It wasn't until the next day at noon that Damine slowly came out of the coma induced by the extreme blood loss.

His mind was still fuzzy. His throat was dry, and the first words that slipped out were: "Sofia... how is she? Is she out of danger? Has she woken up?"

Seeing his anxious expression, even though he was so weak, I nodded. I had stayed by his side almost all night, and my voice was hoarse with fatigue.

"The healer said the most dangerous phase is over. She'll need a long period of rest to regain her strength."

Hearing this news, the huge weight that had been pressing on Damine's chest finally seemed to lift.

But he was still not at ease. He struggled to throw back the covers and get out of bed, insisting on going to see her for himself with his own eyes.

I couldn't talk him out of it. In the end, it was a therapy assistant who was bringing him a nutrient drip that stopped him.

Damine glanced at the several bags of medication that needed to be administered slowly, and a flicker of irritation crossed his eyes. His thoughts were still completely on Sofia's condition.

His gaze swept around the room, finally landing on a basket on the corner table filled with fresh berries and rare Moontrace Herbs—a gift of condole from other pack members.

It was as if he'd finally found a reasonable excuse. He looked at me, his voice carrying a subtle request:

"Sylvia, I used the comm yesterday to contact Sofia's parents. They're wandering in the south, but they should be arriving soon. Could you take this berry basket to her for me? Give them my regards, and... while you're at it, check if Sofia's condition has stabilized."

I stared at him for a long moment before letting out a quiet "Mm."

I picked up the exquisitely crafted berry basket and silently left his private room.

Sofia's room was on the upper floor.

I walked to her door and raised my hand to knock, but noticed the heavy wooden door was slightly ajar.

Through the crack, I saw Sofia nestled in the arms of a strange male wolf in another pack's attire. Her voice sounded weak and sweet:

"Liam, didn't you say this time you came back, you'd take me to meet your elders and officially confirm our relationship? Why did you come alone?"

The male, Liam, held her close, his voice gentle: "I wanted to bring my parents for a proper visit, but your injuries haven't fully healed. It's just not the right time. The moment you're completely recovered, I'll take you back to my pack for our mating ceremony. Okay?"

Hearing this conversation, my hand clenched hard on the woven handle of the basket.

Sofia already had a new mate? They were even to the point of having a mating ceremony?

Just as that thought hit me, the healer for the routine check pushed the door open, startling the two people inside.

Sofia looked up and saw me standing in the doorway. Her expression instantly shifted, turning guarded and displeased: "What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer her question. I just silently placed the berry basket on a low cabinet by the door, then turned and headed straight for the stairs.

Sofia, surprisingly, dragged her seemingly weak body out after me, grabbing my arm firmly at the stairwell. Her grip was so strong, it didn't fit someone supposedly recovering from serious injuries.

"Stop! You're not going to run straight downstairs and tattle to Damine, are you?" Her voice was low, with a hint of barely concealed panic.

I turned my head, looking at the flash of flustered panic on her face, my voice as cold as ice: "If you already have a mate you're willing to bind with, why do you insist on holding on to Damine?"

At my words, Sofia raised an eyebrow, and the panic on her face quickly transformed into a shameless calm.

"Can't you see I enjoy having them both fawn over me? I like playing them against each other," she sneered, a mocking curve on her lips. "I have the capital to make them dance to my tune. What's wrong with that?"

"Must you trample on his genuine feelings like this?" I felt sick to my stomach.

Seeing my suppressed anger, Sofia snorted, her tone filled with parade: "I'm just that good at making them go crazy. Even someone like Damine Blackwood, an Alpha so high above everyone else, is no exception. What, are you jealous? Why not just admit it? If I'm in a good mood, I might even give him back to you."

Her brazen words left me speechless.

My silence only fueled her arrogance. She looked me up and down triumphantly, her gaze finally landing on the mating mark on my neck.

"You're nothing but a substitute, a placeholder I left behind when I left. What makes you think you have the right to question me?"

She leaned in closer, her voice laced with vicious glee: "Let me let you in on a secret. I wasn't even that badly injured! I paid off the healer to see if Damine would be willing to give his essence blood for me. And the result? He was willing to damage his own wolf for me, to give me his very life. What do you have that could possibly compare to that?"

Her words were like a dagger coated in silver toxin, stabbing deep into the core of my being.

"If Damine treats you so well, why would you betray him for another man?" I asked Sofia.

"That was all Damine's doing. Being a Luna means taking on responsibilities and losing my freedom. I'm not willing to do that."

The fire that had been suppressed for so long—a mix of pain, humiliation, and anger—finally burst through the dam of my reason.

I almost instinctively raised my hand, reaching to grab Sofia and demand an explanation.

However, Sofia let out a dramatic cry of pain as if struck by a great force, staggering backward and falling!

I hadn't even fully registered what happened when I was suddenly shoved hard from the side, my back slamming against the cold stone wall.

It was Damine, coming up the stairs.

He didn't even glance at me. In one large stride, he rushed down the stairs, his face a mask of fury and heartache as he scooped up Sofia, who had fresh scrapes and bruises on her body after falling at the stairwell. He looked up at me with a look of disbelieving anger and accusation.

"Sylvia! Do you have any idea her condition isn't stable?! How could you be so vicious as to hurt her like this!" His voice trembled with weakness and anger.

Sofia nestled in his arms, turned her face at just the right moment to reveal the faint red mark of a handprint on her cheek, and wept like a willow in the wind, her voice choked: "Don't blame her, Damine... it's my fault. I must have said something to make Sylvia misunderstand... she is your bonded mate, it's only natural she'd be upset... I don't blame her... let's just go, it hurts so much..."

With these words, she completely cut off any chance for me to explain myself.

Watching the storm clouds gather on Damine's face, I knew that anything I said now would only sound like a weak excuse and a shifting of blame.

My silence, in Damine's eyes, was undoubtedly an admission of guilt.

The last spark of hope in his eyes died, replaced by deep disappointment.

"Sylvia! I thought you were a kind and gentle Luna. I never imagined you would go after Sofia too. I was wrong about you."

With that, he looked away from me, as if even a single glance was repulsive. He just carefully adjusted his hold, cradling the softly weeping Sofia, and turned, walking away step by heavy step.

He never once looked back at me.

I stood there alone, the only sound in the stairwell my own ragged breathing.

After leaving the infirmary, I received a message through an encrypted channel from the southern sanctuary.

They notified me that the migration permit had been formally approved and all necessary documents were ready for me to collect whenever I wanted.

I retrieved all my personal identification files and the thin migration permit.

On the same day, I received a communication from the wolf tribunal. They informed me that the mate termination agreement had been approved and would be effective in seven days.

Returning to the main house of Blackwood Manor—a place I had once considered "home"—I began to silently pack my belongings.

On the table lay a calendar made from thin, treated leather.

I had the habit of tearing off one page each day.

The pages dwindled, and soon I reached the last page of this calendar.

The year was coming to an end.

And I was about to leave the Stormfang Pack territory, a place I had lived in for over twenty years, a land that held all my loves and sorrows.

Throughout this week, Damine never once came back.

Sofia, on the other hand, tirelessly sent me provocative images and recordings through an encrypted comm device every day.

On the seventh day of the countdown, she sent a video clip captured in a recording crystal: Damine was kneeling on the floor of her sickroom, disregarding his dignity as an Alpha, gently massaging her calf with his hands, which were usually accustomed to gripping weapons.

As I watched the focused profile of his face in the video, I took out all the little trinkets I had secretly collected for him over the years—those calming incenses specially made for the frenzied phase, the exquisitely tanned belt buckle carved with a simple sketch of his wolf form, the blue flame berry jam I had learned to make after he once complimented how it tasted... all these simple tokens of my clumsy feelings, I threw them into the stone pot in the corner of the room, reserved for burning waste.

On the fifth day, she sent pictures: Damine had sent an entire crate of shimmering Moonstone and Mithril jewelry, crafted by the pack's artisans.

One close-up showed him carefully placing a ring on Sofia's finger. It was set with a large Moonstone and carved into the shape of a wolf's head.

Looking at the picture, I walked to the wall and took down the giant oil painting depicting our three-year-old Blood Moon mating ceremony.

On the canvas, I was wearing an ill-fitting Luna gown, while he stood beside me with a distant expression.

I raised the frame and smashed it against the edge of the fireplace. The canvas tore, and the wooden frame splintered. Then I threw all the pieces into the roaring flames of the fireplace.

On the third day, it was an audio recording. The background was quiet, with only Damine's even breaths and the name he unconsciously mumbled in his sleep: "Sofia... don't go..." His voice was hoarse with sleep, yet full of genuine affection.

I opened the section of his walk-in closet that was his, yet had always remained empty. I packed away all the gifts he had given me during our three-year bond—whether out of an Alpha's sense of duty or occasional guilt—the magnificent fur cloaks, the expensive gemstone necklaces from auctions, even the beautiful feather from a giant bird he had given me after a hunt...

I packed it all up, called an Omega attendant, and instructed him to deliver everything to the foundation in the pack dedicated to helping weak and orphaned wolves.

This main house, which I had once carefully decorated and filled with life, gradually returned to the empty and quiet state it was in when I first arrived.

Meanwhile, my few personal belongings, the ones that truly belonged to me, were gradually packed and placed by the door.

The older Omegas who had long served in the manor looked worried at my near-total clear-out. They cautiously asked among themselves if something had happened.

I smiled at them and forced my tone to be light, as if I were talking about something trivial. "It's nothing. The mate bond with Damine is just being dissolved."

"Dissolved?" Manor Manager Alexander repeated in disbelief, his voice trembling. "Alpha... he agreed to it?"

Agreed?

I didn't know.

But I figured, at this moment, with his heart completely filled with Sofia, Damine would probably feel a sense of relief, or even joy, if he saw the signed mate termination agreement.

As for what happened between Sofia and him, I wanted no part of it anymore.

On the second day of the countdown, another message from Sofia arrived unexpectedly.

This time, the camera wasn't on Damine, but on his parents—the respected old Alpha and his mate of Stormfang Pack.

The pictures showed the three elders sitting around Sofia's sickbed, laughing and chatting. The atmosphere was so harmonious it was as if they were the real family.

Still, I didn't reply to any message.

I calmly opened my comm device, scrolled through my contacts, and selected, one by one, the contact information for Sofia, Damine, and everyone else in the Blackwood family's inner circle who might remind me of this past. Then I pressed the delete button.

On the morning of my departure, the first snow of the year began to fall silently. Fine white crystals covered the Forbidden Forest and the manor's stone pathways.

I took out the leather-bound diaries I had hidden at the bottom of my case, filled with unspoken feelings, and a stack of letters written on light brown paper that I had never had the courage to send. I carried them all to the empty space in the courtyard where I sometimes liked to sit and daydream.

I used an old fire pit to light them. Orange flames leaped up, illuminating my pale face, which was chilled by the wind, and greedily devoured the words of my humble love. They consumed the hot, sour, and ultimately cold feelings of my youth, turning them to ash.

I tilted my head back, watching the falling snowflakes, wondering how long it would have to snow to completely cover these unbearable ashes.

Just as I was lost in thought, the heavy gates of the manor were suddenly pushed open from the outside.

It was Damine, whom I hadn't seen in a long while.

His steps were hurried, carrying the cold air from outside.

He glanced at me, squatting by the fire pit, but didn't stop. He walked straight into the main hall, as if to get something.

A moment later, he came out again and stopped beside me.

His gaze fell on the edges of some light brown letters scattered on the ground that hadn't made it into the fire.

It seemed he unconsciously recalled the letter that had been read aloud at the bonfire party.

The heart that had accumulated so much displeasure and anger toward me because of Sofia finally softened a little, and his tone became gentler.

"I've been... dealing with Sofia's recovery and follow-up care lately, I haven't had a moment to spare." He paused, his voice lower than usual. "In a couple of days, when things settle down, we... we should have a proper talk."

A proper talk?

Talk about what?

The final details of dissolving the bond? Or how to politely ask me, the "substitute," to step aside?

I pulled at the corner of my mouth and looked up at him.

Snowflakes landed on my eyelashes, melting into cold mist. My voice was flat, without a trace of emotion, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with me.

"No need to talk. The thing you want most, I actually placed in your glove compartment a month ago."

The thing?

What thing?

Damine frowned, a flash of confusion crossing his face. He was about to ask for clarification when his encrypted comm device beeped a few times.

He lowered his head, glanced at the screen, and a soft, clear smile almost involuntarily spread across his face as he read the messages.

Seeing his expression brighten instantly, I took the last few sealed letters that would never be sent and gently tossed them into the flickering flames before me. Then I stood up.

The hem of my slightly oversized fur cloak naturally fell, conveniently hiding the fire pit behind me, which was still burning but about to die out.

Damine finished replying to the message and looked up again just as the last spark in the fire pit was extinguished, leaving only wisps of smoke.

He seemed to have forgotten what he had been about to ask me.

I silently followed him to the manor's main entrance and straightened his collar for him.

A bitter wind blew, kicking up snow from the ground.

Damine looked at my somewhat thin clothes and, out of habit, and with a hint of perfunctory concern he himself might not have even noticed, said gently, "It's cold outside. Go back inside, don't catch a chill."

But I shook my head and insisted on standing at the door to watch him leave.

The engine roared to life. Through the slowly rising car window, Damine saw me lift my hand and give a small wave in his direction. My lips seemed to move, saying something.

The sound of the wind and snow was too loud. He couldn't hear it clearly.

But no matter what, it was probably just a piece of ordinary advice he had heard countless times over the past three years but had never truly cared about, like "drive safe" or "come back early."

So, he didn't pay it any mind. He just nodded and then signaled the driver to go.

The powerful SUV crushed the snow and quickly disappeared at the end of the winding manor driveway, swallowed by the swirling snowflakes and dense forest shadows.

I stood alone in the increasingly heavy snow for a long time, until my limbs felt stiff with cold, before slowly turning and going back inside the main bedroom.

I put on the thick travel cloak I was taking, picked up the already packed suitcase by the door, and walked downstairs.

A pre-ordered SUV bearing the mark of the southern sanctuary was parked quietly in front of the villa gates.

Before getting in, I turned back for one last look at the Blackwood Manor, which looked increasingly indistinct and silent in the snowfall.

Then, I repeated the words that the wind and snow had swallowed, words that had been too soft to hear, clearly, one by one, to this land that had held seven years of secret love and three years of mistaken affection:

"Goodbye, Stormfang Pack."

"Never see again, Damine Blackwood."

Damine drove straight to the infirmary.

Today was Sofia's day to be discharged.

Last night, through their mind-link, she had tearfully asked to see photos from her childhood. That's why he had specifically gone back to the main house to fetch this thick leather photo album.

On the way to Sofia's room, he brushed past an unknown male wolf from another pack.

The man carried a distinct scent of Silverleaf Herb—that was Sofia's favorite fragrance, the scent that always clung to her.

This strange wolf had just come from her room? Was he a friend she knew from another pack?

Damine's body tensed slightly, a flicker of doubt rising in his chest.

But he didn't think much of it.

"Damine!" Sofia's face lit up with a brilliant smile the moment she saw him. She eagerly pulled him down to sit beside her, and they began flipping through the album, reminiscing about the past.

"Look at this one! It's our photo after our first successful transformation! You couldn't control your wolf back then and you tore my little dress!"

Damine managed a weak smile, turning the pages with her.

The happy childhood memories temporarily chased away the inexplicable unease settling in his gut.

At noon, Sofia's parents—two senior Gamma warriors—arrived to take her home.

Seeing Damine, they immediately bowed in thanks: "Thank you for taking care of Sofia all this time, Alpha."

Damine returned the standard wolf pack salute: "Sofia's injuries are my responsibility. Taking care of her is my duty."

Sofia gently brushed her paw against his handback: "I already told you it's not your fault. I explained everything to my parents yesterday. It was those damn rogue wolves' silver traps. They were too well-hidden."

Sofia's father nodded in agreement: "We've been occupied with pack matters for years. Thank you for always being there for Sofia."

Sofia tried to move closer to Damine, but her mother stopped her with a light touch on her arm.

"You are both adults now, and Damine has his own mate," Sofia's mother said, her voice carrying the authority of an elder. "Sofia cannot keep clinging to you like this. We will speak to her. She won't disturb you and your Luna anymore."

The air in the sickroom grew heavy.

Damine's breath hitched. When Sofia's mother mentioned me, his muscles involuntarily tightened.

Sofia pretended not to understand, trying to shift the topic in her usual coquettish tone: "Mom! Damine and I grew up together! He promised he'd always be good to me!"

Then, ignoring her mother's restraint, she looped her arm through Damine's and continued, "Damine promised to escort me home."

But Damine gently pulled his arm from her grasp, his voice low. "I did promise. But I just received a message from David about rogue wolf sightings near the border. Now that your parents are here, I won't need to accompany you."

He turned to leave, but Sofia's mother called out to him, holding out the photo album.

"Damine," her voice softened, "Sofia was young and foolish back then. She didn't understand the value of a true heart."

Seeing the apologetic look on this elder's face, who had watched him grow up, Damine shook his head.

"Auntie, I've put the past behind me. I hold no ill will toward Sofia. You can rest easy."

He took the album, his fingers tracing the rough leather cover. "I've moved on from all that too."

Sofia's mother sighed, her expression complex: "Sofia wasn't worthy of you. I hear your mate, Sylvia, is a brave woman. She stayed by your side during your vulnerable cycles and even took a silver arrow for you. A mate like that is worth your heart and soul to cherish."

Damine knew Sofia's mother meant well.

He also understood that his story with Sofia was long over—on the day of their mating ceremony, he had made the bold choice to bind with another.

For the past three years, he had tried to forget the past and build a life with me.

But how could he just let go of someone he had loved for so many years?

So when Sofia returned and relentlessly pursued him, his heart had softened.

Even if they couldn't be mates, he thought they could at least be friends.

Holding onto that thought, he had repeatedly allowed Sofia to get close.

To be honest, every time Sofia cried and insisted she still loved him, his heart was moved.

But those moments were like ripples on a stirred lake, disappearing as quickly as they came.

Whenever he remembered that I was his mate, he felt himself beginning to fall.

He thought of the side of my face as I treated his silver toxin wounds, of my silently enduring the pain of the mate bond during every Blood Moon night, of the leather letter that had been read aloud at the bonfire—a letter that recorded my humble love...

He thought of my watching him leave in the morning snow, and a warmth flooded Damine's heart.

It was only in this moment that he realized who his true heart belonged to.

A sudden, sharp panic seized his heart.

His wolf growled uneasily within him, urging him to return to his mate's side immediately.

He bowed deeply to the elder. "Thank you for the reminder. I know... I've made many mistakes lately."

Clutching the photo album, he practically ran to his SUV, the engine roaring impatiently.

He now had only one thought—to return to my side immediately, to apologize for his neglect, and to tell me what was truly in his heart.

After leaving the infirmary, Damine didn't head to the border to check on the supposed rogue wolves. Instead, he drove directly back to the Blackwood family's ancestral home.

This was where the elders lived, the home where he had grown up.

As soon as he stepped into the main house, built from heavy timber, his mother, Lindy, called him into the study.

The room's curtains were drawn tight, and the air was filled with the scent of pine incense.

"When you and Sylvia first formed your mating bond, I admit I thought she was just a lowly wolf, abandoned by humans and raised by an Omega. I didn't think she was worthy of you, a noble and powerful Alpha."

Lindy said. Her voice held the authority of an elder, but it was softer than usual.

"But in these three years, I've seen her take a silver arrow for you, stay by your side during your vulnerable cycles, and manage pack affairs so well that even the most critical elders can find no fault. I changed my mind a long time ago."

Damine stared at the floor, his fingers unconsciously tracing the rough cover of the album. He thought of the sleepless nights Sylvia had stayed by his bed during his silver toxin episodes, of her staying up late to sew leather ritual offerings for the ceremony, and a sharp pain lanced through his heart.

"You're no longer a pup, so I won't repeat the same things," Lindy continued, her fingers tapping lightly on the desk. "Let the past stay in the past. You've chosen an excellent mate. It's time to settle down and build a proper life with her."

"The mate bond in our pack isn't a game for pups," she said, picking up a leather scroll from the desk—the ancient tome containing the pack's most sacred laws. "Once the bond is formed, it's a lifelong connection. It must be protected as jealously as our territory. You and Sylvia didn't have the emotional foundation that comes from growing up together, so you need to communicate more to avoid building up misunderstandings. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Damine looked up, his eyes filled with guilt: "Mother, I know I was wrong. I was blinded by what was happening with Sofia, and I ignored Sylvia's feelings..."

"Realizing your mistake is what matters," Lindy interrupted him. She took a pair of bracelets from a wooden box on her desk, intricately carved with wolf head crests. "These were the Luna's tokens of the Stormfang Pack, passed down from your grandmother. It's time they were given to Sylvia. The day after tomorrow is your father's memorial ceremony. Remember to bring her back. She is already the Luna our family recognizes."

Damine took the bracelets. The cool metal against his fingertips suddenly made him think of the Blood Moon mating ceremony three years ago.

On that day, Sofia was absent. The elders' faces were thunderous, and the guests whispered among themselves. He stood at the mating altar, feeling abandoned by the entire pack.

Until I had stood up, pushed through the crowd, and walked to his side. My gaze had been steady.

When the bond was complete, he hadn't even known my name, yet he had found his lost courage in my eyes.

In that moment, he had silently sworn to spend his life treating me well—the one who had extended a hand to him when he was at his lowest.

Damine carefully placed the bracelets in the glove compartment of his SUV.

Before closing it, he noticed a file with slightly curled edges at the side. He wondered when it had been put there.

But just as he reached for it to take a look, his encrypted comm device chimed.

"Damine, my parents just left. Some friends are throwing a party for me, now that I'm out. Are you done? Want to come?" Sofia's voice came through the communicator.

This time, Damine didn't hesitate: "I have some pack business to attend to. I won't be able to make it."

Sofia's tone immediately fell. Just as she was about to wheedle him further, Damine made up an excuse about needing to lead a guard meeting and quickly ended the call.

After hanging up, he closed the glove compartment and started the car, heading back to the main house.

Usually full of life, the main house was eerily quiet today.

Damine looked around and noticed many things were missing—the hunting trophies that had been on the coffee table for months, the blue flame berry sauce on the dining table, the Moonflower pot on the windowsill... these were all items Sylvia had carefully tended to.

He had never paid attention to these details before, but now he could sense something was wrong. He called the steward Alexander over. "Why are so many things missing from the house?"

"Luna cleared them all out," the elderly steward answered respectfully. He then looked up, observing Damine's expression, and hesitantly added, "Alpha, you and Luna..."