99 Times He Left Me Mid-Moon for a Fake Omega – The 100th? I Marked His Rival Alpha Chapter 15
Finnian’s head snapped up, eyes going wide.
“No way! Lupa’s not dead! She wouldn’t just leave me like that!”
Elara got right up in his face, jabbing her finger at him.
“You’ve got some nerve even saying her name! You lied to her for five years, bond-registered to someone else, made her raise your bastard pup like she was some kind of fool! Stole her bloodline claim, drained her dry, and now you want to play the grieving mate? You don’t deserve to breathe the
same air as her!”
Every word hit like a punch, designed to tear him apart.
Finnian went white, stumbling backward like someone had just ripped his wolf out of his chest.
“Enjoy your life with that illegitimate trash! Lupa’s gone, and you’ll never see her again!”
Elara had her enforcers haul the unconscious Richard out of the Darkfang packhouse.
Finnian collapsed on the floor, Elara’s words echoing in his head as he mumbled to himself:
“Impossible… can’t be real… Lupa wouldn’t leave me… she’s just pissed, that’s all… once she cools off, she’ll come back…”
He kept repeating it like a broken record, desperately trying to make himself believe it.
But the next day, word spread through the territories that the Shadowhowl Pack was planning my funeral rites.
Finnian stood outside the ceremonial grounds, unable to force himself inside.
Elara-this woman who’d never shed a tear even when she’d defended her territory from a full rogue invasion-came charging at him with bloodshot eyes and slapped him twice across the face, claws barely retracted.
“You monster! How dare you show up at her funeral rites!”
Every word was laced with pure hatred, her wolf snarling just beneath the surface.
“You and that bitch killed my daughter! Get out! GET OUT!”
Finnian’s cheeks burned, but he couldn’t even feel the pain.
He looked up at my portrait in the ceremonial hall-black fabric draped around it, mourning candles flickering-and tears started streaming down his
face.
“Lupa… I’m so sorry… I never thought it would end like this…”
He dropped to his knees, slamming his forehead against the stone steps over and over, sobbing like his heart was being ripped apart. His wolf was howling inside his head-broken, agonized.
Elara screamed for pack enforcers to drag him away. Finnian clawed at the stone archway so desperately the guards broke his fingers, but he still wouldn’t let go.
Nobody noticed the tiny enchanted stone with its glowing rune hidden in the rafters.
Everything from the funeral was transmitting directly to my scrying mirror.
“Crying his eyes out now. Little late for regrets, don’t you think?”
My old partner, Shadow 034, smirked as she watched over my shoulder.
“So this is the wolf you left the Order for, Shadow 027?”
I closed the scrying feed without answering and headed toward the portal chamber.
The Northern Territories were calling-a place with no lies, no betrayal, just endless ice and the chance to start over.
“Let’s go. None of that matters anymore.”
My voice was flat as I walked straight toward the shimmering portal gateway:
Just as the portal was about to close, a strong hand grabbed the edge of the magical barrier.
“Not gonna wait for me?”
I stared at the familiar face.
“Thorne? What the hell are you doing here?”
He chuckled and stepped through the portal, settling in beside me as the magic stabilized.
“Call me Shadow 009. I’m your new partner.”
I was stunned. Thorne had been friends with both Finnian and me since pack academy, but I’d always known he had feelings for me.
Back then, I only had eyes for Finnian, so Thorne kept things strictly as friends.
I had no idea he was Shadow 009. No wonder he’d risked his life to save me during that rogue extermination mission seven years ago.
“Why are you coming back to the Order? I thought you quit too.”
He looked down at the territories shrinking below us through the portal’s shimmer-hundreds of packs, all technically under his rule, though few knew it. His voice was quiet but clear.
“Because this time, I’m not missing my chance.”
