The days that followed, I was forced to wake at four a.m., kneel on the ice-cold marble, and listen to the elder read vows in front of me while my wolf soul felt like it was being torn apart. The food was so bland it made me nauseous. At night I slept on a hard plank bed under a thin cotton blanket.

On the third night, I spiked a fever. A dull ache tugged low in my belly until I curled into the corner of the bed.

“Baby…” I stroked my stomach as tears slid soundlessly down my face. “Hold on a little longer…”

I lay curled on the plank bed, my fever blurring my vision. The cramping in my lower belly came in waves, tighter and tighter. Cold sweat soaked through the thin robe.

“Is anyone there…?” I dragged myself to the door and pounded on the thick wood with what little strength I had left. “Please… let me see the Pack Doctor…”

Outside, the elder’s voice was calm, flat. “Luna, Adrian told me you’d try any method to avoid atonement.”

“I’m not avoiding…” My throat was so raw I could barely force the words out. “I’m really sick… please…”

The door creaked open.

The elder stood there, and beside him were two Warriors.

He’d even stationed Warriors here to keep me in line.

“Take Luna back to bed,” he said blandly.

The Warriors grabbed me and hauled me back, rough hands forcing me onto the mattress. I fought, but they pinned me down like I was nothing.

“You can’t—” I sobbed, desperate. “I’m pregnant… the pup will—”

The elder’s eyes didn’t flicker. “Luna, enough. The Alpha specifically said you’re best at making up lies.”

They threw me down hard. The back of my head struck the wooden frame. Everything went black.

“Watch her,” the elder ordered at last. “Vows at dawn.”

The door shut again. The lock clicked—sharp, cruel.

I curled in the dark, feeling my body heat draining away.

“Baby…” My hand trembled over my belly. Tears mixed with sweat, soaking the pillow. “I’m sorry… Mom can’t protect you…”

My mind blurred, fading until the last thing I saw was the cold moon outside the window.

When I woke again, the sting of disinfectant hit my nose.

I pried my heavy eyelids open to a white hospital ceiling. An IV needle was taped to the back of my hand, cold fluid dripping slowly into my vein.

“You’re awake.”

Adrian’s voice came from the bedside. I turned my head and saw him sitting there, eyes bloodshot, dark stubble shadowing his jaw.

“The doctor said your fever hit 104°F. If you’d come in a little later…” His voice was hoarse. He reached for my face I turned away.

“Ann, be good, okay?” He rubbed his brow like he was exhausted. “We owe Emma. That was a life.”

I looked at him and suddenly laughed, dry, bitter, broken.

“Adrian, do you believe yourself when you say that?” I asked softly. “You’ve had countless lovers. You know in your own heart whether you’ve ever forced anyone to abort, to terminate. If you really feel guilty now, why don’t you go compensate every single one of them from all these years?”

His face dropped, storm-dark. “Ann, do you have to be this unreasonable? Emma just wants to live quietly. I only gave her a job…”

His phone rang, cutting him off.

He glanced at the caller ID, frowned, but still answered.

“Adrian… I’m sorry…” Emma’s tearful voice leaked out of the speaker, loud in the quiet room. “I messed up the cooperation with Blue Moon Pack… Henry… he tried to get handsy with me. I got scared and ran. He’s furious…”

Adrian’s expression tightened by the second. “Where are you? I’m coming.”

He hung up and stood. “Something urgent came up at the office. I’ll have the Pack Doctor look after you.”

Not long after he rushed out, the Pack Doctor came in to change my meds.

“Ann, you’re so lucky,” she said with envy. “Adrian cares about you so much. I heard he crippled Blue Moon Pack’s people for you. Now everyone in Blood Moon knows no one can afford to mess with Luna Ann.”

I closed my eyes, a heavy helplessness pressing down on me.

This marriage. This man. This place… it all suffocated me.

I had to leave. But before I could, I had to find a way to make him sign the divorce agreement.

I was discharged and went home. The House felt extremely empty.

A maid hurried up, eyes darting away from mine. When I asked where Adrian was, she stammered that he hadn’t been back these past few days.

I made a few calls and pieced together the truth.

Ever since Emma was harassed, Adrian had practically kept her in the palm of his hand.

He picked her up and dropped her off himself, didn’t care if his million-dollar car got scratched in grimy alleys insisted on escorting her all the way to her door.

Then he decided her place was too shabby. With a casual wave, he threw down a hundred million and bought her a new House.

I stood alone in the vast living room, cold all the way to my bones. The way I’d run toward him back then was laughable. The way I’d been moved by his kneeling and begged forgiveness was even more ridiculous.

When I called Adrian, it rang long before he finally answered. The background was loud, chaotic.

“What?” His voice was impatient.

“Come home.”

“Can’t.”

I took a slow breath. “Adrian. Do you remember what day it is?”

He went quiet for a moment. His tone softened a fraction. “…I’ll be right back.”

I hung up and waited from dusk to late night, then late night to dawn.

Finally, noise came from the entryway. I walked over and saw Emma struggling to support a drunk Adrian. He was dead weight, practically draped over her, out cold.

Emma saw me and put on a timid, troubled expression.

“Ann… today was my birthday, and Adrian drank a little too much celebrating with me. Please don’t be mad.”

I looked at her and let out a cold laugh. “And what are you, exactly, telling me not to be mad? His Beta or the other woman?”

Her eyes reddened instantly. “I’m sorry…”

Adrian, swaying and half-conscious, seemed to sense something. He shifted, instinctively shielding Emma behind him, slurring, “Ann… d-don’t bully her…”

The last bit of warmth in my chest died. I called for the maids and had them carry Adrian upstairs.

Now the living room held only me and Emma. I handed her the documents I’d prepared.

“I know what you want. If you can get him to sign without him noticing, the Luna status will be yours.”

She stared at the Divorce Agreement, hesitated then took it.

The next morning, Adrian woke up rubbing his temples. The first thing out of his mouth was, “Last night… you didn’t make things hard for Emma, did you?”

I looked at his face without a hint of concern for me and spoke evenly. “Adrian, you said you’d never let me spend any holiday alone.”

His expression stiffened. He looked away, guilty. “Last night was an accident… What kind of compensation do you want? Name it.”

“If I say I want a divorce?”

His face changed instantly, turning dark. “Ann, stop it. I didn’t hear that.”

He grabbed his coat like he was fleeing. Before he left, he transferred a huge sum to my phone and told me to go buy whatever I wanted.

Less than an hour later, someone delivered the divorce papers to me, sent by Emma.

I opened them.

On the last page, under Party B’s signature, the name “Adrian” sat there in bold, unmistakable strokes.

I was folding the last coat I wore all the time into my suitcase when my bedroom door flew open with a violent bang. The sound was so loud it made my heart jerk in my chest.

Adrian stormed in like a violent gust, his eyes bloodshot, a terrifying, murderous aura clinging to him.

He crossed the room in a few strides and clamped a hand around my wrist. The grip was so tight it felt like he was about to crush bone.

“Ann! I already told you Emma and I have nothing going on! She already lost a pup because of us, and she’s ended up like this. Why can’t you just let her go?!” he roared, each word forced out through his teeth.

I stumbled from the force of his pull. A sharp pain shot through my wrist, and my face went instantly pale.

“Adrian! Let go! You’re hurting me!” I fought to twist free, but it was like an ant trying to shake off a steel trap.

My cry of pain only seemed to make him angrier. He glared down at me, disgust and exhaustion written plainly across his face.

“Acting again? You’re acting again?” His voice dripped with contempt.

“Back when I begged you to get back together, you did the same thing, putting on that pitiful little face. I thought you were innocent. I thought you were real. I played along! But now?”

His eyes turned hard. “Now when I look at you like this, still refusing to admit anything, I just feel tired. I’m exhausted.”

He shoved me back without warning. My spine slammed into the cold wardrobe with a dull, heavy thud.

“How did you become like this?” he snapped, looming over me, his chest heaving. “Is it because I spoiled you for too many years? Spoiled you until you became completely out of control until your heart turned to stone?!”

He bent closer, voice vibrating with rage. “Do you have any idea what Emma went through last night?! A Rogue pried her door open in the middle of the night and broke in! She got hurt all over trying to defend herself! Now she screams the second she sees anyone she’s practically having a mental breakdown!”

I leaned against the wardrobe, rubbing my throbbing wrist.

“He doesn’t trust us anymore."

That was my wolf inside my chest, its last warning to me.

Listening to his accusations one after another, my heart sank into an icy pit.

“It wasn’t me.”

I lifted my head and met his blazing eyes. My voice was hoarse from struggling, but every word came out clear.

“It wasn’t you, then who was it?!” He didn’t believe me for a second. He cut me off like a judge delivering a verdict, sarcasm sharp on his tongue.

“Who else would hate her that much? Ann, I just forgot our anniversary. I just didn’t get you a gift. And you’re going to take it out on her with something this vicious?!”

“I said it wasn’t me!” I raised my voice. The anger and humiliation I’d been forcing down slammed around in my chest.

“Enough!” Adrian barked. The last of his patience snapped. He’d made his decision. “If you can’t stand her, if you’re that jealous of her, then go experience her life yourself!”

My stomach tightened with a sudden sense of dread. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean starting today, you’re moving out of here and into where she lived.” His tone was ice, absolute.

“She lived like that, you’ll live like that. You’ll stay in that cramped, damp basement of hers. You’ll eat the cheap food she could barely afford. You’ll work multiple jobs a day like she did. You’re going to learn what real suffering looks like.”

“You’re insane. I’m not doing that.” I stared at him, not able to believe he could even say something so absurd and so cruel.

“Not doing it?” Adrian gave a cold laugh. His eyes were knives dipped in ice. “Ann, do you really think you still get to refuse?”

He didn’t give me another second to argue. He grabbed my arm again and dragged me out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and shoved me into the car. No matter how hard I fought, he didn’t flinch.

The car finally stopped in front of that run-down complex. He hauled me out, shoved me inside a room where even the lock had been busted, the entire place torn apart.

There were scuff marks on the floor like someone had struggled. Dots of blood. The air itself felt wrong, restless, unsafe.

I stared at the place, at the fact it wasn’t even livable, and tried to reason with him anyway.

“Adrian, the door is broken. This isn’t—”

“What, our proud Luna can’t handle it?” he cut in, mocking, not a flicker of hesitation in him. “Emma could live here. Why can’t you? Tomorrow morning, I’ll pick you up for work.”

Then he turned and walked out like he didn’t care whether I lived or died. The engine roared as he drove away, leaving me alone in a space filled with danger and chaos.

It wasn’t like I didn’t try to run.

One time, when I took the trash out into the alley, I spotted my chance and bolted for the street. I didn’t even make it far before a Warrior appeared out of nowhere and blocked my way.

Night fell. Cold wind poured through the gap in the broken door, whistling like a warning.

With all my strength, I dragged the only heavy cabinet in the room over and jammed it against the door, bracing it as hard as I could against the frame that barely held.

Outside were drunks shouting, neighbors screaming, every sound sending my pulse racing.

I curled into the chair in the farthest corner, gripping a fruit knife I’d found in the kitchen. The handle was icy, biting into my palm.

I stayed like that, eyes wide, listening to every movement outside the door, braced for anything until morning.