Everyone in the pack knew that my mate Damien loved me fiercely.

After our mating ceremony, Damien gave me three bonding gifts.

The first was a protective amulet he'd prayed three days and three nights for at the Moon Goddess shrine.

The second was a sculpture he spent months carving with his own hands.

The third was a diamond ring — the symbol of the Luna — priceless, and with it came the authority to govern the pack.

On my birthday, he went searching for a moonstone and was ambushed by rogue wolves. He fell off a cliff.

When he woke, his memory was gone. A bar hostess had rescued him.

They fell in love. But the day before their mating ceremony, his memories returned, and he came back to me without hesitation.

Just when I thought he'd ended things with her, on the very day I found out I was pregnant, I received a video — an intimate recording of the two of them together.

Vivian was already carrying his child, nestled against Damien like a helpless little bird.

"You're carrying my child. I won't abandon you. As for Elena — a few sweet words and she'll do whatever I say."

I turned off my phone and sent a mind-link to my father.

"Dad. The arranged mating you set up for me — I accept."

【Can you see it? He's bored of you. I'm the one he really loves. If you have any dignity left, walk away and hand over the Luna title.】

【If it weren't for you, Damien would've had his mating ceremony with me by now. Bitch! You're the one who's stopping me from becoming Luna! Go die!】

I ignored Vivian's barrage of messages — petty little games weren't worth my attention — and sent a mind-link to my father, the Alpha of Northwind Pack.

"Dad. The arranged mating — I'm in."

There was a beat of stunned silence before he answered, barely containing his excitement. "Are you sure? That Alpha was injured in battle. He has... complications. I'm worried—"

"I've made up my mind. But I have two conditions."

"Name them. Whatever you need, it's done."

"I want my citizenship restored to our pack. And every partnership, every project you've funded for Damien's pack — pull it all."

Damien spent his days drinking and living it up while his pack thrived — largely because my father kept pouring money into it, worried about how I was being treated. Half the pack's assets came from my family. The moment my father cut that lifeline, the whole thing would crumble.

My father understood instantly. "Done. How dare he bully my daughter! That bastard's going to wish he was never born."

After the link ended, I gently touched my barely-showing belly, my resolve hardening.

This baby deserved better than him.

I went straight to the Pack Registry to file for separation from the pack and to prepare the mate bond dissolution papers.

Inside the Registry, our mating ceremony portrait still hung on the wall. We'd looked so happy then. He'd loved me so deeply.

Three days before our ceremony, he'd knelt alone before the Moon Goddess statue at the altar, praying for three days and nights, just to bring me a protective amulet. He'd told me I was his whole life — that his greatest wish was for me to be safe and happy.

I'd cried in his arms and vowed to spend the rest of my life with him.

Now that vow made me sick.

The man who swore to love me had gotten another woman pregnant.

I closed my eyes against the pain as the video played on in my memory — the conversation between Damien and his friend afterward.

"Damien, didn't you promise Elena you'd end things with her? How did you get her pregnant? Elena won't stand for this. If she finds out and leaves you —"

Damien's expression was utterly indifferent. He stroked Vivian's hair like she was a kitten and said flatly, "What Alpha doesn't have someone on the side? Elena will deal with it."

"Besides, I'm the Alpha. I take responsibility for my people. Vivian's carrying my pup — what am I supposed to do, abandon her?"

His friend gaped for a long moment before stammering, "Elena's father is the Alpha of Northwind Pack — one of the most powerful packs in existence. He'd never let his daughter be humiliated like this. What if—"

Damien cut him off. "Elena cut ties with her father over the arranged mating ages ago. Relax — she'd never go running to her family over something this small."

His friend opened his mouth to say more, but Vivian's eyes reddened. She pressed her face against Damien's chest, whimpering softly.

"I used to have parents who loved me too. But they died in a rebellion, and my home was destroyed. I had no choice but to become a hostess just to survive. No one cares about me. I can't give you power or alliances — all I can give you is me. I hope you won't look down on me."

Damien melted. He wiped her tears gently. "That means more than any title or alliance. I could never look down on you."

He glanced at his still-sputtering friend, his voice going cold. "If anyone talks behind your back, I'll deal with them personally."

The video ended there. I knew exactly who had sent it, and exactly what she wanted.

You want the Luna title so badly? Fine. It's yours.

I came home and set the mate bond dissolution papers on the table, then sat and waited for Damien.

It was well past midnight when the door finally opened. Damien rushed toward me.

"You—"

Before I could speak, he seized me by the collar and slammed me backward into the edge of the table. Pain shot through my spine, and I gasped.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging at his temples, staring at me like he wanted to tear me apart. "The antidote. Where is it?"

I could barely breathe. "What... antidote? I don't know what you're talking about."

He hurled me onto the couch. "Don't play dumb! Vivian was poisoned with wolfsbane. She's in the hospital. The doctor says only a specific antidote can cure it. She told me everything — you did this to her."

My vision darkened at the edges as I fought for air, my mind reeling.

"She's pregnant! She could lose the pup if she doesn't get the antidote soon. Do you have any idea how devastating this is for a mother? How could you be so cruel?"

I had no idea what he was talking about. All I knew was that he was hurting me over some other woman.

Damien was torn with turmoil, but at the sight of my tear-blurred eyes, his tone softened He dropped to his knees before me. "Elena, please. I know how you feel right now. I'll explain everything later. Just tell me where you hid the antidote. If we wait any longer, Vivian could die."

Watching him kneel there, desperate — my heart clenched.

Seven years ago, he'd knelt just like that. For me.

I'd been captured by rogue wolves. Damien had charged into the pack to save me, but he was outnumbered and beaten to the ground. They dragged me further and further away, my screams growing fainter.

Then — Damien knelt before them and begged.

"Please. Let her go. I'll do anything."

The mighty Alpha, kneeling before rogues. The humiliation should have been unbearable. But Damien hadn't cared. He only cared about saving my life.

Now I was seeing that same desperate look on his face. But it wasn't for me. It was for another woman.

I thought they were just a fling, but now it seemed Damien had truly fallen for her.

The realization cut through me like a blade. When I could finally breathe again, my voice came out raw. "It wasn't me."

He didn't believe me. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "This isn't the time for games! She told me everything — you had someone poison her water!"

Falsely accused with no way to defend myself, all I could do was cry and deny.

His gaze turned glacial. He scanned the room, then stormed into the kitchen.

Before I understood what was happening, he came back holding a bag of berries.

Horror flooded through me. "What are you doing? You know I'm allergic to those!"

Pain and reluctance flickered in his eyes, but his hands were anything but gentle.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I don't want to hurt you. I have no choice. Just give me the antidote and I'll pretend none of this happened."

I didn't poison anyone. How would I know where the antidote was?

I tried to run, but he caught me and pressed the berries to my lips.

"Last chance. Where's the antidote?"

I clenched my jaw and shook my head.

Disappointment filled his eyes. "I didn't want it to come to this. You forced my hand."

He pinched my nose shut. Gasping for air, my mouth opened involuntarily, and he shoved the berries in.

Blisters erupted across my skin. The suffocation washed over me as well.

"I just want you to feel what Vivian felt. Give me the antidote and I'll give you the allergy medicine."

Berry juice mixed with tears on my face. My vision blurred. Damien's face dissolved into nothing, and then — darkness.

In the darkness, I dreamed.

I was running through an endless night, but no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't find the light. Shadowy hands clawed at me from every direction, pulling me down.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

Damien was slumped at my bedside, gripping my hand, murmuring my name over and over.

For a disorienting moment, it felt like seven years ago — when I'd been hospitalized and he'd stayed by my side all night.

He felt me stir and snapped upright, his worry easing slightly when he saw my eyes open.

"Elena. You're awake."

His voice was gentle. He reached for my hand. "You have no idea how worried I was."

Beneath the blankets, my fists clenched. The disgust I felt toward this man had reached its peak.

How could he do this to me, then sit there looking concerned?

I pulled my hand away and turned my face from him.

His smile froze, but he recovered quickly. "I panicked. It was reckless. But you know — Vivian saved my life. She saved me, Elena. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be standing before me now. As a Luna, do you not know how to repay a debt of gratitude?"

Repaying a debt — or being blinded by lust?

The lipstick stains on his shirt collar were still there. Whatever they'd done while I was unconscious was obvious enough.

"When you lost your memory, she filled the role of your mate," I said evenly. "In a way, she was your mate. Of course you should care about her."

He stared at me, thrown. My understanding hadn't brought him relief — only a strange ache.

"Let's dissolve the mate bond, Damien. I can't share my mate with another woman. If one of us has to go, I'd rather it be me."

I said it with a straight face, hoping for the answer I needed.

Instead, he laughed.

I didn't see what was funny about any of this.

He pulled me into his arms, pressing my head against his shoulder. "You're adorable when you're mad, you know that?"

"I'm not—"

"I know what you're thinking. You want me all to yourself, right? Relax — what I have with Vivian is gratitude, not love. You're the one I want. Once she has the pup safely, I'll cut things off. So no more talk about dissolving our bond, okay?"

In his eyes, my feelings didn't matter. My earnest pleas were just "tantrums" and "acting out."

His phone rang — Vivian's ringtone, the one I recognized instantly.

He answered, his expression melting into tenderness. Then he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Elena, Vivian knows she was wrong to accuse you without proof. I'll make sure she comes to apologize."

He left before I could respond. Just like that — gone, leaving me alone in the hospital room.

The day I was discharged, I took a cab home by myself.

Passing the pack altar, I told the driver to stop and got out.

Beyond the altar lay a sculpture garden — every Alpha and Luna pair in the pack's history had their likeness here.

I walked to the very last one and looked up at our faces.

Damien had carved this himself. He'd said no sculptor could capture a tenth of my beauty, so he had to do it with his own hands. He'd practiced for months, slicing his fingers open again and again, failing and starting over. Even with bandages wrapped around all ten fingers, he wouldn't quit.

When it was finally finished, he'd picked me up and spun me around, barely able to contain himself.

I'd cried when I saw it.

Now the sculpture was neglected, covered in scratched graffiti — "die," "disgusting," and worse.

None of that bothered me anymore. But the sight of it — of us — was unbearable.

I shoved the sculpture off its pedestal. Our faces shattered against the ground.

Every memory of him disgusted me.

When I got home, Vivian was sitting on my couch. Wearing my clothes.

"Luna, you're back! Is my being here making you uncomfortable? Maybe I should go."

She squeezed out a few tears. Damien's heart melted on cue. He wrapped an arm around her and opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.

"No need. If this is Damien's home, it's yours too. Make yourself comfortable."

The words died in his throat. Watching me stand there, utterly expressionless, the unease in his chest grew.

It was as if... as if I truly didn't love him anymore.

He forced the thought away. She's just being mature about it, he told himself.

Then his phone rang. He rushed outside to take the call. I caught only one sentence from the other end:

"Alpha, the Moonlit Forest Resort is booked. When should we expect you and the Luna?"