(Rosienne’s POV)

"Your mother was the Alpha's secret lover. So what does that make you?"

Alpha Darius of the Redclaw Pack slipped the moonstone ring onto my finger before those cruel words left his mouth.

I froze beneath the silver glow of the packhouse lanterns. "Darius, what are you saying?"

"It means you're fit to become one too, sweetheart."

I stared at him in disbelief. His face carried no trace of a joke.

"I want you to stay by my side as my hidden mate."

My chest tightened.

"There is a new she wolf serving in the Moonfang Territory," he continued calmly. "She's clever, beautiful, and comes from a strong bloodline. I plan to make her my Luna."

"Then what am I?"

He forced a look of false pity onto his face.

"Your mother knew she was involved with a bonded Alpha and still stayed. Why can't you do the same?"

——

It took me a long moment to answer.

"My mother made her own choices. I will not live as someone's secret mate."

"Really?"

A mocking chuckle escaped him.

"Then our bond ends here."

"Fine. Then it's over."

Long ago, I swore beneath the Moon Goddess that I would never become the other woman. Not in this life.

But Darius never knew that vow.

He reached over and brushed my hair gently, just as he always did.

"Stop acting stubborn. Without me, how would you survive in these territories?"

"Your mother was shamed by every pack until she took her own life beneath the Blood Moon. Your father, a former Alpha, never claimed you. The only reason nobody dares mock you now is because of me."

A soft laugh escaped my lips.

Who said Darius was the reason nobody touched me?

I still had a family, Aunt Sorenna.

She ruled one of the largest northern werewolf territories across the sea. Even Alphas bowed their heads when speaking to her.

Last week, she found me and asked if I wanted to leave these kingdoms and live with her in her territory.

I refused because I could not leave Darius behind. But now...

I pulled out my crystal communicator and sent her a message.

[Auntie, I've decided. I'll go with you.]

Her reply came instantly. [Wonderful. My private aircraft will arrive in three days.]

It should have made me happy. Yet tears still rolled down my cheeks before I could stop them. My heart burned sharply, as if venomous claws had torn through it.

I had planned to tell Darius about Aunt Sorenna as a surprise.

But now, there was no reason anymore.

When Darius saw my tears, he assumed I could not bear losing him. He gently wiped beneath my eyes with his thumb.

"See? The moment I mention ending things, you cry like this. If I truly abandoned you, you'd completely fall apart."

"You won't gain anything by fighting with me. If you don't want to become alone again, then listen to me and behave."

I sniffled quietly and stayed silent. But Darius mistook my silence for obedience. He started the black wolf forged car, then suddenly paused.

"Oh, right. From now on, you sit in the back seat whenever you're with me. She said the seat beside me belongs only to her now. I gave her my word, and I don’t break promises."

He glanced at me proudly.

"You know the kind of Alpha I am. I promised to protect you for life, and even after taking another Luna, I'll still provide for you."

A pleased smile spread across his face.

"You probably haven't heard yet, but in three days, she and I will complete our moon binding ceremony. I spent months persuading her before she finally agreed. I cannot upset her now. She's far harder to comfort than you."

His eyes softened with affection.

"She calls herself a red moon rose. And if you love the flower, you must accept its thorns."

Darius was completely lost in thoughts of her.

But those thorns felt like they were stabbing into me instead.

A sharp pain suddenly pierced my palm. I lowered my gaze.

While removing my seatbelt, my hand had brushed against a silver earring left on the seat. Its pointed edge cut through my skin.

When I opened my hand, blood was already gathering in my palm.

Darius noticed immediately. His voice rose sharply.

"How can you be this careless?"

For one foolish second, I thought he was worried about me. I almost told him it was nothing, that this pain was far smaller than the ache inside my chest.

But his next words crushed me completely.

"That belongs to her. She's obsessed with cleanliness. If she finds out her favorite earring was stained with your blood, she'll be furious."

(Rosienne’s POV)

So my blood was filthy in his eyes.

The pain in my hand spread upward until my head began to ache. The entire world felt unsteady around me. I stared at Darius silently for a long time before a trace of guilt finally crossed his face.

He lowered his eyes.

"I'll ignore it this once. I'll help you hide it from her. But don't touch her belongings again."

Then he pulled out a cleansing cloth infused with moon herb water and carefully wiped the earring clean.

My palm was still bleeding. I could feel the warm blood running down onto my thigh, but I sat there numbly. My lips would not move. My hands would not respond.

I simply sat frozen in place.

After cleaning the earring, he wrapped it gently in fresh cloth and placed it inside the storage compartment beside him. Only then did he finally look back at me.

"Why are you still sitting there? I told you to move to the back seat. Didn't you hear me?"

Something inside my mind finally snapped awake.

"Forget it. I'll call for a carriage wolf."

"Fine," Darius replied calmly. "The Crimson Moon banquet is tonight. I still need to accompany her to choose a ceremonial gown. Go back to your dormitory yourself."

He pushed open the carriage door for me before speeding away through the storm without looking back once.

Rain poured heavily from the dark sky. Yet he did not even leave me an umbrella.

By the time I reached the public carriage station, I was completely soaked. Every werewolf standing there stared at me like I had lost my mind.

Maybe I had.

Because even after everything, my foolish heart still remembered every gentle thing Darius Redclaw had once done for me.

The truth about my mother was exposed when I turned eighteen.

She had been another Alpha's hidden lover.

She drove the Luna into despair until the woman took her own life beneath the cliffside river. The unborn pup in her womb died as well.

My mother believed the Luna's death would clear her path to becoming the new mate. But after losing his family, the Alpha finally came to his senses.

He abandoned my mother completely.

My mother tried using me to force him to acknowledge us, but his heart never softened. In the end, my mother raised me alone.

Eighteen years later, the Alpha publicly confessed his sins before the entire werewolf kingdom.

The kingdom condemned him. But at the same time, they uncovered my mother's identity.

Once they exposed her name, it did not take long for everyone to find me too.

Even after the endless hatred drove my mother to jump from the Moon Bridge tower, the she wolves who suffered because of broken mating bonds still refused to leave me alone.

They followed me everywhere, both inside and outside academy.

The students there were less cruel. They whispered behind my back and pointed at me whenever I passed.

"A woman like her mother deserved death!"

"Look at her face. She's even more shameless than the one who gave birth to her."

I knew my mother was guilty. And because of her, I believed part of that guilt belonged to me too.

So I never fought back. I allowed them to throw their anger at me.

That nightmare lasted nearly a year. Then Darius Redclaw appeared and protected me.

"Who says the daughter of a hidden lover will become one herself?!" He grabbed one angry she wolf by the wrist and spoke coldly. "What does your daughter do in this territory?"

The woman immediately lifted her chin proudly. "My daughter works as a record keeper for the Silverfang Pack."

Darius looked at her calmly. "And what work do you do?"

The woman froze awkwardly before another person answered for her.

"She cooks meals for construction workers near the eastern border."

Darius smiled faintly. "See? Your daughter didn’t become the same as you."

After that day, fewer people came to trouble me. Then slowly, my life became peaceful again.

Darius began openly courting me. Whenever it rained, he held an umbrella over my head. When the summer sun burned strongly, he shielded me with his body. Every night after moon studies ended, he walked me back to my dormitory without fail.

Inside the dining hall, whenever students deliberately poured leftover soup and scraps onto my seat out of hatred, Darius would immediately step forward.

"Tell me something," he said coldly. "Which one of you had the right to choose your parents before birth?"

(Rosienne’s POV)

The entire classroom became silent.

Darius looked around coldly before speaking again.

"Then answer me this. Can any of you swear beneath the Moon Goddess that every one of your parents and blood ancestors lived without sin?"

One by one, the students lowered their heads in shame.

I was moved too. I fell for the sharp justice in his words and the calm confidence in his voice.

So when Darius asked me to become his mate, I agreed.

Truthfully, before meeting him, I had never once thought about love. My mother's scandal left deep wounds inside me, and I carried those shadows everywhere.

Then Darius appeared like moonlight breaking through darkness. Slowly, he warmed every cold corner of my heart.

And now I stood beneath the heavy rain, unable to understand anything anymore.

How did the man who once saved me become this stranger?

Darkness suddenly swallowed my vision. I collapsed onto the ground.

When I woke again, night had already fallen across the territory.

I was lying inside the healer's chamber with a spirit drip connected to the back of my hand. Moon infused medicine flowed slowly into my veins.

The healer spoke softly, "Your emotions have been unstable for too long. You need proper rest and peace."

"Okay."

The word had barely left my mouth when my crystal communicator rang.

It was Darius.

I hesitated several times before finally answering.

"Greyla's gown got stained," he said immediately. "Go bring over the Selene Vaultere dress I prepared for you. She needs another one for tonight."

So her name was Greyla…

I repeated it silently in my heart.

The Selene Vaultere gown...

Darius once hired royal designers from the western Alpha Kingdom to create it according to my exact measurements.

It was meant to be worn during our future mating ceremony.

Back then, he would not even allow others to touch it. He said even fingerprints would ruin its meaning.

Now he casually handed it to another woman.

Perhaps it truly meant nothing anymore.

Still...

"Darius, I'm still receiving treatment right now."

"You're not dying, are you? Why do you even need treatment?" His voice turned cold. "Do not test my patience tonight, or you will regret it."

Fine…

I would do this one final thing for him. A repayment for the kindness he once gave me.

I asked the healer to remove the needle before the medicine finished. Then I left the clinic, stepped back into the storm, returned home by carriage wolf, took the gown, and rushed toward the grand hotel without stopping once.

Darius spoke again over the crystal communicator, "Greyla is waiting at the entrance. She wants to thank you personally. Behave properly when you meet her."

I quietly hummed in response before ending the call. But the thing Greyla gave me was not gratitude.

It was a slap across my face.

I never saw it coming.

My head snapped to the side as my body stumbled backward. The gown slipped from my hands and fell onto the wet ground.

Greyla instantly burst into tears. Her voice trembled pitifully.

"If you didn't want to bring the gown, you could've simply refused. Why throw it onto the ground like that?"

I had never been skilled at understanding hidden meanings.

I couldn’t understand what game she was playing.

But Darius understood immediately. He rushed out of the hotel within seconds.

Greyla quickly clung to him.

"Darius, is this what you meant when you promised she would behave? That she would not cause trouble for me?"

Darius lowered his eyes toward the gown lying on the ground. And just like that, he made his decision.

Another slap struck my face hard.

"I've spoiled you too much," he said coldly. "Apologize to Greyla. Right now."

I laughed softly. The kind of laugh born from anger that had already broken past its limit.

"Darius, can you even hear yourself?" I asked bitterly. "Did you once ask where the handprint on my cheek came from?"

Greyla did not even try hiding the truth. She held onto Darius's sleeve and looked up innocently.

"I slapped her. Will you blame me for it, Darius? I only got angry because she threw the dress onto the ground. I couldn't control my temper."

"You know my personality," she continued softly. "I've always been sensitive."

Darius wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"I'm not angry," he said gently. "She deserved it."

Greyla looked at me with a victorious smile. I smiled back. Tears rolled down my face, yet I still smiled.

The true fool here was me. But even a fool only needed to endure three more days.

Three days later, I would disappear completely from their world.

Darius, I truly hope you do not become the same kind of man who destroyed my mother.