His voice sounded soft, almost gentle...yet his eyes held the chill of a winter moon.

“Eirene,” Jareth murmured, “this is for your own good… and for Lucienne’s safety. Don’t worry. The Moon-Healer’s procedure won’t hurt much.”

Something in his calm expression made dread coil in my chest.

I narrowed my eyes. “Jareth… what are you planning?”

He met my stare with eerie stillness. His words, however, were sharp enough to cut flesh.

“As long as you’re unable to carry a child, you won’t be a danger to her unborn pup,” he said evenly. “It’s a small rune-binding, nothing more. Once her child is born and thriving, I’ll have the Healers remove it.”

His tone softened, almost coaxing.

That was when the truth struck me like a blow.

He wanted to have the Moon-Healers bind my womb... a forced infertility sigil!

My blood ran cold.

“You’re out of your mind!” I shouted, voice raw. “Jareth, you’ve lost every shred of sense!”

I tried to push past him, but his warriors stepped forward, blocking the door with their towering forms.

In the end, they dragged me across the Moon-Healer wing, my cries echoing against the stone and pinned me onto the cold ritual slab.

Tears blurred my vision as I glared up at Jareth.

“Jareth! Let me go!” I screamed. “I’ve told you...I’m innocent! If you do this, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll walk away!”

But my words meant nothing.

He simply gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

“You adore me too much, Eirene,” he said softly. “You’d never truly leave.”

My entire body trembled.

The next moment, cold moon-infused anesthesia seeped into my veins like liquid frost.

Right before darkness took me, I heard the Moon-Healer’s hesitant whisper.

“Alpha… she miscarried only days ago. If I place the sigil now, even removing it later may not restore her ability to bear a pup. Are you certain?”

Jareth didn’t hesitate.

“Proceed,” he commanded, voice like ice. “It doesn’t matter if she can’t have children. She can raise Lucienne’s pup.”

A single tear slipped down my cheek.

In that moment, the last fragment of love I had left for him died.

***

When consciousness returned, I lay still, staring blankly at the ceiling. Then, without looking at Jareth, I slowly turned and reached for my communication crystal.

I sent a message to the Silverhart Holdings steward.

His reply came quickly:

Two days.

In two days, I could finally escape this nightmare.

A small, faint smile touched my lips.

Jareth noticed immediately...the way I didn’t glance at him, the quiet smile as I studied the glowing crystal.

His expression darkened.

He snatched it from my hand. “Who are you speaking to?”

But the crystal had already dimmed.

He demanded the unlocking sigil again and again, irritation sharp in his voice.

Tired of his persistence, I finally replied, “The night we first met.”

He went still, caught off guard.

His brows twitched as he tried to recall the memory... but even with Lucienne hovering beside him, he couldn’t unlock it.

I tilted my head slightly, a cold smirk curving my lips.

A flicker of guilt crossed Jareth’s eyes.

Lucienne stepped forward, looping her arm through his. Her voice chimed sweetly, but her gaze shone with triumphant fire.

“Eirene,” she said, “Jareth has asked me to move into the Moonridge Villa you two shared. He wants me close so he can protect me and the pup. We’re hosting a gathering there tonight...you don’t mind, do you?”

I turned away from her, my expression calm, unreadable.

Then I slid off my wedding ring...our Luna-Bond band...and placed it on her palm.

“I don’t mind,” I said quietly. “Take the villa. Take Jareth. I’m finished.”

Eirene’s POV

Jareth’s eyes flashed with sudden panic.

He snatched the Luna-bond ring from Lucienne’s hand and tried to force it back onto my finger.

But my body had grown too thin. The ring slipped again and again...just like our mate bond slipping beyond repair.

Seeing this, he curled his fingers around the ring, a cold, humorless smile twisting his lips.

“You’re alone now, Eirene,” he said softly, mockingly. “No family, no pack of your own. I’m the only wolf you can depend on. Where else do you think you’ll run?”

Then he pulled Lucienne against his chest, arms wrapping around her deliberately. He watched me as though waiting for jealousy to tear me apart.

“You’ll attend the gathering tonight,” he declared. “But the position of Luna… will not be yours.”

He let the words freeze the air before turning away.

***

That evening, I straightened my clothes and returned to Moonridge Villa.

It glowed with warm lights, festive and loud. Even though I’d been gone only a few days, the entire place felt… foreign.

The enormous wedding portrait that once covered the living room wall had been replaced...

with an image of Jareth and Lucienne beneath moonlit blossoms.

The decorations I had chosen were gone, exchanged for pastel colors and delicate florals.

I turned away, trying to remain calm...until I glanced toward the garden.

My breath caught.

The lunar roses were gone. All of them uprooted.

Those roses… a rare breed grown only under sacred moonlight, each worth a fortune. Jareth had planted them for her, each one tended by elite horticrafters.

Once, he told me the garden would never die as long as he lived.

He kept his promise... just not for me.

I let out a humorless laugh and headed toward the staircase.

That was when Lucienne appeared, grabbing my wrist and dragging me to the center of the hall.

Her face glowed with triumph.

“You actually came back,” she said with a glittering smile. “Good. Now you can watch just how deeply Jareth cherishes me.”

I kept my gaze steady. “What do you want from me?”

“I want the Luna title,” she answered instantly. “And I want Jareth.”

I stared at her. “You already have both. What else do you want? Everything that belongs to him...take it. I don’t want any of it.”

She froze. Then, without warning, she slapped herself.

Hard.

In the next breath, she clawed at her own dress, tearing it open.

Before I could react, she grabbed my hands, tears welling in her eyes.

“I know you’ll never let him go,” she whispered shakily.

Just then, Jareth strode out of the hall... right in time to see Lucienne crying, her dress torn, handprints blooming across her cheek.

His eyes widened, then darkened with fury.

“Eirene!” he roared. “Did you learn nothing? I only just let you out of confinement!”

“It wasn’t me...she did it to her...”

Before I could finish, Jareth’s hand clamped around my throat.

Cold. Unyielding. Alpha-level strength.

“If you’re about to tell me to check the scrying stones again, don’t bother,” he hissed. “Lucienne carries my pup. Why would she harm herself? Eirene, you sicken me.”

His eyes burned with hatred.

“Let… go…” I choked out.

Right before I blacked out, he released me, tossing me aside.

Only then did Lucienne rush to him, whimpering, “Jareth, please… stop. I’m all right. I’ll endure it.”

He wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, brushing a thumb over her bruised cheek with tenderness.

Then he turned to me... and in one violent motion, he ripped my dress apart and struck me twice across the face.

“From today onward,” he said coldly, “anything you inflict on Lucienne, I’ll repay upon you tenfold. Now get out. This den is no longer yours.”

My cheek burned, my vision blurred.

Pack members began gathering, murmuring in shock as I stumbled away, clutching the torn fabric.

I ran upstairs.

But before I could change, Jareth’s guards burst in and dragged me out of the villa.

He stood outside, expression blank and merciless.

I didn’t speak. I simply turned and walked away.

Moments later, a car pulled up to fetch me.

I changed into the clothes my assistant brought and called my secretary.

“The Valemont Consortium’s deal is set for tomorrow,” I said. “Release an official statement that Silverhart Holdings is withdrawing... and drag the Darkhowl Pack’s businesses with it. I want Jareth’s entirely in ruins.”

After hanging up, I glanced at the plane ticket glowing on my communication crystal.

Starting tonight, I was finally free.

And Jareth?

He would pay in blood.