearing that label. Swallowing her humiliation, she signed the contract, pleading, "Charles, if you make Derek form a sacred bond with me, I'll take nothing."

Her desperation infuriated her parents, who stormed out. Charles, eyes gleaming with cunning, patted her shoulder like a showman. "That's the spirit—no fuss, no muss!"

As he reached for the pen, Derek's voice cut through from upstairs. "I don't agree!"

He stumbled down, a shadow of his former self, haggard and broken. Ignoring everything, he tore the binding contract to shreds. "Dad, I'll only ever bond with Hannah!"

Charles slapped him hard. "You ungrateful pup! Brittany's carrying your pup! You want the Sullivan line to die out?"

Derek licked the blood from his lip, a sickly grin spreading. "The Sullivan pack's fate? Not my problem. When you drove Mom other packs, did you care about our name?"

He turned to Brittany's belly. "And her? Who knows whose pup she's carrying, with her wandering ways?"

Brittany's hopes shattered like glass under a blunt knife. She never imagined the wolf she loved would see her this way. "Derek!" she roared, storming up to him. "How dare you say that? This pup's yours! I've got video proof from that night!"

She fumbled for her phone, but Derek, impatient, knocked it to the floor. "Brittany, you better pray that pup's not mine, or it won't see the light of day."

His icy, venomous words pierced her. Brittany collapsed, sobbing. "Why, Derek? Why treat me like this? We were about to form a sacred bond! Why fall for Hannah out of nowhere?"

She couldn't wrap her head around it. Derek's hatred for Hannah had been bone-deep—how had it flipped overnight? But then,狂喜 surged as she laughed wildly. "So what if you love her? She's dead! I had her buried alive!"

Derek's face darkened. "You don't know, do you? Your goons never found her."

After hearing Brittany's plot, Derek had his assistant track down the hired wolves. They'd gone to the cemetery, but Hannah was already gone. To drive the point home, Derek called them on speaker. "Derek, please, stop hunting us! We swear, Hannah ran off! We never saw her!"

Brittany's face drained of color. But the real blow came when the assistant burst in with a call. "Derek, we found Hannah!"