After Refusing to be Luna, I Marked the Alpha's Shadow Chapter 25

Maria froze. She smiled bitterly. "The first time you sought me out in over twenty years, it's for her?"

Twenty years ago, she birthed twins. The priest found both had powerful royal bloodlines. But twin kings were a taboo, predicting civil war.

Alpha Richard decided one had to go for stability.

She placed the two babies on the pillow. Through blurry tears, she saw Liam smile at her.

She said, "Keep the older brother."

Later, the old priest couldn't bear to kill the younger one, secretly sending him to an orphanage on the border. The only condition was that they would never have any connection with this exiled child again.

Maria secretly visited the wolf pup.

In the border orphanage, though lonely, he possessed powerful vitality as the priest said.

So, he would never forgive the mother who abandoned him.

Maria's eyes wet with maternal guilt. "Do you love her?"

Ethan was silent for a moment. Golden pupils shone with firm light. "Yes, I love her. More than anyone in the world. For her, I can put down all hatred for the Blackwood family."

As a child, he fell ill in the orphanage. Without a pack's protection, he was isolated in a cold room.

Until a little girl visiting with her police parents pushed open the door. Seeing him, she was surprised.

"Sorry, wrong room."

He looked at her. The girl wanted to leave, but hesitated turning back. Looking at the little wolf boy shivering in the corner, she stopped.

She asked, "Are you alone?"

He hummed "Mmh," revealing guarded fangs.

The girl thought, didn't get scared away, but walked back to sit beside him, pulling a candy from her pocket. "Then I'll keep you company. My mom said to protect the weak!"

Golden sunlight shone on her pigtails, and into his dark world.

She smiled. "With me here, you're not alone."

He remembered this sentence for twenty years. It supported him through countless freezing nights of wandering.

Evening.

My phone rang non-stop.

George Evans, that profit-seeking father, Liam... bombing my nerves.

I thought the events of four years ago were over, but they still clung to me like ghosts.

I closed my eyes in annoyance, about to answer, but a hand took my phone.

I looked up to see Ethan looking indifferently at the screen, then blocking George and Liam's numbers.

"It's over."

I paused. "What is?"

Ethan smiled, taking out a document from behind him. It was the lethal chip Liam held.

Clearly written: [Dissolution of all marital and debt relations between Blackwood and Evans families].

I froze, grabbing the contract to check the signatures—not only Alpha Richard's, but also Luna Maria's final veto stamp.

There were three copies. One for Blackwood, one for Evans, one with the lawyer.

Now all three were here, stamped with "VOID." I was completely free.

My fingers tightened, eyes getting hot.

Ethan looked into my eyes, voice gentle.

"The engagement is over. You never have to answer their calls again. No one can use this to threaten my mate."

I looked up at the hidden fatigue in his eyes, voice hoarse. "Did you go beat up Liam? Or... did you go to the Blackwood family? You are the proudest Rogue King. How could you bow to those nobles for me? Even if you put Liam in the ICU, if he uses family power for revenge, I..."

Before I finished, I was pulled into a hug. Familiar cedar scent wrapped around me.

"Maria will control him. If he finds you again, he'll be sent back to Europe, exiled forever."

Ethan's voice was muffled, carrying a sense of release.

I instinctively hugged his waist. "Why? Why would she help you?"

"Because..." Because this was the last bit of sentiment between mother and son.

From now on, he was truly just Ethan, no longer the abandoned Blackwood.

Ethan held me tight, suddenly laughing. In that moment, he seemed to let go of the shackles carried for twenty years. "Because our sincerity moved her."

Me: "..."

I punched Ethan's broad back. "Be serious. Don't use fairy tales to brush off an Enforcer."

Ethan chuckled, chin resting on my shoulder, like a spoiled big cat.

I couldn't see his expression, only hearing him sigh looking at the first snowflake falling outside. "So cold."

New York's winter was coming.

For a wandering lone wolf, winter often meant death and hunger.

But now.

I hugged Ethan, tightening my arms. "I'm holding you, so it's not cold."

Ethan froze slightly. Time seemed to overlap.

Twenty years ago, in that antiseptic-smelling room, a little girl told him.

"I'll keep you company, so you won't be lonely."

Now, he held this girl tightly, feeling the resonance of their heartbeats.

"Mmh. Not cold at all."

Winter is coming.

But as long as you are by my side, this is my only, eternal pack.

The End.