"Alpha David, I-I don't know either. When I asked her, Mrs. Jones just smiled quietly," the maid answered, her expression troubled.

But David let out a breath of relief and smirked. "It looks like she's just throwing a tantrum this time.

"Don't worry about her. Where else could she go without me? She's probably hiding out in that shabby little wooden cabin, waiting for me to come and coax her.

"Let her wait a little longer. Otherwise, she'll think that I can't live without her."

Lying undressed on the bed, Sarah swayed her hips and pressed herself against David again.

"Exactly! David, you're so perfect and charming. There are plenty of female werewolves who adore you! Why can't Evelyn appreciate what she has? She always gets upset over the most trivial things.

"Is a mate who throws fits all the time really suited to be your Luna?"

She glanced up at David, trying to gauge his reaction.

But he looked distracted, completely missing the implication in her words.

Indeed, I used to throw tantrums all the time. Whenever I caught him with another she-wolf, I would cry and scream for days, making such a fuss that even Celine would get involved.

But ever since I gave birth, I had changed. Since then, I never cried or made a scene again.

An ominous feeling washed over David.

He suddenly pushed Sarah away and threw on a robe before running straight to my bedroom.

Falling off the bed, Sarah clenched her teeth as she watched him leave quickly, her hands balling into fists as she pounded against the mattress in frustration.

My room was empty.

He stood there in a daze, staring at the vacant space. The blank wall where our portrait once hung stood out more than anything.

That bad feeling intensified.

He started searching frantically. That painting was our only portrait together, and I loved it.

David figured that I must have taken it with me. He was sure that I was in that tiny wooden cabin, hanging the painting up and waiting for him to take me back.

He told himself this over and over again. But as he opened every drawer and checked every corner, the portrait was nowhere to be found.

His breathing steadied slightly until his foot knocked over the trash bin.

Shredded fragments of the painting scattered across the floor.

"Evelyn!"

His eyes instantly turned red. He let out a furious roar before shifting into his wolf form and dashing out of the castle like a madman. By the time he caught up, I was already crossing the Nighthowl Pack's border.

My body was weak and injured, so I could only move slowly.

I had thought that as long as I could make it past the waterfall cliff ahead, I would finally be free of David forever. But in the final moment, I was caught.

The one who grabbed me was Sarah.

The she-wolves who had followed her pinned me down in the mud, slapping and jeering at me. "You homewrecking woman! Are you trying to run after being caught red-handed? Beat her!"

They held me down and yanked at my hair.

They only stopped when David arrived.

Sarah instantly shed her vicious demeanor, clutching David's sleeve, her eyes pooling with tears. "David, please don't be mad at them. They only wanted to stand up for me because they thought that Evelyn was bullying me."

"Bullying you?" For once, David didn't immediately take the other side.

His eyes were inexplicably red.

He looked at Sarah, then narrowed his gaze at me. "What happened?"

One of the she-wolves who had attacked me yanked on my hair and dragged me upright as she rushed to answer.

"She's been spreading lies all over the pack, claiming that she's the real Luna and that Sarah is the third party between her and Alpha David! Sarah was slandered so badly that she cried from the injustice!

"When she got exposed, she tried to flee. As Sarah's friends, how could we just let her get away with it?"