The bruise on her ankle is severely swollen. At first, it wasn't this bad, but forcing herself to walk earlier really worsened the condition and made the wound look even worse. Zane, who was sitting next to Daniella, immediately called her assistant, Bennedict. "Hurry, call Alpha Darren to come here. His little mate is hurt—we can't risk her taking it out on us." Daniella panicked and tried to stop Zane and Bennedict as well.

"No, please don't." However, before Daniella could finish her sentence, Bennedict had already dashed away. Sighing, she took out her phone and sent a message to the Alpha. Afraid that Alpha would feel burdened by her, or think that Daniella was spoiled and wanted attention to the point of asking someone to request Alpha Darren to come, leaving Alpha with no choice but to pick up Daniella reluctantly. Before that suspicion arises in Alpha Darren's mind, Daniella must clarify this matter first.

[Uncle Jerremy healing team realized that my ankle was severely sprained and sent a healer to inform you. I tried to stop them but couldn't. So you can ignore it. Haven't you already said that I can handle this on my own?]

After sending the message, Daniella waited for a reply, but none came. When Bennedict returned, his expression seemed awkward. He glanced at Daniella hesitantly before speaking. "Alpha Darren said he knew, but... there was a woman at the place he is right now. They seem to be laughing and chatting happily. I don't think he plans to come." Daniella lowered her head, not saying anything, as if trying to hide her emotions from the curious gazes of others.

"He... he must be busy..." Daniella murmured, even though she herself didn't know how she could say those words. Those words felt bitter even to say. So far, Daniella could only be grateful that she had a healer team at Jerremy's  Uncle residence and that Alpha Darren had given her the freedom to come here. This somewhat comforts her, even though the feeling of being neglected by her own mate is so embarrassing. At that moment, Daniella's phone vibrated. 

Avoice message from Alpha Darren came through on her phone. Daniella opened it quickly, but the calm tone on the other end did not show any concern, no worry at all. Just a simple and indifferent remark, as simple as the words "Okay. Later, I'll pick you up."

At that moment, it felt as if the entire healing team was looking at her with pity. "Daniella, can you come inside? There's something you need to check." Uncle Jerremy at the front desk immediately called Daniella so that the woman wouldn't feel awkward in her current situation. Relieved to have a reason to leave the room, Daniella immediately got up.

The last time she felt an opportunity to escape like this was during the introduction party for Daniella as Darren's prospective Luna. Alpha Darren is indeed always like that. Wherever Camilla is involved, Daniella will always find herself in the shadows, always being the unimportant one.

That day, the Alpha arrived late to his own Moon's introduction party. "Sorry, something came up. I was held up there," he said casually, ignoring the time he spent awkwardly answering questions and the stares from their guests. For Daniella, that day was monumental.

However, for Alpha, that day was just trivial dust; after all, Daniella was not the mate destined by the moon goddess. Daniella had only just been marked, and Daniella was chosen randomly because the woman healed him when he was wounded after the battle. As if he owed his life to a healer.

Then, she heard her packmates mention that Alpha Darren left early that day with a female wolf. Daniella didn't need to guess who the woman was; she knew it was Camilla. All the pack members were whispering to each other, but the Beta Female called Daniella because there was something important that actually wasn't there. There, Daniella felt there was an opportunity for her to escape, and she felt that someone was defending her.

Now, after the healers have left, Daniella limps out of Jerremy's house. The rest of the day was filled only with reading the new healing bible that Daniella never expected. Even though she wanted to forget the sadness here, she ended up learning a new healing art.

As she stood up, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, bringing her back to reality. She realized that she had forgotten to treat her own wound after leaving the house earlier. Her injury got worse; the swelling was extraordinary. When several healers offered their help, Daniella refused, and she also turned down Uncle Jerremy, who wanted to heal her. As a healer, this is not a wound that cannot be handled by oneself. But Daniella started to think that if all the pain shifted to her legs, the pain in her heart might be diverted. So she let her feet be like that.

Sighing, Daniella sat back down in her chair, deciding to wait for Alpha Darren to come pick her up after he finished his business with Camilla and his responsibilities as Alpha of a pack.

However, Daniella kept waiting and waiting. When night fell, even Jerremy's Uncle asked her to stay there. But Daniella's responsibility as a mate to Alpha Darren kept her waiting for the man's arrival to pick her up.

Unfortunately, Daniella couldn't even call the Alpha, and the Alpha always built walls so that Daniella could never guess his thoughts or what he was doing, and they couldn't communicate through telepathy. With firm determination, she tried to go home alone, but she only managed to walk a few steps before the pain became unbearable; cold sweat drenched her forehead.

Feeling defeated, she took out her cellphone and tried to call Alpha's number again. Alpha Darren answered quickly, but his voice sounded calm. "What's wrong, Daniella?" For a moment, Daniella hesitated. It seems that Alpha Darren really forgot his promise to pick up Daniella. Biting her lip, Daniella swallowed her pride. "Alpha, you said you would pick me up. I'm still waiting for you here."

At the other end of the phone, Alpha Darren fell silent. After a long pause, his somewhat awkward voice finally came through. "Sorry, Daniella. Something happened at home, and I came back early. Wait for me; I'll pick you up now." As he spoke, the sound of rustling and faint chatter could be heard between them. Camilla's voice called cheerfully, "Darren, dinner is almost ready! Where are you going?"

Daniella pressed her fingers to her temples, a bitter smile curling on her lips. Camilla could even call the pack leader just by using his name, once again making her a bit envious. "Forget it. Don't bother—I can take care of myself." This time, Alpha Darren hesitated for half a second before agreeing with Daniella's words; deep down in the woman's heart, she wanted her Alpha to oppose her, go home alone, and rush to pick her up, leaving Camilla alone there, but that was impossible.

"Alright, don't rush. I'm cooking something delicious tonight. I will wait for you when you come home." After hanging up the phone, Daniella let out a soft sigh, even though the wound in her heart seemed to deepen more and more. While gently touching the healing request letter in the Sharp Claws pack tucked in her pocket, Daniella wondered again how she could convince Alpha to agree to her departure and end this crazy mate relationship.

Leaning against the wall, Daniella limped out of the house area; fortunately, Uncle Jerremy was resting inside, so he wouldn't scold Daniella. Every step she took sent waves of burning pain to her ankle. After cursing her fate and complaining as if the pain in her foot would last forever, Daniella finally managed to call a taxi.

When she sat in the passenger seat, she realized her clothes were soaked with cold sweat. The taxi driver glanced at his pale passenger's face in the rearview mirror, his voice sounding worried, "Miss, you look unwell. Why don't you call your boyfriend to pick you up?" Leaning back in the chair, Daniella tried to ease her pain and laughed bitterly, more precisely, laughed at her own fate.

"I don't have a boyfriend, but a fiancé."

"If that's the case, call your fiancé. Look at yourself—your face is pale as a ghost. I'm sure he doesn't want anything bad to happen to his future wife." Daniella appreciated the taxi driver's empathy, but in this sensitive situation, for some reason, empathy felt like mockery to her.

"Fiancé?" Daniella snorted softly, staring out the window. "It's a pity he's busy spending time with someone else. He doesn't have time for me." The taxi driver fell silent for a moment before mumbling softly with a slightly awkward tone, "What kind of fiancé is he? He sounds unreliable." Daniella chuckled softly upon hearing his honest words.

"Not reliable?" Daniella pondered it for a moment. "More like indifferent." Alpha Darren cannot be said to be unreliable; as an Alpha, he has saved the pack more than five times until he was finally recognized as the strongest pack. Alpha Darren might just be indifferent towards Daniella, who is not very important to him.

Even when everything about the wedding preparations, from the invitations to the decorations of their future home, was left to Daniella alone. When Daniella asked for input from the Alpha, his response was always indifferent. "The man works outside while the woman takes care of the house. Why do you ask for my opinion on every little thing? Don't you have your own opinion?"

However, when Daniella had finished arranging the house, Alpha Darren complained because he found mistakes in everything. Finally, it was Camilla who finished the decoration according to the Alpha's wishes. When thinking about all that again, Daniella felt waves of exhaustion and humiliation from Alpha Darren at every moment.

When the taxi stopped outside their house gate, Daniella's steps grew heavier. It took several minutes to reach the porch because the Alpha's house was certainly not a small, simple house. However, the few minutes Daniella had to take turned into almost half an hour to cover that distance, each step feeling so heavy and slow. While standing in front of the door, Daniella instinctively reached for her keys before realizing they were missing.

Out of frustration, she knocked on the door. It took a while, until finally Alpha Darren opened it. The first thing the Alpha said upon seeing Daniella was an expression of impatience. "You didn't bring the key? Why do you always knock?" Daniella did not answer immediately. Instead, she entered their luxurious house and walked slowly to the living room, then took out the keychain from her bag.

"You took my key from that ring a few days ago to give it to Camilla, remember?" Daniella replied coldly. Her words made Alpha Darren silent. His annoyance slightly faded, replaced by a hint of guilt. However, his tone contained a hint of reproach. "Recently, I've been so busy that I forgot. Why don't you just buy a new one? You have time for things like this." Daniella smiled faintly, not wanting to answer.

She had long stopped hoping for justice because any defense would be futile for her. For Alpha Darren, everything concerning Camilla will always seem urgent to him, while Daniella's needs are a low priority and can be postponed—or even completely ignored. As Daniella walked into the dining room, she noticed Camilla was already there. "Daniella, you're finally back!" Camilla greeted her enthusiastically, running forward to wrap her arms around Daniella's arm with her cute gesture, sticking out her tongue while smiling. This made her look more like a cat than a wolf, or perhaps this was Camilla's advantage in the eyes of the male wolves.

"Daniella, we cooked food together earlier. Let's eat first; next time we should cook together as a trio." Camilla smile, she was so enthusiastic, but Daniella just frowned. "Why does it have to be with me? You usually do it together, right?"

"I'm really sorry, Daniella. I'm so hungry that I couldn't wait for you. Maybe you're angry because we couldn't wait for you to eat together," said Camilla apologetically while pulling Daniella to the dining table. However, the table was only filled with leftover food scraps. Daniella stood still, staring at the remnants of food on the plate. A wave of complex emotions flowed within her, between sadness, disappointment, and something she couldn't quite name.

"Forget it. I'm not feeling well today, so I'll skip dinner. You two just enjoy," Daniella said softly, turning around and walking unsteadily towards the stairs. Behind her, Camilla sounded surprised. "Daniella, what's wrong? Are you really upset because I didn't wait for you to eat?" Darren reached out to ruffle Camilla's hair, his voice sounding so indulgent towards the she-wolf.

"Don't think too much about it. Her ankle is just sprained today, and she's not feeling well." The usual expression of affection caught Daniella's attention as she turned around. Her lips parted slightly, as if wanting to say something, but all that came out were sighs. With a sad expression, she turned and walked back to the master bedroom. Her mind replayed the events of that day.

Camilla's simple phone call had made Alpha leave everything and rush to her side. Meanwhile, Daniella could barely walk and did not receive such attention. The stark contrast felt like a dagger piercing deep into her chest. As soon as she reached the bedroom, Daniella, who tried to ignore the pain radiating from her ankle, finally realized the futility of it all. The pain in her heart remained and did not lessen because of the pain in her ankle.

Daniella tried to channel her healer powers to cure the swelling in her leg, but suddenly Alpha Darren arrived in her room and surprised her with his words, "You shouldn't let this go on for too long." Daniella looked up at the doorway where the Alpha stood, which automatically halted her healing.

"The swelling is getting significantly worse; don't you realize it? You are still careless and unwilling to exert your energy to treat your own wound." Alpha sighed and walked closer, squatting in front of her. Gently, he grabbed Daniella's injured ankle to check the swelling.

However, Daniella instinctively pulled her leg back, avoiding his touch. "Do you feel disgusted by me?" In the dim light of the bedroom, Daniella couldn't read Alpha's expression. Daniella tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling the awkward tension between them. Daniella truly did not expect to be treated by Alpha Darren, let alone to pamper that male wolf.

"No... It's just that Camilla is still waiting for you outside. You have to accompany her. Let me tend to my own wounds; I'm more than capable of handling this." Alpha Darren stared at his mate for a moment, his face expressionless. Without a word, he suddenly grabbed Daniella's ankle and pulled her onto the Alpha's lap, ignoring the woman's protests.

His sudden action made Daniella wince in pain, a small cry escaping her lips. As Alpha observed how swollen and bruised the woman's ankle was, the annoyance on Alpha Darren's face faded, replaced by a hint of guilt. "Sorry," he muttered. Where the apology surprised Daniella.

Alpha Darren is not the type of person who easily apologizes. For three years they were together; this was the first time she heard that word from him. Even when the Alpha left her by the roadside and Daniella was attacked by a pack of wolves because her spiritual abilities were detected, he never apologized. But what if it happened to Camilla, where Camilla was supposed to be stronger than Daniella, yet Alpha Darren was always ready to stand up for the female wolf? Once again, Daniella compared herself to Camilla.

"Why suddenly apologize? That's not like you," said Daniella, trying to resist the temptation to think about that brief moment of tenderness from the Alpha. Alpha Darren looked up for a moment, his hand carefully channeling energy to heal Daniella's wound. "Your ankle is in bad condition. I shouldn't have ignored it and should have helped you quickly." The sincerity in his voice made Daniella's heart ache. She had long stopped hoping for warmth from the Alpha, so his apology felt like a cruel temptation—offering a hope that never truly existed. Biting her lip, Daniella forced herself to smile. "That's just a sprain. No need to apologize."