I Was Dumped by Four Mate Candidates Chapter 12

I Was Dumped by Four Mate Candidates Chapter 12

Three days after the alliance ceremony, the gossip about me 

died down hard. 

[So Sloane Silvermoon didn’t come back to steal anyone’s 

mate. She came back to seal her own fated bond.] 

[Lucian Stormcrest? The Stormcrest? The Thunderbird heir?] 

[Not heir. I looked it up. He’s already officially succeeded. He’s the current Alpha of the Thunderbird Pack.] 

Lydia Vance sent me these threads with a string of laughing 

emojis. 

I glanced at them. Didn’t care much. Went back to the New 

Moon Hall post–ceremony checklist. 

What made me set my pen down was the message from Ruby 

Hale that afternoon. 

She asked if she could see me. 

We met at the little tea room next to The Greenwood 

sanctuary. Four tables in the whole place. Outside the window was the old oak my grandmother had planted with her own 

hands. 

Ruby came early. Sat by the window. Clutching a file folder. She wore a light grey sweater. She looked quieter than that 

night at The Howling Terrace. Simpler. 

She shot up the second she saw me. Still that familiar unease. 

“Miss Silvermoon.” 

I sat across from her. “Just Sloane. What’s this about?” 

She pushed the folder toward me. Fingertips pale. 

“This… I saw this today at The Greenwood office. I didn’t 

know. You’re the head of The Greenwood. I want to apologize. I’m sorry.” 

I stilled. 

She went on like she was gathering every ounce of courage. 

“At first, people said I looked like you, and I didn’t correct them. Then they started comparing us, and I didn’t shut it down either. Because back then… I needed that attention. I needed it so badly.” 

“I’m mixed–blood. I don’t know who my father is. My mother was low–ranked, she couldn’t even hold a stable shift. I drifted from territory to territory as a pup. Nobody wanted me. Then I found The Greenwood. It was the first place I ever slept without being scared.” 

“Kael and the others were good to me. I knew part of it was because I reminded them of you. But I was so desperate to feel protected. I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t say, ‘You shouldn’t treat me like this.‘ So I just… pretended I didn’t notice.” 

I suddenly remembered that night at The Howling Terrace. How lost she looked holding that glass of Moonweep. 

The truth was, it was never her. Pushing us into opposition. 

It was them. The ones who thought they were being so fair. 

“You don’t need to apologize for them,” I said. “And you don’t need to explain yourself. The Greenwood helped you. That 

makes me glad. I hope you’ll go help others too.” 

She bit her lip. Tears slipped down. Silent. 

“Thank you. I’m sorry-” 

“But you don’t owe me anything for this.” I kept my voice steady. “You don’t owe me. They’re the ones who did wrong.” 

I left the tea room. My phone buzzed. 

Not a message this time. Kael. Standing at the gate of 

Moonstone Manor. A small old wooden box in his hands. 

I got there. He handed me the box. 

“You left this at my patrol station. A long time ago. Some things inside… I replaced them. New ones.” 

His throat worked. 

“The Greenwood Haven thing. I only learned today. Ruby’s 

funding all those years… it was you. You were signing off on it. Even during those five years you were away. You never stopped.” His voice went hoarse. “I’m sorry. I misunderstood 

you.” 

“Sloane. I used to think I knew you better than anyone. That time you got cornered by rogue wolves in Greyfang Woods as a pup, I was the first one there. Your first full–moon rampage, I was the one holding your paws so you’d bite my arm instead of hurting yourself.” 

He looked at my face. His voice cracked. 

“But later I realized. I just got used to the idea that you’d never 

leave.” 

I was quiet for a few seconds. Then said softly, “Kael. Maybe 

we all change.” 

He clenched his fists. Like that sentence had nailed him into 

the dirt. 

I didn’t say more. Turned. Walked inside. 

That night Flynn Donovan brewed a new glass of Moonweep at The Howling Terrace. But the wolf he wanted to see never 

came. 

He stared at that pale gold liquid for a long time. Then he stood without taking a single sip. His knee hit the table corner. Half 

the glass spilled. 

Silas used Wolf Council resources to scrub candid photos of me. Malicious comments. But one of those candid shots, he stared at it for a long time. Sloane in Old Fang District. Picking up tea sets. Profile view. Silver–grey dress hem lifted by the wind. The ring on her ring finger catching the sun. 

He stared at that ring. Stared until his coffee went cold. 

Then he asked suddenly, “That ring on her finger. When did she start wearing it?” 

The clerk blinked. Flipped through records. Answered quietly, “According to public records from the Thunderbird Pack… at least two years ago.” 

Two years. 

Silas said nothing. Something in his deep grey eyes shattered. 

Soren didn’t lose control like Flynn. Didn’t scramble to fix 

things like Silas. 

He just printed out every public adventure record from 

Sloane’s five years away. Page by page. Spread them across the long library table. Neat. Precise. 

Year one. Sloane crossed the northern ice plains alone. 

Completed border patrol duty. Awarded a medal of valor. 

Year two. Sloane joined the rogue–wolf extermination operation. Suppressed rogues with her Silvermoon bloodline. Rescued twelve imprisoned Omega wolves. 

Year three. Sloane co–led the Far North Survey. Mapped three new safe migration routes. Received joint commendations 

from three neutral territories. 

Year four… 

Year five. Sloane returned to Silvermoon territory. 

And through all those records, another name appeared again 

and again. 

Lucian Stormcrest. Nearly every mission. His name written 

right beside hers. “Joint command.” “Mission partner.” 

Lucian’s name first appeared early. Summer. Five years ago. 

Back then, not one of the four of them had sent her a single 

message. She hadn’t sent any back either. 

He’d thought he was giving her space. 

Now it looked like he’d just given someone else an open door. 

Three days later, the formal invitations arrived in mailboxes 

across the territory. 

Fated–mate ceremony. 

Silvermoon crest and Thunderbird crest stamped side by side in gilded ink. Inside, two lines in common tongue. 

Sloane Silvermoon and Lucian Stormcrest will seal their mate 

bond at New Moon Hall on the next full–moon night. The 

moon bears witness to our vow.