I shoved the two warriors aside with all my strength.

"Get out of my way!" Desperation gave me a power I never knew I had.

I scooped Gale up and ran for the main gate like a madwoman.

He felt lighter in my arms, his breathing growing fainter.

A horrifying trail of crimson marked my path on the ground.

"Hang on, baby. Mommy's taking you to a doctor."

I reached the parking lot, fumbling to open the car door.

I jammed the key in the ignition and twisted.

Nothing.

"No, no, no…" I twisted the key again and again.

The engine just made a choked, clicking sound before falling silent.

Someone had tampered with my car.

An image of Sophia’s triumphant face flashed in my mind.

"That bitch!" I cursed, picking Gale up and running back.

I needed to borrow a car.

I needed to beg someone for help.

But as I reached the garden entrance, I saw a sight that shattered my heart.

Adrian was kneeling before Sophia, gently wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

"It's okay, don't be scared," his voice was softer than I had ever heard it. "That crazy woman won't bother you again."

"Adrian, I'm begging you!" I dropped to my knees in front of him.

Gale was unconscious in my arms, his face as white as a sheet. "Save him! He's your blood! He's called you Dad for eight years!"

Tears blurred my vision, but I could clearly see that Adrian didn't even glance down at Gale.

"That's enough, Elena. Your act is pathetic."

I was holding my dying son, sobbing my heart out on the ground.

He called it an act?

"He's dying!" My voice shattered. "He's only eight!"

"A child of my bloodline doesn't die so easily," Adrian said, standing up and dusting off his pants. "I know you're jealous of me and Sophia, but you don't have to resort to such vicious lies."

"Ma'am, I'll take you." A young voice spoke up.

Adrian's Beta, Tyler, was suddenly beside me.

Without asking for permission, he gently took Gale from my arms.

"Quick! Get in the car!"

The car sped through the night.

I held my son tightly, feeling his life slipping away.

His body was getting colder, his breathing shallower.

"Faster, please, go faster!"

"I'm already at top speed," Tyler’s voice was tense. "Hang on, we're almost there."

But of all the terrible luck, we got into a car crash right in front of the emergency room.

"Luna, I'll handle the accident! You get Gale to a doctor! I promised the Alpha I'd take care of—"

"Doctor! Help!" Gale was a dead weight in my arms.

I didn't hear the rest of what Tyler said.

I just grabbed my bloody son and ran inside.

The heavy doors swung shut.

The red light above the door lit up.

I collapsed onto a cold chair, my hands covered in my son's blood.

It was still warm, as if he had just been talking in my arms moments ago.

Suddenly, Adrian's voice echoed in my head through the mind link.

I took a deep breath and answered.

"Elena, where are you?" His tone was rushed, as if he wanted to calm me down quickly. "I know you're angry. I didn't expect my mother to do that. But trust me, this is just a temporary measure!"

"A temporary measure?" my voice was a hoarse whisper.

"For the good of the pack, I need to mate with Sophia. But I swear to you, my heart is only with you. Once I've secured my position as Alpha…"

The good of the pack?

My son was fighting for his life, and he was talking about the pack?

"Your son is dying!"

"Enough! Stop threatening me with that. He has werewolf blood, his healing is strong enough. There's no way he's in any real danger!"

I heard a door open on his end.

Adrian, in his arrogance, hadn't even bothered to close the mind link.

"Darling, did that crazy woman give you any more trouble?" Sophia's sweet voice dripped with venom.

"No, my love," Adrian’s voice was gentle.

"You're so clever, fooling her with that fake mark for so long," Sophia giggled. "If I hadn't needed time to clean up my own mess in Europe, you wouldn't have been stuck playing house with her for so long."

Playing house.

There it was again.

"Elena was just a substitute I found while you were away," Adrian's breathing grew heavy, as if he was lost in Sophia's kisses. "Now that I've gotten what I needed from her, it's time to get rid of her."

"What about the little wolf pup? Won't you feel guilty if he actually dies?" Sophia's voice was closer now.

"Guilty about what?" Adrian scoffed. "He's just a mutt. He's not a threat. This is all just a game Elena is playing."

Tears streamed down my face as I cut the link.

I couldn't listen anymore.

Eight years.

My entire eight-year union was an elaborate, carefully planned lie.

Everything I had given up for him meant nothing.

I was just a substitute, a plaything.

And my son, the boy who asked me every day, "When is Daddy coming home?" was nothing but a "mutt" to him.

The emergency room doors opened.

A doctor took off his mask and walked toward me, his eyes full of apology.

"I'm so sorry. We did everything we could. The child lost too much blood, and… he didn't have a werewolf's regenerative abilities…"

A primal howl of pure agony tore from my throat.

The next second, I threw myself onto Gale's cold, still body.

For eight long years, my Gale had lived like a rogue, never accepted by his father's pack.

I just wanted to hear him call me 'Mommy' one more time.

But now, he just lay there.

His sweet face was colorless, so quiet, as if he had never been in this world at all.

Fueled by overwhelming grief and rage, the ancient seal that had suppressed my power for eight years shattered into dust.

A primal and pure Alpha power erupted from me, so immense that every werewolf in the hospital felt it and dropped to their knees in terror.

I held Gale and cried all night.

When the sun rose, I shakily called my father to handle Gale's arrangements.

Then, I went home, clutching Gale's last belongings.

The broken medal I’d fished from the trash, and his favorite stuffed toy.

The moment I pushed open the door, the cloying, tangled scents of Adrian and Sophia hit me like a physical blow.

They dared…

On the night my son died, in our home, they were celebrating their victory.

I stood in the doorway, my eyes fixed on Sophia’s coat hanging from the staircase banister.

Right where Gale used to love to slide down.

Footsteps sounded from upstairs.

Adrian descended the stairs gracefully, with a disheveled Sophia trailing behind him.

When they saw me, Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Elena, you're back." His gaze swept over me. "Your scent… it's different."

He studied me, a flicker of confusion in his eyes before they iced over once more.

He straightened the cuffs of his shirt.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter. There's something I need to tell you."

I clutched the bundle in my arms tighter.

"Tomorrow afternoon at two is my official mating ceremony with Sophia," Adrian announced calmly. "The pack Elders will preside."

"Mating ceremony?" my voice was a rasp.

"That's right," Sophia said, linking her arm through Adrian's, her face glowing with triumph.

"We'll be formally bonded before the altar of the Moon Goddess. You're welcome to come. Though…"

Her eyes landed on the bundle in my arms with disgust.

"And what is that? Are you dragging that filth into my home now?"

I carefully placed the bundle on the coffee table.

"Gale is dead." My voice was quiet, but it echoed in the silent living room.

Adrian paused his cuff-adjusting for a second, then continued.

"Elena, this act of yours is getting more and more pathetic."

"Acting?" I couldn't believe it. "My son is dead!"

"Enough," Adrian said, his gaze cold. "Are you still sticking to that lie? How could my bloodline not have regenerative abilities?!"

"He's really dead!" I screamed. "Head trauma! He bled out!"

"Then why are you here?" Sophia sneered. "If he were really dead, wouldn't you be busy burying him?"

She had a point.

If a child truly died, what mother would come home so quickly?

"Elena," Adrian shook his head. "I can't believe your stubbornness. You've become a pathological liar."

"It's not a lie!" I lunged for the bundle, wanting to unwrap it and show them.

But Adrian grabbed my wrist.

"Elena, drop the act," his grip was like iron. "I'm not changing my mind because of your threats."

"Sophia will be my one and only Luna." Every word was a dagger in my heart. "Pack your things. Be out of here by tomorrow."

"This is our home!"

"No, this is property of the Blackwood pack," Adrian corrected me. "You were merely a temporary resident."

Sophia smirked.

"Elena, don't be so tasteless. You've enjoyed a life that wasn't yours for eight years. You should be grateful."

"I gave everything for this family!"

"Gave?" Adrian scoffed. "What did you give? You spent my money, lived in my house, and used my status to show off."

"I suppressed who I am for you!"

"That was your choice."

I looked at this man, the man I had loved for eight years.

The way he looked at me now, it was like he was looking at a crazy stranger.

"I told you, Gale is really dead," I tried one last time.

"Elena," Adrian's voice turned dangerous. "If you repeat that vicious lie one more time, don't blame me for what happens next."

"Slander?"

"Making up your child's death to get sympathy, what else would you call it?" Sophia stood up. "Adrian, don't waste any more time on this woman."

I looked at the bundle on the table, which seemed to radiate a cold stillness.

No one believed me.

Even my son's death was just a performance in their eyes.

On the back of my neck, the fake mark, battered by the raw power of my unleashed royal blood, began to flake away like dead skin, revealing the pure, unblemished skin beneath.

"I'll go," I said, struggling to my feet. "But you will regret this."

"Regret what?" Sophia laughed. "Regret getting rid of a nuisance like you?"

I walked toward the door.

"Just you wait."

————

Adrian's POV

The next afternoon.

The Blackwood pack's mating ceremony was held at the ancient altar of the Moon Goddess.

The Elder's voice boomed, reciting the sacred vows as every pack member watched the holy moment.

The statue of the Moon Goddess looked solemn in the candlelight.

"Adrian Blackwood, do you willingly accept Sophia as your mate…"

The ceremony was proceeding smoothly.

But Adrian couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Elena's behavior yesterday…

He had assumed she was just struggling to accept his relationship with Sophia and was acting out for his attention.

But today, she was nowhere to be seen.

He had planned to wait until this was over, until he had the full power of an Alpha, to go and explain everything to Elena.

The mark was fake, but his love for her, he told himself, had never been.

A wave of panic suddenly washed over him.

"Where is Tyler?" He suddenly remembered telling Tyler to go help Elena last night, but he'd never heard back.

The mind link wasn't connecting.

He sent Tyler a text.

Go check on Elena and Gale. See what they're doing.

The ceremony continued.

"And now, the couple will exchange vows…"

Just then, Tyler burst into the ceremonial grounds.

He was pale, his forehead beaded with sweat.

"Alpha!" he cried, rushing to Adrian, his voice trembling. "Something's happened!"

Everyone stopped and stared.

"Gale… Gale is really dead!" Tyler's voice was practically a shout. "I just confirmed it with the hospital!"