After My Mate Stole My Rogue Kill, I Defied Him Chapter 10

After My Mate Stole My Rogue Kill, I Defied Him Chapter 10

I jumped off the stage

Not walked Not descended gracefully I jumped, landing on the ballroom floor with a thud that sent cracks spider webbing through the marble

The crowd scattered like startled birds

Wolves who’d sneered at me an hour ago now pressed themselves against the walls, their eyes lowered, their wolves whimpering in submission I walked through the center of them, my boots crunching over broken glass and splintered wood.

No one spoke No one moved

Behind me, Colin’s sobs echoed through the ruined ballroom Pathetic Broken Exactly what he deserved

I reached the exit doors, and they swung open before I could touch them. Two guards in black tactical gear stood at attention, their faces carefully neutral They weren’t Silvermoon wolves. The crest on their shoulders-a silver moon over crossed swords-marked them as Lycan Royal Guard.

My weapons were waiting.

They’d been laid out on a velvet-lined case just outside the doors. My twin daggers, still stained with Ironclaw’s blood. My tactical vest, worn and scarred from three years of hunts My leather jacket, the one with the reinforced shoulders and hidden blade sheaths.

Everything I’d hidden away to play the role of Colin’s weak little wife.

I picked up the daggers first, feeling their familiar weight in my hands. Valkyrie purred in approval, her presence settling into my bones like coming home

*Finally*

I strapped on the vest, shrugged into the jacket, and felt myself transform. Not physically-I was still in human form-but something deeper. The mask I’d worn for three years crumbled away, and The Shadow stepped back into the light.

Outside, the night air hit me like a slap. Cold. Clean. Free.

A convoy of black SUVS lined the circular driveway, their engines purring, their windows tinted so dark they looked like solid obsidian. Each one bore the Lycan King’s crest in silver on the hood, gleaming under the estate lights.

The Lycan Prince stood beside the lead vehicle, his posture relaxed but his eyes sharp. When he saw me, he smiled-not the polite, political smile he’d worn inside, but something genuine

“Commander Shadow,” he said, pulling open the rear door. “The King is eager to meet the warrior who cleared the Northern Territory

I paused at the door, my hand resting on the frame

Something made me look back

Through the shattered ballroom windows, I could see the chaos I’d left behind. Wolves were helping each other up, brushing off glass and dust Alpha Marcus stood on the ruined stage, the Beta insignia still clutched in his hand, looking lost

And there, in the center of it all, Colin knelt in the wreckage

Mrs Phillips had her arms around him, both of them crying, both of them broken His arm hung at a wrong angle Blood matted his hau The Beta sash lay in the mud beside him, trampled and forgotten

Three years ago, I would have felt something. Pity, maybe. Regret

Now?

Nothing

Just the cold satisfaction of a hunt completed. A threat neutralized A parasite removed.

Valkyrie’s voice rumbled through my mind, fierce and satisfied.

“Good riddance*

I climbed into the SUV

The interior was luxury incarnate-leather seats, climate control, a mini bar stocked with top-shelf liquor The Prince slid in beside me, and the door closed

with a solid, final thunk.

The convoy pulled away smoothly, tires crunching over gravel, then asphalt. Through the tinted windows, I watched the Silvermoon Pack House shrink in the distance, its broken windows glowing like wounded eyes.

I didn’t feel sad.

I felt alive

The Prince poured two glasses of amber liquid from a crystal decanter and offered me one. I took it, the glass cool against my palm

“Three years,” he said quietly “That’s how long my father has been searching for you.”

I took a sip Expensive whiskey, smooth and burning.

“I wasn’t lost,” I said.

“No, he agreed. “You were hiding.”

I looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. Golden eyes, sharp features, the kind of presence that commanded attention without effort. He was younger than I’d expected-maybe thirty-but he carried himself like someone who’d seen war

“Why did you hide?” he asked.

I thought about Colin. About the rainy night I’d saved him. About the way he’d looked at me with gratitude and awe, and how I’d mistaken that for love

“I thought I wanted something different,” I said finally “Something normal.”

“And now?”

I drained the whiskey in one swallow, feeling it burn down my throat.

‘Now I remember who I am”

The Prince smiled and raised his glass in a toast

“Welcome back, Commander

The convoy sped through the night, carrying me away from the life I’d tried to build and toward the one I was always meant to live

The Shadow was going home