I use a full decade just to be able to stand by Claude Thorne's side as an equal. In the past, I used to be an outsider who was often ignored by others, but slowly, I've transformed into Claude's most trusted Beta as well as the future Luna.

But I decide to leave Claude one month before the Luna coronation ceremony is set to begin. It's because Claude has personally placed the Luna crown, which is supposed to be mine, onto Victoria Grimm's head instead.

"It's just a crown. Victoria doesn't have anyone left in this world. What's wrong with letting her wear it? You're the future Luna, so you must be more magnanimous."

I never bothered crying or throwing a tantrum. Instead, I've secretly dissolved the mate bond between Claude and me.

Just like that, I've graciously given away the position as Claude's mate to Victoria magnanimously, like the way Claude wants me to be. But he goes nuts instead.

He tracks me all the way to the human society in an attempt to patch things up with me. But what he doesn't expect to see is Silas Wulfric, the legendary Alpha King, getting down on one knee in front of me.

"Heather, since that blind fool is incapable of crowning you as his Luna, allow me to make you the Luna Queen."

"Elder Garou, I am voluntarily stepping down from my position as Beta of the pack to apply for permission to go out and gain experience," I said in a voice devoid of any emotion as I placed the signed resignation letter on the wooden table.

The elder, Remy Garou, looked stunned. "What? Heather, you're about to become Luna, yet you want to leave now? You've endured so much to earn a place by Claude's side, pushing yourself from an Omega without a wolf to a Beta.

"In that last battle with the vampires, you nearly lost your life. Now that things are finally starting to look up for you, you want to leave?"

Looking up? But then, why did I still only feel the pain and none of the gain?

I held back the tears threatening to fall. "Elder Garou, please approve it. There's someone more suitable for that position than me."

For the past ten years, outsiders had only seen Claude's special treatment of me. After all, I was the only one who could freely enter his study and also the only she-wolf who could get close to him.

However, I knew full well that he had agreed to crown me as Luna not because of love, but because of the vampire ambush two months ago.

To buy him time, I'd ventured alone into the enemy camp and nearly been drained of blood.

When I woke up, Claude had caressed my face, his gaze complicated. "You saved me. I can't give you anything else, so I'll make you my Luna."

I saw the pity in his eyes, but I accepted it anyway. I'd thought that, given enough time, his heart of stone would eventually warm up.

But everything changed the day Victoria Grimm returned.

Without waiting for Elder Garou's response, I turned and walked out of the council hall.

My phone vibrated. There was a new post in the pack forum, a replay of Victoria's coronation ceremony.

The comments section was particularly hurtful.

"What a perfect match. Since Ms. Grimm is the former Alpha's daughter, only she deserves to stand by Alpha Claude's side."

"I heard Ms. Grimm put in tremendous effort during this vampire extermination. Like father, like daughter indeed."

In the video close-up, Victoria wore a red gown, intimately holding Claude's arm and whispering in his ear.

Claude tilted his head to listen, the corners of his lips unconsciously lifting.

Claude, who on regular days would order me to keep my distance even when I was reporting battle updates, claiming he didn't like the scent of others, now had his brow relaxed.

The scene shifted to the coronation ceremony.

Claude placed the crown that belonged to me onto Victoria's head with his own hands.

"Victoria, only you are worthy of this crown."

Though I'd mentally prepared myself, my heart still couldn't help but ache when I witnessed this scene.

Echoing in my ears were the words Claude had spoken to me in his study two days ago.

"It's just a Luna crown—why are you fighting over it? Victoria's father guided me when I was growing up. Now she has no family to rely on and needs the Luna crown to maintain her dignity.

"The Luna position will still be yours in the end, so it's not like it affects your status."

Tears slipped down unbidden, and like one punishing oneself, I looked back at the screen.

The coronation ceremony ended, and Victoria excitedly rose on her tiptoes to kiss Claude's cheek right in front of everyone.

The same Claude, who'd frown and pull away if I so much as accidentally touched him, was momentarily startled but didn't push her away.

In that moment, I finally saw reality clearly.

It wasn't that he had a cleanliness obsession, but purely his rejection of me.

Even though he and I'd already shared an intimate bond as mates, he still hated my touch.

I roughly wiped the tears from my face and returned to my quarters.

As I packed my belongings, I realized how pathetically little I had.

This place had never been my home. If anything, I was merely a lodger.

A buzz rang out from my phone again.

It was Claude.

"Victoria is throwing a celebration party at the pack tonight. Take care of the arrangements, and make sure to secure the best venue."

It was only upon seeing this command that I remembered he had already severed our mind-link in order to sense Victoria's condition the moment anything happened.

I shook my head with a self-deprecating smile and typed a word in the dialogue box that I'd never used with him before.

"I'm busy."

Since I'd decided to leave, I wasn't going to leave any room for turning back.

I found the Gamma in charge of training, Sawyer Harte, and dumped the Beta command badge, along with the keys to the warehouse and armory, into his arms.

"They're all yours now."

"Ms. Ashwood, what's the meaning of this?" Sawyer asked with confusion.

"I'm handing everything over to you," I replied curtly and turned to leave. "Don't come to me about these matters anymore."

It took me ten years to earn this badge. But it only took a second to rip it off.

That evening, Claude returned in triumph with Victoria.

But when he pushed open the doors to the banquet hall, he was dumbfounded.

The wine hadn't been decanted, the seating arrangements were chaotic, the newly appointed Gamma was in a fluster, and they'd even forgotten to adjust the lighting over the main table.

Claude stood at the entrance, his brows knotted tight.

Yet, the atmosphere of the party forced him to maintain appearances.

I sat in a corner of the hall, squeezed onto a table with ordinary patrol warriors, watching this farce unfold.

The lights converged on the main table.

Victoria, wearing a bespoke white gown, stood beside Claude like a proud peacock. The contrast with me, his legitimate mate, was ironically perfect.

Victoria had clearly spotted me. She picked up her glass and gracefully stepped onto the stage.

"Heather, so that's where you've been hiding," she said, her voice amplified through the microphone. "On the way back yesterday, a few vampire remnants ambushed us, and Alpha Claude exhausted himself to protect me.

"I seem to recall that you're responsible for eliminating them, so how come you dropped the ball this time? What if Alpha Claude had been injured?"

Every wolf began whispering among themselves, their accusatory gaze boring into me one by one.

Claude looked over as well. His gaze was cold, and it carried a hint of displeasure at being slighted.

I set down my glass and rose unhurriedly to my feet.

"Ms. Grimm, I must correct you. The Luna crown you wear on your head is a symbol of honor and status. Since Alpha Claude bestowed this honor upon you, you should know to be grateful and repay his kindness.

"Yet, you focus only on enjoyment. At a critical moment, not only were you unable to protect Alpha Claude, but you actually let him protect you. That is your dereliction of duty.

"Or perhaps ask yourself—why is it that, wearing the Luna crown, you still cannot take down a few remnant vampires?"

The pack felt I had a point, and the looks they cast toward Victoria held a hint of something different.

"That's not it. I was just—" Victoria panicked, her lips trembling as she failed to fabricate a decent excuse.

She seemed not to have expected that the me who usually swallowed my pride had changed so much today.

The murmuring continued. Some werewolves even began questioning whether the coronation ceremony had been tainted by personal feelings.

Unable to find a way to respond, Victoria burst into tears on the spot in her desperation, demanding to know why I'd embarrassed her in public.

A celebration party held in her honor had turned into a mockery.

"Enough, Heather!" Claude interjected with a darkened face, coming to her rescue. "You are my Beta, so protecting me is your duty. Stop shirking responsibility. Now, apologize to Victoria for ruining the celebration."

I laughed in exasperation.

Claude had deliberately taken Victoria to the border as a formality, staging the illusion that she'd contributed to the pack, all to legitimize her coronation.

It was a pure accident they'd run into those vampire remnants, yet now he was twisting it into my dereliction of duty?

I lifted my chin and met Claude's eyes squarely. "I did nothing wrong! I'm not the one who started this dispute—she did. She's the one who should apologize!"

This was the first time I had defied Claude's comment, and in front of all our pack members, no less. It made Claude lose face completely.

He stared at me intently, anger churning in his eyes. "I'll say it one more time—apologize to her now!"

"No!"

As we stood locked in confrontation, Claude raised his hand and struck me hard across the face.

The entire hall fell into dead silence. Even Claude himself looked stunned.

My face quickly swelled red. I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, but remained obstinate.

"I won't apologize!"

"Very well then." Claude forcibly suppressed his rage, one hand supporting his forehead as he paced back and forth. "Guards, take her down and lock her up. She can come out when she's ready to see reason."

The party ended on a sour note.

Claude returned very late, still carrying that cloying perfume scent Victoria always wore.

Seeing me curled up on the couch, apparently having cried, he looked momentarily guilty.

"Does it still hurt?" He crouched down and reached out to touch my face. "I was just—

"Don't touch me!" I knocked his hand away. "You should go be with Victoria."

My lack of receptiveness angered him once again.

"What exactly are you making a scene about?" He stood up, looking down at me. In a tone laced with undisguised annoyance, he continued, "Victoria was just concerned because she felt you've been off lately. Was it necessary to cause such a commotion?"

I looked up at this wolf I'd loved for ten years. Even now, he still believed I was the one at fault.

"Claude, you call that concern? Concern means throwing mud on me in front of everyone and humiliating me publicly?"

Claude's eyes flickered for a moment, then he shifted the subject.

"That still doesn't justify you making a scene."

He moved closer to the window and lit a cigarette, his emotions gradually calming.

"When it comes down to it, isn't this all about that Luna crown? After next month's actual Luna coronation ceremony, the entire pack will be yours. Was it necessary to cause such a fuss?"

He was always using the Luna position to guilt me into being the bigger wolf.

I said nothing because I felt there was no point in continuing this conversation.

He thought I'd come to see my mistake, so he softened his tone. "Alright, I was wrong tonight too. I shouldn't have hit you. Consider that slap your atonement to Victoria. We're even now."

I listened to his reasoning in disbelief.

I'd been falsely accused first, yet the instigator only had to shed a few tears before I ended up being slapped.

And now he was telling me this made us even?

What kind of twisted logic was that?

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing, trying hard to suppress the urge to lose control.

It was time to tell him about dissolving the mate bond.

"Claude Thorne," I called him by his full name for the first time as I casually tossed the "Notice of Dissolution of Mate Bond" toward him.

"I am now formally informing you that I no longer wish to be Beta, and I couldn't care less about the Luna position either. Since you care so much about Victoria, you can have her take my place at the coronation ceremony next month."

"How many times do I have to say it?" Claude was thoroughly enraged. Without even glancing at the notice, he lunged forward and seized me by the shoulders.

"I think of Victoria as a sister. My regard for her is based solely on the debt I owe her father! And you want me to make her Luna? You must've lost your mind!"

Rage burned in his eyes. "Do you have any idea what giving up Luna means? You'd actually make a joke out of something like this just to get my attention? Do you think I have nothing better to do?"

"Do you truly think of her only as a sister?" I demanded, my voice cracking.

Just then, a figure appeared in the doorway.

Victoria stumbled in, panic written all over her face.

"Claude, something terrible has happened! The border barrier is weakening, and outsiders are attacking!"

Claude's expression instantly tightened. He released me and coldly tossed out a final remark.

"Stay home and reflect properly. I'll deal with you when I get back."

With that, he rushed out of the door.

I calmly picked up the notice he'd ignored. Then, I looked around the room that no longer held any of my belongings and murmured to myself, "Home? Do I still have a home?"

Claude was right. I did need to reflect—on how I'd been blind to the truth for ten years.

Early the next morning, I left the pack's core territory and returned to what had once been my home.

It was a small settlement attached to the fringes of the Moonwing pack.

The moment I stepped through the door, my father, Raymond Ashwood, rubbed his hands together as he hurried over. His face, puffy from years of heavy drinking, was plastered with a fawning smile.

"Heather, how did it go? Did Claude promise you the Luna position? I heard Luna gets extra monthly supplies, plus—"

"No," I interrupted flatly, crushing his fantasies. "And there are no supplies. I've dissolved my mate bond with Claude, so I'll probably be moving back here from now on."

The air froze for a second.

The smile on Dad's face stiffened, then twisted into something hideous and terrifying.

A sharp, heavy slap landed across my face.

"You useless wretch!" Dad exploded in rage, jabbing his finger at my nose as he cursed me out. "Your brother Jax made a huge bet with some other wolves and lost a fortune.

"The whole family's counting on you to turn things around, yet you dare dissolve the mate bond? I'm going to beat you to death!"

"What a loser." My stepmother, Linda Lupine, folded her arms and fanned the flames. "You can't even hold on to a mate, and now you want to come back here and freeload? The nerve!"

Dad grew more agitated with each passing moment. He grabbed a glass ashtray from the table and hurled it at me with all his might.

I didn't dodge. The ashtray struck my temple, and blood streamed down from my brow, staining my vision red.

But I felt no pain. After all, what was a little physical hurt compared to the wounds already carved into my heart?

I casually wiped the blood from my face and looked at my so-called father as if seeing a stranger.

"That slap and this blood should just about repay you for raising me. From today onward, I have nothing more to do with this family."

With that, I turned and walked away.

Behind me came Dad's vicious curses, accompanied by the loud crash of things being smashed.

"Stubborn brat! If you walk out that door, don't ever come back! You can die out there for all I care. Throw out everything she left in the attic, lest they bring bad luck!"

Dragging my suitcase, I had nowhere to go.

In the end, I went to the gray zone between the two packs.

Here, there were no laws or jurisdiction. Instead, there was only a mix of Rogues and exiled outcasts.

I rented the cheapest apartment available.

Ironically, this was exactly where Claude had first placed me ten years ago when he took me away from my family.

Back then, he'd said, "You're an outsider. If you live in the core territory, you'll be ostracized. So, this place suits you better."

I'd believed him then, and I'd been so grateful. Now that I thought about it, it was just that he didn't consider me worthy of setting foot in his territory.