Chapter 72


    Chapter 72


    Willow


    Having s*x with Reuben for the first time in six years had already been an unexpected turn of


    events in my life but being marked by him was something I never expected to experience. Perhaps I


    was the only she-wolf in the realm that was in love with Reuben and willing to stay with him until the


    end of our lives without being marked. Our love was unconditional, yet when he had marked me,


    found myself feelingplete in every way. He held my hand but did not force me to follow him


    right away. He did not ask me to mark him as well. He was ready to wait patiently. He had chosen a


    path with no retreat, his unspeakablemitment to me was greater than any other promise he had


    made me. He had made me his.


    Lured by his continuous seduction, his rut, and provocation, I found myself spreading my legs for


    him, letting him take me whenever he wanted. It was a hot wild night where I forgot any semnce


    of shame and surrendered to himpletely. Since his rut had been awakened by my heat, it didn’t


    last as long as usual, but the frequency of his arousal and the number of times he took me drained


    the energy from my body.


    Under the nket of the night, I found myself curled up against his warm chest, sleeping deeply. I


    was so tired that even lifting my eyshes felt like a battle, but that didn’t mean I didn’t sense


    Reuben leaving me for a time. After dressing me warmly, he had left my side. I didn’t know how long


    he had been gone, but when I stirred in my sleep, I found myself back in his warm embrace once


    again.


    The next morning, I woke up to find myself in a car that he was driving, heading back to Emerald


    Bright Pack. The drive was so quiet that my presence in the car felt like a looming question when I


    was doing everything to ignore him. Memories of our steamy night had thrown me into a pit of


    shame, while his continuous smiling nces only continued to addyers to that shame. How could


    I be the one feeling this way when he seemed to be enjoying it? It was like the exact feeling you get


    when you h ook up with your ex only to end up messing things up yourself. But in my case, I had h


    ooked up with my ex fully aware of the situation and had even enjoyed it more than he had. I still


    remembered my moans and demands for more. The greedy and impatient side of me that had been


    hidden for six years was revealed to Reuben that steamy night. He was undoubtedly happy, but I


    was nothing but ashamed!


    I


    for


    Ignoring him in the car was a battle in it of itself. I answered him with a nod or a shake of my head


    when he asked for water and food that he had bought in


    advance, I wasn’t sure when. I ate in silence, keeping my eyes fixed outside the window the entire


    time but that didn’t mean I failed to notice something ck in Reuben’s hand.


    Staring at the ckness in his and with mixed feelings for a couple of seconds, I shifted my gaze to


    his face, only to realize what it exactly was. By midnight, Reuben hadn’t disappeared. Instead, he


    had gone back to the burnt house. There, he closely investigated the surroundings and ashes, only


    to discover that the fire did not have natural causes; it had been ignited by petrol. That meant it was


    a conspiracy that someone else had hatched.


    +5


    A scheme that took ce without the knowledge that I was not alone in that house, Reuben was


    there with me. It was clear that whoever it was intended to kill me as the tire tracks of their cars had


    followed mine. After listening to E’s panic and her failure to deny the incident when Walter had


    made the connection between the house fire and her uncle, it became crystal clear that the person


    that wanted to kill me was none other than Alpha Adam.


    E’s face turned pale at the sight of me and Reuben. I wanted to me the mate mark on my neck


    for her face turning white, however, the fear in her eyes was not due to anything other than Reuben.


    nything other than


    It was not only her, my heart shook violently in my chest when Reuben passed by me and advanced


    toward E. If there was one thing more dangerous about Reuben than the rest, it was being able to


    anticipate his next move. He was so unpredictable and violent that sometimes it even scared me.


    Now that he had learned that it had been Alpha Adam behind the attempt to kill me in that fire, he


    was in his most dangerous state.


    “Reu… Reuben…” E stammered in rm as Reuben stood face to face with her remaining silent.


    She stepped back until her back hit Walter’s chest. Frozen, she looked up at him only to realize he


    had never moved away from her. Why was he still there? Turning back to Reuben, she found him


    staring into her eyes with his wolf’s, his gaze bloodthirsty.


    Meanwhile, Bix looked most rmed by Reuben’s anger, and Oran appeared disturbed by it too.


    Both of their eyes darted between E and Reuben while everyone’s heartbeats pounded loudly,


    even Walter’s, surprising me.


    Sensing a potentially bad ending to this confrontation, I took a few steps forward and gently


    grabbed Reuben’s hand. “Reuben…” I couldn’t let him raise a hand against a woman, no matter


    how angry he was. While he had never raised a hand against a female before, his anger could be


    riled too quickly for me to remain. calm.


    Reuben did not pull his hand away, but he didn’t look at me either, indicating that his thoughts were


    unchangeable or possibly worse. Suddenly, I noticed pack members in their wolf forms appearing in


    the clearing.


    “Drag Alpha Adam back here front of me in nothing but his skin,” Reuben ordered his wolves in a


    low voice, causing not only E but me to flinch as well.


    “Reu…” E’s eyes widened upon hearing Reuben’smand, she obviously wanted to say


    something but not a single word came out of her mouth. If only she knew that it had only just been


    the beginning.


    “And make sure to burn the entirety of the Opal Moon Pack to the ground. Burn everything, living


    and nonliving alike,” Reuben added, staring deep into her eyes before turning on his heels to leave,


    his sharp aurapelling the wolves to follow his orders.


    “No…” E shook her head as she watched the wolves leave the pack following Reuben’s orders.


    Despite her pack’s power and favor with the royal family, E was aware that even the royal family


    couldn’t stop Reuben from taking Alpha Adam’s life in his hands at this point. He was a living


    monster with no emotional attachment to others when it came to someone that had hurt me. “NO.


    NO. NOOOO!!!” E screamed, clearly envisioning the demise of her uncle and pack. The pack was


    her home, her life, and her future. “Please listen to me., Reuben!!” she yelled, trying to run after him


    only to be grabbed by Bix in time.


    “Don’t go after him!” he tightly grabbed her arm and made her face him. “It’s no use, E.”


    “What the hell are you saying?!” she shrieked, her eyes red with panicked fury. “Did you not hear


    the order he just gave? If I don’t stop him, he will kill my… Uncle and pack…” She struggled


    violently in his hold. “Let me go! I need to talk to Reuben. I will…”


    “You can’t stop him!” Bix yelled, gripping her arms tightly to knock some sense into her. “Reuben will


    kill you, E. He will kill you too. So don’t do it,” he added in a low tone that E was all too aware


    of. There was no such thing as forgiveness in Reuben’s world.


    She miserably broke down into tears. “Why…” she buried her face in his chest, sobbing loudly.


    For some reason, my heart grew heavier at seeing her in such a poor and broken condition. She


    knew that her family and pack were going to die but she could not do a thing to save them. She had


    to just wait and watch them dying. If I was in her


    ce and it was my family that was going to die then I would have lost my grip on reality.


    “I can’t lose my uncle. I can’t lose my people and pack,” E cried, clenching at Bix’s chest. “Please


    someone stop him. Please someone…”


    59


    “Calm down,” Bix put his hand on her back and took a deep breath, “I will talk to Reuben,” he said,


    surprising everyone in the clearing.


    E lifted her head to look up at him with wide eyes, “You… you will go…”


    go and


    Bix nodded, “Reuben is furious but I believe that he will hear me out. Someone should be able to


    manage asking him not to kill Alpha Adam and your pack,” with that he pulled away from her ready


    to enter the packhouse to meet with Reuben.


    “Have you lost your f ucking mind?!” Oran barked, grabbing Bix’s arm at lightning speed.


    “No, I have my full wits about me,” Bix replied dryly, his expression emotionless.


    “No, you do not f ucking have your wits about you! You must be on f ucking drugs, that’s the only


    reason I can think of for why you are going to Reuben to ask for forgiveness on behalf of Alpha


    Adam after what he f ucking did! Reuben will f ucking kill you,” Oran growled. Even though I had


    been standing there silently, I had to agree with him. At this point Reuben was not even going to


    listen to me.


    “I will still go,” Bix remarked, causing Oran’s eyes to turn red.


    “Over my dead b*dy!” he growled, getting dangerously close to Bix’s face.


    Bix stared at him for a couple of seconds and said, “Then you can stop me over my dead b*dy,” his


    eyes were clear and confident which irritated Oran to no end. Knowing Oran would not raise his


    hand to him, Bix passed by him only to be pulled back by Oran again.


    “What the…” Bix grew angry but his head was quickly grabbed by Oran who pulled him closer to his


    face, squeezing his head in his hand.


    “This is thest f ucking time I am going to tolerate your stubborness, Bix,” Oran growled


    dangerously close to his face. “I swear it is thest time…” he added and let go of his head with a


    growl and snapped, “I will f*cking go to talk to Reuben,” with that he turned to leave.


    “What?!” Bix panicked and held his arm, “Why the f*ck are you willing to go?”


    I clenched my fist at my side, having had enough of this craziness. If any of them


    went to talk to Reuben at this moment the consequences would grow further out of proportion. So I


    decided I should be the one to go talk to Reuben by myself. “Guys, stop it…”


    But before I could say another word, E passed by me heading towards the packhouse on her


    own, her intention clear. Before she could take more than three steps, she halted at the sight of


    Alpha Adam’s bl oody b*dy being dragged by wolves.


    “Uncle!” she screamed dashing over to Alpha Adam’s unconscious b*dy that looked more like a half


    dead carcas s than a human. Following Reuben’s orders, he really had been dragged to the pack


    n*ked. E shoved the wolves’ snouts away from Alpha Adam and started checking his wounds in a


    panic. “Uncle, what happened to you? Uncle…” she cried non stop until Reuben’s footsteps echoed


    in the surroundings.


    Seeing Reuben approach, E knew that he had every intention of killing Alpha Adam and


    intercepted Reuben before he could get closer to her uncle. “Reuben, please stop. I beg you, don’t


    kill my uncle or destroy my pack!” She held her hands up to stop him but he continued stakingThis text is ? N?velDrama/.Org.


    towards Alpha Alpha, his expression nk but his eyes were blood thirsty. “Reuben please!!” she


    cried one thest time, tightly grabbing his arm.


    “I had marked yourst stunt down as your first andst mistake E. It would appear as if you did


    not take my warning seriously. The wolf that spread false news about our impending marriage date


    was a member of your pack that tried to separate Willow and I. Not only that, you were the one who


    spread the news that I had a fiance in the first ce all those years ago,” Reuben remarked.


    E had done that? My eyes immediately went to E whose face had nched further than before


    now that she had been exposed in front of the other pack members who had long gathered in the


    clearing. “As to your f ucking uncle, he tried to kill my soulmate,” Reuben shoved her out of his way.


    E stumbled and was barely able to stop herself from falling, she immediately upon righting herself


    she found Reuben stopping a hand away from Alpha Adam’s fainted b loody figure.


    E raced over to stand between her uncle and Reuben, “Reuben, kill me but please forgive my


    uncle and don’t destroy my pack!” she screamed, crying her eyes out before Reuben could reach


    Alpha Adam.


    I knew her love for her uncle and the pack knew no bounds. Alpha Adam was like a father to her


    and Opal Moon Pack was the culmination of her dead parents’ hard work that she refused to let go


    under any condition. To save those two things she was even willing to die.


    “Your life is of no use to me,” Reuben took a step closer to her tucking a paper in her hand.


    I co cked my brows confused as to what those papers were but when E saw them it was as if she


    had seen a gho. “Our marriage contract?” she murmured under her breath lifting teary red eyes up


    to Reuben in disbelief.


    Marriage contract? My ears perked up and my heart grew uneasy at the mention of it..


    “You know what you have to do right?” Reuben coldly stared at E.


    E bit her l*p, tears flowing down to her cheeks non stop. She looked at her bleeding uncle on the


    ground then back at her marriage contract. She had to make a choice. After a couple of silent tears,


    she sent me a hate filled re then turned back to Reuben before she raised her hand and tore the


    marriage contract into pieces.


    “I, E Martin the Alpha’s daughter of the Opal Moon Pack, break my engagement with Alpha


    Reuben Emerald freeing you from our marriage contract,” she dered, dropping the torn pages on


    the ground.


    I froze in ce as I listened to E. It turned out that only E could break the marriage contract


    with Reuben, not Reuben. I could not help but turn my attention to Reuben who stood in front of me


    holding my hand.


    “Let’s go home, Willow,” he began leading me towards the packhouse.


    Blinking, I looked down at his hand in mine then up at his face. My heart sk pped a beat when I


    realized Reuben had done all of this for me. He had ended the marriage contract with E in front of


    the pack and was officially bringing me into his home. Walking side by side, I loosened my grip on


    his hand, inteced our fingers, then sped our hands together.