“She’s only a substitute,” he replied. “I married her just to shut those people up.”

In that instant, everything I had held onto—every patience, every endurance—crumbled.

I finally understood: sincerity could not buy love, and endurance could not buy respect.

That night I put three things into a box, sealed it, and locked it in the safe.

When everything was ready, I picked up the communication stone and dialed the number of the man I hadn’t contacted in three years.

“Help me take someone away.”

Diana went pale. She screamed in terror, clawing and crying, “What are you doing? Let me go! If Alpha Cole finds out about this, you’ll regret it!”

I was dressed in black, my face like frost, my eyes as sharp as blades of ice. I looked down at her convulsing on the floor. My voice was cold to the point of being nearly emotionless, but it carried an unyielding finality: “Break her from head to toe. Make her pay for this.”

The wolf-guards obeyed. Wooden clubs fell; her wails of agony and the sickening crack of bone echoed through the silent barn. Time stretched thin; pain and blood settled into the air like a stain.

Suddenly the door to the stables was kicked open. A tall figure filled the doorway, silhouette sharp in the backlight. Alpha Cole burst in, face iron-gray, barking, “Stop! What are you doing?”

The wolf-guards immediately stopped. He strode to the center, and his gaze landed first on Diana curled on the ground, barely conscious, wracked with pain—anger and pity fighting visibly in his chest. He grabbed my wrist so hard I thought my bones would snap.

“Eliza!” he shouted, his voice low, fury mingled with pleading. “I know NianNian’s death was a blow to you, but she didn’t do this on purpose! She’s been frugal since she was a child—seeing such a large sum she panicked and made a mistake. She didn’t mean harm! You should show her mercy!”

I laughed bitterly, as if mocked to the core. I looked at the man who had once vowed to protect me and, with tears and a hard smile, said, “You want me to show mercy? Alpha Cole, you actually tell me to ‘show mercy’?”

I wrenched my arm free and pointed at Diana on the floor; my voice ripped the air. “Since she came, our table has been full of leftover food; I have to calculate every bottle of cream I buy; she killed my brother! You want me to be merciful? Today there are only two paths—either she dies, or I do.”

Cole’s expression flickered with complexity; he opened his mouth to speak, but a weak, urgent moan came from the floor: “Alpha Cole… it hurts…”

That single calling arrowed straight into his chest, and in an instant his attention snapped back to Diana. His anger cooled into a stern, impatient calm. “Can’t you vent in some other way? Take her—lock her in the underground ice cell for a while. Let her cool down.”

I was furious. “Alpha Cole! How can you do this to me? I am your wife! You once said you would protect me for life!”

His face went as cold as stone; his voice was ice. “If you dare not believe me, then I’ll show you who holds power in this pack. Diana has my backing now—if you touch her, you’ll bear the consequences.”

The wolf-guards moved forward to seize me.

At that moment, Diana, weak and clenching her teeth, put on a feigned look of concern and said, “Alpha Cole, the ice cell is cold and wastes fire. Maybe don’t use it this time?”

He looked at her pale face and immediately softened, his tone indulgent. “Alright. Do as you say—how should we deal with her?”

She smiled faintly, and spat out the cruelest words: “Today I found an old sled in the junk pile that still runs. Tie her to the back and drag her around in front of everyone. Let her feel what it’s like for bones to break like mine.”

I completely broke, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Alpha Cole! You are unforgivable! I am Eliza—the girl you’ve known since childhood! How can you do this?”

He only gave a cold order: “Do as she says.”

I was dragged out of the barn roughly, my wrists bound, tied to the rusted hook at the back of an old sled.

The engine roared to life. In the darkness, the sled began to move.

The rough stone ground tore at my clothes and skin; dust and blood mixed together, leaving streaks of red across the path my body traced.

I screamed his name again and again, my voice swallowed by the night wind.

“Alpha Cole! Look at me! Do you even remember who I am?”

But he—he was already holding Diana in his arms, tending to her wounds, wiping the blood from her skin.

Every ounce of tenderness he once gave me now belonged to her.

Eliza was dragged behind, her cries unanswered, unseen.

Pain and humiliation intertwined like a thousand needles piercing my nerves. My mind shattered, collapsing into endless darkness.

When I opened my eyes again, the harsh light inside the healer’s tent stabbed into my vision.

Alpha Cole stood by my bedside, his expression cold, restrained.

The first words from his lips were not concern, but a weary sigh.

“Eliza, I didn’t want to drag you like that. But could you please stop causing trouble for NianNian?”

My fingers trembled beneath the furs.

That chase—the one that nearly killed me—he had ordered it himself?

All because… he feared I might go after that woman?

I stared at him—the man who once swore to love me above all others—and now, he was a stranger.

My voice trembled so violently I could barely speak. “What is your relationship with her, exactly?”

Alpha Cole pinched the bridge of his nose, as though struggling for composure. Finally, he spoke the words that shattered what remained of my heart.

“I wasn’t going to tell you. But since you already know… I fell for her at first sight. I like her. I really like her. I like her very much.”

That word—“like”—he said it three times.

Each time like a silver blade, cutting into the flesh of my chest.

Even when he once swore his vows beneath the moonlight, he had never sounded so fervent.

I could hardly breathe; tears blurred my vision. “And what about me? What do the twenty years between us mean to you?”

He fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a calm voice colder than the northern winds.

“Eliza, you’re too strong. Too distant. You’re like the Moon Goddess herself—beautiful, unreachable. I thought I loved you, but it was only a desire to conquer. When I met NianNian, I finally understood what true affection feels like.”

He paused, as if reciting a decree before the council.

“This is my fault. If you promise not to hurt her, you may remain my mate in name. You will still have your rank, your honor, everything you deserve.”

Then he turned and left the healer’s tent without a backward glance.

In that moment, I felt as though my entire life had been sentenced to death—with nothing more than a casual decree.

I once thought it might all be a dream.

But dreams never hurt this much.

Soon after, Alpha Cole’s affection for NianNian became the hottest gossip in the pack council.

Moonstone jewelry, a crimson war chariot, a cliffside villa—he lavished her with treasures beyond even what he once bestowed upon me.

To make her feel “worthy of him,” he brought her openly into the pack territory, handing her the keys to both the treasury and the land.

From that day on, our home was rewritten.

Warmth turned into frugality and suspicion; laughter gave way to silence and cold restraint.

Until tragedy struck—my beloved younger brother paid the ultimate price for this foolish triangle.

In that moment, I finally understood—

the collapse of love does not begin with arguments.

It begins the moment an Alpha allows his heart to belong to someone else.

I tried to lift myself up, but just as I moved, the wooden door suddenly burst open. A golden-furred warhound shot into the room, its tail wagging wildly.

It was Alpha Cole’s battle companion.

Usually, it was gentle as a ball of fluff—but that day, it lunged straight at me, slamming into my abdomen.

I had no time to brace myself. My weakened body, still recovering from wounds, couldn’t resist the blow. A searing pain ripped through my belly like a claw tearing me open. My vision blurred; even the air seemed to splinter beneath the weight of agony.

Blood soaked rapidly through my clothes, a spreading warmth of despair beneath me.

For a moment, I froze—then realization struck.

Two months ago, Alpha Cole’s mother had hinted that I should give the pack an heir. That night, he had been uncharacteristically gentle, and he hadn’t used any contraceptive potion.

I had foolishly believed it was a sign—a fragile hope flickering within the ruins of our bond.

Now, that pain had shredded both the illusion and the tiny life that never had a chance to be welcomed into this world.

I collapsed to my knees, my fingers clawing at the cold stone floor.

My teeth clenched, the taste of blood thick in my mouth, and I screamed hoarsely, “Help… someone, get a carriage!”

Guards rushed in, panicked, lifting me into their arms. My head hung limp as the metallic scent of blood filled the air.

The carriage sped through the streets, wheels thundering against the frozen ground.

“To the healer’s camp! Hurry!”

The pounding hooves echoed like thunder—until the carriage jerked to a halt.

“Madam,” the driver’s voice trembled, “the road ahead is sealed… by Lord Alpha Cole’s command. It’s Miss Diana’s birthday ceremony tonight. He’s closed the roads for her fireworks display.”

Fireworks were bursting above us, coloring the night sky in cruel brilliance.

Each explosion reflected in my tear-blurred eyes—beautiful, merciless, like a celebration of my ruin.

My blood seeped into the carriage seat.

Our love was buried beneath those lights.

I closed my eyes, trembling as I tore off the bond ring from my finger. The silver band—the symbol of our vows—spun through the air, tracing an arc of light before vanishing into the dark.

“Enough…” I whispered.

I wanted none of it anymore—no marriage, no love.

When I awoke again, the sharp scent of herbs filled the world.

The healer bowed her head, her voice heavy. “Madam, you haven’t eaten for days. Your body is too weak… it couldn’t withstand the strain of pregnancy. The child… couldn’t be saved.”

I stared blankly at the top of the fur-draped tent, then slowly reached toward my abdomen.

It was empty.

That should have been our child—the last fragile thread holding this shattered union together.

Tears slipped down silently, each drop sharper than any scream.

Perhaps the baby had already sensed the fracture in our bond, and chose to leave early—

to escape this pack that had long since lost its warmth.

The healer sighed softly. “You must rest. Where is your mate? He should be here with you.”

I swallowed the storm rising in my throat, forcing my voice into flat, colorless calm.

“I have no mate.”

Silence fell, heavy and suffocating. Then I asked quietly, “What’s the shortest time I can stay here?”

“Three days,” she answered.

“Three days will be enough.” I nodded. That was the deadline I gave myself.

And just then, the flap of the tent lifted open.