Once Carlin finished speaking, he kneeled before Maria, presenting the utmost sincerity.

Following Uriel's death, Carlin was now the only Alpha in the Silverplume pack. His standing was even more esteemed than before, he had always been one of the most powerful wolves in the pack. Nevertheless, for Johanna's sake, he was willing to get on his knees.

Still on his knees, he made his way past Maria and stopped in front of Uriel's coffin. He ended up staying in that position for the entire day, refusing to move despite Maria and the elders' varied attempts to convince him otherwise.

Johanna was deeply touched. How did someone as ordinary as her get so lucky to meet someone like Carlin?

Alas, that night, Johanna felt the betrayal of the one she loved the most and another who was supposed to be her family. Her wolf howled in anguish, and her heart wrenched in agony.

Even though she could clearly sense it from the link, she still found it hard to believe that her own mate was in bed with her sister.

The door to the room was slightly ajar. Doing her best to hold herself together, she peeked through the slit and saw the room in disarray.

Allison's golden hair was scattered all over the bed. Caught in the throes of passion, she was moving her slender waist with great eagerness. Her legs were curled around a large figure that Johanna was utterly familiar with. He was also thrusting into Allison with overwhelming desire.

It was none other than Carlin, Johanna's mate, who had only just defended her earlier today.

A chill gripped Johanna's heart as she stumbled backward, feeling an intense pain coursing through her.

His promises were all lies, and his love for her was a pretense—everything was fake.

That night, Johanna experienced the ultimate betrayal. Though it didn't kill her, it would become a pivotal turning point in her life, almost as if she had been reborn.

As the most powerful of the northern wolf packs, the Silverplume pack should've embodied the rules and traditions of their werewolf ancestors. It was their responsibility to lead by example.

It was a grave taboo to betray one's mate. The only exception was when the survival of the pack was at stake. Under such dire circumstances, those who held the most power in the pack, such as the matriarch and the elders, would beseech the Moon Goddess to make an exception and allow a mated Alpha to procreate with someone other than his mate.

But even then, both the Alpha and his Luna had to agree to it as well.

Johanna recalled what had happened earlier in the day. Carlin had stood alone against the pack's leaders and refused to betray his loyalty to her, regardless of their reasoning. Because of that, he had angered all of the elders, including Maria, the matriarch of the pack, and his mother.

To force Carlin into compliance, they even locked him up inside the ancestral shrine. A record of the Silverplume pack's glorious history had been carved into all four walls of the shrine.

Things weren't that bad during the day. Rays of sunlight came in through the cracks of the stained glass windows, illuminating the dimly lit ancestral shrine. The situation merely amounted to physical discomfort.

However, once night fell, the real torment began. The icy stone floor was inscribed with the teachings of the pack's ancestors, each one etched with magic. The weight of these enchanted teachings, accumulated over the centuries, gnawed constantly at an Alpha's heart.

"You can leave once you've come to your senses," Maria said coldly, her stern voice echoing in the shrine.

Thinking that Carlin was still suffering from his punishment in the ancestral shrine, Johanna had been beside herself with concern. Alas, she was deluded for having believed all of that.

Carlin merely didn't want Johanna to react in an extreme manner, which would've surely led to everyone in the pack finding out about the situation. That was why he had teamed up with the elders to put on a show for her that day.

It was a sleepless night for Johanna. Meanwhile, Carlin had ended up mating with Allison 17 times.

When dawn came, Johanna wiped her tears away. She'd made up her mind to leave.

Johanna went looking for Elspeth Sage, the sorceress who lived alone on the border of the Northern Wolflands.

"I don't care what it costs me. Do whatever it takes to use the forbidden rites to help me break our mate bond," Johanna said.

Johanna traded her betrothal pendant and her future happiness in exchange for Elspeth's spell that forcibly broke the mate bond while also temporarily ensuring that Carlin wouldn't notice it had been broken.

With the lies and the betrayal, Johanna felt as if the entire Silverplume pack had taken her for a fool. There was no point in maintaining a bond built upon deceit and disloyalty.

Of course, there was a reason why Johanna didn't cut off ties publicly. She knew full well she was powerless. Even if she exposed Carlin, it would only make it harder for her to get away. The Silverplume pack wasn't going to let a wolf who knew that much about their secrets leave.

Once the mark had been removed, Johanna went along with the act. During the day, Carlin continued to behave as if he loved her desperately and refused to betray her, no matter what. He kept kneeling in the ancestral shrine, the punishment Maria had meted out, and spent his days repenting in front of his ancestors.

But once the sky turned dark, he would leave the shrine from a secret exit and sneak into Allison's room, where the two indulged in their lust.

Assuming that Johanna wouldn't notice a thing after having drunk the medicine that was supposed to cut off her ability to sense anything from her link with him, Carlin grew bolder in his illicit affair with Allison. He even mated with her right in the ancestral shrine for the thrill of it.

Johanna had truly loved Carlin. Naturally, it was hard for her to abandon all feelings for him at the drop of a hat. Thus, she found herself tailing them a couple of times.

She heard their moans.

"My darling."

"This is incredible!"

"Give me more, my Alpha."

The repulsive sounds rang all the more clearly in the dead of the night. They felt like blades stabbing deep into Johanna's heart. But simultaneously, it helped her finally lose all feelings for the heartless, cruel Carlin.

After putting up with it for a few months, Johanna finally got her chance to leave the Silverplume pack.

Allison was pregnant, and Maria publicly called it a blessing from the Moon Goddess. She claimed that following Uriel's death, the Moon Goddess couldn't bear to see the Silverplume pack lose its pureblood lineage. Therefore, she had allowed Uriel's spirit to take physical form at night, thereby giving Allison and the entire Silverplume pack this pup.

Johanna was also told this story, though she found it entirely laughable. She knew better than anyone else how the pup came to be.

She tried to see if Carlin felt even the slightest bit of remorse toward her.

"Carlin, ever since Uriel died and your mother suggested that you and Allison mate to carry on the pureblood lineage, I feel an intense pain every night. I've never heard of the Moon Goddess being so moved that she would allow a dead spirit to take physical form at night before. Is the pup actually yours?" Johanna asked.

"How could you even think that, Jo? Mother and the elders want me to do it to carry on the pack's glory, but haven't you seen the way I refused to comply with their wishes? I've chosen to stay loyal to you, even if it means spending all my time kneeling in the ancestral shrine in suffering. Yet here you are, accusing me of something like this. How could you say something this hurtful to me?" Carlin protested.

He looked genuinely saddened, as if Johanna were the heartless one making an outrageous claim—as if his love for her had been for nothing, for she didn't even trust him.

Johanna wanted to laugh. She couldn't be bothered to argue with him about it. Instead, she continued to plot her escape.

However, Carlin reached out and pulled her into his strong embrace, something he hadn't done in a long time now.

"Jo, since Allison is with pup now, Mother and the elders won't force us any longer. You could say that Allison has helped us get through this. Moreover, it won't be easy for her to raise the pup alone. We should help her out more.

"I hope you can forget all about the past. Once the pup is born, I hope you can treat her pup as if it were ours, just like I will."

Upon hearing that, Johanna's disappointment reached its limit, and so did her resolve. She had to leave this heartless place that caused her nothing but sorrow as quickly as possible.

This entire situation was a ridiculous mockery.

Johanna couldn't help but contemplate the situation. The Silverplume pack was undoubtedly the most prominent in the Northern Wolflands. They seemed invincible, but who knew how many dark, unspeakable secrets were hidden behind their strength?

Even the pack Alpha not only betrayed his Luna but even teamed up with the entire pack in an attempt to play her for a fool.

For the sake of their so-called glory and ensuring the survival of the pureblood lineage, they had the audacity to propose having him be the father of the pup instead. They even wanted her, the one who had been betrayed, to raise the offspring produced through his infidelity once the pup was born.

It was nothing short of them cruelly trampling all over her dignity.

Allison was now with pup. There was a unique duality to werewolves—while they were physically formidable and had extraordinary recovery rates, she-wolves were extremely weak when they were carrying a pup and required constant care from the males.

That night, Carlin didn't pretend to be locked away in the ancestral shrine like he had the past few months. Instead, he conjured up an excuse for himself. He told Johanna that since Allison was pregnant, he had to check on her. He was worried something might happen to Allison and Uriel's pup.

Johanna had long since been hurt and disillusioned by him. She no longer felt disappointed. Instead, her gaze was filled with nothing more than exhaustion and indifference.

"Got it. Go ahead. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep," she said.

She was no longer interested in seeing what Carlin and Allison got up to. They had done far too many unforgivable things already. She couldn't be bothered to care whether even more might happen tonight.

It was nearly dawn when Carlin finally returned to their room. Although he hugged her from behind as affectionately as ever, his voice was clearly laced with the huskiness of someone who had just satisfied his physical lust.

"Sorry, Jo. I ended up staying a little longer with Allison. Don't take it the wrong way. She was crying because she missed Uriel, so I had to keep her company. I tried talking to her and comforting her in the hopes of making her feel better."

Johanna could smell Allison's scent on Carlin. Feeling repulsed, she forcefully struggled out of Carlin's arms.

"Why did you come back then? You should just move into Allison's place. Since she's pregnant, she needs you to take care of her the way Uriel would've. I don't need that."

Johanna couldn't keep the anger and disgust out of her eyes.

"Why are you suddenly having a fit? Uriel died saving me, and Allison is carrying his pup. Isn't it my duty to console her in his place when she's upset?" Carlin retorted.

"Jo, do you actually think something is going on between Allison and me? If you insist on thinking that… so be it. I won't ever get involved with Allison's matters anymore. If you want me to stay away from her, I'll do as you wish. I'm going to prove my innocence to you, even if it means bearing the brunt of Mother and the elders' reprimands."

Despite saying that, he took his anger out on Johanna anyway. Shoving her aside roughly, he left in a huff, slamming the door behind him.