On the day of the Luna Ceremony, Kaelen, for the first time in a long while, came to pick me up himself.

"Estelle, my Luna, you look beautiful today."

He stood at my bedroom door, holding a bouquet of my favorite white roses. He was wearing a custom-tailored black tuxedo, looking as handsome as a god. He was playing the part of the devoted mate, but I knew he hadn't come home last night.

"It will be just the two of us today," he said. "I won't be bringing Cassandra."

I looked at him and said nothing.

"Estelle, I know I've wronged you lately." He reached out to touch my face. "At today's ceremony, I will show the entire werewolf world your honor."

According to wolf tradition, this was the ceremony that would formally make me the Luna of the Black Moon Pack.

The irony was, this would likely be my last day in that role.

His fingers brushed my cheek, and for a fleeting moment, I could almost believe he truly loved me.

"Yes, everything will be alright," I replied with a smile.

Just not the kind of "alright" he was imagining.

The nobility from every corner of the werewolf world had gathered for the Black Moon Pack's grand event. I was dressed in a pure white Luna gown, wearing the Moon Goddess's tiara and holding the silver scepter that symbolized my authority.

"This makes up for it, doesn't it?" he whispered in my ear.

I looked at him, remembering the past. He used to cajole me like this whenever he made a mistake, and I would always soften and forgive him.

But this was different.

He had used my parents as bargaining chips, trampled my dignity underfoot, and auctioned off my most private moments. Even if he offered me the entire world, it wouldn't be enough to make amends. He simply didn't understand that some things could never be fixed.

Halfway through the ceremony, I heard a commotion at the entrance. I turned to see Cassandra standing at the main doors.

All the guests began to whisper.

"Isn't that the Alpha's mistress?"

"How dare she come to the Luna Ceremony?"

Kaelen's face changed instantly. "I told you to stay home."

Her eyes welled with tears. "I… I wanted to be here for the ceremony, to offer Estelle my blessings…"

"I don't want to see you," I said coldly.

But Kaelen had already signaled for an attendant to find Cassandra a seat.

"She came to offer her blessings," he murmured to me. "Just be the bigger person."

Magnanimous. About him bringing his Omega mistress to my sacred Luna Ceremony.

I stood on the altar and heard the officiant's voice ring out. "And now, for the ceremonial Moon Dance, a symbol of their union. Will the Alpha and Luna please take the center of the floor."

Kaelen returned to my side and held out his hand. "Estelle, come."

I took his arm, and we walked to the dance floor. The music began, a traditional hymn to the Moon Goddess. But Kaelen's gaze kept drifting to Cassandra.

She stood in a corner, tears streaming down her face, and then she suddenly clutched her chest, her body swaying as if she were about to faint.

Kaelen stopped dancing instantly.

He hesitated for a second, then turned and walked toward Cassandra.

An Alpha, abandoning his Luna mid-dance at her own ceremony to tend to his mistress. The humiliation was a physical blow, and I felt a blade of ice twist in our mate bond.

Cassandra sank into Kaelen's arms, whispering something weakly. He stroked her hair gently, his eyes filled with concern. This tender scene played out for everyone to see.

"Estelle," one of the Elders approached me, "should we pause the ceremony?"

"No," I lifted my chin. "Continue."

I would not show a single moment of weakness in front of these people.

Half an hour later, Kaelen finally returned.

"Sorry, her blood sugar was low," he said, rejoining me as if nothing had happened.

"It's fine," I said, still smiling. It was the last shred of my dignity as a Luna.

The ceremony continued, but the atmosphere was ruined. Everyone was gossiping about what had just transpired. I had once again become the laughingstock of the werewolf world.

As the ceremony neared its end, tradition required me to walk alone to the altar of the Moon Goddess to receive the final blessing. As I made my way toward it, Cassandra suddenly blocked my path.

"Estelle, I want to say something to you," she said, her voice soft, but her eyes glittering with triumph.

"What is it?"

"Thank you for being so tolerant today," she said, grabbing my hand. "I know you must be angry, but Kaelen was really worried about me."

She raised her voice just enough for those nearby to hear.

"He was holding me in the lounge earlier, telling me how sorry he was. He said he shouldn't have let me see you two being so close, because he was afraid it would break my heart."

She squeezed my hand tightly as she spoke.

"You're so lucky, Estelle, to have an Alpha like that to protect you. Not like me, having to suffer in the shadows…"

The next second, she stumbled backward, deliberately crashing into the display stand holding the sacred Moon Goddess's Chalice. It was a holy relic, passed down for a thousand years, priceless, and a symbol of the Luna's authority.

"Ah!" she screamed as she fell, and the chalice shattered on the ground.

Golden shards flew everywhere, and a few of them cut her cheek.

When Kaelen rushed over, he saw Cassandra collapsed among the pieces of the broken chalice, with me standing over her.

"Estelle!" he roared. "You pushed her and shattered the Goddess's Chalice?!"

"I didn't push her."

His Alpha command slammed into me, forcing me to my knees on the sharp fragments. "You shattered a thousand-year-old sacred relic!"

Cassandra clutched his clothes weakly. "No… don't blame Estelle… It was my fault, I was clumsy…"

"Don't make excuses for her!" Kaelen's eyes were blazing. "This is blasphemy against the Moon Goddess!"

He turned to me, his voice like ice. "Since you shattered the chalice, you will atone for it. With your blood."

He pressed down on my shoulders, forcing me to kneel on the sharp, golden fragments. The shards pierced my knees, and my blood stained my white gown.

"You will kneel here until dawn and repent to the Goddess."

My knees buckled, and I fell heavily onto the golden fragments. Their sharp edges instantly tore through my gown and my skin, a pain like lightning shooting through my entire body.

I could feel the shards embedding themselves in my flesh, every slight movement like a thousand needles scraping against bone.

Warm blood quickly soaked through the pure white skirt, blooming like desperate red flowers on the cold marble floor.

Kaelen had already lifted Cassandra gently into his arms. "I'll take you to get those cuts treated." With that, he carried her from the hall without a backward glance, leaving me to kneel on the stage, enduring immense humiliation in front of all the guests.

A sharp pain shot through the mate bond, as if my heart were being torn in two.

I closed my eyes, feeling the searing agony in my knees and the deep despair in my soul.

Kaelen, I hate you. I hate that I ever loved you.

I couldn't hold myself up any longer and collapsed onto the cold marble floor before the altar.

When I opened my eyes again, the acrid smell of antiseptic filled my nostrils. I was in the pack's medical wing.

"Miss Estelle, please wait a moment!" the pack's chief healer called out as I struggled to my feet, the wounds on my knees still throbbing.

"What is it?"

"The Alpha needs you for another patient. I believe it's… Cassandra," he stammered.

"What do you mean?" I had barely finished my sentence when Kaelen walked in.

"Estelle," Kaelen said, his voice devoid of warmth. "Give me your raw Soulstone."

My heart sank.

"Cassandra needs a precious artifact or talisman to stabilize her spirit," Kaelen said, not even looking at me. "Your Soulstone should have that effect."

"Why should I—?"

"Because you're the one who caused her injury," he cut me off. "This is your responsibility."

He was only concerned with using my Soulstone to heal Cassandra, without a single thought for my weakness, for my still-bleeding legs.

I looked at Kaelen, the man who had once sworn to protect me. Now he was demanding I pay the price for his mistress's little act. It was always the same. No matter the truth, he would always decide it was my fault.

"I… I can give you money, jewels, anything of value," I said. "But the raw Soulstone…"

"What good is money?" Kaelen interrupted. "Cassandra is lying in a hospital bed right now! Do you think money can fix that?"

"Estelle," Kaelen's voice turned to ice, "hand over the raw Soulstone immediately, or you know the consequences."

"Are you threatening me again?" my voice trembled. "Like you threatened my parents?"

His pupils constricted, as if my words had struck a nerve. But a second later, his cold command came. "Take her Soulstone."

Two guards immediately seized my shoulders.

"No!" I struggled desperately. "I poured my soul into that stone!"

It was a perfect Soulstone I had spent three years polishing, infusing it with all of my spiritual energy. If it were taken from me by force, my spirit would be severely damaged.

But Kaelen was unmoved.

He personally ripped the Soulstone from my necklace and handed it to the healer. "Use this."

"Don't!" I felt the spiritual link sever, and a tidal wave of pain washed over me. My wolf howled, my soul tore apart. My vision went black, and my body swayed.

"Estelle!" Someone was calling my name, the voice growing distant.

Then, I lost consciousness.

When I awoke again, night had fallen. The hospital room was empty. I pushed myself up from the bed, my body weak. My head throbbed, a dull ache as if it had been struck by a blunt object. It was the aftereffect of having my spiritual link forcibly severed.

"You were unconscious for three hours," a nurse said. "The spiritual trauma is severe. I recommend you get more rest."

"I'm fine," I said, pushing myself up. "I'm going home."

The nurse tried to protest, but I was already walking out. Every step felt like walking on knives, but I had to leave this place.

As I passed another hospital room, I heard Kaelen's voice from inside.

"I promise you, Cassandra."

"Your family's status will be elevated," his voice was gentle, nothing like the cold tone he'd used with me. "I'll give your father a position as an Elder."

"Really?" Cassandra's voice was a sweet purr. "Then we won't have to put up with the sneers from those Betas anymore?"

"Of course not. How could I let my love suffer any indignity?"

He had told me she was just a "diversion," but to her face, he called her his "love."

Kaelen, do you really think I'm a fool?

"Kaelen, I love you," Cassandra said. "Unlike some people, who are supposed to be your mate but do nothing but defy you at every turn."

"Let's not talk about her," Kaelen sighed. "You're the most important person to me now."

"Even the Moon Goddess's plans aren't always right."

He was questioning the Goddess's will. Questioning our sacred mate bond.

"You're right," Cassandra cooed. "Someone obedient and gentle like me is the one who deserves to be your Luna."

"Once I've handled a few things, we can make our relationship official."

He had once said the same words to me.

Kaelen, your vows are meaningless.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood, then turned and walked away.

Back at the estate, I checked the time.

Three days until the Elders' final ruling.

In three days, I would be completely free.

I began to pack the things I would take with me. After all these years of our relationship, I was only taking a few changes of clothes and some of my jewelry design tools. I wanted nothing that had anything to do with Kaelen.

The door was suddenly thrown open.

Kaelen stood in the doorway, and behind him, a fragile-looking Cassandra. He was clearly here to interrogate me, and he didn't even have the decency to do it away from his mistress.

"What are you doing?" Kaelen frowned at the suitcases on the floor.

"Packing," I said without looking up.

"Packing for what? Where do you think you're going?"

"That's none of your business."

Kaelen strode over and seized my wrist. "Are you still throwing a tantrum?" His voice was thick with impatience.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, Cassandra let out a pained moan and collapsed.

"Cassandra!" Kaelen immediately let go of me and turned to catch her in his arms.

"Kaelen…" Cassandra leaned weakly against him, her face pale, tears welling in her eyes. "I… I feel so sick…"

"What's wrong? Aren't you wearing the Soulstone?" Kaelen asked anxiously.

"No… it's not…" Cassandra shakily removed the raw Soulstone from her neck and held it up to him. "Kaelen… this stone… it's a fake…"

My mind went blank.

"What did you say?" Kaelen's gaze shot toward me like a dagger.

"I can feel it… There's not a trace of soothing energy inside, only a cold… deadness," Cassandra sobbed. "How… how could she do this to me? She'd rather give me a fake stone than save me…"

"You're lying!" I retorted sharply. "That was my original stone, infused with all of my spiritual energy!"

But Kaelen wasn't listening.

He stared at me, his eyes filled with absolute disappointment and rage.

"Estelle, you dare to deceive me with a fake?" he roared. "You have a truly venomous heart!"

"I didn't!" I was shaking with anger. "That was my life's work! How can you not believe me!"

"Believe you?" He sneered, pointing to the moaning Cassandra in his arms. "Her body doesn't lie! You were willing to risk her life just to get back at me!"

I looked at him and felt a wave of both ridicule and sorrow. He would rather believe the clumsy acting of an Omega than the mate his soul was bound to.

"Kaelen, I think… I think she needs to be purified…" Cassandra whispered in his arms. "Send her somewhere that blocks all spiritual energy… maybe if her resentment subsides, I'll feel better…"

"Look at yourself!" The disgust in his eyes was thick and suffocating. "Go to the confinement cells for three days! Reflect on your poisonous jealousy!"

"I am your mate! The future Luna!" My voice trembled.

"It is precisely because you are the future Luna that you should be magnanimous!" he cut me off coldly. "Not like this, constantly creating problems for me! You've disappointed me so much!"

The confinement cells were used to punish low-ranking wolves who had broken pack law, their walls embedded with silver bars that suppressed a wolf's power.

He gave me no more chance to argue, simply shouting to the guards outside the door. "Guards!"

Two tall Beta guards entered immediately.

"Take Miss Estelle to the confinement cells," Kaelen ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion. "No one is to visit her without my permission."

The guards looked hesitant but did not dare to disobey. They flanked me and took my arms.

I didn't struggle. My heart was already dead. What was the point?

As the guards led me from the room, Kaelen was already turning away, carrying Cassandra to soothe his "frightened" love.

As she passed me, she looked over his shoulder. Her mask of fragility fell away, replaced by a cold, triumphant smirk.

In a voice only the guards and I could hear, she said, "Take good 'care' of our Luna. Let her experience what daily life is like for us Omegas."

One of the Omegas kicked over the bowl of water in front of me, the murky liquid splashing all over me.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

"You still think you're the Luna?" another Omega sneered, her arms crossed as she looked down on me. "Cassandra said you're nothing but a bitter, clingy shrew who won't let go of a title you don't deserve."