My Alpha, Eddy Winslow, took our son Elric and his omega lover, Trista, to a hunting event.

To please Trista, Eddy made the sick Elric take part in the competition.

My son fought against much stronger contestants, twice his age, so he got injured. His fever made his condition worse.

The hospital called me. When I arrived, he was already dying.

I broke down and called my Alpha dozens of times.

However, his phone couldn't be reached at all, and I couldn't even contact him through the mind link.

Just when I was preparing for my son's funeral, I decided to close all of my social media accounts to tone down all news about my husband and his omega lover’ activities. However, something caught my eye. It was a post from Trista’s InstaPic account, appearing on my feed.

Trista was basking in a breathtaking view from the top of a tall building in the pack’s Central Metro. Eddy was there, mingling with her and other business owners.

Beneath the pictures was a caption: [It was a fun experience! I learned a lot from these awesome people!]

"Since that's the case, let Trista be buried with my son!"

——

I spent five solid days planning Elric's funeral.

Throughout those days, Eddy never once checked on me. Not that I expected him to. With his stubborn insistence that Elric was still alive the last time I met him, I wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from him as possible. So, I didn’t bother reaching out.

Just as I was about to delete all my social media accounts and tune out any news about Eddy, something caught my eye. A four-slide post from TrisGlam, Trista’s InstaPic account, appeared on my feed.

Trista was basking in a breathtaking view from the top of a tall building in the pack’s Central Metro.

In the first slide, it was a selfie of her, sporting a stunning pearl necklace—definitely not her usual style, but it looked pretty decent on her. As I swiped through, my heart clenched when I saw Eddy in one of the pictures. He stood a little distance away from Trista, chatting with a few people near a barbecue grill.

Beneath the pictures was a caption: [It was a fun experience! I learned a lot from these awesome people!]

I heaved a sigh before deactivating my account.

Once I had my son’s ashes temporarily stored in my room at Uncle Devon’s, I headed to the Winslow manor to pack up most of my things.

Hours passed, and I heard hurried footsteps racing past my door—a clear sign that Eddy had returned to the main manor.

Ignoring the small commotion outside, I continued packing. Just as I was about to close my suitcase, I hesitated, glancing at the blue case of documents I had prepared the day before.

However, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind me.

Eddy entered our bedroom, his expression as monotonous as ever. Yet, I sensed his surprise at the awkward silence that enveloped us as he stood by the door.

I closed my suitcase and pulled it down from the bed.

At that moment, I caught a whiff of wild cherries—Trista’s scent—lingering on Eddy. I shifted my gaze to him, my eyes landing on a small pure white box in his hand and the black bead and fang bracelet hanging loosely on his wrist.

At that moment, I remembered the first time Elric questioned Eddy’s bracelet. It was years ago, during a time of our family picnic in celebration to Elric’s Elementary Academy Graduation…

“Mom, since when did Dad start wearing that weird bracelet?” Elric asked with a frown, hinting his annoyance.

Eddy had just hurriedly excusing himself for some urgent matter, leaving us to picnic alone. As I watched his figure retreating into the distance, I began to pay more attention to the bracelet for the first time.

It hung loosely on his wrist, the black beads and fang glinting in the sunlight.

“Where are you going?”

A voice broke my daydream. I turned around, looking at the source of the voice.

It was Eddy, he had was already standing by the bedroom’s door.

"Away," I replied curtly. His face twisted with confusion and irritation.

"Oh, come on! Are you still mad about yesterday?" Eddy scoffed. "It's just a hunt festival, Sal. Get over it."

"Yesterday?" I spat back, my voice quivering with barely controlled rage. "It's been over a week, Ed!"

If it weren’t for that wretched hunt, Elric would’ve had more time to recover from his fever. He wouldn’t have been left exhausted and dehydrated. He wouldn’t have ended up in Uncle Devon’s clinic.

Most importantly, Elric would still be alive!

“Yesterday, last week, both are in the past. They’re the same. The hunt is over now so all those are in the past. Get over it,” Eddy said dismissively as he walked closer and shoved the box to my hand, barely sparing me a glance.

Unbelievable, how could he just brush it off like that?

“Here, for you.”

Eddy moved past me then, heading towards the vanity mirror and took off some of his accessories.

I stood there in silence, gripping the box, my fingers tracing the infinity logo embossed on top. It was from Eight Jewelry, an expensive brand. I could see dirt smudged the edges, and when I opened it, I immediately recognized the piece inside—

White pearl necklace, this was Trista’s secondhand jewelry.

It was the same exact necklace she flaunted on her InstaPic a few days ago.

“Where is that kid? I rang his phone this afternoon but he didn’t answer.” I heard Elric's voice, accompanied by a clattering sound. “Is he throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t even get into the top ten in the hunting event?”

I turned to Eddy with a smile that masked my seething thoughts. Deep down, I thanked him for giving me another push towards claiming my own freedom.

Eddy chuckled. “Why are you smiling like that? Rare to see that nowadays. You like the necklace that much?”

Without a word, I closed the box and tossed it carelessly onto the bed.

“Have you called your lawyer?” I asked, locking eyes with him. “I’m still waiting for our divorce.”

Eddy’s mood darkened. “Isn’t that necklace enough, Salvia? Stop throwing tantrums. Don’t you see our son has picked up that bad habit from you?”

At least, if you want to make it up to me, don’t give someone’s leftovers, I thought. But I kept silent, handing him a blue case of documents instead.

“Here,” I said, my voice steady. “Since I got the feeling that it might take forever to wait for you, I’ve asked for the necessary papers from the court.” I paused to take a breath. “I’ve signed everything I needed to. Now, it’s your turn.”

Eddy looked stunned, his eyes darting from my face to the divorce papers and back again.

Eddy looked stunned, his eyes darting from my face to the divorce papers and back again.“You want to give me what I want, don’t you?” I continued, my tone steady. “Then this is what I want.”

“Alright, since you’re so eager to end this, I’ll sign!” He snatched the blue case from my hand, his voice rising with anger. “Just so you know, I’ll be the one who gets custody of the kid!” he taunted.

In the past, I would time and time again fall to his threat.

Yet, unfortunately, his current taunt only left bitterness in my stomach.

“It’s Elric, Eddy,” I said firmly. “Not ‘the kid’.” With that, I stepped back and picked up my rolling suitcase. “I’ll be waiting downstairs for those papers. Make sure you sign everything.”

“Salvia!”

Without another word, I left him standing there without giving him the chance to use his alpha influence on him. I plugged my ears with the earplug that I had prepared the day before.

Ignoring his calls for me to come back.

The first time I met Eddy.

That day was a disaster from the start. If it weren’t for the crowded public setting, I would’ve flipped the table and let him get drenched in the remaining spilled coffee on the table.

"Oh Great Goddess! I'm so sorry!" Eddy exclaimed, frantically grabbing tissues from the table.

“Shoot!” I gasped, eyes wide as I instinctively snatched up my laptop. My fingers flew over the keyboard, closing files, saving data, and finally pressing the power button until the screen went dark.

My heart pounded because my entire academic life, for one WHOLE semester, hung by a thread.

Desperately, I dabbed at the laptop with tissues, trying to soak up the coffee that had seeped into every crevice. My anger surged when I tilted the device and watched coffee-black liquid drip from the ports.

I glared at the nerdy-looking Eddy, my fury boiling over. If any of my final term data was lost, I swear....

Eddy looked up, eyes wide with regret, and I could practically smell his fear. His apologies tumbled out, but they did nothing to calm my nerves.

“First, you came out of nowhere, invaded my space,” I growled, my voice rising. “then you spill MY coffee on MY laptop?” My wolf instincts flared, overriding my restraint with frustration.

In that moment, I remembered the bustling café fell silent instantly in the wake of my outburst.

I was seriously regretting my life choices that afternoon.

See, the café was buzzing with chatter when Eddy stumbled in. He looked like a lost puppy, scanning the room for an empty seat. Feeling a pang of sympathy, I didn’t avert my gaze when he finally noticed the empty spot next to me, thinking he was just another college student scrambling to finish an assignment.

Oh, Goddess. If only I knew what kind of chaos I was inviting into my life…

Eddy's face turned a shade of crimson as he clumsily took away the already spilled coffee cup at the table. Panic flashed in his eyes.

"I-I swear, I'll make it up to you! I work at a tech store just a few minutes walk from here. I can fix that, a-and I'll buy you another coffee. For the one I spilled?"

There was something about his genuine panic, the way his scent radiated fear, and his exaggerated gestures of apology that made it hard to stay mad at him. Plus, the curious eyes of the café patrons were all on us, making the scene even more embarrassing.

Taking a deep breath, I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to quell the rising tide of frustration. "Fine, but if my laptop dies, so do you," I warned, meticulously dabbing at the remaining wet keys with a tissues.

Eddy's nervous laughter filled the air. "Deal. By the way, I'm Eddy. Eddy Winslow. And I promise, I'll make sure your laptop is good as new."

Long story short, he did save my laptop, but half of my final assignment data was gone.

Eddy couldn't stop apologizing, his voice a constant drone that only amplified the throbbing in my sleep-deprived head. With only two days left to redo my work, I was a bundle of anxiety and frustration. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Eddy, just leave me be. No grudges, I just can't handle your whining right now. I need all the energy I have left to finish my finals."

But Eddy, being Eddy, refused to leave. He was determined to make things right, and his persistence paid off. Together, we managed to reconstruct my assignment just in time.

When it was all over, I thanked him. He simply shrugged and said he was just owning up to his mistake. For some reason, I expected we'd cross paths frequently after that day. But Eddy disappeared—no more sightings at the café, the tech shop, campus…

No nowhere.

I wasn't sad, just curious about where he had vanished to.

Our meeting was anything but a fairytale. The way he fumbled and apologized, his awkwardness blending with my own irritation—it was almost laughable.

Yet, beneath that mess, I couldn’t deny that something inexplicable began to stir.