Old Contracts Don't Die
961 Words
*Chapter 3: Old Contracts Don’t Die*
The envelope had the Blackwood crest stamped in silver wax.
I knew what it was before I tore it open.
_Council hearing. Tomorrow. 8 PM. Be there._
Kade’s handwriting. Cold. Commanding. Unmistakable.
I crumpled it in my fist.
Five years. Five years of being human. Of working 12-hour shifts, paying rent, sleeping without waking up screaming. And now this.
I should’ve burned it.
I didn’t.
I went anyway.
The Packhouse hadn’t changed. Stone walls, cedar beams, the faint smell of old blood and power. It looked the same as the night I ran.
Wolves lined the halls, staring at me like I was a ghost.
I was.
Whispers followed me.
“That’s her.”
“The runaway Luna.”
“She’s alive.”
I kept my head high. If they wanted a show, I’d give them one.
The council chamber doors were taller than me. Heavy oak, carved with the old laws. I pushed them open myself.
Kade waited inside. No suit this time. Black shirt, sleeves rolled, tattoos on display. He looked like war and sin and every bad decision I’d ever made.
Elder Mara sat at the head of the table, face carved from stone. Two other elders flanked her.
“Selene Cross,” Elder Mara said. Her voice echoed. “You’re charged with desertion, suppression of your wolf, and defiance of a blood contract.”
“I’m not Cross anymore,” I said. My voice didn’t shake. “Legally, I’m human.”
“Your wolf disagrees.”
The doors opened behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
Kade stepped forward, stopping beside me. Close enough that I could feel the heat off him.
“She’s mine,” he said. One sentence. Final.
The room exploded.
“This is outrageous!”
“She broke the contract!”
“Alpha, you can’t just claim her!”
I let them yell. Let them waste their breath.
Because I knew Kade. When he said something like that, he meant it.
“This is why I left,” I said, cutting through the noise. My voice was sharp. “You don’t get to decide. I do.”
Kade’s eyes locked on mine. Dark. Intense.
“Then decide now,” he said. “In front of everyone. Are you mine, Selene? Or am I going to war for you?”
The bond pulled. Hard. Painful.
My wolf wanted to answer. Wanted to fall to her knees and say _yes, Alpha, I’m yours_.
My human side wanted to run.
I chose a third option.
“I’m not yours,” I said. “But if you want me, you’ll earn me. No orders. No contracts. No force.”
Silence.
Then Kade smiled. Slow. Dangerous. Like I’d just made his day.
“Done.”
Elder Mara looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.
“Alpha, you can’t just—”
“I can,” Kade said. “She’s my mate. And she just set the terms.”
He turned to me, voice low enough that only I could hear.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Selene.”
“Good,” I said. “I like dangerous.”
The elders adjourned in a flurry of angry whispers. The hearing was over. For now.
Kade walked me out himself. No one stopped him.
The hallway was quieter now. Empty.
“Earn it?” he said once we were alone. “You want me to court you like a human?”
“I want you to see me as a person,” I said. “Not a title. Not a womb. A person.”
Kade studied me. His eyes searched my face like he was trying to memorize it again.
“That’s harder,” he said.
“I know.”
He stepped close. Cedar and smoke. The scent that haunted me for five years.
“You’re still running,” he said.
“Not this time.” I held his gaze. “This time, you’re chasing. And I’m not making it easy.”
His grin was all wolf.
“Good. I was bored.”
A car door slammed down the street outside.
Both of us went still.
Two men in black walked through the Packhouse gates. Damon Vance’s colors.
Trouble.
“Looks like we’ve got a problem,” Kade murmured.
My hand slipped to my pocket. Scalpel. Old habit.
“Stay behind me,” Kade said.
“No,” I said. “We stand together. Or I walk.”
Kade looked at me for a long second. Then he nodded.
The men stopped ten feet away.
“Alpha Blackwood,” the lead said. His voice was flat. “Lord Vance requests your mate’s return. The contract stands.”
Selene stepped forward, past Kade.
“There is no contract,” I said. “Not anymore.”
The man sneered. “Little wolf doesn’t know her place.”
Big mistake.
I let my wolf surface. Just enough.
My eyes flashed gold.
The men froze.
“I’m not little,” I said quietly. “And I don’t have a place. I make one.”
Kade’s pride hit me through the bond. Hot and sudden.
The men backed off, exchanging uneasy glances.
As they drove away, I exhaled. My hands shook.
“You could’ve gotten hurt,” Kade said.
“I didn’t,” I said. “And I won’t hide again.”
Kade pulled me against him, one arm tight around my waist.
“Good,” he murmured against my hair. “Because I’m not letting you go.”
For a second, I let myself lean into him. Just a second.
Then I pulled back.
“Don’t get used to it,” I said.
Kade just smiled.
“I don’t plan to.”
---
- Writer
