Shattered Bonds A Second Chance Mate (by Yui) novel Chapter 165

Chapter 165

The day the families arrived, the silence broke.

For weeks the manor had been a hollow heart, pulsing faintly with survivors too afraid to raise their voices.

Now the courtyard thrummed with footsteps, wagons creaked under the weight of belongings, and children’s laughter rang out, hesitant at first, then louder as their wolves sniffed the air and found safety.

I stood on the steps with Francesco, my hand tucked in his.

Fifty families had come from the Kingdom–wolves who had lost their homes to rogues, to famine, to wars not their own. They looked tired, but their eyes brightened when they saw the banners of the King and the warriors standing guard.

“Welcome,” Francesco’s voice carried strong, firm. “This land is yours now. Here, you will not just survive- you will live.”

The words echoed through the stone courtyard. Men bowed their heads. Women clasped children tighter. I felt their eyes on me too, not only as their King’s mate but as Luna. A bond hummed beneath the surface, fragile yet growing, waiting for me to reach for it.

So I did.

I stepped down the stairs, away from the safety of the King’s shadow, and moved among them.

I knelt beside a little girl clutching a rag doll and asked her name. I touched the shoulders of mothers with weary eyes and promised that their children would be safe. I laughed softly when a boy clutched my hand as if it were a lifeline and refused to let go until his father coaxed him.

They didn’t need a speech from me. They needed presence. They needed to see that their Luna wasn’t only a

title.

And I gave them that.

Through it all, Audrey and Monica never strayed from me.

Audrey, still recovering but as stubborn as ever, kept a hand close to her blade, her sharp eyes sweeping over every newcomer. “You’re not wandering off again, not without me,” she muttered at one point, half threat, half promise.

Monica, her healer’s bag strapped to her side, walked close on my other flank. “And if you fall, I’ll be the one dragging you back to your feet. Don’t argue.”

Their loyalty wasn’t subtle. It was a shield I hadn’t realized I had needed until now. Wherever I went, they followed–not as burdens, but as living reminders that friendship was the truest guard of all.

And the people noticed. They saw that I was never alone, that even in silence I was protected by bonds not forged by duty, but by choice.

It wasn’t enough to fill the courtyard with people.

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Chapter 165

We needed more than walls–we needed roots.

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Luc, the former Beta of this pack, stood tall despite the shame that still clung to him. He had been complicit, perhaps too silent under Henri, but not blind.

Now, he worked harder than anyone to earn forgiveness.

At the council’s urging, Luc joined Alfonso and Francesco at the head of rebuilding. Together, they planned not just survival but renewal:

Homes for families scattered and ruined.

A schoolhouse, so the children’s laughter wouldn’t fade into silence again.

A medical hall, where healers like Monica and Bethany could tend without shame or secrecy.

Training grounds, for warriors who would rise from ashes, strong enough to protect not just this land but others.

I watched Luc one afternoon, sleeves rolled up, dirt streaking his skin as he helped lay the foundation stones.

His voice carried rough but steady, calling out orders, guiding younger men who hadn’t known true leadership before.

For the first time, I believed he might find redemption here.

But before we could build anew, the old had to end.

The council manor, where Henri and his allies had sat in poisoned power, still loomed over the pack like a rotten tooth. Its stones reeked of betrayal, its walls stained with the echoes of silenced cries.

So Francesco ordered it burned.

The pack gathered at dusk, survivors and newcomers alike. Warriors stood in a ring, torches in hand. I stood beside Francesco, our joined hands raised together as the first flame was cast against the walls.

The fire caught quickly, climbing with greedy fingers. Smoke curled upward, dark and heavy, carrying with it the stench of corruption. The people didn’t weep. They didn’t look away. They watched, faces lit by firelight, as the council manor crumbled into ash.

And when it finally collapsed, when the last stone gave way, a hush fell over the crowd.

It wasn’t grief.

It was release.

The past had been laid to rest.

But while hope grew here, the world beyond whispered darker tales.

News spread quickly–too quickly–that the Italian King had seized territory in France.

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Chapter 165

Rumors twisted into something ugly:

The King wants more.

The King means to conquer all.

First the council, now France–soon the world?

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The truth–that Henri had drowned his pack in madness, that Francesco had saved them from annihilation— was quieter, carried only in the hearts of those who had witnessed it.

And truth rarely traveled as fast as lies.

Letters arrived from neighboring packs, some cautious, some hostile. Couriers spoke of taverns buzzing with fear, of Alphas sharpening their blades and whispering of a Lycan King who would not stop until every land bent to him.

I saw the way Francesco’s jaw tightened as he read those letters, the way his fingers curled against the parchment. But when he looked at me, his eyes softened.

“Let them say what they will,” he murmured. “We will not rule by rumor. We will rule by truth. And in time, the truth will speak louder than their fear.”

I pressed my hand over his, feeling the bond hum steady between us. “And if they don’t listen?”

His golden gaze burned. “Then we will show them.”

The night after the burning, I stood once more on the balcony.

This time, the silence wasn’t empty. Below, I could hear voices–children playing in the courtyard, mothers singing softly to restless babes, warriors sparring in the open yard.

The pack was breathing again.

But beyond these walls, the world was watching. And not all eyes wished us well.

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