Ongoing · — reads

I Lost a Husband, But I Gained an Empire

“Blair, if you wish to dissolve your mate contract with James, you must voluntarily give up the ten million-credit resource allotment granted to you by the clan, as well as one-third of your designated core-territory shares. You will leave Moon-Mark City with nothing.” “Alright.” The clan adjudicator paused for a moment, startled. His tone grew even colder. “You must also relinquish all future custody rights to any offspring, and you are forever forbidden from forming any bloodline link with James or any of his future young. Do you understand what you are agreeing to?” “I accept.” My voice was calm, cold—like wind cutting across a snowfield. Three days ago marked the fifth year of my Moon-Vow union with James, and also the day our mate contract was supposed to be renewed. But my mate—the Alpha I once believed was destined for me—was lighting fireworks at the Galactic River with his childhood sweetheart, the clan’s most beloved Omega. Those were frost-silver fireworks, reserved only for the royal bloodline during their most significant celebrations. Many werewolves stopped to admire them. Someone casually captured the moment on an image stone and posted it on the MoonNet. The scene spread quickly across the clans, drawing waves of praise. “They look perfect together.” “An Alpha is born to stand beside the gentlest Omega.” “Compared to his current mate, that one is much more pleasing to the eye.” Even James’s friends sent me messages, half-joking: “Why didn’t you go?” “So what are you going to do now?” I replied only one line: “What else is there to do?” That night, I sat alone in the vast, empty Mate Hall. The oil lamps beneath the silver dome had gone cold. The anniversary feast I had prepared with my own hands exuded a faint chill. Listening to their laughter on the image stone, my chest felt as if a silver blade had sliced it open. Five years of companionship. Five years of night-bound journeys at each other’s side. All of it shattered—destroyed entirely by a single display of frost-silver fireworks.