Nerissa’s POV

The day of my final moon-blessing check for my unborn pup, my Alpha mate, Jasper Wolfsbane, said he had to leave the territory for pack matters and couldn’t come with me.

So I sat alone in the healer’s den, waiting in silence, when I saw something that froze my blood.

Jasper stood not far away, his hand resting on Devora Frostvein’s swollen belly. He lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss against it, his voice gentle in a way I knew too well.

“When our pup is born, he will be the true heir of the Wolfsbane Pack,” he said quietly.

Devora lifted her face, her eyes full of false worry. “Jasper, your mate is carrying a pup too. What if she learns about us? What if she refuses to accept my pup into the pack?”

Jasper let out a cold laugh. “And who is she to refuse? If she causes trouble, I will break the bond. I will cast her out with nothing.”

Each word struck me like a blade. My body went rigid, my breath stuck in my throat.

Jasper had pursued me for ten winters. Everyone in the packs knew how deeply he loved me.

After we formed our bond, he gave me three sacred tokens.

The first was a pair of carved wolf figures, mixed with his own bone to show our souls were tied.

The second was a necklace made from sea pearls he had gathered himself from the deep waters beyond the pack lands.

The third was the Luna crown of the Wolfsbane Pack. It held the gem that opened the vault of the Alpha bloodline. It was power. It was trust. It was half the pack’s wealth and authority.

Once, he went into the wild sea just to find me a better pearl. He vanished for days. When they found him, his memory was gone.

And Devora, a lowborn dancer from the outer dens, claimed she had saved him.

When his memories returned, he came back to me and said he chose me again. I believed him. I didn’t know he never truly left her.

Now she carried his pup. And he was planning to throw me away like I meant nothing.

My pup didn’t need a weak Alpha as a father.

And I didn’t need a bond that was shared.

If he wanted to destroy everything I had, then I would leave before he could.

I lifted my chin and called my father through the pack line.

“Father, I am ending my bond with Jasper. I will keep my pup. I will return to take over the Wintermoon Territory. And I will accept the arranged mating with the Silverhaze Alpha.”

The moment the call ended, I arranged my departure from the territory.

Two weeks.

That was all I needed. In two weeks, I would be gone forever.

——

When I returned to the Wolfsbane manor, I called my father again.

“Father, I have decided. I will keep the pup and take over our lands. I will also agree to the bond with the Silverhaze Pack.”

There was silence before he spoke again. “Nerissa, are you sure? The Silverhaze Alpha cannot have heirs.”

“I am sure. Then my pup will inherit both Wintermoon and Silverhaze.”

He agreed without delay. “Very well. I will contact them. Now you need to start preparing to leave this territory.”

I lowered my hand slowly and looked at the bond-severing documents.

Each line felt like another step pulling me away from Jasper.

Yesterday, at the healer’s den, I saw him with Devora.

At first, I refused to believe it. That night, he sent me a message and asked me to meet him at our usual place.

I went, still holding onto hope.

But before I entered, I saw through the small gap in the door.

Devora sat on his lap, resting against him as if she belonged there.

In that moment, everything inside me shattered.

From inside the room, one of his pack brothers spoke, “How long will you keep hiding this? If Luna Nerissa finds out, you may never win her back.”

Jasper stayed silent, only pulling Devora closer, his eyes cold. Then he spoke, his voice low, “It’s hard to love only one mate forever. Devora asks for nothing and Nerissa won’t leave me. So why not keep both?”

He continued, “She carries my pup. I cannot abandon her.”

His pack brothers looked at him in shock. Everyone knew how much he loved me. No one expected him to choose another.

“Have you lost your mind?” one of them snapped. “Do you remember what you did to win Luna Nerissa? And now you place her beside a dancer?”

“What if that pup isn’t even yours?” he added, pointing at Devora.

Before his words could settle, Jasper struck him hard. His eyes turned red with anger as he covered Devora’s ears.

“Don’t speak about her like that. She didn’t choose her life. She saved me. If any of you insult her again, we are no longer brothers.”

With that, he turned and walked out, carrying her in his arms.

My chest tightened painfully as I stepped back into the shadows.

Just as he reached the door, he paused.

“No one tells my Luna about this,” he said coldly. “I will handle everything.”

Then he left.

But Devora looked past him and met my eyes. Her lips curved in a quiet, victorious smile.

She knew I was there.

I looked down at my hand, my nails digging into my skin until it bled. The pain in my chest felt endless.

Ten winters…

Ten winters of love, loyalty and fire. And he destroyed it in just two months.

This morning, he kissed my forehead like I was his world.

Now he fought his own pack for another woman. And that woman carried his pup.

A bitter laugh almost escaped me. It took me hours before I found the strength to return home.

Pulling myself back from the memory, I tightened my hold on the bond papers.

I would never share my mate. And my pup would never need a father who chose another.

“What’s that in your hand?”

Jasper’s voice broke the silence.

Nerissa’s POV

I froze the moment I heard his voice.

He had come back. Drawing in a quiet breath, I turned to face him, forcing myself to stay steady.

“You’re just in time. I need you to mark these…”

Before I could finish, the communication stone in his hand lit up.

Devora.

Her name flickered across the surface.

Jasper gave me a brief, reassuring look as he answered, but that expression vanished almost instantly. His face darkened, his jaw tightening as he listened.

Then, without warning, his hand came down across my face.

The force of it made my head snap to the side.

For a moment, I couldn’t even react. Even after everything I had seen and heard, I never thought he would actually strike me.

He lifted his hand again, but paused when he noticed the tears already slipping down my cheeks. Something in his expression shifted, though it didn’t soften. Instead, he turned away abruptly and grabbed the wolf figurines from the table.

With a sharp motion, he threw them to the ground. They shattered on impact, pieces scattering across the floor.

Those figurines had once meant everything to us. He had shaped them himself, even mixing in his own bone, promising they would bind us together for life.

And now, for her, he destroyed them without hesitation.

“You sent someone after Devora?” His voice rose, filled with anger. “She’s carrying my pup, Rissa. Do you even understand what could have happened to her?”

I stared at the broken fragments, my body slowly turning cold.

That was not just an object. It was everything we had built together.

And he crushed it as if it meant nothing.

Tears blurred my vision, my chest tightening until it felt hard to breathe. I wanted to speak, to defend myself, but the words would not come.

Jasper’s anger didn’t grow louder. Instead, it settled into something colder, something far more unsettling.

He stepped closer and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him. His gaze was sharp, almost unreadable.

“Tell me where she is, I don’t have time for this.”

It was not just anger I heard in his voice.

It was concern. For her.

A faint, bitter smile tugged at my lips as I forced the words out. “I didn’t do it.”

My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears.

I could not understand how we had reached this point. The man who once loved me so fiercely now looked at me as if I were a stranger. Yet no matter what I said, he didn’t believe me.

He shoved me back, his fist slamming into the wall beside me with a dull thud.

“Devora called me in tears,” he continued, his voice tight. “She told me everything. She said you were behind it.”

His eyes darkened further, his next words colder than before.

“Think carefully, Rissa. Your family, your territory… do you really want me to destroy all of it?”

I stood there, my body stiff, barely able to move except to shake my head weakly.

His expression hardened.

Without another word, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hallway. I stumbled behind him, panic rising as I realized where he was taking me.

The storage chamber.

Before I could struggle, he shoved me inside and slammed the door shut.

The sound echoed in the darkness, heavy and final.

For a moment, I just stood there, frozen, before panic rushed in all at once. I threw myself at the door, my hands pounding against it, but it didn’t move.

The space was small, closed, suffocating.

My breathing became uneven as my knees gave out beneath me.

Jasper knew…

He knew I could not endure places like this. He knew what had happened to me as a pup, how I had been locked away in darkness, how it still haunted me.

And yet, he still did this only for her.

My fingers trembled as I scratched weakly at the door.

“Jasper… please… let me out…”

My voice broke, but there was no response. Only silence.

Then, faintly, his voice came from the other side, cold and distant.

“You crossed the line, Rissa. Stay there and think about it. When I find her, I’ll decide what to do with you.”

His footsteps faded, leaving nothing behind.

Tears fell freely, one after another, as the darkness pressed in around me.

I remembered the night I told him about my past. The way he had held me, his voice filled with pain, promising I would never have to face that fear again.

After that, he always made sure doors stayed open. Lights were never allowed to go out. He said it was like his love, always there, never fading.

Now, those words felt like nothing more than a lie.

Time passed, though I could not tell how much.

By the third day, I was barely conscious when the door finally opened.

Light flooded in, blinding and harsh.

The butler stood there, his expression tense as he helped me out. I stumbled forward, ignoring the healer Jasper had arranged.

In my hand, I still held the documents I had prepared in silence, along with the signed bond-breaking papers.

Using what little strength I had left, I made sure everything was completed.

The identity transfer would take two weeks.

Two weeks and I would leave this place behind for good. My son would carry my name. Then Jasper and I would become nothing to each other.

When it was all done, the butler brought me back to the manor.

I hid every document carefully. Only then did my body finally give in, and the world slowly faded as I lost consciousness.

Nerissa’s POV

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was the pale ceiling of the pack’s healing den.

Jasper sat beside the bed, peeling fruit with steady hands. A vase of irises rested near him, their soft scent filling the room.

They had always been my favorite.

The moment he noticed I was awake, his eyes brightened and he leaned closer, reaching for me.

“You’re finally awake.”

He looked the same as always, dressed in dark clothes that marked his status, his expression gentle, his gaze filled with warmth.

For a brief moment, it felt like nothing had changed.

But I knew better now.

Without saying a word, I pulled my hand away.

He paused, clearly not expecting that, then his face softened into something like regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have locked you in there. But Devora once saved my life. I cannot ignore that. Just think of this as me repaying a debt. When this is over, I will come back to you. Let me take care of her for now.”

Before I could respond, he pulled me into his arms.

The scent that surrounded him was not familiar.

Roses.

My stomach turned and I quickly pushed myself away from him, my face going blank as I nodded.

“Alright.”

The answer came out so easily that it seemed to catch him off guard.

He searched my face, something flickering in his eyes, as if he sensed that something had changed between us.

Then his crystal communicator lit up again. He glanced at it and just like that, his attention shifted completely.

From where I sat, I caught a glimpse of the image on the screen.

Devora.

She was dressed in thin red lace that left almost nothing to the imagination.

Jasper stood up at once, as if pulled by an unseen force. Without even looking at me properly, he placed a small box on my lap.

“Rissa, take this,” he said quickly. “It’s an apology from both of us. Devora didn’t mean what she said before. She was mistaken. Just accept it and forgive her.”

I didn’t know what Devora said to him next, but whatever it was made him smile.

“Sometimes she gets too emotional,” he added, his tone almost gentle. “But she means no harm.”

And just like that, he left.

I sat there in silence for a moment before opening the box. Inside was a pair of earrings shaped like roses.

The moment the lid lifted, the scent hit me all at once. A very strong scent that my skin reacted instantly, burning as red patches spread across it.

Without thinking, I threw the box across the room.

It was not a gift.

It was a message.

Devora knew.

And Jasper… he used to know too.

He used to remember that I couldn’t even be near roses without getting sick. He used to be careful about things like that.

Now, he simply followed whatever Devora wanted. Or maybe, he had already forgotten.

My hands tightened slowly, my nails cutting into my skin until it broke. Drops of blood fell onto the white sheets without a sound.

Not long after, a message came through.

[Rest well. I will come for you when you are released.]

I stared at it for a moment before deleting it and turning off the device.

***

Three days later, I was allowed to leave.

Jasper didn’t come. Only the housekeeper stood waiting for me.

My crystal communicator buzzed again.

[Devora is unwell. I hope you understand. I will bring you something later.]

I didn’t reply.

It was twelve days remained. When I returned to the manor, I began packing.

Everything that once meant something to me was slowly reduced to ashes. Photo albums, letters, clothes he had chosen for me… one by one, they all burned in the fire.

By the time I finished, there was nothing left tying me to this place.

Just as I picked up my case, the door opened.

Jasper walked in, with Devora beside him.

His gaze fell on the case in my hand and his brows drew together.

“Where are you going?”

I said nothing.

Turning away, I walked past them, heading for the door, but his hand caught my wrist, tightening enough to stop me.

Behind him, Devora’s eyes flickered with something sharp before she suddenly broke into tears.

“Jasper… maybe she knew I would come,” she said softly. “That must be why she is leaving. Maybe I should just go back. The club isn’t so bad. I am used to how the men treat me there.”

Jasper’s expression softened at once. He pulled her close, pressing a gentle kiss to her hair.

“You’re not going back, not while I am here,” he said in a low voice.

A quiet, bitter laugh slipped from me as I turned away again.

Then his voice came from behind me, firm and commanding. “Bring her back inside. She isn’t allowed to leave the manor.”

I stopped and looked back. Jasper frowned slightly, impatience creeping into his expression.

“Rissa, don’t make this difficult. You already agreed before. Do you remember?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I walked back into the living room.

A moment later, he came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of soup with care. He placed it gently into Devora’s hands.

“This is for you,” he said softly.

Then he glanced at me, hesitating for a brief second.

“It’s good for expecting mothers. I will prepare something for you next time.”

He stepped toward me, but I moved back. His hand froze midair, his expression tightening as something like unease crept into his eyes.

Ever since I left the healing den, things had begun to slip beyond his control.

His communicatior rang again and he stepped outside to answer it.

Even so, I still heard part of the conversation.

“Alpha Wolfsbane, the new manor prepared for your mate is ready. When will you move her in?”

A faint smile formed on my lips.

That mate was definitely not me.

When he stepped away, Devora slowly finished her soup before looking at me with a cold smile.

“If a man says he loves two women, the one he truly loves is always the second,” she said calmly. “And I will never share mine.”

Before I could react, she suddenly tilted the bowl and let it fall, then threw herself forward onto the ground.

“Jasper!”

Her scream rang through the hall.

Jasper rushed back immediately. The moment he saw the blood beneath her, panic filled his face.

“Call the healer! Hurry!”

His hands trembled as he lifted her and she pointed weakly at me.

“Nerissa put irises in my soup,” she said, her voice breaking as she coughed. Dark blood stained her lips.

Jasper’s sharp gaze snapped toward me. And without hesitation, he kicked me hard in the stomach.

Pain exploded through me, forcing me to collapse onto the floor. I curled instinctively, clutching my belly as I struggled to breathe.

“My pup…”

The words barely came out. But he didn’t move. He only looked at me with disgust.

“I never thought you could be this cruel, Rissa,” he said coldly. “If anything happens to her or the pup, you will pay for it.”

Then he turned away.

Without another glance, he carried Devora out of the manor.

He never looked back.