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At the hospital, after all the drama had settled and Shirley had been declared out of danger, Old Luna Kate turned to her with a rare softness
in her voice.
“What would you like as thanks, dear?” she asked.
Shirley tilted her head and smiled sweetly, “I don’t want anything,” she said, her voice full of false modesty. “Just the chance to marry
Freddie.”
And right there, in front of half the Crescent Pack, Alpha Freddie dropped to one knee- without hesitation, without thought.
“I’m willing to marry Shirley!” he declared.
Old Luna Kate clearly wasn’t thrilled. Her jaw twitched. But in the end, she relented.
The engagement was settled.
At least… on the surface.
After that, I never approached Alpha Freddie
again. I kept my distance and offered Old
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Luna Kate a polite, “Congratulations,” as any respectable she–wolf would.
But Shirley?
She couldn’t stop buzzing around me like a fly drawn to blood.
She came looking for me more than once- always clinging to Freddie’s arm like a prize, practically purring with affection. As if flaunting him would twist a dagger in my chest.
I just smiled and said, “Freddie is truly in love with you. You’re lucky.”
That month, I had no energy for games. I was buried in my dissertation, trying to finish the last stretch of my doctoral program. I didn’t have time to spar with Shirley over a male I no longer wanted.
Then came the email from my advisor- congratulating me on graduating, and offering a position with a medical mission in South
America.
I was still debating whether to accept it when. Rosa burst through the door, panting with
excitement
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“Queenie! You’re not gonna believe this, good news, Shirley’s grandfather just died!”
I blinked at her, deadpan. “And this is good.
news because…?”
Rosa smirked. “You don’t get it. The Black Mist Pack may be small, but her grandfather was their spiritual pillar. They have to observe a three–year mourning period. Three years, Queenie. That wedding is as good as canceled.”
Then she added, eyes gleaming, “Old Luna
Kate’s at the Civil Affairs Bureau right now, demanding that Alpha Freddie divorce Shirley.”
I frowned. That didn’t sit right.
Old Alpha Bernard and Old Luna Kate had always been decisive, firm in their choices. A mourning tradition alone wouldn’t make them cancel a public engagement. Something else
had to be going on.
Knock knock.
Two crisp knocks. The housekeeper’s voice floated through the door. “Miss Queenie? Old Luna Kate is here to speak with you.”
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When I entered the parlor, Old Luna Kate didn’t
waste time.
She met my eyes and said, “Queenie, would you be willing to marry Freddie?”
Shirley let out a strangled cry and collapsed to the floor, her face draining of color.
That’s when the truth came to light.
Shirley had smuggled a venomous snake into the country–illegally. The same snake that had “accidentally” bitten Alpha Freddie on the
beach.
The media had gotten wind of it. Public outrage followed like wildfire. Crescent Packhouse’s reputation plummeted, their stock prices with
- it.
And Shirley? She was done.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she pointed at
me with shaking hands. “It was you! You set me
up! You couldn’t bear to see me with Freddie, so you framed me!”
Alpha Freddie’s face darkened, his aura flaring
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with fury. “Queenie! I always thought you were a little headstrong… but this–this is
malicious!”
He took a step toward me. “You reported her to the Werewolf Forest Service? Her grandfather died from a heart attack because of it! Was this
your plan all along–to destroy her and force me to marry you?!”
I met his eyes without flinching.
“I didn’t report Shirley,” I said calmly. “And I don’t have any personal grudge. I wouldn’t frame someone for something they didn’t do.”
“You’re lying!” Freddie roared.
Then–crack.
He slapped me across the face.
It echoed.
“Everyone knows how obsessed you are with me!” he snapped. “You’ve wished to marry me on every damn birthday since we were pups! Even your cakes were shaped like wedding dresses!”
