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.

Marcus had been unusually busy these past few days.

I watched coldly as he left early and returned late, never letting his phone leave his side, the lights in his study burning until dawn.

I knew he was meticulously preparing for Rose's "final" Mating Ceremony.

On the morning the Alpha Council approved the mate bond dissolution application, I left early to collect the approval document from the council.

Besides that, I only packed my pitifully few personal belongings.

When I returned home, Marcus was adjusting his tie in front of the dressing mirror. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit with a silver badge pinned to his lapel—it matched the one on the red dress Rose had worn before.

"Back from your walk?" He saw me in the mirror and smiled gently. "Baby, I need to patrol the border today. I might be back late. Rest well at home and remember to take your supplements and vitamins on time."

He turned around, his long fingers gently caressing my abdomen as he whispered: "Baby, come out soon. Once you're born, your Alpha daddy will personally teach you to hunt."

Looking at the tenderness in his eyes, I suddenly felt the irony.

Daddy? My heart felt like it had been pierced by an ice pick. He was exhausting himself for a "dying" outsider, yet had no idea that the "child" he claimed to care about had already vanished from this world. This belated "fatherly love" built on lies was so cheap it made me sick.

I gripped the mate bond dissolution approval tightly: "I have something to tell you."

Marcus paused: "Baby, I need to leave right now."

"So urgent?" I asked softly. "You won't even spare me five minutes?"

Marcus checked his watch and ultimately refused: "Whatever it is, we'll talk tonight, okay?"

"Is this matter really that important?"

"Very important." He answered without hesitation, not even giving me a glance.

I laughed.

I pulled at the corners of my mouth—that smile must have looked terrible, like crying. "Go ahead," I said quietly. "Don't delay your important business."

Marcus seemed like he wanted to say something but ultimately just placed a light kiss on my forehead before hurrying away.

Watching his retreating figure, I gently closed my eyes and placed the mate bond dissolution approval on the table.

When I left with my suitcase, I didn't look back.

The airport terminal was crowded with people.

Just as the plane was about to take off and I was about to turn off my phone, Marcus's text appeared:

"Baby, I left the supplements warming in the kitchen. I'll come home and watch the aurora with you after I finish my business."

What a beautiful promise, what a ridiculous lie. Your "important business" is going to hold a ceremony with another woman, fulfilling her "final wish." And I don't even qualify for five minutes of your time.

I've already applied to dissolve our bond. From now on, there's nothing between us.

I calmly deleted the message. My fingertips were ice-cold, but my movements were remarkably swift. Then came the sweet photos in my phone album—moments I'd once treasured like jewels, now all seeming like mockery. Finally, his name, his number, every way to contact him—I erased them all completely.

Last, I blocked our mind-link, severing the final connection between us.

The plane bound for the Northern Territories roared into the sky. The massive thrust pressed me against my seat back. I watched the Bloodclaw Pack territory grow smaller and smaller outside the window, watching this place that had buried my youth and love.

Marcus Stone, goodbye forever. From now on, you no longer exist in my world.