The events of that night spread quickly among the pack servants. They had witnessed Violette being cast out of the Alpha's chambers while Hans escorted Irene inside and closed the heavy oak doors behind them.

Every wolf in the Blackthorn estate could read the message clearly enough. Hans had shown the entire household exactly how much Irene mattered to him. Violette lost face in her own den and became the subject of whispered ridicule among wolves who should have bowed their heads when she passed.

Hans did not attempt to remedy the situation or apologize to Violette.

A mind-link message came through from the Ashwood Pack, as if the news had already crossed territories. Her mother, Anna, wasted no time.

"Vio, how could you let another woman treat you like that? Where is your pride as a daughter of the Ashwood bloodline?"

"Mom, what happened was..."

"Forget it. Don't get into a conflict with Hans over some turned wolf. After all, you are still the Luna of the Blackthorn Pack. You have to maintain that status."

"Mom, your daughter was humiliated like this, how can you say that to me?" Violette said in disbelief, her grip tightening on the mind-link stone.

"Violette, how old are you now? You are a mated wolf who has been bonded for fifteen years but have yet to produce an heir for the Blackthorn line. Don't make Hans unhappy and cause him to fight with you because of a mistress. If you sever the bond with Hans, the Ashwood Pack will not accept you anymore."

Violette did not answer. Her hands clenched tightly as she listened to her mother's indifferent words. She understood that she was useless in the eyes of her family because she had not given the Blackthorn Pack any pups.

"Vio, are you listening to me? There's no need to fight with Hans over a mistress. He will get bored eventually and you will remain Luna. It's better to think about how you can conceive an heir."

Violette's heart was so tired that she didn't argue with her mother.

"I understand, Mom." She ended the mind-link.

Her family's attitude made Violette even more determined to keep her bond-severance a secret, and she would not return to the Ashwood Pack.

Hans came home early that day and found Violette in the Alpha's chambers, packing some of her belongings into boxes.

"What did you tell your family?" His expression looked unhappy.

"Nothing," Violette replied briefly and wearily, continuing to fold her clothes into a box.

"Then why did your father contact me and bring up Irene?"

"I don't know, but my mother reached out to me today. She also talked about Irene. It seems they heard the news from last night through a servant. You know, in a pack like ours, there are always wolves with divided loyalties. Spies everywhere."

Hans paused for a moment and then exhaled. "Don't worry too much about what happened last night. Irene wasn't raised like us, growing up in a powerful pack. She was very frightened by the intruder last night."

"Yes. I know." Violette bowed her head, busy packing her belongings into boxes.

"Why are you packing so many things? You don't need to pack so much. Once Irene calms down, you can come back to this room."

"It's okay. She can stay in this chamber as long as she wants. And these things are for me to donate to the pack orphanage."

Hans stared at her for a moment, his brow furrowed. He felt that Violette was indifferent and was even giving up their chambers just like that. She was not the type of person who would give away her belongings to anyone, and she was stubborn.

Hans looked at the items packed in the boxes. They were valuable to Violette because they were gifts from him. The carved wooden wolves were gifts Hans had given Violette from the ages of ten to eighteen, along with a few other keepsakes.

"Those things… don't you really like them? Do you really need to throw them away?"

"Oh, I feel like I'm too old to keep these things. There must be lots of pups in the orphanage who would love these." Violette smiled gently at Hans.

Hans didn't think about it any further. He placed an invitation and a gift box on Violette's lap.

"An invitation to the Blackthorn Pack gathering tomorrow night. We both have to attend and show everyone that we're doing well."

"Okay." Violette stroked the gift box Hans had given her.

When she opened it, the contents were stunning: a delicate silk dress threaded with silver moonstone beading and the latest diamonds from a renowned jeweler.

Despite their recent argument, Hans still knew her taste and her preferences. Her heart wavered for a moment. At least Hans still respected her.

"Wear that dress tomorrow night."

Violette looked up and nodded, smiling.

---

The next day at seven in the evening, Violette went to check the dress she had asked a pack servant to wash and press. However, she found Irene standing over the ironing board. The iron was emitting steam, and there was a burning smell that cut through the faint sweetness of jasmine and honey still clinging to the chamber. Next to her, Damien was busy on the floor, snapping apart Violette's jewelry set piece by piece, his small fingers working with deliberate focus.

"Irene, what are you doing?!" Violette rushed to save her dress and pushed Irene aside.

The dress was beyond saving. There were burn marks and a gaping hole scorched through the middle of the fabric, the moonstone beading melted and blackened.

"Oops, sorry Violette... I accidentally burned your dress. You're not going to blame me, right?" Irene said with a cynical smile on her lips, not attempting to hide that it was intentional.

"Mommy, look at this ugly necklace! The chain is broken!" Damien exclaimed, pointing to Violette's broken necklace.

"Damien, don't be naughty, Sweetie. That's Violette's precious necklace."

"This ugly necklace is useless. It breaks so easily!" Damien stuck out his tongue and threw the necklace carelessly, causing the diamond pendant to separate and shatter on the floor.

Irene chuckled, then looked at Violette with a satisfied smile. "Looks like you can't wear that dress and jewelry. If you want, I can lend you my old dress."

Violette's hands clenched and trembled as she tried to hold back her anger. "Irene, watch your attitude in my den. Don't try to provoke me if you don't want to regret it."

Irene flicked her hair back over her neck with a haughty attitude, the cloying sweetness of night-blooming jasmine and warm honey rolling off her in waves, that acrid chemical undertone barely masked beneath. "Still pretending to be the Luna of this pack? Tsk, did you know that Hans and I mated on your bed?" She showed the bite mark on her neck, the skin bruised and raw where teeth had broken through. "Look, he's so wild and can't stop. He said he was bored to death when he was with you. You can't make him excited because you're like..."

Before Irene could finish her sentence, Violette slapped her hard. Her expression was very dark.

"Irene, you're just Hans' kept she-wolf. Hans doesn't even dare to claim you before the pack and show you to everyone. Don't overstep your bounds. I've been patient enough with you! If you provoke me again, you'll suffer the consequences."

Violette didn't want to waste her energy dealing with a mistress, especially since she was going to sever her bond with Hans. But Irene repeatedly provoked her, causing her patience to run out.

Irene glared at Violette with red, hate-filled eyes. Her lips curled into a cynical smile as she glanced at the door, seeing Hans approaching from a distance.

"You evil woman! How dare you hit my mom!" Damien shouted and bit Violette's hand.

"Damien, let go!" Violette shouted, pushing Damien away, but he bumped into the ironing board.

Irene suddenly grabbed Damien and protected him, just as the iron fell on her shoulder.

"Akhhh..." Her cry was loud. She cried as she hugged Damien in her arms. "Violette, I know Damien isn't your biological pup, but you don't have to burn him with an iron! He's just a little boy! You'd better burn me instead!"

"Irene!" Hans rushed in and took the hot iron away. He stood up and slapped Violette very hard.

"Violette, this time you've gone too far in hurting Damien and Irene!"

The slap was so hard that it tore the corner of Violette's lip. This was the first time Hans had ever hit her. The scent of charred oak and black iron flooded the chamber as his Alpha aura flared, pressing down on her like a physical weight. Her wolf, already battered, went completely still inside her chest.

Violette smiled bitterly as she wiped the blood from the corner of her lip.

"I didn't mean to hurt Damien. But Irene started the fight by destroying my dress and jewelry."

The second slap struck Violette's face again.

"Just because of a dress and some jewelry, you had the heart to burn Damien and Irene with an iron. Your heart is so cruel," Hans snapped. "You have to apologize to Irene!"

Violette gritted her teeth. "Don't you dare tell me to apologize to that bitch!"

"You..." Hans was about to hit her again, but seeing Violette's face already bruised and the corner of her lip torn, he lowered his hand, feeling guilty. However, when he saw Irene crying protectively as she hugged Damien, her back injured, his heart hardened.

He lifted Irene into his arms, then ordered the guards.

"Lock Violette in her quarters and don't give her food or drink until she apologizes."

Violette stared coldly at his back. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She wiped them away roughly.

*Enough, Violette. Don't cry for him anymore!*

---

Violette was locked up without food or drink. Her mother reached out again through the mind-link stone, asking why she had let Hans take Irene to the Blackthorn pack gathering in her place.

Apparently, to calm Irene down, Hans had taken her to the Blackthorn pack gathering and given her the finest dress and jewelry. They had claimed that Violette was ill and had asked her sister-in-law to replace her.

Even though they were in another territory, the Ashwood Pack received a steady flow of information about what was happening here.

Violette wiped her forehead, then ended the mind-link with her mother. Her ears hurt from hearing her mother's accusations.

After that night, Hans didn't come back to the den and took Irene and Damien on a tour through the Italian coastal territories, the Eastern wolf sanctuaries, and the Greek island packs.

Irene showed off their trip in memory stone recordings that she sent nonstop to Violette's mind-link stone. Everything, without exception, including intimate images and recordings of them tangled together in bed, Hans's bite marks fresh on Irene's skin.

Meanwhile, Violette was still locked up. The pack servant gave her food and drink, kept asking if she had apologized, and then reported it to Hans.

Violette survived by drinking water from the basin in her bathing chamber.

Hans extended her confinement until they returned from the trip.

When Violette thought she was dying and starving to death, she woke up in her chamber with a healer's infusion tube attached to her hand. The faint scent of lavender and rain-washed stone, her own scent, had gone thin and sour, like something wilting.

Hans sat on the side of the bed with a stiff face and guilt covered by an angry gaze.

"If only you had admitted your mistake earlier, this wouldn't have happened."

Violette covered her face. She didn't want to see Hans's face. The man who had torn her heart apart. Her wolf lay flat and silent somewhere deep inside her, barely a flicker. It didn't even lift its head at the sound of his voice.

Hans sighed.

"Violette, stop being stubborn and just apologize to Irene."

Irene appeared behind Hans. The sickly-sweet scent of jasmine and honey drifted in with her, and beneath it, that wrongness that always made Violette's wolf pace. She smiled understandingly and said softly, "Hans, it's okay. Violette is the daughter of the Ashwood bloodline. Of course, her pride is so high that she won't apologize to me, who is nobody."

Hans glared at Violette angrily.

"Being the daughter of the Ashwood bloodline has made you so arrogant!"

Violette did not answer and closed her eyes.

"Are you going to keep your mouth shut? Fine, shut your mouth forever!" Hans rose from beside her bed, his Alpha aura flaring hot against the walls before he stormed out of the room.

He stopped outside the door and spoke to one of the pack servants, his voice flat and absolute. "From now on, Violette is not allowed to leave the estate. Her daily rations are bread and water. She needs to learn to live like a packless stray. Don't give her anything else."

In the days that followed, she ate only bread and water. Her body grew thinner, more fragile. The wolf inside her, already quiet, grew quieter still, curling into a tight knot somewhere beneath her ribs as if trying to make itself small enough to disappear.

This made Irene feel powerful in the den. She took the opportunity to torment Violette further, ordering the servants to give her stale bread, days old, sometimes spotted with mold. The scent of night-blooming jasmine and warm honey drifted through the halls more frequently now, layered over something acrid that no one else seemed to notice.

Violette consoled herself with the fact that her bond-severance was only five days away. She spent her time in her glass greenhouse at the edge of the estate grounds.

She heard the servants whispering just outside the greenhouse walls, thinking Violette couldn't hear them. But even starved, even diminished, a wolf's hearing was a wolf's hearing.

"Oh my... I've never seen Alpha Blackthorn so wild and reckless during a rut. He's never been like that with the Luna."

The servants giggled.

"I feel sorry for the Luna. She has no idea that while she's locked away, her mate is bedding another woman right next to her chamber."

"Shh, you don't know. The Luna is as cold as silver. She must be boring in bed, which is why the Alpha lost interest. Besides, we all know that five years ago, Alpha Blackthorn's first obsession was Irene. I'm sure the death of the second young master had something to do with the Alpha wanting to claim his brother's mate. Damien must be his biological pup. Otherwise, why would Alpha Blackthorn name him heir to the Blackthorn Pack?"

"That's for sure. Since Miss Thornveil moved into the den, the Alpha smiles more often. He treats her like a Luna. They go on retreats to different territories, just the three of them — the Alpha, Damien, and Miss Thornveil. They're the real family."

Violette's hand clenched around the watering can. She stayed still until the servants had gone.

She came out of the greenhouse and nearly collided with Damien, who was running down the corridor. He almost knocked her over.

Violette caught his hand before Damien fell.

"Damien, I've told you many times not to run. You'll get hurt," she said gently.

Although Damien was Irene's pup, Violette had raised him since he was a newborn. She still loved him.

"Stop pretending to care about me! You're not my mother! I hate you!" Damien snapped and shoved her away. His scent hit her — milk and grass and something faintly sour, like unripe fruit. Not a trace of Blackthorn iron or char.

"Damien," Violette looked at him, her expression heavy with sorrow. "Even though I'm not your birth mother, you shouldn't yell at me and be rude to me. I have raised and loved you all this time."

Damien grinned arrogantly.

"You're only pretending to be nice to me because you're afraid Daddy will leave you! You're a barren she-wolf who's jealous of my mommy! If you're nice and beg me, I might persuade Daddy not to throw you out of this pack, you barren she-wolf."

Violette stared at him in pain, her voice choked. "Damien, who taught you to say such cruel things?"

"Is that wrong? You're barren. My daddy only loves my mommy! You forced my mommy to go abroad and took me away from her. If it weren't for you, me, Daddy, and Mommy would have been living happily together for a long time!"

Damien pushed Violette roughly, hard, until she fell onto the stone floor.

A sharp pain tore through her stomach. Her face turned pale.

"Damien, don't be rough!" Hans appeared suddenly, Irene at his side.

He scolded Damien and pushed him back without thinking, then crouched beside Violette, his expression flickering with something that might have been worry. "Are you okay?"

"My stomach..."

Before Violette could finish, Damien's loud wailing filled the corridor.

"Daddy doesn't love me anymore! Mommy, it hurts!"

Hans's attention snapped to Damien, who was crying in Irene's arms. His small palms were scraped and bleeding.

"Hans, I'm sorry for Damien's behavior. Please don't hurt him like this. After all, Damien is small — how could he push someone as big as Violette to the ground?" Irene said. Her eyes were teary, tears streaming down her beautiful blue eyes as if her heart ached to see her pup hurt. The jasmine-and-honey scent around her thickened, cloying, pulling at something instinctive in Hans's wolf.

A guilty expression flashed across Hans's face, and he quickly gathered Damien into his arms. "I'm sorry, Daddy was wrong. Damien, don't cry anymore."

"Daddy, it hurts, my hands are bleeding..."

"Daddy will take you to the Healing Hall." Hans stood up, his voice tight with anxiety.

"Hans, my stomach hurts..." Violette tried to call out to him, her voice weak from the pain spreading through her body.

Hans turned without glancing at Violette and left.

Irene smiled triumphantly at Violette, then followed Hans out.

Violette lowered her eyes to the cold ground, her shoulders slumped as if she had lost all hope. She covered her face and laughed. Her hopes had soared for a moment when Hans showed concern for her, then those hopes fell cruelly in an instant.

The laughter turned into cries of pain.

Pain spread through her body. She curled up on the stone floor, feeling warm liquid flowing down her thigh. Violette's face paled as she saw blood flowing from her leg and pooling on the ground. Her wolf, that faint and starving thing inside her, let out a sound she had never heard it make — a low, thin keening, barely there, like something dying far away.

"Ah! Luna!" A groundskeeper passing by found her and shouted in panic as he rushed over. "I'll contact Alpha Blackthorn."

Violette immediately gripped his hand. "No need. Send for a healer's litter. Take me to the Healing Hall. And please tell them to keep my identity confidential."

They arrived at the Healing Hall. As Violette had requested, the healers kept her presence there confidential.

"Where is Alpha Blackthorn? We've tried reaching him through the mind-link stone, but he's not responding!" a healer's assistant said anxiously. "We need him to authorize the ritual."

"Luna, what should we do? Alpha Blackthorn isn't answering even though I've reached out twenty times using your signal," the groundskeeper said, his voice strained.

The head healer spoke gravely. "We can't wait. The situation could be dangerous for the Luna if we delay any longer. This pup cannot be saved because of the delay, and the Luna's body is severely malnourished..."

Violette turned to look at the healer's assistant and took the consent parchment. "Perform the ritual. This pup... I don't need it anymore."

She had waited for this pup for fifteen years. She found out about her pregnancy today and lost it on the same day.

Hans had always looked forward to a pup of their own coming into their lives. But he wasn't there when this pup needed him to save her.

Violette pulled the mating band from her finger and dropped it in the waste bin.

"Understood. We'll begin immediately, Luna."

Violette stared at the ceiling of the ritual chamber. Her face was pale, her lips colorless and marked with bite marks because she kept biting them.

The healers moved around her, preparing instruments and laying out herbs.

"Luna Blackthorn, we're about to begin. We'll administer a sleeping draught so you won't feel any pain."

"No need. Don't sedate me."

She needed a reminder of when the fully formed pup was taken from her womb and how Hans was not present.

"Very well. Begin the ritual."

"Yes, healer."

Violette felt something being pulled from her body, and the pain grew sharper. She tried not to cry, but her tears could no longer be held back. Somewhere inside her chest, the place where her wolf lived went completely silent. Not keening. Not whimpering. Silent, the way a room goes silent after someone has stopped breathing.

"It's over, Luna. The pup has been removed."

Violette felt her body go weak, and everything went dark.

Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.