Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 39 His Long-Lost Love
Christina’s POV
I spent the whole day walking circles in my flat, my mind spinning with everything I had to figure out. The choice ahead of me felt overwhelming.
Marriage wasn’t like ordering takeout. You couldn’t just say "not feeling it tonight" and try a different restaurant tomorrow.
If Hudson were just another Alpha with a decent territory and halfway-decent leadership skills, I might’ve jumped in headfirst. But he wasn’t.
He was Hudson bloody Laurent. Alpha of the Sabreridge pack,the most powerful wolf pack in the North. As in Laurent Global Holdings, Laurent Towers, Laurent being-on-the-news-for-buying-a-small-country kind of Laurent.
I was still overthinking everything on my couch when Ysolde called, her voice so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear, "Stop wallowing. We’re going out for drinks. This isn’t optional."
She didn’t need to be so dramatic about it, but whatever. I could use a distraction. And maybe a bit of tequila would help shut up that voice in my head obsessing over relationships and second chances.
I threw on a loose red sweater and skinny jeans, then headed out.
Highrise City had dipped to near-zero this week, but the bar was sweaty as hell. Loud music, overpriced drinks, and enough perfume in the air to mask even the strongest werewolf’s sense of smell.
Ysolde slung her arm around my shoulders and leaned in, shouting over the music, "Just us two is boring. Let’s call some of those hot guys from club!" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
I rolled my eyes. "Call them for yourself, babe. I’m good." After my disaster with Niall, the last thing I needed was another guy hitting on me.
She narrowed her eyes, studying my face. "Wait. You’re in a weird mood. What happened?"
I took a sip. The whiskey sour wasn’t bad. "There’s something I need to decide. I can’t tell if doing it would be crazy or just... impulsive."
"Please don’t tell me this is about Niall again. If he shows up trying to ’talk things out,’ I swear to the Moon Goddess, Chrissy, you must not cave, or I’ll disown you on the spot and request a pack transfer."
"It’s not about Niall," I said, then paused. "Actually, random question...aren’t you kind of tight with that friend of Hudson’s? Cassian or whatever?"
"Cassian Langford?" Her nose wrinkled. "He’s the Alpha of the Moonstone pack. Always hanging around our territory like he owns the place. What about him?"
"He’s friends with Hudson, right? Think you could casually fish around for me? Get some intel on Hudson?"
Her eyes went wide."Why the hell are you digging into Hudson Laurent? Don’t you already know him, being fake-engaged to him and all? Why ask someone else about him? What exactly do you want to know?"
"His mate history, maybe." The words felt heavy as they left my mouth.
"Come again?" She blinked like I’d suddenly grown a second head. "Why do you care about that? Wait...don’t tell me you’ve actually caught feelings? Wasn’t this whole engagement thing just pretend to get your parents and Niall off your back?"
"Focus, gossip later. Just find out what you can." I tapped my fingers nervously against the glass. freёwebnovel.com
"Fine, fine." She sighed. "I think I heard Cassian say something the other day. Lemme call him."
She pulled out her phone and stepped away to make the call. She came back barely three minutes later.
"Got the goods. Cassian says Hudson’s been hung up on some woman for years. Problem is, she had a mate. He never had a shot, but apparently he’s still not over her. Hasn’t claimed anyone else since."
I stared at my drink, my fingers tightening around the glass.
So that was the ghost in his closet.
Ysolde went on. "But that was ages ago. Hudson went off to Europe to build his own fortune separate from the pack, and Cassian doesn’t exactly have eyes on his love life over there. So whatever intel he’s got could be totally outdated."
"Or he’s still not over her," I said, half to myself.
Ysolde gave me a long look. Then—bam—realization hit.
Her face morphed into a cocktail of pity, sympathy, and full-body cringe.
"Wait. Oh no. Honey, you’ve actually fallen for him? Are you serious? I mean, yeah, he’s hot. And his pack is richer and more powerful than every ancestral line I’ve got going back to the First Shift. But if he’s still hung up on someone else and you go chasing him... isn’t that just you and Niall all over again?"
"Exactly," I said.
And that was the point.
If Hudson was still pining for some long-lost love, that just confirmed one thing—he wasn’t expecting anything from me.
Then this marriage was exactly what he said it was.
A cold, clean, no-strings deal.
"If that’s the case," I muttered, "marrying him doesn’t sound too bad..."
Ysolde shrieked, causing several nearby wolves to turn their heads. "What marriage? Who the hell are you marrying?"
She didn’t even wait for me to answer. "Please tell me it’s not Foul Niall. Chrissy, babe, I swear by the Moon Goddess herself, if you’re even thinking about going back to that sentient trash fire—"
"It’s not him," I cut in. "It’s Hudson."
Her jaw hit the floor.
She stared at me in mute horror for a full two minutes.
Just blinking. Processing.
Probably trying to remember if I’d been hit.
Then finally,"You drunk? Did you eat something weird? Did Niall spike your drink with mountain ash? You’re marrying Hudson Laurent? Like, for real real?"
I nodded. "Thinking about it."
Ysolde reached out and felt my forehead like she was checking for silver poisoning.
"Darling, are you okay? Do we need to call the pack doctor? The Grangers have clearly scrambled your brain. You think you can just mate with the Alpha of the Sabreridge pack like ordering fancy cakes?"
I grabbed her wrist and gently lowered her hand.
"Let me explain," I said, then walked her through the whole quick marriage proposal situation.
The more I talked, the wider her mouth got.
By the time I was done, she looked like someone could’ve shoved a full moon in there and she wouldn’t even notice.
I reached over and gently shut her jaw for her.
"That’s the deal. He came to me, not the other way round. I’m still thinking it through."
Ysolde rebooted after about a minute of blank staring, then shot off the bar stool like her tail had caught fire and grabbed both my hands in a death grip.
"What’s there to think through? Chrissy, don’t think, just do! Mate with him tomorrow! He’s, like, a million times better than Foul Niall. There is literally no Alpha in Highrise City more powerful and loaded than Hudson fucking Laurent!"
I pulled her back down onto the couch.
"Okay, calm the hell down. Mating ceremony is still kind of a big deal, don’t you think? This feels... too fast."
"Fast is the new normal," she fired back. "Half the couples around here get engaged after three months of dating. Say yes first, panic later. Worst case, you can always get divorced. Best case, you get to wake up to that face every morning. Win-win."
Then she smirked,"And let’s face it, get together with him and your sex life will definitely get more interesting. You know from experience, don’t you?He probably knows how to please women like—"
I hit her arm playfully. "Stop being such a perv!"
Ysolde’s teasing smile disappeared as she got serious.
"Look, all jokes aside, Hudson’s solid, at least from what I’ve known about him so far. Plus, can you imagine Niall’s face when he finds out you mated with a Laurent? The Alpha of the Sabreridge pack? He’ll have a fucking meltdown.I’ll throw the most extravagant party just to prove a point."
By the time we’d analyzed every angle, sketched out pros and cons lists, and rated Hudson’s hotness on a ten-point scale (he scored twelve), I’d already made up my mind.
After work the next day, I was lying on my sofa like a corpse, clutching my phone.
I’d written and rewritten the damn message so many times, my thumbs were sore and Akira was getting impatient.
Every time I hovered over Send, I chickened out and hit backspace.
By the time the clock hit eight, I’d typed a whole novella and deleted all of it.
And then the lights cut out.
Dead. Black. Silent.
I just lay there blinking like, seriously?
My old apartment went dark every time someone sneezed too hard.
Now this one was on the same bullshit?
I shot upright and jabbed the property management number.
No answer.
Tried again.
Still nothing.
Third time—voicemail.
"Brilliant," I muttered, already half-pissed.
Wasn’t the new apartments supposed to be under Laurent Global Holdings?
Hudson Laurent owned the place.
He even had a flat here, so unless he liked showering in the dark, he should’ve sorted this crap out ages ago.
I shoved on some fluffy slippers and padded out into the hallway.
