The day I first shifted at sixteen, I begged my mother to perform my first shift ceremony under the holy moonlight.

That was supposed to be the most sacred of nights.

But no blessing awaited us.

We stumbled upon my father, entangled with another she-wolf on the ceremonial altar.

Moonlight cascaded over her naked body, and the ring my father had promised my mother was on that she-wolf's hand.

That night, my parents' mate bond shattered.

From that day on, the ceremonial altar and that ring—a symbol of his infidelity—became my personal nightmare, a wound that would never heal.

The night I forged my bond with the Alpha of the Thornmoon Pack, Jasper Thorne, amid the pain and pleasure of his marking bite, I whispered in his ear.

"Jasper, if you ever want to end our relationship, just tell me directly. Don't insult me with your infidelity."

He frowned, his eyes burning with possessiveness, and silenced me with a kiss.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aurelia. You're my fated mate. How could I ever betray you?"

Later, on his birthday, his intern, Dahlia, presented him with a pair of silver cufflinks engraved with his name. A gift of silver is a grave insult to our kind, and to have it engraved with a name… that's a gesture of shocking intimacy.

Jasper flew into a rage and threw her and the ominous gift out the door.

At the time, I was touched, even persuading him not to be so harsh on a low-ranking wolf.

But six months later, Dahlia was promoted to Jasper's personal assistant.

On my birthday, she swayed into my lab, dangling a moonstone ring, the very one Jasper had promised me.

I called Jasper, demanding an explanation.

On the other end of the line, his tone was casual.

"Dahlia probably just wanted to give you a surprise. Don't be so sensitive, Aurelia. You need to have the grace of a Luna."

A high-precision genetic reagent tube slipped from my hand.

It turned out my mother had been right all along.

A cheating mate deserves only one thing: to have the bond severed.

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1

Dahlia left the moonstone ring on my lab bench, along with an ultrasound image of a twelve-week-old pup, then strutted out like a victorious queen.

I stared at the image.

Twelve weeks.

My inner wolf let out a low, mournful whimper in my mind.

Three months ago, the Thornmoon Pack needed a new gene stabilizer.

Jasper told me that conceiving a powerful, pure-blooded heir required optimal timing, and now wasn't the right time.

So, for the pack, I’d injected myself with a high-concentration suppressant I developed, shutting down my own body's ability to conceive.

Three months later, he had planted his seed in another woman.

Twelve weeks. The timing was a cruel joke.

While I toiled day and night in the lab, breathing in toxic fumes to save his pack, Jasper was taking Dahlia into our bed.

The sofa, the balcony, even the spot in front of our bonding ceremony photo—their scent was everywhere.

The bedroom that once felt like my sanctuary now made my stomach churn.

I heard a noise at the door.

Jasper strode in, reeking of alcohol.

A flicker of recognition crossed his face when he saw the ring, but his expression quickly smoothed over as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.

He pulled out a velvet box, holding it in front of me, his voice low and magnetic.

"This is a new obsidian wolf-fang pendant. Do you like it?"

"It's past midnight, Jasper. My birthday is over."

I glanced at the pendant, my heart a barren wasteland.

I wasn't fond of jewelry, but this pendant looked disturbingly familiar.

Just this afternoon, Dahlia had flaunted an identical one in front of me.

Was this a bulk purchase, or a buy-one-get-one-free deal?

Did it matter?

No, it didn't matter anymore.

I suppressed the nausea rising in my chest and calmly turned to face him.

"We need to talk."

Jasper thought I was still angry about the ring.

A flash of impatience crossed his eyes, and he let go of me.

"She just wanted to surprise you; she didn't know I had promised it to you. Besides, I've already given her a verbal reprimand."

"Aurelia, stop making a scene, alright? Managing a pack is exhausting."

He rubbed his temples, a weary look on his face, as if I were some unreasonable, hysterical woman.

I was about to say more, but his phone suddenly buzzed.

He glanced at the screen, and the fatigue on his face vanished, replaced by a look of eager anticipation.

He snatched up his phone, a smile touching his lips as his fingers flew across the screen, and walked straight into the bedroom.

Watching his broad back, I smiled.

But the smile didn't reach my eyes.

We had been in love for ten years and mates for seven.

We went from having nothing to building our pack into a regional power.

But the Alpha he had become had no time left for me.

From the safe, I took out the application to sever the mate bond that I had printed out long ago.

I looked at my calloused and slightly rough fingertips, a result of years of handling genetic reagents, and let out a soft laugh.

This time, the laughter held a hint of relief.

I took out my phone and dialed my mentor's number.

"Professor Finch, that secret federal mission you mentioned before... can I still join?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by an ecstatic shout.

"Of course! That's the five-year Federal Werewolf Gene Optimization Project!"

"But Aurelia, this mission is highly classified. Once you leave, you can't come back for five years. You're the Luna of the Thornmoon Pack. Will your Alpha agree?"

"Without your genetic technology, your pack's bloodline strength would probably regress by a decade."

I signed my name at the bottom of the application, my tone firm.

"Professor, I'm severing the mate bond."

A cheer erupted from the other end of the line.

My senior lab mates were all eavesdropping.

"I knew that Jasper guy was bad news. You’ve finally come to your senses."

"Aurelia, come back quickly! We're all waiting for you."

"Don't be sad. Men will only slow down your gene purification work."

My mentor playfully scolded them for a few moments, then spoke seriously.

"Aurelia, Federal Gene Optimization Team 707 orders you to return to the team immediately!"

"We leave in two days. Get your affairs in order."

I hung up the phone and walked into the guest room.

In the past, no matter how late Jasper came home, I insisted on sleeping in the master bedroom, just to smell his scent.

Now, only the air in the guest room felt clean.

The next day, I slept until one in the afternoon.

After three months of grueling work on the stabilizer, the long sleep finally restored some of my strength.

I checked my phone; the screen was flooded with notifications.

Everyone was congratulating me on the successful development of the gene stabilizer.

The pack elders were all praising the Alpha's wise leadership.

Jasper was frantically tagging me in the group chat, promising me a huge surprise.

Staring at the hypocritical accolades, I felt nothing but a cold detachment.

I lay in bed for a while to compose myself, then walked out with the application.

The living room was empty.

On the coffee table was a VIP invitation to the Blood Moon Gala, our pack's most important festival.

There was also a sticky note with his flamboyant handwriting on it.

"7 PM. See you there."

This was Jasper's "reward," utterly perfunctory.

After some thought, I decided to go.

Not to salvage this broken relationship, but to end it.

After all, seven years ago, Jasper had proposed to me under a blood moon.

The next day, we marked each other in front of the Goddess's statue.

It felt fitting to serve him the papers at the Gala—a bitter mirror to our beginning. Tomorrow, the Council of Elders would make it official.

A beginning and an end.

At 5 PM, I put the application and the invitation in my bag and threw on a simple gray linen robe.

Usually, for a date with Jasper, I would soak in petal-infused water for two hours and then meticulously get ready.

Makeup was a hassle, but I used to do it with giddy anticipation.

Now, there was no need.

I couldn't be bothered to wait for him to go out for an expensive steak dinner either.

I ate a burger at a fast-food joint downstairs.

By the time I arrived at the venue, it was already 6:50 PM.

I sent Jasper a text.

He didn't reply.

I shook my head, and instead of waiting for him in the cold wind as I used to, I went inside alone.

Just then, a notification popped up on my phone.

Dahlia had posted a new status update, specifically tagging me.

"So what if I missed the Blood Moon Gala? I have the entire starry sky from the Ferris wheel. The moonlight is so beautiful tonight!"

In the photo, she was at the very top of the Ferris wheel, tightly holding a large hand.

The man's face wasn't visible, but next to our shared mate mark on his arm was a new brand: Dahlia's initials, "D.M."

So, the Blood Moon Gala I'd been waiting for was just a crumb he'd tossed my way while he feasted elsewhere.

His time belonged to another woman.

I didn't care.

A dull ache spread through my chest, making it hard to breathe for a second.

But I found I was already used to this suffocating feeling; I didn't even slow my pace.

We had been mates for seven years, and he had broken countless vows. Why should I care about this one last broken promise?

As long as he branded his mark on that application, he could watch the moon with whoever he wanted from a Ferris wheel.

After the Gala, I walked home alone.

As I passed through the old town, I stopped.

The sacred oak tree under which we used to make wishes had been cut down to make way for his company's new building.

Things had changed, and so had the people.

Even the beautiful memories we’d built together had been demolished along with it.

At 1 AM, I returned to the cold house.

The living room lights were blazing.

Jasper was frowning, fiddling with his phone.

When he saw me enter, his brow smoothed out, replaced by a flare of anger as he strode toward me.

"What's wrong with you? Not answering your phone, not replying to messages. Do you realize you've been out all night?"

Was he waiting for me?

But for the past three months, I had come home even later than this every day from my experiments.

Perhaps it was because I wasn't working late today, so he couldn't bring Dahlia over for the night.

It didn't matter. Once I was gone, Dahlia could move right into the master bedroom.