The Shadows 9

Chapter 9 

With that thought, I couldn’t help but ask, “But doesn’t this Evric have a Luna?” 

“They broke the mate bond a while ago,” someone replied. “I heard his mate was abused pretty badly, no one knows what 

she did to offend him.” 

“Alpha’s moods are as fickle as the weather,” another scoffed. 

I gave a cold, mocking smile. How true. Evric was the type to flip-flop like a pancake, no matter his mood or mind. 

He once cherished me like a rare treasure, then treated me like nothing more than a dog the moment Celeste returned. 

Now that I was gone, he suddenly acted like he couldn’t live without me, even turning around to torment the once-beloved 

Celeste. 

I finally understood, whoever got involved with Evric was doomed to suffer. 

Back when I was preparing to leave, afraid he’d latch onto me, I left myself a trump card. I went to his study before I left. 

He used to drag me in there for work often, and I had accidentally discovered where he kept evidence of his illegal 

dealings. 

So before I fled, I secretly copied the evidence, just in case Evric ever tried to come after me again, I’d have something to 

hold him back. 

And now, without hesitation, I sent it to his rival. 

With Ebonhart Pack on the verge of collapse, I thought Evric would be too busy saving himself to come after me. 

But fate, as always, had other plans. 

One week later, he showed up at my guesthouse as one of my guests. 

He looked like hell. His clothes were torn, his hair a tangled mess, and he was emaciated, like he hadn’t slept in days because of dragging his broken body through endless miles just to find me. 

For a moment, I almost didn’t recognize the once proud and elegant Alpha. 

But the moment he saw me, his tired, glassy eyes lit up. All the exhaustion vanished in an instant. 

“Nerina, I finally found you.” 

At that instant, all the pain he caused me surged back to the surface. I stepped back in fear and disgust, frowning. 

“Evric, didn’t I make myself clear? I never want to see you again. Why can’t you respect that?” 

His face twisted with sorrow as he explained. “Nerina, I missed you so much. I’m going insane without you. If I can’t see you, I’ll really die.” 

I stared at him coldly, my lips curling into a sneering smile. “Then go die.” 

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He took a step back as if he felt hurt at my words. “Nerina, how could you say something so cruel? You used to be gentle 

with me.” 

“Evric,” I snapped, “for a man who’s clawed his way through the world for years, why are you still surprisingly naive? The old Nerina you knew died by your hand. What’s left of me only hates you more than anyone else ever could,” I barked 

through clenched teeth. 

“No… I was blinded before,” he said, shaking his head. “But I see clearly now. I came to atone. Please… give me one last 

chance. I’ll do whatever it takes for your forgiveness.” 

“Evric,” I spat, “even if you drop dead at my feet, I still won’t forgive you. What makes you think you deserve that?” 

With that, I grabbed the broom by the door and started beating him with it. “Get out! You’re not welcome here! Don’t ever 

come back!” 

He didn’t fight back. He only let me drive him out like a fly I couldn’t be bothered to squash. 

But I didn’t expect him to be this shameless. He refused to leave town and began pestering me every day. 

Every day, he came to harass me with some new form of “repentance,” as if reenacting every torment I had suffered. 

The first time, he burned his own arm with fire, then came to my courtyard, holding out his blistered, raw skin. 

He asked with a twisted smile whether that made me feel better. 

I felt sick to my stomach and slammed the gate in his face. 

The second time, he poured boiling water over himself right in front of me. His whole body trembled in agony, yet he still 

smiled and asked whether that satisfied me. 

The third time, he deliberately chose a stormy night to kneel outside my courtyard, just like I had once knelt in the burned 

flower bed. 

But my heart was colder than his had ever been. I didn’t even step outside. I sent a guest to throw salt over his left 

shoulder instead. 

The fourth time, he took it further. He tried to atone for what he did by giving me to another man, so he held a knife and stabbed himself in the groin hard. 

He said, “Nerina, for what I did, I mean I sold you to another man, I know I can never undo the damage. So I’m cutting off the part of me that caused you pain and I swear I’ll never have sex with others again for the rest of my life.” 

I stared at him with detached indifference as he collapsed in a pool of blood. Then I sneered, “That thing was a curse on your body anyway. Destroying it is the least you could do, but it has nothing to do with me.” 

His face twisted in despair when he saw me showing indifference. “Nerina, then what do I have to do for you to forgive 

me?” 

“How many times do I have to say it?” I snarled. “I will never forgive you.” 

Then I pulled out my phone and, in front of him, made a call to his rival. 

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I said coolly. “Evric is half-dead right now. He won’t be running anywhere. Send the Pack enforcers to arrest him.” 

Evric stared at me in disbelief. “Nerina, do you give them my evidence?” 

“You built your empire on illegal trades,” I said. “No matter how hard you tried to clean it up, the filth of your past never really whitewashed off. I’m just serving justice, for the world and for myself.” 

He looked devastated at my words. But with his blood draining fast, he had no strength left and couldn’t even move. He lay there helplessly until the Pack enforcers arrived and dragged him away. 

Three months later, I heard he’d lost all his power and died miserably in Pack prison. 

But I felt nothing. 

By then, it was spring. The garden was in full bloom, bursting with color, just like my future. 

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