When My Wolf Went Silent Chapter 09

When My Wolf Went Silent Chapter 09

Archer’s POV 

I knew… even if I had asked back then, Harper wouldn’t have 

told me. 

She’s always been like that. 

Soft, gentle, seemingly harmless, like a deer–but once she 

made up her mind, no one could change it. 

Like that time in the second year midterms. Her stomach hurt 

so badly she couldn’t even get out of bed, curled up under the 

covers, her face pale as if she’d lost blood. 

But she didn’t want me to miss the exam taking care of her, so 

she pretended to be fine. 

She came with me to school, even managed to push me into the classroom. Only after making sure I had started my test 

did she finally collapse outside the exam hall. 

Thinking about that, my chest tightens, a thousand tiny pains 

stabbing at me. 

And then there’s that night in the restaurant, the moment I pushed Harper. 

I’ve avoided recalling it these days. 

Because after leaving Harper’s house that night, Simone had cried, clinging to me. 

She said that if Harper still loved me, she would leave. She would step aside. She would even terminate the pregnancy. 

That moment, I felt an unbearable guilt toward Simone. 

So later, when I saw Harper insulting Simone, when I heard 

Simone sobbing, claiming Harper had pushed her and that her 

baby might not survive, I completely lost control. 

Guilt. Anger. Six years of suppressed resentment–all of it 

exploded. 

That’s why I lashed out at Harper. 

Although… I hadn’t really kicked her. I just lost control, kicked 

her wheelchair a few times, shoved it hard. 

The moment after, I regretted it. I even instinctively reached to help her–but Simone, crying, grabbed me, saying she was bleeding. 

At that moment, I couldn’t let go of my compassion. 

Harper, to me, had only a leg injury. She’d fall–surely it 

wouldn’t be fatal. 

Simone, though… a pregnant woman bleeding? That could be deadly. So I chose her. 

Even now, thinking about it, my chest cramps, pain twisting 

through me. 

I stood in the rain, trembling, staring at my hands. 

Did I… do this? Did I kill Harper with my own hands? Did I push to death the mate I loved down to my bones? 

The pain finally crushed me completely. 

I ran–mad, reckless–to the pack cemetery where Harper was 

buried. 

Seeing her name engraved on the tombstone, I shattered. 

I collapsed to my knees, losing all control, howling, crying, 

screaming. 

For fifteen days, I stayed there. 

Every day, people tried to pull me away–my mother, Simone, even the pack elders–urging me to return, to lead the pack, to manage meetings, handle pack affairs. 

But I just sat there, quietly, touching her name over and over. 

I couldn’t understand. How could the person who loved Harper so much… be the one who ultimately destroyed her? 

Until the sixteenth day, Harper’s mother finally appeared. 

She stormed up, slapping me hard across the face. 

“Get out!” 

“My daughter doesn’t need your fake tears!” 

“Pretending to care? Pretending to hurt?” 

“You’ve already marked another she–wolf, soon you’ll have a 

child!” 

“Do you want me to be cursed by the entire pack even after my daughter is gone?” 

My cheek burned, but I couldn’t defend myself. 

All I could do was kneel in front of her like a sinner waiting for 

judgment, begging again and again for forgiveness. 

I had already marked another she–wolf. I already had my own 

Luna. 

What right did I have to stay beside Harper’s grave? 

What face did I have to even appear before her? 

Finally, I turned and left, shame and grief swallowing me 

whole. 

I returned to the pack house. 

But just before opening the door, I heard voices inside. 

“Luna… what if Archer doesn’t come back?” 

It was Simone. Then my mother’s calm voice responded. 

“Don’t worry. He will come back. I already went to Harper’s 

mother.” 

“She’s just as soft–hearted as Harper, laughably so.” 

“I just mentioned a few of Harper’s final wishes.” 

“And she agreed to help me… to bring Archer back.” 

“Archer will come back to me. Just like he believed Harper cheated on him six years ago.”