His Mate Returns, I Walk Away

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When I was 18, Shadowblade Pack was attacked by Rogues and suffered heavy losses.

My brother LiamShadowblade Pack's young Alphaset out alone on the path of revenge.

Before leaving, he entrusted me to a friend in another pack, since my wolf had fallen into a deep sleep due to injuries.

The first time we met, Alpha Nathan couldn't take his eyes off me.

From that day on, I worked as his assistant at his company during the day.

At night, I was his most intimate bedmate.

For four whole years, he never told anyone about our relationship.

His explanation was that he worried enemies would hurt me if they knew I existed.

But four years later, his former Mate returned to the pack, and he rushed to greet her.

Just an hour earlier, he'd been kissing me in my bed.

Now he held another woman in his arms right in front of me:

"Chloe, four years ago you were the one who crawled into my bed while I was drunk."

"Acting so unreasonable now is really pointless."

The way he looked at her was so tender, while his mockery toward me was especially earnest.

Enduring the pain, I contacted my brother Liam, who had long since completed his revenge.

I told Liam I was willing to marry Darkclaw Pack's Alpha.

Then I looked up and smiled at Nathan:

"Fine then. Goodbye."

Liam replied quickly.

He was relieved that I'd finally let go of the mysterious man I'd liked for years.

A year ago when Liam completed his revenge and called me back to his side, I'd used that as an excuse to refuse him.

To this day, Liam doesn't know that the person who made me suffer so much in love is his best friendNathan.

After ending the call, the next thing I needed to handle was the mark Nathan had left on me in bed.

It wasn't a formal mark, after all we'd never held a bonding ceremony.

Black market witches had ways to solve all kinds of problems, so I found one and paid her a large sum of money.

In the end, I obtained an ancient contract.

The witch told me, "Have him sign his true name here. When the ink dries, the mark's connection will be severed. But remember, he must sign willingly. Any coercion will cause the contract to backfire on you."

Holding the contract, I felt a deep pain in my chest.

Nathan. Him again.

Even my final departure couldn't avoid him.

I gripped my phone tightly and walked to the end of an empty corridor to dial that familiar number.

The phone rang for a long time. Just when I thought no one would answer, the call connected.

A strange, satisfied and lazy female voice came through: "Hello? Looking for Nathan? He's in my bed right now... worn out and asleep. Do you need me to wake him?"

Nathan, in her bed.

Those words pierced my heart like needles laced with wolfsbane, densely packed.

So I hadn't been heartbroken about leaving him just now.

It was his betrayal that brought me pain.

Yet my voice was exceptionally steady: "No need. Thank you."

Without waiting for her response, I hung up directly.

The phone screen darkened, reflecting my bloodless face.

But less than two minutes later, the phone vibrated urgently again.

I stared at Nathan's name for a few seconds before swiping to answer.

"Did you need something?"

On the phone, his voice carried a businesslike coldness.

But just last night, he'd been pressed against me, calling my name over and over.

I gripped the contract tightly, my knuckles turning white:

"Nathan, there's a document that needs your signature."

Nathan made an acknowledging sound, then seemed to remember something and said:

"Oh, and go back to the house later. Pack up all your things, she's moving in. But I have an empty apartment in the western suburbsyou can move there. After all, I promised Liam I'd take care of you."

Four years ago, he drunkenly pulled me into bed and gave me the status of "bedmate."

Four years later, he's giving me a place to live in the name of being a good friend.

His thoughtful handling of the situation seemed both laughable and utterly meaningless.

I smiled: "No need, Nathan. I can take care of myself."

Besides, once he released the mark on me, these absurd four years would all be over.

I kept my eyes open until dawn in my temporary lodging, yet I felt more clearheaded than any morning I'd woken up beside Nathan.

I called a car to return to the villa I'd lived in for four years. The moment I pushed open the door, the searing pain in my chest nearly consumed me.

My favorite cup from the coffee table had been thrown in the trash.

On the sofa I'd carefully selected lay a woman's underwear and dress.

The white stains on the underwear made it clear what had happened last night.

"Sophia likes it this way."

Nathan's voice came from behind me.

Seeing me look at him, a trace of distress crossed his face.

"She came over yesterday and wasn't happy seeing your things. She kept me up all night."

It wasn't until he led me to the storage room that I understood what that sentence meant.

In the corner, all my luggage was piled up like garbage.

The jewelry Nathan had given me was shattered into pieces scattered on the floor.

A pair of mugs we'd made together with our own hands lay smashed to bits.

Nathan sighed.

"They weren't worth anything anyway. Throw them out. Whatever you need, I'll buy you new ones."

Not worth anything?

I looked at a password notebook on the floor, half-burned by fire.

That was my diary.

Ever since I came to Silvermoon Pack at 18, I'd recorded my feelings in that diary every day, hoping to show it to him someday after becoming his mate.

But now, my heart was as destroyed as that burned heart I'd drawn in the diary.

I silently threw all this garbage into the trash bin.

Nathan's brow furrowed instantly.

But I smiled: "You're right. Worthless things that get dirty or broken should be thrown away."

Including my foolish, ill-timed feelings.

I no longer looked at his suddenly ugly expression, lowering my head to take out the contract I'd kept in my bag.

"Nathan, please sign this..."

Before I could finish, Nathan's phone rang.

Sophia's voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet storage room.

"Nathan, I'm trapped at Moonlight Bar by some bad guys. Come get me quick."

The emotion on Nathan's face vanished instantly. Without even looking at the document in my hands, he signed his name directly at the signature line.

"Leave on your own. Send me a message when you get there."

After Nathan drove away, I didn't linger for a moment either.

The villa was halfway up a mountain where I couldn't get a ride, so I had to walk down alone.

On the way, Liam messaged me saying he had some things to handle and asking me to wait one more day.

I replied okay, then booked a hotel nearby.

However, just as I reached the foot of the mountain, a figure suddenly rushed out from the shadows of the nearby trees, reeking of alcohol.

It was clearly someone who'd drunk too much.

Before I could react, he lunged at me. One hand roughly grabbed my shoulder while the other tried to cover my mouth.

"Little beauty, all alone? Keep me company..."

His strength was too much. I was knocked to the ground.

His drunk body pressed down hard on me, his alcohol-stinking mouth trying to force itself on me.

"Get off!"

I drove my elbow hard into his ribs while simultaneously slamming my forehead into his nose.

"Aaaah!" He let out a scream, curling up while clutching himself.

I quickly scrambled up, clutching the bag with the contract tightly.

The drunk lifted his head, face covered in blood, looking at me with eyes full of disbelief and shock.

"No... impossible... your wolf, Shadowblade's Chloe, your wolf has been asleep for so long, hasn't it? How could you... have this kind of strength?!"

He stumbled to his feet and fled quickly.

Only after his figure completely disappeared did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

My knees and elbows burned with painscrapes from struggling and falling earlier.

He was right. My wolf had been in a deep sleep due to serious injuries for a long time, only recently beginning to awaken.

But very few people knew about this.

I didn't know who told him, but my instinct told me it was related to Sophia.

So I sent Sophia a message.

[If there's a next time, I'll bite through your throat.]

After the contract took effect and the mate bond was severed, I felt an emptiness inside, but more than that, relief.

After all, I would no longer feel pain when Nathan slept with someone else.

Now I just needed to wait for Liam to come get me and take me home.

But in the middle of the night, I received a message from Nathan:

[Get to Moonlight Bar now!]

He seemed very angry.

Nathan was Silvermoon Pack's Alpha after all. If I offended him, it wouldn't be easy for me to leave here.

After thinking it over, I decided to go see what this was about.

When I walked into the bar's private room, Sophia was draped over Nathan, sobbing with teary eyes while Nathan gently comforted her.

Over the past four years when I suffered because my wolf was asleep, he'd only frowned and told me: as Alpha Liam's sister, I shouldn't be so fragile.

But ridiculously, I had once completely agreed with that statement.

I had no interest in watching their performance of this deep affection act, so I interrupted coldly:

"Nathan, what did you need from me?"

Nathan looked at me with an expression I'd never seen before, then questioned: "Why did you send a threatening message to Sophia?"

I paused, then frowned slightly.

"That's not it, she was the one who sent people..."

Before I could finish, Sophia turned to look at me and suddenly spoke.

"You're... Alpha Liam's sister?"

Immediately after, Sophia slapped me across the face.

My ears rang and my cheek swelled rapidly.

Nathan shot to his feet, shock in his voice.

"Sophia, what are you doing?"

But the woman's eyes instantly reddened as she pointed at me and cried to Nathan:

"Shadowblade Alpha's sister! She's the one who sent people to bully me, warning me to stay away from you! Those people said so themselves! You said you'd get justice for me! Or can't you bear to punish her?"

The air froze instantly.

Nathan's complex gaze flashed across me, then he gently pulled Sophia into his arms, helping wipe away her tears.

His tone held some helplessness mixed with obvious indulgence.

"I'm not reluctant. I just thought I should ask clearly first. After all, you're the most important person to me."

A flash of triumph crossed Sophia's face. She nestled into Nathan's embrace and said coquettishly:

"Then punish her, make her apologize to me!"

Nathan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, as if hesitating for a moment.

Seeing this, Sophia pointed at the alcohol on the table: "Make her serve as my waitress!"

Nathan looked at me and said coldly: "Chloe, come pour Sophia a drink!"

I didn't know what they were talking about and didn't want to argue. I just wanted to leave here as quickly as possible.

So I silently poured Sophia a drink and handed it to her.

Sophia took the drink, sipped it, then suddenly clutched her chest and pointed at the glass, screaming: "Nathan! This drink... there's poison in this drink! She's trying to poison me!"

Nathan's expression changed drastically. He supported Sophia with one hand and pushed me back with the other: "Chloe! You dared to poison her?!"

I fell to the ground, shards from the glass cutting my arm.

Before I could explain, Nathan called his Beta James over.

"Chloe dared to poison Sophia. Lock her up right now and don't let her eat until we confirm Sophia is okay!"

Beta James quickly glanced at my disheveled state and said cautiously:

"But Alpha Liam has already contacted us..."

Before Beta James could finish, Sophia suddenly cried out in pain.

"Nathan, if you're going to protect this person so much, then I'm leaving and never coming back!"

Nathan's pupils constricted. Ignoring whatever Beta James had said, he held Sophia tightly.

"Sophia, don't!"

His ice-cold gaze cut into me like a knife, his aura almost murderous:

"Chloe, if there's a next time, get out! Even if Liam himself comes to beg, it won't help!"

My wolf paced angrily in my mind, but I was leaving soon and didn't want trouble.

I suppressed her, my voice unusually calm:

"Don't worry, I won't."

Nathan seemed unprepared for this answer. He clearly froze, then withdrew his power.

He said nothing more, sweeping Sophia up in his arms.

"Let's go to the hospital."

His gaze swept over my blood-covered arm, his frown deepening.

"You come too!"

I followed silently.

Not because I needed treatment, but because I wanted to figure out whether Sophia had actually been poisoned.

Sitting in the back seat, Nathan messaged me:

[I was too anxious earlier, but I've already lost Sophia once. I can't lose her a second time.]

[If you're angry, I'll make it up to you.]

I looked at those words, then at Nathan in the front seat fussing over Sophia, and found it laughably absurd.

He still hadn't even noticed that the connection between us had been severed.

I looked at my phone coldly and urged my brother to come get me.

The next second, a friend request from my arranged marriage partner popped up on the screen.

Mason... come to think of it, I'd met him once before.

Taking a deep breath, I accepted.

The car stopped at the hospital emergency entrance.

Just as I pushed open the door, a car suddenly sped toward us from the side.

Nathan almost instinctively pulled Sophia into his arms to protect her.

I stumbled from the motion and fell into a nearby flower bed.

When I got up, I saw Nathan rushing into the hospital with obvious concern, carrying Sophia whose hand had been scraped, even telling his Beta to get a specialist.

"Miss, your arm is bleeding. You should get it bandaged quickly..."

A stranger beside me handed me a clean handkerchief.

I covered my wound, thanked them, and without hesitation walked to the roadside to hail a taxi.

...

Meanwhile, after Nathan settled Sophia, he remembered me, who'd also been injured.

He got wound treatment ointment from a doctor and asked:

"Where's the other woman who came with me? Her name is Chloe. Which room is she in?"

The doctor shook his head:

"I'm sorry sir, we don't have any patient registered under the name Chloe."

Nathan froze, his grip on the ointment tightening.

He didn't understandwhere else could that woman have gone if not to the hospital, injured as she was?

His phone rang. It was Liam.

As soon as he answered, Liam's furious roar burst through:

"Nathan! Is this how you take care of my sister? You let her go back alonedo you know how dangerous that is?!"

Nathan frowned, instinctively thinking I'd gone to Liam to tattle.

His tone grew heavy with displeasure: "Is she with you? Put her on."

"Put her on my ass!"

Liam glanced at me beside him, having arrived safely, his voice full of indignation:

"If you want to make amends, Chloe's getting married in two days. You'd better prepare a big gift!"