It was weeks since I stayed in the pack's infirmary.

Aiden, the lead warrior, rushed to contact his healer friend from town as almost all assigned pack healers focused on treating Olivia more than I, the injured Luna.

The healer informed me I had a severe head injury and was in a coma for days.

In times of healing, Alpha Damon never dared check on me, and he didn't even inquire if I, his mate, was still alive. He fretted over Olivia more than I did.

Whenever I encountered a mishap, Aiden was there to lend a hand. With Alpha Damon's absence, it wasn't the first time I had to lean on him.

"Upon checking, Olivia wasn't heavily injured, but Alpha Damon insisted on the healer assisting her at all times," Aiden reported as he visited me and continued, "The healer bandages her up, and she will be fine in a week."

Without him giving me a heads-up, I was oblivious to everything that transpired within the pack.

As soon as the healers permitted me to return to the pack house, I went back to the house, as usual, and met my mate, who left me out in the cold.

My mate didn't pry into what happened during my absence or lapse in Luna's duties. Instead, Alpha Damon insisted I make amends for Olivia missing her pack training.

"Alpha, it's you who pushed me and put me in a coma. Where were you when I needed you?" I demanded, fuming with rage.

Alpha Damon furrowed his brows and exclaimed, "It was an accident, and that's between us! You need to do things right with Olivia and compensate for her! If you don't, I'll call it quits on our mate bond."

I had him thrown out, but Alpha Damon never came for me again. As perturbed as I was, I considered apologizing to Olivia so our bond wouldn't be shattered.

When I searched for Olivia around the pack house, I caught sight of her with Alpha Damon and his mother in the living room. Never in my life had I seen them apart.

With everyone's eyes on me, I apologized, offered her money as compensation, swallowed my pride, and let go of grudges over what she got from me.

Even Alpha Damon's mother, who witnessed my apology for hurting Olivia, didn't like how I expressed my regret. She had held a grudge against me ever since Alpha Damon claimed me as his mate and made me the pack's Luna.

And now, she despised me to the core. "Is this how Luna should apologize—giving money to put Olivia down? She has no one, no money, even her parents, as they both died in rogue attacks, so you have no right to humiliate her!"

Even Alpha Damon cast a dark look my way, misinterpreting my attempt at reconciliation. "It's been a month, and I thought you came here to apologize sincerely. Why are you putting her to shame?"

Olivia, putting in an act, sobbed and said, "Luna Aurora, I know what transpires is by accident. You don't have to apologize, but you can't just pay to humiliate me!"

Everything I said was taken the wrong way, so I left. I walked out of the pack house despite it being raining.

As days rolled over, I concentrated hard on my Luna duties, burying the pain Alpha Damon had given me.

However, all I heard from the pack members was their confusion about Alpha Damon and Olivia's real score. In their eyes, they were more like mates, while I, only a displayed Luna, was bound to be replaced.

It was agonizing for me and my wolf, but once I regained consciousness, I recalled how I was indebted to him—my mate—for this freedom I had.

Flashback.

When the rival pack bandits treated me as an enslaved person and sent me to town to be auctioned, a lot was offered from the lowest to the highest bid.

All I did was shed tears in front of everyone and plead with the Moon Goddess for someone to lend a hand until someone exclaimed, "One million, and I'll take that slave as mine!"

"Going once, going twice! Sold! This slave is yours to take!"

I was scared stiff that being claimed would mean I'd be treated like a pawn. But the first time I saw him, the first word he said was, "Mate."

Alpha Damon and Aiden discerned me as the respected Luna of Silverfang and came to set me free.

Not only did he set me free, but I found my destined mate—Alpha Damon.

Right there and then, I vowed to accept him, whatever it cost.

"I, Aurora Grant, accept you as my mate and pledge to serve the pack through thick and thin as Luna. Unless told otherwise by the Alpha of Lunar Crest, I will uphold my duties."

End of flashback.

As I came back to my senses, tears escaped my eyes.

With those seven years of mateship, I realized it was a big mistake to be mated to Alpha Damon only to be neglected.

All set and ready, I heaved a sigh and mind-linked my mate: "Your kindness of setting me free made our mateship reach this far. But Alpha, let's end our bond."

When I returned to the pack house to take an oath of rejection, I became sick.

Only Aiden was around the pack, welcoming me back and the first to sense I was under the weather.

Once again, he insisted I stay at the pack's infirmary for healer's treatment. I wanted to refuse, but I gradually weakened until I lost consciousness.

The last thing I saw was myself collapsing into his arms as he murmured, "Too late, Luna Aurora. You've suffered a lot for the Alpha who only used you. When will you wake up?"

I was baffled beyond belief. What did Aiden mean?

It had been days since I woke up, lying in bed with Aiden by my side and the healer insisting I rest, putting my Luna duties on hold.

I obliged, but the next day, the first one I saw was Alpha Damon, sitting at the edge of the bed, face full of wounds.

My mate lowered his ego and apologized for the first time, explaining, "Olivia isn't my concubine, but a sister. Her parents died both of rogue attacks. She has no pack to settle. If I let her be a wandering rogue, she'll have the same fate as you."

Right. He came to dredge up my dark past and remind me of the debt I owed him, just as he felt bound by gratitude to Olivia and her parents.

It was well-known that Olivia's parents ended the war between Lunar Crest and the rival. Yet, in the end, the rogues besieged them, following the rival's order.

One of the reasons Alpha Damon couldn't brush Olivia aside the same way he neglected me. He mentioned he had to repay all his debts and asked to understand him.

Alpha Damon shed tears in front of me for the first time, pleading on bended knee not to break the Moon Goddess' blessed bond with us, not to waste seven years of mateship.

It was just that Alpha Damon was hot under the collar and didn't mean to scold me at times to defend his childhood sweetheart.

When Alpha Damon pleaded, my heart always softened. He was my mate, whatever happened. In the end, I had to reconcile with him.

Although things got settled for us, Olivia was still there to destroy every moment.

In the choices between Olivia and me, my mate still chose Olivia. She mattered most.

With the reconciliation, Alpha Damon was attentive to me. Still, when it came to his childhood sweetheart, he set aside all his duties, including me, to prioritize her. Every time I felt left out, Alpha Damon came to explain again that he owed Olivia much more than me, his rescued Luna.

But I didn't owe Olivia anything. Why should my mate let me endure all of this? I didn't deserve this punishment.

As naive as I was, I kept bending backward to reconcile with him for abandoning me.

We fought and argued, but I softened every time Alpha Damon shed tears and pleaded with me to understand.

On the day Olivia finished her training with the pack, she packed up and moved into her rented apartment.

Everything was looking up, especially when Alpha Damon made a surprise for me on my birthday and proposed to marry me during the full moon.

I fantasized about a promising future. He had once said that having pups was too dangerous and too painful, and since he didn't want me to suffer, we wouldn't have pups.

Looking at the mate's ring Alpha Damon had given to me, I was on cloud nine and couldn't wait for the wedding to transpire.

But the night after my swamped Luna duties, I was about to surprise Alpha Damon when, out of the blue, I heard two familiar voices inside the bathroom of our shared room.

From that moment on, my perfect future with my mate shattered into pieces.

As soon as the sounds of pleasure echoed at the four corners of the bathroom, my heart felt stabbed a thousand times, with the wolf in me urged to take over and about to go on the offensive to reclaim my mate.

The conversation I heard inside struck me like lightning.

"Alpha, proposing to that slave isn't in our plan, remember? You're ruining over it," said Olivia, fuming with rage.

"Marrying my fake Luna doesn't affect our secret mateship. You are my true fated mate, not that slave. I am using her to escape the curse that trapped me forever."

The next thing I heard made my blood run cold. When Alpha Damon added, "A curse that can kill me anytime soon, that's why the curse will be lifted in the full moon on our wedding day, and my fake mate will die."

What a good line.

Right there and then, it was my mate who spilled the beans, leaving me dumbfounded. But I ended up in tears as I left the room, rushed outside, and the pain stuck within me.

Out of the blue, Aiden tailed to the garden. When he inquired what happened, I did not tell him everything. One thing I was certain of was to end our bond after knowing everything that Alpha Damon had done.

"I know everything Alpha hides, Luna Aurora. Since the time Alpha finds out you are the key to his lifelong survival, he made you his mate, by force, not bound by the Moon Goddess," he admitted.

Alpha Damon didn't just neglect me; he used me as a pawn to escape the curse, even at the cost of my life.

As the days passed, I put on an act that I had no idea Alpha Damon devised a plan for me, his mate. The wolf in me couldn't wait for our bond to be shattered in one swoop.

Lunar Crest itself had many secrets buried deep down that I had to uncover. Aiden offered to lend a hand to me and map out a scheme to avenge and embarrass Olivia and Alpha Damon.

At first, I was skeptical. Knowing Aiden as Alpha Damon's trusted lead warrior, I didn't believe him.

It might be part of his plan—to make me put my trust in Aiden, only to end my life and be betrayed in the end.

My sole intention was to reject him and abandon the pack, but Aiden halted me. He wanted me to stay and see how he would embarrass them in front of the Pack's neighboring Alphas.

Even when I was on duty as Luna, Aiden was always there, quietly sharing his plans with me. "For seven long years, you have sought Alpha Damon's affection. Now, I'm on cloud nine. Moon Goddess has heard my plea to reveal the truth. It's the perfect time to lend a hand."

All of Aiden's actions clouded me with confusion. However, when I asked, he told me time was the ultimate truth teller. Alpha Damon once introduced him as the lead warrior, but how he lent a hand hinted a strong connection before I needed to piece it together.

When the Lunar Crest hosted a gathering, I attended as Luna, with the urge of Aiden.

In the Pack Hall, Alpha Damon accompanied Olivia as if the two were real mates, while I, a displayed one, was bound to be replaced.

Out of the blue, I got a mind link from Aiden informing me beforehand. For him, the pack's gathering was the perfect opportunity to humiliate them, which I didn't mind.

Glancing at them, I play-pretend I had zero knowledge of everything, letting him and Olivia on cloud nine during the event.

When Alpha Damon came with his hand on my waist, he was puzzled, seeing me change.

That made me laugh my ass out loud. "Don't look at me like that, Alpha. When you gave me the mateship ring, I was assured you were true to your word. If you treat Olivia as a sister, she's my sister too."

It was all a little white lie to conceal what I had known.

While Alpha Damon had to entertain Alphas and Lunas from other packs attending the gathering, Aiden came to introduce us to the other visitors, which was part of his plan.

Olivia wanted to break free, but with Alpha Damon's serious gaze turned to us, she did not dare to offend me, considering I acted kind to her.

Meanwhile, Aiden was a well-known figure. He had the same story as mine, and he also came from the pack that had been attacked and now banished. It was Damon who saved him, the reason he was with the pack, being the lead warrior.

His entire existence was still unknown to me. Nonetheless, I didn't investigate further but waited for his devised plan to transpire that night to test how truthful he was about lending a hand.

After Aiden introduced Olivia and me, he made excuses, saying he had to keep an eye on the Pack Hall as the lead warrior.

Unbeknownst to Olivia, it was the signal. Everyone praised me then and there, but after I left, they gave Olivia the cold shoulder. None of them wanted to speak with her.

While observing Olivia from afar, she stood by the drinks table. At the same time, some of Alpha's daughters around the circle gathered and held a grudge against her.

One from the circle went over to get a drink, purposely shaking her hand, and another also pushed her. Red wine spilled in an instant into Olivia's chest.

That lady in a red dress that spilled over the wine yelled, attracting everyone's attention.

Everyone started talking, watching the scene unfold.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to spill over the wine in your dress. How much is it? I'll pay you for it," said the woman, mocking her to the bone.

Olivia moved her gaze down into her rented dress worth ten thousand, feeling distressed. The gossip around made her cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

"It is you who bumped me. It's your fault, but I am willing to pay you for it," she still mocked.

As soon as Alpha Damon witnessed his true fated mate humiliated, in the blink of an eye, he pushed the girl who spilled the wine into Olivia and rescued Olivia from humiliation.

With Alpha Damon's unpredictable actions, everyone was caught off guard. Gossip spread like wildfire, with speculations on their minds.

Out of the blue, one of the Alphas asked, baffled, "Alpha Damon, why do you seem affected when you treat Olivia as your sister, but the way you react makes it feel like you treat her as a mate?"

Not only one but everyone was dumbfounded. All were concerned, but I kept my chin up.

With speculations around, Alpha Damon stood his ground, still insisting everyone halted thinking he had in favor of Olivia.

"How often do I have to tell you all Olivia is a sister? I have already planned to marry Aurora!" Alpha Damon roared, echoing in the four corners of the Pack Hall.

That cursed Alpha Damon still had the nerve to lie in front of everyone.