【Thank the Moon Mother the female lead will expose him for swapping the ritual sigils and give the championship back to the male lead!】
【The best part comes later—the female lead never forgets how the male lead was humiliated. She pretends to pursue the former intended mate, then rejects the mating bond AT THE CEREMONY on their claiming day! The supporting male's whole pack is disgraced, their territory holdings collapse! The female lead claims their hunting grounds and drives his accomplice parents into such ruin they throw themselves from the mountain cliffs!】
I stared at that last omen.
My vision went red at the edges, wolf surging beneath my skin.
The Pack-Echo omens shrieked:
【WAIT—can he actually SEE these?!】
I wrenched my gaze away, forcing my claws to retract, pretending I hadn't seen a thing.
The omen-feed settled when I showed no reaction:
[There's no way a side character can perceive the pack-echoes. The one above must be moon-touched.]
[He's merely a stepping stone for the destined pair. His entire bloodline deserves extinction!]
Fury burned through my veins like liquid silver.
I had never harmed another wolf in my existence. So why should I clear the path for Selene Crownhollow and Darian Ashfen's fated bond?
Why should I be framed until my pack's territory holdings crumble and my parents throw themselves from the mountain cliffs?
The gathered wolves helped Darian to his feet, all howling for me to face judgment for stealing another's sacred work.
Selene went straight for the kill, summoning the Rite Arbiters: "I demand a formal grievance be heard! Someone tampered with the ritual sigils and stole another contestant's achievement!"
Darian hung his head in wounded submission, the very image of an innocent omega wronged.
The Council Adjudicators' expressions turned grave.
"The entire inscription process was conducted under scrying mirror surveillance," one of them said. "It would be impossible for anyone to have swapped the works."
Darian's eyes glistened as he lifted his head, glaring at the long-haired female adjudicator at the front. "Elder Duskthorn, you're allies with Kael Nightforge's mother. Of course you'd side with him. But none of us even named the culprit, and you're already rushing to shield him. Don't you think that oversteps your authority?"