My first instinct was to snatch the tablet and rush to show Alaric the evidence.

But when he saw the surveillance footage, his eyes turned cold as ice—the amber of his wolf bleeding away until only frost remained.

"Seren was right. To cover up your filthy heat-breach, you really would frame her for it."

The glamour-detection seal at the end of the recording destroyed me completely. Someone had woven false magic through the images, marking them as fabricated.

Seren threw herself into Alaric's arms, sobbing. He stroked her hair, his wolf rumbling comfort to her, while his lips curled into a sneer aimed at me.

"Like mother, like daughter. Your mother must have been the same—couldn't control her heat, let another male scent-mark her behind your father's back, then killed herself out of guilt when she was about to be caught."

"First you tried to pin your mother's sins on Seren's mother. Now you're pulling the same trick on Seren herself." His voice dripped with contempt. "Did you really think I'd keep falling for your manipulations?"

I stared at him, unable to process what I was hearing.

The deepest, most guarded wound in my soul—and for Seren's sake, he'd turned it into a blade without a moment's hesitation.

My hand flew up to strike him, but Alaric caught my wrist, his Alpha strength crushing, and hurled me to the floor like garbage.

"Without my indulgence, Lyra, do you really think you have the right to bare your claws at me?"

Seren rushed over, pretending to help me up. But as she leaned close, her whisper was pure venom, pitched below even wolf-hearing.

"You're just as stupid as your dead mother. Yes, I did it—but did you really think I'd hand you the evidence on a silver platter?"

"Your mother couldn't beat mine. And you'll never beat me."

Tears streamed down my face, numb and endless. Somewhere in the middle of crying, I started to laugh.

I lunged for the silver letter opener on the nearby table and drove it toward Seren.

Alaric kicked it from my hand. His expression twisted with horror and disgust.

"Have you gone completely insane?"

He swept Seren into his arms and summoned every top healer in the territory to treat her scratch. Then he moved her into my hidden estate—the den that had been my mother's sanctuary.

My condition deteriorated rapidly.

I swallowed calming herbs by the handful. My hair began falling out in clumps. My memory fractured, pieces slipping away like water through cracks.

To survive, I forced myself to stop thinking about Alaric. I locked myself in my chambers and buried myself in restoring ancient moon-scrolls, one crumbling page at a time.

I'd discovered this work by accident after the mating ceremony—a way to escape the pain. Back then, I never imagined it would become my lifeline, the very thing that would help me finally leave Alaric.

I stopped following news about Alaric and Seren.

But as Capital Territory's power couple, their stories found me anyway.

Today, Alaric bought Seren a private hunting ground. Tomorrow, they'd appear at some pack gathering, her arm threaded through his, her scent mingled with his for all to witness.

Seren had seamlessly stepped into the role of Luna Nightfall. Meanwhile, I had been erased from existence—forgotten, as if I'd never been real at all.

At least I'd grown numb enough that the days somehow kept passing.

Six months slipped by. Then one night, Alaric came home.

He was drunk—completely wrecked, his wolf barely leashed beneath his skin. The moment he walked through the door, his mouth crashed into mine.

I kicked. I clawed. I fought. But he was an Alpha unhinged, deaf to everything, his instincts drowning out reason, and he took what he wanted.

The next morning, I woke to a bucket of ice water.

Alaric stood at the bedside, revulsion pouring off him in waves that made my omega instincts cower.

"You're disgusting."

"Crawling into my bed while I was drunk—is that how you used to seduce males?"

He called in a cleansing team to purify the entire master den of my scent. Halfway through, he decided it wasn't enough and had the whole chamber gutted and rebuilt.

I watched in silence. I didn't bother explaining anymore.

Alaric would never believe me anyway.

It wasn't until my follow-up visit to the healer's den that I discovered, completely by accident, that I was carrying a pup.

When the faint, steady flutter of my pup's heartbeat filled the examination chamber, tears I thought had long since dried up spilled down my cheeks again, beyond my control.

I had no one left in this world. Not a single pack member. Not a single soul who loved me.

But this pup—this pup made me greedy.

I wanted to keep it.

I didn't dare let Alaric find out. I was terrified he'd force me to end the pregnancy, to rid himself of any bond to me.

Before I could figure out what to do, disaster struck.

During my second healer visit, a fire broke out in the infirmary den.

As I fled through the smoke-filled corridors, I saw Alaric carrying Seren out of another birthing chamber.

The moment our eyes met, I was shoved by the stampeding wolves and lost my balance, crashing to the stone floor.

Panicked feet trampled over me, one after another.

Crimson blood pooled beneath me, spreading across the cold floor in an instant.

I screamed for help, terrified. Alaric's gaze lingered on me for barely a second—then he turned away, Seren still cradled in his arms, and never looked back.

I lay there in agony, frozen.

So this is where we are now.

I pulled myself out of the memory. My pillow was already soaked with tears.

My hand drifted to my stomach, still aching with a dull, phantom pain. I apologized in silence.

I'm sorry, little one. Your mother couldn't protect you.

And your father... he really, truly doesn't love me anymore.

I should have let go a long time ago.

Just then, a pack messenger arrived with a delivery to my recovery chamber.

It was an official appointment scroll from the High Council Archive.

When I'd returned the restored moon-scrolls to the archive, Healer-Scholar Elowen Frostmere had been astonished by my work. She'd immediately recommended me to her contacts within the Council.

They had already promised: the moment I confirmed my acceptance, the Council would automatically dissolve my mating bond through official writ.

After completing my discharge from the healers, I walked out through the infirmary's main entrance.

Alaric's black carriage was stationed right outside.

He stood with one hand braced against the carriage door, carefully helping Seren inside. His Alpha scent—pine and winter storm—drifted toward me on the wind.

His eyes swept over me. A cold, dismissive smirk tugged at his lips. Then he climbed into the carriage and signaled the driver to leave.

The moment his carriage pulled away, the Council transport they had sent for me arrived, as if on cue.

I climbed in. The carriage made a turn and headed straight for the warded territory gates.