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."

This time, Kaelen locked me away for three days.

The confinement cell was cold and damp, and the silver bars embedded in the walls left me weak and powerless. The spiritual trauma, combined with the abuse from the pack of Omegas Cassandra had incited, had pushed my body to its absolute limit.

They stole my food, tore my clothes, and humiliated me with the most vicious words.

I didn't fight back.

Because I knew this was all with Kaelen's silent approval.

The heavy iron door scraped open, and a sliver of light pierced the darkness. Kaelen stood at the entrance, his brow furrowed as he looked at my pathetic state.

"What is this?" His voice was cold, without a hint of concern.

I pushed myself up against the wall, the wounds on my body stinging. "It was them—"

"Enough," he interrupted, his eyes filled with annoyance. "Cassandra warned me you'd pull a stunt like this to get sympathy. Estelle, when will you learn to behave and stop making things so difficult for me?"

He wouldn't even listen to a single word of explanation. He only believed Cassandra.

"Get up. Come with me," he commanded.

I dragged my heavy body behind him, out of the cell. Returning to the magnificent, gilded estate, everything felt like a bitter joke. Kaelen sat on the main sofa, surveying me like a king.

"I've given it a lot of thought," he said, "and I've decided how this is going to work."

I watched him silently, my heart no longer capable of feeling anything.

"I will divide my time," he announced, as if granting me some great mercy. "I'll spend half with you, to fulfill my duty as your mate. The other half will be for Cassandra."

My heart sank into an icy abyss.

He was treating his companionship as a handout, his betrayal as "fairness."

"Now, I'm going to Cassandra's," he said, standing and adjusting his collar. "She's been frightened and needs me to comfort her. Before I get back, I want you to stay here and think about your place."

He turned and left without a shred of hesitation.

Did he think I was still the same Estelle who would cling to him?

No. The Estelle of the past was dead, killed by his own hand.

I listened to the sound of his car's engine until it faded completely into the distance. The entire mansion was suddenly quiet, the only sound my own heartbeat.

My phone vibrated.

It was a secure message from an encrypted number, just a single line of text.

[The Council of Elders has ruled: The Rejection is complete. The mate bond is officially severed. You are free.]

I stared at the words for a long, long time.

Then, I smiled.

I picked up the suitcase I had packed days ago in the corner of the room and walked out of the prison that had held me for years, without a single look back.

At the border of the Black Moon territory, my parents' car was already waiting. Before getting in, I took out my phone. A photo of Kaelen and me was still my lock screen.

I squeezed the phone in my hand until the screen shattered into a web of cracks—a fractured mirror for our fractured love.

"Let's go," I said to my father.

The car crossed the border, into the territory of the Silver Creek Pack.

I had vanished from Kaelen's world completely.