After packing my belongings, I took one last stroll through Red Stone pack.

The streets buzzed with excitement over the Alpha's upcoming mating ceremony. The entire pack was immersed in a festive celebration. I walked aimlessly like an outsider, until I unconsciously found myself at the central square.

My steps stopped abruptly.

Before my eyes, the center of the square bloomed with massive spreads of fiery red petals. Under the carefully arranged string lights, they blazed magnificently in the night like burning flames, so brilliant they hurt to look at.

Cosmos flowers.

The exact vision I had described to him countless times - my dream of what our bonding ceremony should look like.

My chest felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer. Dull pain instantly swept through my entire body. I could barely stay standing.

In this barren, desolate land of Red Stone pack, keeping even an ordinary flower alive was nearly impossible, let alone these delicate cosmos that required careful nurturing and specific soil conditions. It had once been my impossible dream.

"Aria, don't worry," Damon's voice from memory echoed with the passion and determination unique to youth, as if sounding right in my ear.

"No matter what it costs, I'll make it happen! I'll make sure the entire Red Stone pack sees our ceremony covered in the most vibrant cosmos flowers! My love for you will be like them - eternal, never extinguished!"

He had actually done it. Just not for me.

I shook my head, cutting off the memories, and looked up to see Damon and Serena walking in this direction.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

I trembled, my eyes rimming red.

"Beautiful." Serena immediately clutched Damon's hand like a cheerful little bird, practically melting against his side.

Her face showed undisguised triumph and happiness. "Damon! It's absolutely gorgeous! I never imagined you would really... go to such lengths for me! This must have been so difficult, right?"

She gazed up at him adoringly, completely satisfied, as if she were the most beloved princess in the world.

This should have been my flower sea. This should have been the promise fulfilled for me.

If what he said was true - that the bonding was just to break the curse, an unavoidable "responsibility" and "sacrifice" - then what did this expensive, lovingly crafted cosmos garden represent? These meticulously planned ceremony details? These romantic gestures that went far beyond mere "life-saving" into pure courtship?

Damon approached with a deeply furrowed brow, his voice urgent with worry.

"Aria, it really is you."

"It's so late. Why are you out here alone? You didn't even bring a Gamma guard. What if you encountered danger?"

Seeing his anxious expression, my eyes held no warmth whatsoever.

"Alpha, how I am seems to have nothing to do with you."

"You're about to become mates with my sister. Isn't it inappropriate for you to still show such concern for me?"

Damon's face went rigid.

He looked at me with darkened eyes, seemingly wounded by my words.

Serena intimately linked her arm through his, hiding smugness in her eyes as she laughed sweetly.

"Sister, Damon and I are about to hold our mating ceremony and become true mates. He loves me so much, and love extends to caring about those connected to me. Isn't his concern for you only natural?"

"Don't you think these cosmos flowers are beautiful? I remember you love them too. Damon spent a fortune having them air-shipped from Asia specifically for our mating ceremony. What do you think?"

My expression remained flat as I smiled lightly.

"Beautiful."

"The Alpha put a lot of thought into this for you."

Damon looked down with shifty eyes, perhaps remembering I had lost my memory, then raised his head to look at me.

"This is all what I should do. If you like them too, I'll have someone send you some."

I looked at him calmly.

"No need. There's no relationship between us. What would it mean for you to send me flowers? If other wolves found out, they'd say inappropriate things."

In the night, Damon's face went paper-white. He stared at me blankly, unable to utter another word.

I turned around.

"I won't disturb you two any longer. I'm leaving."

Before I finished speaking, a violent explosion suddenly thundered through the square.

At the edge of the square, a massive firework tube failed to launch properly and exploded violently on the ground!

One of the most vicious flames shot directly toward where the three of us stood!

Fire!

For werewolves, that bone-deep instinctual terror instantly seized my heart. The scorching, destructive presence was more terrifying than any physical impact.

Serena let out a scream so shrill with terror it cracked, instinctively trying to shrink behind Damon.

But in that instant when the flames burst and heat waves rushed toward us - before I could even react, my body was yanked by a powerful force into a solid embrace!

Damon pulled me protectively against his broad chest and arms almost by reflex! His deep, urgent voice commanded with undeniable authority above my head:

"Aria! Don't move! There's fire!"

My entire body went rigid, my mind blank. His familiar yet strange scent filled my nose, my cheek pressed against his violently heaving chest, feeling the wild beating of his heart.

But the next second, Serena's pain-filled, terrified scream tore through the air:

"Alpha! Save me! The fire... the fire got me! It hurts so much!"

I clearly felt Damon's body protecting me suddenly stiffen!

Then he pushed me away without hesitation! I couldn't steady myself, stumbling backward and crashing hard into a cold stone barrier!

"Ah..." My palms scraped roughly against the stone surface, burning pain shooting through them.

I barely noticed the pain, forcing myself to stand and look up—

Damon's figure had already shot forward like an arrow toward Serena, who was crouched on the ground covering her arm and crying pitifully.

He swept her up in his arms with unprecedented urgency and gentleness. In the firelight, his handsome face showed complete panic and undisguised heartache, his eyes even reddening with worry.

"Serena! Don't be afraid! Where are you hurt? Let me see!" His voice trembled with heavy panic.

"The fire... so scary... Damon, it hurts so much..." Serena buried her face in his neck, crying even more pathetically.

"Don't be afraid! I'll take you to the healer right away! You'll be fine! I'm here!" Damon kept reassuring her, turning to leave with her in his arms.

He even roared savagely at the stunned Gamma nearby: "Seal the scene! Find out who was responsible for the fireworks! I want them thrown into the fire to taste being burned alive!"

The brutality and cruelty in that voice was completely different from his gentle care toward Serena moments before.

He carried Serena past me, running toward safety away from the flames. He didn't even look back once, didn't ask if I was alright after being pushed and injured.

I stood silently in place, opening my palm. Under the moonlight, the scrape that had already healed to just a faint red mark looked like a silent mockery.

Watching those two embracing figures quickly disappear into the night and panicked crowd, I suddenly laughed softly. The sound echoed at the edge of the empty square with absurd desolation. Something hot slid uncontrollably from the corner of my eye, then turned ice-cold in the night wind.

In that moment, Damon's heart, his eyes, all his fear and tenderness, had still chosen Serena without hesitation, completely.

Since that was the case, I had nothing left to be attached to.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Alpha Council's arrangements came through. They said Dark Moon pack had agreed to accept me as a Healer advisor, but their Alpha had proposed a marriage alliance with me.

Harper, my best friend, cried until her eyes were red when she heard the news.

"It's fine. I don't know why Dark Moon pack's Alpha applied to the Alpha Council for marriage with me, but aside from you, I have nothing left here to miss."

"Aria, I can't bear to let you go, but I still wish you happiness there. Dark Moon pack is a midland pack with abundant resources. It's so much better than here. I'll come visit you someday."

"Don't worry, I won't let that heartless bastard Damon have an easy time. After you leave, I'll definitely send them a gift they'll never forget!"

I smiled slightly, but I wasn't sad anymore.

Today was the last day. Everything about Damon had already become very blurry.

I supposed I would forget it all very soon.

Today was also the day they held their mating ceremony. After today, I would leave.

I watched their ceremony from the outskirts. Damon was so gentle and attentive.

The love in his eyes was overflowing.

In the past, that look only appeared when he looked at me.

He said it was just to save Serena's life. He probably didn't even realize what he looked like now.

The entire pack was filled with joy over the Alpha's ceremony.

I also spoke softly.

"Then I wish us both - may we never meet again, each finding our own happiness."

After speaking, I turned and left.

Damon saw my departing figure and felt vaguely uneasy, but quickly suppressed it.

As if deceiving himself, he thought:

"Just wait a little longer. Once Serena breaks the curse and is completely out of mortal danger, I can be wholeheartedly with Aria."

Amid the congratulations and revelry of the pack, he didn't think about me, only instructed an Omega to find out where I had gone.

The Omega looked somewhat confused and answered:

"Alpha, she's going to Dark Moon pack to marry their Alpha."

"This is an arrangement from the Alpha Council. Didn't you know?"