I quickly pushed the medicine tray off the bedside table.

The crash of pills and bottles hitting the floor made Marcus turn around fast. He forgot all about the doctor and rushed to my bed, looking scared and worried.

"Serena, you're awake? Are you in pain?"

I shook my head a little and looked past him at the doctor's nervous face.

Marcus relaxed then and turned back to the doctor. "Doctor, what were you saying before? I didn't hear you."

He felt like he missed something important.

The doctor was about to talk when I looked at him and shook my head just a tiny bit.

The doctor understood. He just sighed and said, "The patient needs to rest more," then left the room.

Now it was just Marcus and me in the hospital room.

Marcus looked worried and tried to touch my face. I turned my head away.

He seemed to get it and started saying sorry right away. "I'm sorry, Serena. This is my fault. It must have been people who hate me who put poison in the soup. They hurt you and Rose."

"Thank God you and the baby are safe. If something happened to you, I could never forgive myself. I promise this won't happen again. Please don't be mad at me, okay?"

I looked into his eyes. They looked really scared and sorry.

Right then, I felt like laughing at how fake everything was.

Everything he said sounded so nice, but what was real and what was lies?

"I'm tired."

I pulled my hand away and closed my eyes. I didn't want to play this stupid game anymore.

While I was in the hospital, Marcus stayed with me all the time.

He made food for me himself and fed me with a spoon. He came to every doctor visit and wrote down everything they said. If I moved even a little at night, he'd wake up and ask what I needed. He rubbed my back and arms to make me feel better.

But all of this just made me remember what Rose said before: "Yes, Marcus always looked after me when we were kids..."

Even the nurses said they never saw a husband take care of his wife so well.

But I stayed quiet and sad, looking out the window a lot.

Marcus thought it was because of being pregnant and tried even harder to take care of me.

On the day I left the hospital, Marcus had made big plans.

He had closed off his private hunting area so no one else would be there. His guards stayed far away so I could breathe the clean mountain air freely. In the afternoon, he walked with me through the whole forest. When I looked at pretty flowers for more than a few seconds, he secretly marked the spot. He said he'd move those flowers to my garden the next day. When it got dark, lights suddenly lit up the open area by the rocks. They spelled out "My Only Love" in the dark sky.

"Do you like it?" Marcus held my arm from behind.

I looked at all the lights in the sky and for a moment felt like I was back in the old days.

Back then, Marcus did things like this to make me happy. I felt like the luckiest person alive.

But when my hand moved to my empty stomach, all the good feelings went away.

"What's wrong?" Marcus felt me get tense and turned me around to look at him. "You've been sad lately. I'm really worried."

He held my face and rubbed it gently with his thumb. "Should we talk to a doctor about your feelings? Being sad when you're pregnant is normal. You don't have to handle it alone. You can tell me what's bothering you."

Looking into his honest-looking eyes, I suddenly asked, "If I tell you the truth about something, will you tell me the truth too?"

Marcus looked surprised for a second, then smiled. "Of course, baby. We're married. We should always be honest with each other."

I took a deep breath. "Then let me ask you something. I heard you have someone who really matters to you. A woman you've been close to for a long time."

I looked right into his eyes. "So why did you end up marrying me instead of her?"

Marcus's expression instantly froze.

His fingers tightened, knuckles turning white, but in an instant he recovered and gave me a gentle smile.

"What are you talking about? You're my destined mate. I love you. I've long since moved on from past relationships."

A bitter taste filled my mouth.

He lied so skillfully, without even a furrowed brow.

He reached out to touch my face, and I turned my head away.

This action made his brow furrow slightly.

This was who knows how many times I'd instinctively rejected his touch.

"Who told you all this?" His tone suddenly turned serious. "Is this why you've been unhappy lately?"

Just as I was about to speak, his phone's harsh ringtone suddenly rang out.

Marcus glanced at the caller ID, fell silent for a few seconds, then finally chose to answer.

As soon as he picked up, Rose's tearful voice came through the speaker: "Marcus! I'm surrounded by rogue wolves. I'm so scared..."

Marcus's expression changed drastically: "Send me your location."

He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, not even glancing at me: "Baby, there's urgent pack business to handle. Take a cab home yourself."

Driven by some inexplicable force, I followed him.

At the edge of pack territory, I watched Marcus shield Rose behind him as he faced four or five rogue wolves alone.

He released his Alpha wolf and attacked the rogues, his claws slicing through the air with deadly precision. Each strike carried lethal force, nothing like his usual gentle human appearance.

One rogue wolf, driven back by his assault and covered in wounds, suddenly lunged viciously toward Rose, jaws wide open—

"Rose!" Without any hesitation, Marcus threw himself forward, using his own body to shield Rose.

The rogue wolf's fangs sank deep into his chest, blood immediately spurting out.

"Marcus!" Rose rushed over and embraced him, crying hysterically.

"Don't be afraid..." Marcus endured the excruciating pain, his eyes full of tenderness and determination. "I promised... I'd always protect you... I'll never break that promise..."

Standing at the end of the alley, watching this scene, I felt my heart hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

As Alpha of Bloodclaw Pack, he'd always been careful with his body because he bore the weight of the entire pack's responsibility. Even I had shielded him from assassination attempts before. But when Rose was in danger, he completely disregarded his own safety, not even calling for his Gamma guards.

Outside the operating room, Rose was in tears: "He's always been like this... Whenever I'm in danger, he appears immediately to shield me. Even when he's covered in wounds, he protects me... When I was sick, he stayed by my bedside for three days and nights without eating or drinking. He's so good to me..."

I leaned against the wall, listening quietly.

So Marcus, an Alpha who always prioritized the greater good, seemed to care nothing about his mate, child, or even his pack responsibilities when it came to Rose.

"One millimeter closer and it would have pierced the Alpha's heart." The healer emerged from the operating room. "Is Ms. Rose here? We need a family member to sign for the surgery."

Rose shook her head through her tears: "I'm not family... His mate is over there."

The healer looked at me in confusion: "But the patient kept calling out 'Rose,' and when he made his will just now, he said he was leaving pack management rights to Ms. Rose..."

She realized her slip and stopped awkwardly.

I smiled.

Under the nurses' pitying gazes, I signed my name and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Rose called out to me. "Aren't you his mate? He's not out of danger yet. Won't you stay to take care of him?"

I stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"You're the one who should stay and take care of him." My voice was terrifyingly calm. "We're no longer mates. I've already applied to dissolve our mate bond."

After returning home, Serena began methodically packing her belongings.

She sorted through everything that belonged to Marcus and the Bloodclaw Pack. The armband symbolizing her status as the pack's Alpha's mate, the mate ring worth 100 million dollars, and that mate bond dissolution agreement Marcus had signed himself—all laid out on the table like settling accounts for an absurd dream.

Three days later, Marcus was discharged from the hospital.

He'd returned to being the cold, commanding Alpha, appearing at the door in an impeccable suit with his tie knotted perfectly. He showed no signs of having been severely injured and near death.

"Baby, pack affairs have been so busy lately, I haven't had time to spend with you."

He concealed his injury and hospitalization, approaching to embrace me while carrying the faint scent of medical treatment.

I knew he was afraid of arousing suspicion, not knowing how to explain, which was why he'd rushed to discharge himself.

But what he didn't know was that I'd witnessed everything.

I'd clearly seen how he'd risked his life for another woman.

"How's the baby been lately?" Marcus suddenly asked, his gaze falling on my abdomen. "Have you been taking your supplements and vitamins on schedule? Your belly seems... smaller somehow."

He reached out to touch my stomach, and I instinctively rejected his touch. "I'm not feeling well. Don't touch me." My voice was cold.

Marcus frowned deeply and immediately called over an omega servant to ask about my recent condition.

Learning that I hadn't been taking the supplements and vitamins, his expression changed dramatically, and he personally went to prepare them for me.

"Baby, be good." He held the medicine bowl, his tone so gentle it could melt water. "For a smooth delivery, drink this. It'll prevent suffering during labor."

I looked at the pile of supplements and vitamins, about to find an excuse to refuse, when the doorbell suddenly rang.

It was Marcus's beta assistant with several Gamma guards, all looking urgent. I recognized them as the Gammas Marcus had specifically assigned to protect Rose.

Seeing this, he instructed me to rest well and took them to his study.

After the footsteps faded, I immediately poured the supplements and vitamins down the sink.

I was about to go back to the bedroom when I heard heated discussion coming from the study.

"Alpha, Rose has been poisoned with silver. The healer says she won't last more than a month! Her family has locked her up to wait for death! Her final wish... is to have a Mating Ceremony with you!"

"Crash"—the sound of a teacup shattering.

After an unknown amount of time, Marcus's cold and indifferent voice came through: "I understand."

"What do you mean you understand?" a Gamma asked.

"I mean," Marcus said word by word, "I will fulfill her final wish."

The study instantly erupted.

"Are you insane? You want to hold a Mating Ceremony with a dying she-wolf?"

"Alpha! Get a grip! You have a mate, and your child will be born in a few months!"

"Have you thought about your mate? Why should she tolerate her mate holding a mating ceremony with someone else?"

"Aren't you afraid she'll dissolve the bond? Leave you completely?"

Among all the protests, Marcus's voice cut through decisively, overriding all opposition.

"I'll handle it properly. This matter won't reach Serena's ears."

"What if she finds out?" His beta assistant still tried to stop him.

After a few seconds of silence, his voice came through.

"She'll never know. Even if she did, she wouldn't leave me. She became my mate right after she came of age and shifted. I am her everything. Bloodclaw Pack is her home. She has no other choice."

"Besides, she's so pure and kind-hearted, she wouldn't compete with Rose."

I stood outside the door, my fingertips digging into the doorframe until they hurt, my chest so tight I could barely breathe.

But strangely, there wasn't the expected tearing pain.

When disappointment accumulates to its peak, even pain becomes numb.

In this moment, I felt with crystal clarity that the Serena Cross who'd deeply loved Marcus Stone was dying bit by bit inside my body.