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?"

My heart sank. Even the pack members could see it now — Damien didn't love me. I was Luna in name only. The real Luna, in everyone's eyes, was Vivian.

"You heard them. Everyone knows I'm the real Luna."

Vivian rubbed her belly smugly. "This child will be the Alpha's heir. One day this whole pack will be mine. What do you have left? No baby, no mark, no bond. Face it — you've already lost."

I didn't bother responding. I went to my room — I had luggage to pack.

A crash of breaking glass came from outside, followed by Vivian's scream.

I stepped out to check. Damien came running too. Vivian was on the floor, writhing in pain, a silver blade buried in her arm, blood pooling beneath her. His face went white.

"Vivian! Are you alright?"

She forced a few words through gritted teeth. "Elena... she tried to kill me..."

Damien's expression went black. Without waiting for my explanation, he threw me to the ground.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around my belly, pain tearing through me.

He scooped up Vivian and looked down at me, cold as ice. "If anything happens to Vivian's child, I will never forgive you."

Then he was gone.

My body ached, but the baby was fine. I had no intention of telling Damien about this child. He wasn't a good mate, and he wouldn't be a good father.

For days, Damien didn't come home. Vivian, however, was posting nonstop — intimate photos with Damien, one after another. I didn't care about any of them, except one photo that made my heart lurch.

Damien was on one knee, offering a protective amulet to Vivian.

Her caption read: 【He prayed to the Moon Goddess for this. It will keep me safe for life. His devotion warms my heart.】

I searched every corner of my room. My amulet was gone.

The man who'd sworn to protect me forever was the one breaking me, piece by piece.

I steadied myself and called my father. "Dad, how's everything I asked you to prepare?"

"All done. That son of a bitch is going to pay for what he did to you."

Relieved, I turned my mind to getting Damien to sign the dissolution papers. But that day came sooner than I expected.

A week later, Damien came home carrying jewelry and gifts. When he noticed my room had been cleared out, he frowned. "Why are you packing?"

"I'm going away for a few days."

"Where?"

"Is that your business? You never tell me where you go."

Something nagged at him — maybe it was the residual tug of the mate bond — but he wouldn't let himself think the unthinkable.

He pulled out a small box. Inside was an exquisite ring.

"Elena, I know I've been wrong. Even if you struck first, as an Alpha, I should have been generous. I shouldn't have blamed you just for your mistake."

"This is a family heirloom. I value it more than my own life. I'm giving it to you. No matter what happens, you're still the Luna of this pack."

The ring was a sacred relic. Not every Luna in the pack's history had held it — it represented supreme authority and the power to govern.

Once, I would have wept with joy. Now I only gave it a cold glance.

Watching me, Damien's heart plummeted. He swallowed hard. "Elena, are you—"

His phone rang, cutting him off. He checked the caller and stepped away.

Whatever was said on the other end drained the color from his face. His body trembled. His eyes went red. As if he’d heard something terrible.

"I'll take care of everything," he managed after a long pause.

He hung up, turned to face me, and couldn't meet my eyes.

"Elena. Let's dissolve the mate bond."

Something flickered in my eyes — the first crack in my composure.

Damien's face twisted with conflict. "Vivian has a terminal illness. She doesn't have long. Her dying wish is a mating ceremony — a real one. She wants to be my Luna before she goes. She saved my life. Can't I grant her this one thing?"

"Of course, we'd only dissolve our bond temporarily. We'll get back together afterward. This won't affect the alliance between our packs. I don't want our personal business to interfere with politics."

All those pretty words boiled down to one thing: he wanted Vivian's child and my family's wealth. He wanted it all.

Despite everything, I nodded.

Relief broke across his face. "I'll have the papers drawn up right away."

"No need." I pulled the dissolution agreement from my bag. "I've had these ready for a while."

His relief vanished, replaced by something hard and suspicious.

"How did you—"

"Stop stalling. Sign. Your Vivian is waiting."

He picked up the pen but hesitated at the last moment, looking up at me. "Elena... do you still love me?"

I laughed — a cold, hollow sound — and turned the question back on him. "Do you?"

"Of course I—"

Vivian's wailing cut through from outside.

"Damien! If I can't be with you, what's the point of living? I'd rather die than be apart from you!"

She raised a silver blade to her own chest. Damien bolted toward her and caught her in his arms. "I've already dissolved things with Elena! The ceremony is happening. Calm down!"

She thrashed and sobbed. "You haven't signed yet! You're lying to me!"

Without a second's hesitation, Damien bit open his hand and signed his name in blood. He flung the papers at me. "Sign it! Do you want to watch her die?"

I bit my own hand and let my blood fall onto his. The two bloods merged and ignited, burning the contract to ash. In that instant, our bond was severed.

Even though love was already dead, the severance still hurt — a deep, aching hollow where the bond had been.

Damien's jaw clenched. His body shook. I knew he felt it too, but he wouldn't show it — not in front of Vivian.

The moment it was done, Vivian stopped crying. She grabbed Damien's arm and walked out without a backward glance.

Silence filled the room. My heart emptied along with it. The pain of dissolution was far worse than I'd expected. Sweat beaded on my forehead before I even realized it.

After a long while, I went to my room, grabbed the bags I'd already packed, and walked out of the place I'd called home for seven years.

At the airport, I blocked Damien on everything — every number, every contact, every link to my old life. Then I boarded the plane.

The pack's buildings shrank beneath me until they were nothing. A new life was beginning.