I was the pack's chief healer and my mate was just an ordinary warrior. Everyone thought we were not a good match, but I didn't mind. I accepted his proposal without hesitation.

But on my mating ceremony, my mate's ex-girlfriend Serena suddenly came in with a little boy. The little boy hugged Marcus' legs and called him daddy.

I thought it was some kind of scam. But when Marcus saw the child's mother, his face went pale. Then he showed an expression I'd never seen before—pure adoration—as he scooped the boy into his arms.

"Let's cancel our mating ceremony. I need to mark Serena first and raise the child with her. Don't worry. Even though I'm marking Serena, my heart belongs to you."

He thought I loved him so much that I chose to be his second mate. He didn't expect that I would just calmly contact my childhood friend Alpha Dominic.

"My mating ceremony is all set up, but I'm missing a male lead. Would you be willing to come mark me?"

1

My fiancé's ex showed up at our mating ceremony with a child in tow, interrupting everything. My fiancé chose to abandon me and mark his ex instead. But when he found out I bonded with my Alpha childhood friend, he completely lost it.

I'm the chief healer of Silvermoon Pack, earning a hundred thousand dollars every month. My fiancé Marcus is just an ordinary warrior whose salary barely reaches a thousand. Not only do I cover most of our living expenses—the house, car, and daily costs—I also help support Marcus's retired parents. But thinking we were about to become mates, I didn't mind any of these sacrifices.

Then at our mating ceremony, a brown-haired little boy suddenly stumbled in, disrupting the entire ritual. He grabbed onto Marcus's leg and called out in his sweet child voice: "Daddy!"

I thought it was some kind of scam. But when Marcus saw the child's mother, his face went pale. Then he showed an expression I'd never seen before—pure adoration—as he scooped the boy into his arms.

Serena was his ex. When Marcus had fallen into financial crisis, Serena had abandoned him. I was the one who helped Marcus pay off his debts.

He explained to me: "Serena left Silvermoon Pack for the western territories before. She just came back recently. I had no idea she was pregnant with my child. The kid is already seven years old now."

Under my stunned gaze, Serena walked over.

My fiancé interlaced his fingers with hers, looking completely smitten.

I asked calmly, "So what now?"

He said, "Serena just returned to Silvermoon Pack. A single omega with a child will face gossip and judgment from the pack. I have to give them official status so the pup can have a place in the pack."

He paused, then continued, "Let's cancel our mating ceremony. I need to mark Serena first and raise the child with her."

My fiancé tried to comfort me: "Don't worry. Even though I'm marking Serena, my heart belongs to you. I'm only treating her as family. Being with her is just to fulfill my responsibility as a father."

"After all, the child is innocent. If he doesn't have a complete family, he'll face hostility and bullying from his classmates. That would be too cruel. I don't want to give him childhood trauma."

"Once the child is older, once mother and son can establish themselves in the pack, I can break the mate bond with Serena and be with you again. I'll give you an even grander ceremony."

After saying this, he and Serena began marking each other right there in the ceremony venue I had spent an entire year carefully planning and decorating. They even started kissing, not sparing me a single glance.

My invited guests were all core members of Silvermoon Pack. Considering my contributions and status as the pack's chief healer, even the Alpha and Luna had accepted invitations to attend my mating ceremony. Now it was all ruined.

I calmly soothed the guests' emotions and handled the chaos at the scene. Then I pulled out my phone and called my Alpha childhood friend, Dominic.

"My mating ceremony is all set up, but I'm missing a male lead. Would you be willing to come mark me?"

"My top healer, I've been chasing you for ten years. Why are you saying yes so suddenly? I'm currently in the northern territories handling pack conflicts..." Dominic's voice carried helpless confusion through the phone.

I paused. "Oh, well then forget it."

Dominic, who had been so composed just moments before, suddenly panicked: "Wait! Don't hang up! I'll be there within an hour."

2

After hanging up the phone, I let out a quiet sigh. I finished calming down the pack members who had come for the ceremony and was looking for a place to rest when I heard an annoyed voice calling out.

"Aria!"

I looked up to see Marcus approaching.

For some reason, they had come back over.

Marcus held the child in one arm while his other hand was linked with Serena's. What a harmonious family of three.

He walked up to me, set the child down, and said in a low, irritated voice, "What are you still doing here? Didn't I already explain everything to you? This is now my and Serena's mating ceremony."

I answered honestly, "Waiting for someone. To hold a mating ceremony."

Marcus got even more angry. "Why are you being so passive-aggressive? I already explained everything to you. I just found out the child was back too. Everyone has a past, don't they?"

I nodded. "I understand. You're a mature werewolf. It's normal to have former lovers. Besides, you two already have a child together. I wish you both a happy bonding."

Marcus shoved me. "If you understand, then hurry up and go home. Don't make such an ugly scene in front of the child."

I pulled away from his grip and said seriously, "I really am waiting for someone to hold a mating ceremony."

Marcus's face darkened. "Aria, I'm telling you this for the last time. If you keep throwing this tantrum, you'll only make me hate you more."

At that moment, Serena approached with a careful, hesitant expression. "Is Aria angry because she couldn't bond with you?"

She showed off the bite mark behind her ear. "Marcus and I just completed our bonding." Then she pulled out a black card. "This is what Marcus gave me. He said he's sorry for all these years and that this is compensation for me and the child. I can buy whatever I want with it."

Serena stood there smugly flaunting the black card. "If you're unhappy, Aria, I don't need this card. I'll give it all to you. After all, we're the ones who wronged you."

As Serena proudly displayed that black card, I realized it looked very familiar. It was the supplementary card I had given Marcus to help with his expenses.

I stared at Marcus's innocent face. "Isn't this the supplementary card I gave you? So you're using my money to compensate your mate and child?"

I snatched the card away from her, snapped it in half, and threw it on the ground.

Serena turned around looking hurt, her face full of self-blame. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come back with the child..."

Marcus glared at me fiercely and threatened, "Aria, I really didn't know you could be so petty. Since you can't accept Serena's existence, then I can't accept you either. I'll have to reconsider our relationship!"

I corrected him coldly, "You chose to mark Serena. We have no relationship anymore. I have a new mate candidate now. Please leave. I'm the one paying for this mating ceremony."

My indifferent attitude made Marcus pause, but from his expression, he still didn't believe what I was saying.

Serena sensed the awkward atmosphere between us and gently pushed the little boy forward. "Call her auntie. Tell auntie not to be angry anymore."

But the little boy shouted loudly, "I won't call her that! This bad woman is a homewrecker!"

He shoved me hard. "Don't you dare steal my daddy away!"

All the pack members around us turned to look at me. Many of their gazes carried contempt.

I even heard someone say, "Damn, homewreckers are so shameless these days. The couple already has a child together."

I looked at the little boy and said calmly, "Your father and I have no relationship anymore. Don't worry."

"I wish your parents a hundred years of happiness and a lifetime together."

Marcus nodded with satisfaction and said to me, "That's right. From now on, you should always get along well with Serena and her son like this."

He picked up the boy, took Serena's hand, and walked away without waiting for me to respond.

As I watched his retreating figure, I thought silently to myself: "There won't be a 'from now on.' We have no relationship anymore."

3

I arranged for the remaining guests to rest and announced that the mating ceremony would continue in an hour. Then I grabbed a bottle of wine and headed to the private lounge area to wait for Dominic.

While waiting, I scrolled through social media and saw a trending headline: "Moonborn Pack Alpha, Next Alpha King Candidate, Abruptly Leaves Northern Territory Alliance Summit."

My heart skipped a beat.

Moonborn Pack? Alpha King? It couldn't be Dominic, could it?

I clicked on the link and a video popped up.

The footage showed a tall, imposing figure at the summit, hanging up his phone and turning to leave the conference room.

Who else could that be but Dominic?

I could even faintly hear his voice saying, "Suspend all contract negotiations!"

After the video, there was a reporter interviewing the other pack leaders at the signing ceremony: "Does Mr. Dominic's departure from such an important alliance meeting mean this pack negotiation has failed?"

The Northern Territory Pack Alpha shrugged with a smile. "I can only say that Mr. Dominic clearly has more pressing matters to attend to. We respect and understand that. All the alliance pack Alphas will wait here for him to return and resume the peace summit."

Ten years ago, when Dominic had just come of age and learned to shift, he was still a green warrior who confessed to me for the first time at the pack's coming-of-age ceremony. Back then, I only had eyes for Marcus. I carelessly threw the wolf fang pendant he gave me into the bonfire. Later, he led the remnants of Moonborn Pack to establish territory in the north. Now he's a candidate for Alpha King of the entire northern region, yet he still insists on checking in on my daily life every single day.

But I had been completely focused on Marcus, never giving Dominic any chance at all.

Now that I was thoroughly disappointed with Marcus, I was finally waking up.

Comparing the two, I finally understood what real love was versus what was just going through the motions.

Thinking of this, I opened my email and looked through the messages Dominic had sent me.

Every email was passionate and heartfelt, ranging from "Northern Territory Mining Rights Bidding" to "Ate some roasted meat today that's as stubborn as your temper." His domineering exterior hid clumsy tenderness. Before, I thought he was annoying, but now I could feel the love between every line.

These were clearly love letters.

I even felt sorry for him. How had he persisted all these years?

I read through all the emails carefully. An hour passed quickly, and just when I thought he wouldn't come, suddenly a package of roasted venison appeared in front of me.

I looked up sharply to see Dominic behind the food, holding my favorite Julia roses.

"My Luna, sorry to keep you waiting." Dominic said happily, "I made a detour to France to pick up your favorite restaurant's signature roasted venison. I wasn't trying to be late on purpose."

The title caught me off guard. I really wasn't used to it yet.

Seeing my silence, he said somewhat anxiously, "You haven't changed your mind, have you?"

I smiled at him. "Don't worry. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

We walked side by side into the ceremony venue and successfully completed our mating ceremony under the witness of Silvermoon Pack's Alpha and Luna, along with many core members. Fortunately, Marcus hadn't had time to mark me before being interrupted earlier, so we hadn't formed a mate bond, which didn't interfere with Dominic marking me. What surprised me was that the moment Dominic marked me, my wolf discovered that Dominic was my second chance mate.

I knew there were people in the northern territories waiting for him to return and sign contracts, so I urged him to hurry back.

Dominic held me tightly. "Wait for me to come back. I'll announce to the entire werewolf world that you're my Luna now. Today's mating ceremony was too rushed. I want to give you the most magnificent ceremony to make up for it. Be good and wait for me. Remember to reply to my messages. If you forget, I'll be very hurt."

Watching his retreating figure, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. The heir to the Alpha King who dominated the entire werewolf world was really this insecure?

4

It was already getting dark as I headed home carrying my flowers. This was the house I had bought outright when I first came to Silvermoon Pack. But when I tried to enter my password, the electronic lock let out a sharp error sound.

I frantically contacted the management office. They told me that two hours ago, a man claiming to be my mate had used photocopies of the purchase contract and a forged power of attorney to brazenly change the password and locks. I had my personal property manager come immediately to resolve the issue.

Soon, the door opened.

The moment I stepped inside, I was hit by the overwhelming stench of cheap perfume. Walking further in, I discovered Serena had poured an entire bottle of my treasured limited-edition wine—which I'd been saving for a special occasion—into the bathtub and was soaking in it contentedly. She was also rubbing my top-tier French body lotion all over herself. The bottle was nearly empty.

Her son was even worse. He had pulled out my carefully collected, limited-edition signed vinyl records one by one and was using them as skateboards on the living room floor. The record surfaces were covered in scratches.

The precious first-edition books I'd displayed on my shelves, collected from around the world, had their pages torn out by him. He was folding them into paper airplanes and throwing them all over the room.

I was instantly furious, feeling my vision go black with rage.

"Who gave you permission to touch my things?" My roar caught their attention.

Serena just waved the champagne glass in her hand. "I'm the lady of the house now anyway. What's wrong with getting used to it early?"

Before I could respond, Marcus emerged from the back room, frowning. "What are you doing here?"

I was so angry I was speechless. After a long moment, I said coldly, "This seems to be my house."

The boy suddenly threw a vase at me. "This is my daddy's house! This is our home! You get out!"

Serena said to me without any real concern, "Don't mind him, Aria. Children don't understand anything."

She walked over and took the flowers from my hands without even asking. "Did you buy these for Marcus and me? Thank you for the blessing."

I reached out to grab the bouquet back, but the little brat snatched it away and threw it hard on the ground. "These cheap flowers from the dollar store don't belong in the mansion where my mom lives!"

Rage instantly shot to my head. I gritted my teeth. "You little shit! This bouquet costs more than your entire outfit. You're paying me back today!"

Marcus lazily sank deeper into my custom Italian leather sofa like a puddle of mud, rolling his eyes. "Please, Aria. Going crazy over a few broken flowers? It's just cheap stuff—"

"Cheap stuff?" I grabbed the water-soaked bouquet and slammed it on the coffee table, making him spill the champagne he was drinking. "These are Julia roses, worth three months of your 'allowance.' And you—when you were buying limited-edition sneakers with my black card, you didn't think they were too expensive, did you?"

He shot up, his expensive silk robe's belt hanging loosely around his waist. "How can you use money to humiliate me? I'm a warrior!"

I sneered and pulled out my phone, shoving the bank statement in his face. "Humiliate? The hundred thousand I spent renting you that Porsche last month, and the fifty thousand you spent on game streamers—I didn't hear you talking about humiliation then. Now you know about humiliation?"

As I turned to leave, Marcus actually pushed me. "So what if you earn a lot? You don't even understand basic hospitality. Go open a bottle of Romanée-Conti right now. Don't make Serena think we're cheap."

I stared at his diamond-encrusted watch—my birthday gift to him last year—and suddenly felt utterly ridiculous. "Marcus, enjoying playing the rich man with my money? Starting today, your card limit is zero. Clean up this house, pack your things, and get the hell out of my home!"

Marcus frowned. "Aria, can't you be reasonable? You've been throwing tantrums since the mating ceremony, causing trouble this whole time."

"Everyone was getting along fine before. There was no conflict. But now you've made everything chaotic."

Soon he sighed again. "After all, the child is innocent. Aria, you're an adult. Even for the child's sake, what's wrong with suffering a little? I'll make it up to you double later."

My heart went completely cold. "Last time I'm saying this—clean up the room and get out!"

Looking at his self-righteous face, I suddenly laughed. Ten years of devotion, and I finally saw through his true nature.

At that moment, the boy picked up a piece of the broken vase from the floor and stabbed it hard into my arm. "Get out! You get out of my house!"

I shoved him away hard, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The boy burst into tears, throwing himself into Serena's arms.

It seemed Marcus had lived here so long he'd forgotten this was my house. He actually planned to live here as a happy family of three with another omega.

Serena's eyes reddened as she choked out to Marcus, "It's our fault. We shouldn't have come. We'll leave right now."

But Marcus blocked her path, looking heartbroken.

He said to me somewhat unhappily, "It's already dark, and Serena has the child with her. Where can they go? Aria, can't you be more generous?"

I nodded. "Fine. But they have to leave when the sun comes up, or I'm calling the enforcement squad."

Marcus frowned. "If you insist on making them leave, then I'll have to go too."

I laughed. "Good."

I opened my bedroom door, ready to get some rest.

But what I found inside made my stomach turn.

The bedsheets were wrinkled and messy. The comforter looked like someone had slept under it. Dry, brittle hair was scattered everywhere—the same color as Serena's. The entire bedroom reeked of her cheap perfume. There were even used undergarments lying around.

I felt instantly nauseous.

Serena had already slept in my bed?

I grabbed my important documents, didn't even look at them, and quickly walked out, slamming the door behind me.

I'd stay at a hotel tonight. That room was contaminated now. I contacted a cleaning service to thoroughly sanitize my house tomorrow and replace everything inside.

Everything that needed throwing out would be thrown out!

After such an exhausting day, I felt like I was falling apart.

After washing up, I lay down on the hotel bed when my phone rang.

Someone wanted to add me as a friend.

After I accepted, they sent me a bunch of photos.

Every single photo was of Marcus and Serena. They were actually videos of them having sex in my house, with Serena wearing my silk nightgown.

At the end of the photos was a message: "Get it now? Stop clinging to him. He doesn't love you."

I felt disgusted and replied: "You can keep both the nightgown and the man. Just get the hell out of my house."