As Alpha Leader, I Tamed My Wolf Deputy

Chapter 3

I rubbed my thumb repeatedly over the uneven engraving on the seal's base.

Blake sagged against my shoulder, soft, broken moans slipping from his lips.

"Blake," I said, my voice turning hoarse at the sight of him. "Do you know what it means among wolves when one person carves a personal seal for another?"

He looked at me blankly. Tears born of instinctive overstimulation ran down his cheeks.

"What does it mean?"

He could barely think at that moment. He could only repeat my words.

"It means you are my mate—my spouse."

I bent down, pressing my lips close to his sweat-damp temple as I spoke each word slowly.

"You brought it out at my succession ceremony because you wanted me to give you an official title, didn't you? I never expected you to use such a scheme on me."

His eyes widened, and some clarity returned to them.

"No, I didn't..."

He shook his head in panic.

"I didn't know. No one ever told me. I only learned when I heard them say it at the succession ceremony. I... I only wanted..."

Blake's lips trembled, but he fell silent again.

"What did you want?" I pressed.

"I only wanted our names to be carved together."

He closed his eyes and murmured softly.

"Then I wouldn't be alone."

Something struck heavily against my chest.

Besides my name, Serena, the seal's base bore a tiny engraving in an inconspicuous corner.

Blake.

He had secretly carved his own name into my seal.

He wanted to use that seal to tie our names together.

Blake lowered his eyes, his lashes wet with tears.

I helped him sit on a cushioned seat nearby, then placed the seal back into its wooden box.

"Rest for a while. I need to deal with the backlog of documents."

My voice softened as I wiped the sweat from his temple.

"Alpha, I'll be fine in a moment."

His voice remained a little hoarse as he straightened his collar.

Blake walked over to the desk and began sorting through the documents.

"Good. Thank you for your hard work."

I smiled and leaned back in my chair, watching him.

Blake had a different kind of appeal when he worked seriously.

The man who had knelt on the floor, trembling and crying, had vanished.

The man before me was like a slender blade drawn from its sheath—sharp, cool, and untouchable.

He reviewed, annotated, and sorted the documents with smooth efficiency.

The sleeves of his suit had been rolled to his forearms, revealing firm muscle beneath.

When he gripped his pen, the veins on the back of his hand stood out slightly.

I suddenly realized that, for the past three years, he had fulfilled every responsibility expected of a lieutenant to the fullest.

He always worked the longest hours, handled the hardest matters, and never made a mistake.

As the lowest-ranked mixed-blood in the clan, he had worked hundreds of times harder than anyone else just to be around me.

"Alpha, this is the petition for reconsideration of the territory division."

I didn't know how much time had passed before he pushed the sorted documents toward me.

"There are six important and urgent documents in total. I revised them according to the position you stated at the council meeting."

An emergency military report lay on top, with the clan's financial report beneath it...

Blake paused, as if he found it difficult to continue.

"They all require your seal."

I looked at him with a smile.

"Lieutenant Wainscott, that almost sounds like an invitation."