(Marisel’s POV)

My younger brother’s moon sickness flared up again, and he needed an elder healer immediately. But every healer and every sacred herb in the territory had already been sent elsewhere.

For the ninety ninth time, I finally managed to reach my mate, Alpha Trevian of the Silverthorne Pack.

“Trevian, my brother, he…”

“Marisel, behave. I am occupied right now. I will return to you later.”

Before I could finish speaking, the call went silent.

I refused to give up and called again.

This time, the bond stone showed that my link had been blocked.

A second later, the spirit monitor behind me released a long, broken sound. At the same moment, Trevian’s new lover, Frista Briarclaw, updated her Moonbook feed, celebrating that her spirit cat had just given birth.

So this was the urgent matter he spoke of. Helping his mistress welcome a litter of kittens into the world.

In my despair, I finally sent a message to the one man whose name I had never saved.

[You once told me that you owed me a debt, and if I ever asked, you would grant me anything.]

[I need your help to create a new identity and find me a territory where I can stay.]

His reply came almost at once.

[One month from now, I will wait for you at Crimson Howl Skyport.]

——

I opened Frista’s latest post again. It was a picture of a newborn spirit kitten. The caption read:

[Thanks to someone’s care, a new little life has entered this world~]

But in the silver mirror behind the photo, I saw a familiar figure.

Trevian.

The gentle gaze that once belonged only to me was now resting on Frista.

On her side, a new life had begun.

But my brother…

He would never have another chance beneath the Moon Goddess again.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed the framed portrait resting beside my bed. In it, my brother looked lively and full of youth. I was smiling brightly beside him.

And the young Trevian, staring at me with quiet affection, carried tenderness in his eyes.

At the time that portrait was painted, Trevian had not yet been recognized by the Silverthorne Alpha Clan.

Back then, he was only a stray wolf from the lower districts, surviving through fights and bloodshed.

Seven winters ago, I found him in a dark alley within the outer territory, his forehead covered in blood after a brutal fight.

I had not planned to interfere, but even in the darkness, his eyes still shone like silver flames. On impulse, I brought the wounded young wolf back to my tiny stone cottage.

Everything after that felt as if time had rushed forward. Trevian rose from a rogue wolf to the feared and respected Alpha of the Silverthorne Kingdom. And I moved from the crumbling lower territory into a grand alpha estate.

My younger brother no longer had to struggle through polluted market streets while dragging along his weak and sick body.

Back then, I used to circle around the alpha chamber again and again, asking him repeatedly, “From now on, this will always be our home, right?”

Trevian never became impatient. He would simply pull me into his arms and murmur, “Mm. Our home.”

But now, my brother was gone. And that home…

It had already disappeared long ago.

I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my brother’s still warm hand as I cried until my chest felt torn apart.

I could not even remember how many ritual documents I signed that night.

All I knew was that my once lively younger brother, reduced to skin and bones by illness, had finally become nothing more than a small urn of ashes.

Taking a shaky breath, I opened my chat with Trevian again. The last messages between us were from half a month ago.

That day, I had asked him when he would return to the territory.

He sent me a voice message that lasted nearly a minute, only to explain at the end that urgent matters within the alpha council were keeping him away.

That day had been our first mating anniversary.

And he had forgotten.

But in Frista’s Moonbook story, he appeared smiling beside her, accompanying her to the southern sea territories to watch the moonlit ocean together.

(Marisel’s POV)

This kind of unfair treatment had already become normal ever since Frista returned to my life.

Trevian bought her expensive enchanted bags and rare moonstone watches, yet he forgot my birthday completely.

Because she had been insulted during a banquet, he broke his own rules for the first time and canceled an alliance that had taken months to build.

He even declared hostility against a powerful foreign pack just to protect her pride.

Meanwhile, I wandered through my brother’s funeral like an empty shell.

After scattering his ashes into the Moon Tide Sea, just as he wished, I finally received Trevian’s so-called reply.

Seven whole days had passed since the last time he hung up on me.

“Marisel, do not worry. A healer from the western kingdoms is already on the way. As for the healing resources that were redirected, I still urgently need them right now. Wait a little longer.”

Hearing his serious yet hollow tone, I laughed while tears ran down my face.

“You used an enormous amount of sacred herbs and moon healers just to save a useless animal. That’s what you call urgent?”

The bond stone fell silent except for the sound of his heavy breathing.

“Marisel, do not speak like that. Marcellus is my brother too. How could I not care about him?”

Yes.

Back then, when we were poor and struggling in the lower territories, Trevian used to secretly fight in underground wolf arenas just to buy one bottle of medicine for my brother.

But when Marcellus truly needed him the most, all he could tell me was to wait a little longer.

Just after he spoke, a bright female voice sounded from the other side.

“Trevian, the kittens finally opened their eyes! Come quickly!”

Footsteps echoed through the call. He was probably walking somewhere quieter. But I had already heard enough.Both the things I should have heard and the things I never wanted to hear.

“You don’t need to explain anymore.”

I cut him off before another one of his fake excuses could leave his mouth and ended the call.

Back in my chamber, I took out the locked separation agreement.

When we completed our mating ceremony, Trevian had signed it himself before placing it into my hands.

“You will always have the right to leave me.”

At that time, I laughed at his fear, believing that document would never be used. But now, that same agreement became the courage I needed to walk away.

I signed my name calmly.

Through special pack channels, the severing certificate would be completed within twenty days.

After sending the documents away, I finally returned to the old rental cottage where I once lived. Many of my brother’s belongings were still there. The dead should at least leave something behind for the living to remember.

What I did not expect was to see Trevian’s exclusive black moon carriage parked outside. I froze and almost stepped forward, until I noticed the carriage moving strangely. Disgust twisted violently inside my stomach.

When the carriage door finally opened, I quickly hid inside the alley like a guilty pup.

Inside, I saw Frista.

Her robes were messy, and she complained softly about wanting to get out.

Trevian’s cold voice ordered her to wait. Only after fastening the buttons across her exposed chest did he finally allow her to step down.

To keep her shoes from touching the dirty rainwater, he even removed his cloak and spread it across the ground for her.

Holding tightly onto his arm, Frista pouted. “Why did you bring me to a place like this?”

He rubbed her hair gently, full of indulgence. “Didn’t you say you wanted your own business within the territory? This old district will soon be rebuilt by the Silverthorne Pack. Once reconstruction begins, the profit will be enormous.”

Excited, Frista stood on her toes and kissed his lips.

But this so-called old district was more than broken buildings to me. It held seven winters of memories. It held my entire life with him.

And yet, to make Frista happy, Trevian never even mentioned the reconstruction plans to me. If I had not returned today, I might not even have been able to keep my brother’s belongings.

A sharp pain spread through my chest, as if the cold wind had ripped my heart wide open.

I turned around, desperate to escape. But beneath my foot, a plastic bottle cracked loudly.

The sharp sound echoed through the narrow alley and interrupted their embrace.

(Marisel’s POV)

Trevian’s cold eyes immediately turned toward the sound.

The moment he saw me, his hand quickly left Frista’s waist. Almost like a guilty man, he rubbed between his brows before walking toward me.

“Why did you suddenly return here? This district is dangerous and filled with rogue wolves. Why did you come alone without guards?”

The concern in his voice sounded the same as before.

But after seeing him hold Frista so closely, every bit of care from him only made me sick. The hand that once always reached for me now stopped awkwardly in the air.

“I simply wanted to come back. What about you?”

My calm question instantly stopped the lecture he had been about to give me.

He parted his lips, but before he could speak, Frista interrupted sweetly.

“I only recently returned to the kingdom. I asked Alpha Trevian to accompany me around the territory. You are not jealous over something this small, are you?”

Seven winters had passed.

I had become the Luna of the mighty Silverthorne Pack. Yet the way Frista looked at me remained exactly the same. Full of contempt and arrogance.

Because of her powerful family, she always believed she had the right to take what belonged to others.

“Marisel, why are you silent?”

Pouting, she tugged lightly on Trevian’s sleeve.

“Please explain it to her for me. I was young and foolish before, and I already apologized. Tell Marisel not to stay angry with me anymore…”

Her fake and delicate voice made my hands shake violently.

Finally, I could not hold back anymore.

“Are you done speaking?”

Seeing that she finally got a reaction from me, Frista instantly burst into tears and buried herself against Trevian’s chest.

“I already admitted I was immature back then. Besides, many things were done by my friends, not me alone. Why do you still hate me so much?”

Pain filled Trevian’s eyes as he gently wiped away her tears.

“Marisel, enough. Don’t go too far.”

The anger burning inside me was instantly crushed by his sharp words.

Even though I had already decided to leave him, why did my heart still hurt this much?

Why… when he knew better than anyone how deeply I hated her, would he still ask me to forgive her and pretend the past never happened?

Back during our final winter at the Royal Moon Academy, Frista targeted me simply because the boy she liked spoke a few extra words to me.

Every morning, disgusting things covered my desk.

Dead rats. Bloody pads. Even used condoms. The assignments I handed in would mysteriously disappear.

Rumors spread throughout the academy that I sold my body outside the school grounds. Male students from other classes approached me shamelessly, asking how much one night with me cost.

After classes ended, Frista’s followers would drag me into the girls’ washroom by my hair. They took humiliating crystal photos of me. They burned off my eyebrows with fire magic. They pressed lit cigarettes against my skin as though I were an ashtray.

The smell of burning flesh mixed together with their cruel laughter. Scars were left across my back forever.

When Trevian first saw those scars, the man who never cried even after having both legs broken trembled while kissing every wound.

His hot tears fell against my back and burned straight into my heart. He whispered softly, “Marisel… give me a little more time. I will make every person who hurt you pay the price.”

And he truly fulfilled that promise.

The powerful and feared Trevian took revenge for me against everyone involved.

Everyone, except one person.

The only one who escaped punishment was Frista, who conveniently left the kingdom to study overseas.

And at the final step, Trevian lost himself because he fell in love with the very woman who once destroyed me.

My silence lasted too long, and he mistook it for dissatisfaction.

His eyes stayed on me for several seconds. The harsh words he wanted to say softened in the end into only one sentence.

“Get into the carriage.”

Frista wiped away her fake tears and smiled sweetly. “I knew Marisel was kind. She will definitely forgive me.”

She reached her hand toward me. Her nails were painted the same blood red color I remembered too clearly.

Instinctively, I stepped backward.

But like the poisonous snake she had always been, her fingers suddenly dug hard into the flesh at my waist.

I gasped and immediately shoved her away.

Taking the opportunity, Frista deliberately stumbled backward.

And in Trevian’s eyes, the scene became something completely different.

Not her cruelty, but my petty revenge.