Alpha's Secret Bride-Chapter 77: The Alpha’s Return Before the Bond

Ronan is a Finnish he-wolf and he knew the exact enforcement den where Paige was taken to. They drove straight to the den.

She saw Paige sitting outside as though she was waiting for some wolf. She got down immediately and walked up to her. She smiled and hugged her.

"Moonrise, Luna." She turned and looked at Ronan who was coming towards them.

"Don’t ever call me that." Paige frowned and looked behind her.

"What happened?"

"Alpha Brandon came and I was freed because of his influence and good reputation."

"You called him?"

"Yes"

"Why Paige? I told you I was coming today to help you out. Where is he?" She asked, looking around, ready to kiss Ronan if she saw him.

"I don’t know where he is?"

"Fine! You are going back to Santorini."

"Please, I want to live with you and keep serving you."

"No, Paige; you are going back to your Alpha," she said. Tears began to stream down her face, but she didn’t care. Like she said before, her emotion is dead.

"This is not you, Luna Emma."

"Whatever! I’ll be right back," she said and dragged Ronan aside. "I want to send her back. Please, would you help us with a same-day skyflight ticket?"

"Why not?" Ronan smiled and shrugged. She looked at Paige and crooked her fingers. She understood the gesture and began to walk towards them.

"Get into the vehicle, we are going to the skyport," she said, and entered the passenger side of the vehicle. Paige opened the rear side and entered coldly.

"Please, Luna Emma."

"Paige, you need to go back. I don’t trust you anymore. Your presence is now a threat to me and I don’t like it."

"I’m sorry, Luna."

"Moonlight, allow her to stay," Ronan said, giving her a curt stare.

"No," she said, looking around to make sure Alpha Brandon was not following them.

Ronan and Paige got down when they got to the skyport. She stayed in the vehicle and waited. She didn’t want to see Brandon. Paige, who was walking behind Ronan halted and began to move towards her. Emma kept her face as expressionless as ever. She tapped the window and it wound down.

"I have been wondering why you don’t want to see him. Are you scared of him or yourself? Are you being honest with yourself right now? Are you...."

She wound it up before Paige could complete the next sentence. Her words meant nothing to her, so she did not need them.

She wiped her tears and began to walk towards Ronan, who stood still waiting for her.

Ronan came back to the vehicle after thirty minutes and they drove straight to the healing den.

"Why are you scared of him?"

"Change the topic."

"You must be very surprised when my father mentioned the low-key mating rites."

"Oh...yes...I wanted to ask you after dinner but it escaped my mind again. What does it mean?"

"We are signing a deal tonight. You are going to pretend to be my mate for a winter. We need to make it look real enough by arranging a camouflage mating ceremony. My father needs the images."

"I was surprised because you never added this part."

"I’m sorry I didn’t. So...what do you think?"

"As long as mating privileges are not included, I’m fine with it."

"It’s a camouflage and not a real mating rites," he said, pulling over at the healing den’s parking lot. She alighted and it was as though some sense came into her.

"What am I doing?" She frowned a bit. "Living my life! I had been careful with every step I took and what did I get? Rejections!!" She encouraged herself and began to walk behind Ronan.

His healer welcomed her with a smile and gestured to a sofa that was in front of him. She sat down without returning his smile.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I’m fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked, tilting one of his brows. She nodded and looked away.

"Ronan, would you give us just a second?" The healer asked with a worried tone, fixing his gaze on Emma. Ronan stood up and left.

"I’m Healer Liam"

"I’m Emma Greens," she said with a flat tone because she just saw the need to change her last name. The owner of the last name is not her blood father and has never treated her like his own. She didn’t see the reason why she should keep adding that name to her first name.

"What happened to your emotions?" He asked. She was surprised Ronan had told him about her already.

"Common, he didn’t tell me anything," he grinned. She guessed he was just a mind reader.

"Twenty-three years of living in hell and when I found Heaven, I thought I had found a safe den."

"What happened?"

"I just realized the heaven belongs to one of the wolves who made my life miserable."

"Oh...I understand. You need a mind-healer and not mating."

"I need silver to pay the mind-healer."

"I guess you are mating him for the silver."

"The silver and...maybe a pup I can hold in my arms every night and nothing more."

"You must see a mind-healer before having a pup. You need to be in charge of your decisions. Since the mating contract is just for a winter, you can go ahead with it, but think twice before having a pup for him. You can come back for the heat-cycle monitoring after a complete session with a mind-healer."

"Thank you, Healer Liam."

"You are welcome," he grinned. She stood up and walked towards the exit. Ronan followed her immediately. They drove down to the resting den to sign the deal. His Advocate joined them in the chamber after a few minutes. The deal, which covered about four pages of A3 paper, was quite a lot of work for her. She flipped through the pages and put her signature down. Ronan signed the first cheque and gave it to her after signing the deal. He was quite excited, but she saw no reason to be excited. She just squeezed the cheque into a small handbag he got for her earlier and climbed the bed.

"The camouflage mating bond will take place in Lapland Moonshadow Lodge at moonrise. My pack-kins just need the images and that’s all. We are leaving tonight."

"Alright," she said and waved at him as he go.

It was 7:00 PM already. The weather, which was quite sultry earlier, was refreshing. She had her bath and quickly dressed. She stood behind the window staring at wolves swimming in the pool.

Her heart skipped when Ronan, so she thought, opened the door and began to walk towards her. She was surprised because her heart died that day at the royal den. She never knew it was still alive. A strange, familiar, and nostalgic scent filled the chamber. She couldn’t believe Ronan changed his scent because of the fake mating rites.

She waited for him to talk but he didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, she felt a hand on her neck. She looked at the Heart of the Kingdom necklace on her neck and marveled. She quickly turned and saw Brandon staring at her with his hands in his pockets. His sadness was unmistakable. For the first time since she became apathetic, tears flew down her cheeks. She lowered her gaze. She saw her heart rendering unconditional forgiveness. This was also one of the reasons why she never wanted to see him. He knows how to bribe her heart with his rare golden eyes.

"I spoke with your mate-to-be earlier and he told me you wolves are having a mating rites tomorrow morning," he whimpered with his soft and magical voice. She sniffed and wiped away tears from her cheeks.

"Congrats! I will send bond severance papers to you tomorrow," he said and began to walk angrily towards the door. She saw the determination to move on with his life without her. He had done enough already.

Her wolf whimpered within, pacing in circles, torn between pride and longing. "Why does his presence still unravel me?" she wondered bitterly. I? She chose this path, this contract, this cold distance. Yet his scent lingers like a claim she cannot erase, like a bond that refuses to break no matter how fiercely she pretend otherwise.

She wanted to talk, but she didn’t know what to say. Tears kept flowing down her cheeks as she stared at him. Just when the tears managed to dry up, she looked at the necklace on her neck and it began to flow like a river again. She could see his heart imprisoned in her wolf as she kept staring at the silver Burmese ruby which sits at the middle of her necklace, surrounded by about one hundred and fifty carats of heart-shaped and round white diamonds. She shuddered and fell on the bed when the door opened again.

Dear readers,

I just want to let you know there’s a small update to my posting schedule. From now on, new Chapters will be posted at 7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 7:00 PM (GMT+8) daily.

Thank you so much for your constant support and for staying with me on this journey. Your love and encouragement mean everything to me.

Stay tuned for more exciting Chapters!