On the night of our fifth mating anniversary, I was five months moon-blessed with our first pup when my parents and I were ambushed at the border of our territory.

As the healers rushed me toward the Moonstone Chamber, I held onto my mate, Alpha Jareth Darkhowl’s hand with everything I had.

“Jareth…” my voice cracked, “hunt down whoever dared attack us!”

His crimson wolf eyes trembled as he bent closer. “It’s already handled,” he vowed.

But before I even woke from the healing trance, I heard him whispering beyond the curtains...speaking to his Gamma.

“Alpha,” the Gamma murmured, “Luna Eirene’s parents… they could’ve survived. Why did you order the healers to withdraw the lunar essence?”

Jareth’s voice was cold, almost bored. “I didn’t want to do it either. But they saw Lucienne’s face. If they lived, she would stand trial before the Council. I couldn’t allow that. This was the only path.”

“Alpha… if the Luna discovers...” Theron hesitated.

“She won’t,” Jareth said sharply. “Take this non-accusation decree to the Council. I’ve already forged her mark. Make sure it never reaches her.”

That’s when it hit me like a claw to the chest. The she-wolf who attacked us… was Lucienne gods-damned Rydell...Jareth’s precious first mate-bond that never snapped.

For that wretch… he let my parents die?!

I was the only one who ever fought for this marriage.

Fine.

If that’s how it was, then I would reclaim every single thing that was mine. And I’d drag Jareth straight into the abyss with me.

***

When they wheeled me out of the chamber, my eyes were still shut, but I heard Jareth again...this time speaking to the healer-sage.

The sage’s voice shook.

“Alpha… the Luna has just lost her family. To take her pup as well...this is too much.”

Jareth paused before replying, voice void of remorse. “This is the perfect moment. No one questions a failed pregnancy after a violent attack. I promised Lucienne she’d be the only one to bear my bloodline. She’s asking me to keep that promise. I can’t say no to her.”

“And what of the Luna?” the sage asked quietly.

“She’ll never know. She will remain by my side...always.”

The sage exhaled heavily. “After the attack and now forcing her body to purge the pup before she’s healed… she may never be able to conceive again.”

I felt Jareth’s presence above me. His hand brushed my hair, gentle...yet the words dripping from him were the cruelest I had ever heard.

“That’s fine. When Lucienne gives birth, Eirene can raise the pup. My child and I will care for her for the rest of her life.”

The moment the door closed behind him, my eyes snapped open.

Tears burned. My entire body shook. I wanted to roar, to shift, to tear him apart...demand why he’d do this to me.

He once knelt before my parents, swearing he would cherish me for all his days.

Five years...just five...and everything had decayed.

No… maybe it was already rotten from the beginning.

Once I learned the truth, everything shattered.

There was no “us” anymore.

He thought he could play the devoted mate and I’d keep believing?

What a joke.

I’d rather rot than spend a lifetime beside that traitor.

There was only one thing left I craved...to bleed his name, his pack and his kingdom dry.

A tribute to the lives he stole from me.

With trembling hands, I grabbed my crystal communicator.

“Brann,” I rasped, “use every resource in my family’s company. Liquidate everything. Transfer it all to the Silver Coast within seven nights.”

There was silence, then my steward asked carefully, “Luna… the Valemont Consortium’s projects are at their peak. A withdrawal now will cripple the pack. Should we notify the Alpha?”

His question froze me for a heartbeat.

“I owe him nothing,” I said sharply. “I’m severing the mate bond.”

Brann fell silent. Who could blame him?

Just days ago, Jareth and I were preparing for our anniversary ritual.

And now… we were a signature away from ending everything.

I stared down at the divorce decree...the severance contract.

My decision was already made.

I would leave this bond...but never empty-handed.

I would take back what was mine.

I would make Jareth pay for every soul he stole.

Just then, his voice rose behind me.

“Eirene… what is that you’re holding?”

I didn’t say a word. I simply placed the severance scroll...the dissolution of our mate bond...into his hand.

Jareth accepted it with a soft smile, wolf-golden eyes filled with a sickeningly gentle facade.

“Eirene… what is this?” he asked again.

He was about to unroll it when his crystal communicator chimed. He tried to hide the glowing rune on the surface, but I clearly saw the name etched across the light:

[My Moon]

I stood right there. I didn’t need a seer to tell me who was calling.

If I hadn’t uncovered the truth, I might’ve snatched the communicator and demanded answers like a naive, jealous mate.

But now, I remained perfectly calm and tugged lightly at his sleeve. “Place your mark on it before you go.”

His brows tightened. The false warmth in his eyes faded, replaced by reprimand.

Yet he still attempted that coaxing tone. “Eirene, I have matters to attend to. I’ll sign it once I return, alright?”

I didn’t move aside. I blocked the doorway, silent and solid as a stone guardian.

Eventually, irritation twisted his brow so hard it looked painful. Without even reading the scroll, he slashed his signature across it in a single stroke.

Before leaving, he glanced back coldly. “You’ve been absurd lately, Eirene. I won’t be returning to the den tonight.”

I only nodded, watching him vanish down the corridor.

Not long after, messages from Lucienne flooded into my crystal device.

The she-wolf got my rune frequency as soon as she returned to Ashenwood and started sending me images of her and Jareth together.

Them locked in a heated kiss beneath the lunar tide. Running hand in hand across sunlit cliffs.

Attending gatherings like a flawless, radiant pair.

At first, I thought she was some delusional imposter. Yet for reasons I didn’t understand, I never blocked her.

Only after the ambush did I realize every image was real.

Those countless nights when Jareth wasn’t at my side…he had been with her.

With that in mind, I saved each image...every vile piece of proof.

When he reached Lucienne, he swept her into his arms almost instantly. Image after image showed him gazing at her with the same tenderness that once belonged to me.

Then, unlike before, Lucienne began sending actual messages.

When I opened them, my blood iced over.

[If I hadn’t stepped away back then, you never would’ve laid a finger on Jareth. Now that I’ve returned, walk away while you still can. Otherwise, I’ll take even more from you.]

[And did you enjoy the gift I sent last time? Your parents’ deaths… and that pathetic unborn pup. My little welcome offering. If you refuse to leave, I’ll make sure you join them.]

As I stared at her words, I could practically hear her venomous voice, see the smug curl of her lips.

And all of it...every ounce of her daring cruelty...was power Jareth allowed her to wield.

I gripped my communicator so tightly the crystal nearly cracked, wishing it were their throats in my hands instead.

That night, Jareth never returned to our den.

(Eirene’s POV)

The next dawn, Jareth didn’t come home. Instead, he sent a short mind-link message through the pack network:

[Eirene, remember you’re visiting the Elder Den today. I’m tied up with Alpha duties, so I sent my beta aide to escort you. Take care.]

I dismissed the link at once, refusing to respond.

Two whole hours passed. No one came. His so-called “beta escort” was nothing but a lie.

I nearly abandoned the trip altogether...until I remembered the two Moonbound relics from our arranged bond, still held at his parents’ manor. They were the last heirlooms left to me after my own parents’ deaths. Relics blessed under the Moon Goddess couldn’t simply be replaced.

So I went.

But the moment I stepped into the Darkhowl Elder Den, the air froze in my lungs.

Lucienne was there.

Laughing sweetly beside Nerielle, Jareth’s mother and the former Luna of the Darkhowl Pack. Lucienne wore shimmering spell-woven robes and resting against her collarbone was a gemstone pulsing with pale lunar light.

I recognized it instantly...the enchanted Moonshard Jareth had fought viciously for at the Nightfall Auction.

Before I could speak, Lucienne noticed me. Triumph flickered in her amber wolf-eyes. Then, with a voice dripping false innocence, she turned to Nerielle.

“Luna Nerielle, I really shouldn’t stay here… Jareth and I were once promised to each other. If Eirene finds out, she’ll be devastated.”

Nerielle snorted, folding her arms.

“Don’t worry about that cursed she-wolf.”

Her voice was as sharp as broken stone. “She brought doom to her bloodline...both her parents dead, her womb too weak to carry a five-moon pup. If not for her parents dying, I would have told Jareth to sever the bond long ago before she drags him into the grave with her.”

Then her expression softened when she turned back to Lucienne.

“The only thing that matters now is the pup you carry. If Eirene dares cause trouble, I’ll cast her out of this den myself.”

My breath lodged in my throat.

Lucienne… pregnant? With Jareth’s pup?

I stared at Nerielle, remembering how she once welcomed me as though I were her own daughter.

When I mated into the Darkhowls, their pack was nearly ruined. My family had poured silver, territory rights and Moonstone resources into saving them.

Lucienne, meanwhile, had fled the continent entirely.

Nerielle used to greet me with open arms.

Now, days after my parents’ funeral, she showed me her true face.

Bitterness twisted inside me.

I turned away, determined to ignore them and head upstairs. But I didn’t get far.

A harsh grip yanked me back.

Nerielle’s glare was venomous, her wolf rising behind her eyes. Lucienne stood beside her, smiling as though she were watching a show.

“Hit her. Twice.” Nerielle snapped at the housekeeper.

“Look at her...moping like a curse walking on two legs. You think we’re obligated to endure her attitude?”

The housekeeper obeyed instantly. Two sharp blows cracked across my face. My cheek seared with heat.

I ripped myself free, hatred burning in my chest like wildfire.

Nerielle saw the look in my eyes and only grew more furious.

“Wretched creature! How dare you glare at me? Planning to strike your Luna Elder? Beat her again...beat her until she learns her place!”

The housekeeper stepped forward.

But before she could hit me again, footsteps descended the stairs.

Jareth.

“Enough!” His voice sliced through the den. “Mother, she is my bonded mate. How can you treat her like this?”

He reached for me, trying to pull me into his arms with feigned concern as he examined the marks on my face.

I slapped his hand away.

Lowered my gaze.

Anything to hide the disgust clawing at me.

Since learning the truth, every touch from him felt like poison.

Jareth stiffened, then exhaled slowly. He turned to his mother.

“Let it go. Lucienne is staying in the den tonight. Didn’t you prepare a chamber for her? Take her to see it.”

Nerielle scoffed.

“Keep defending that cursed witch. One day she’ll drag you to your grave.”

She shot me one more hateful look before leading Lucienne toward the stairs.

As Lucienne passed me, she paused...and smiled.

A heartbeat later, with the grace of a puppet whose strings had snapped, she pitched backward...

tumbling down the stairs.