My heart slammed against my ribs, each beat as violently as the taxi sped through the winding trail leading back to the place I once called home, the pack house where I had poured every ounce of love, devotion, and loyalty into building a life with my mate, Alpha Aleron Nightbane.

What was once a sanctuary now reeked of betrayal and blood. The sacred stones of the house felt cold underfoot, echoing like tombs. Memories that once sang of passion and unity were now shadows, twisted and venomous.

“Stop it!” I cried out, slamming the heavy oak door behind me. “Please, stop it!”

I clutched my ears, trying to drown out the haunting echoes of her voice, Liezel’s moans still embedded in the walls, in the floorboards, in the very air I breathed. I stumbled into the bathroom, dazed, my vision spinning as my legs gave out beneath me.

Falling to my knees, I retched into the carved stone basin, but nothing came out. My stomach was hollow, aching from both heartbreak and hunger. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, too frightened to provoke Alpha Aleron’s wrath by being late to his precious party, Liezel’s party. The woman he paraded like a Luna before the entire pack while I stood in the shadows, the invisible wife.

The scent of betrayal burned my nostrils, more acrid than wolfsbane. But then came a flutter. A soft, delicate kick in my womb, one life, then another. The twins. His heirs.

Fury gave way to clarity. I wiped my tears with trembling hands and made my way to the hearth, grabbing anything I could eat just to stay on my feet for them, for my unborn pups who hadn’t yet seen the cruel world of Alphas and hierarchy.

With shaking fingers, I unlocked my phone and dialed the only person I could still trust.

“Draft the divorce papers,” I whispered hoarsely, my voice cracking under the weight of what I’d just done.

There was no hesitation on the other end. “I’ll send them by dawn,” came the steady voice of Alira, pack omega and a formidable she-wolf turned lawyer, my best friend since our childhood days in the Southern Claws. She knew the pain behind my silence better than anyone else.

By the time the sun bathed the pack house in a muted silver light, the divorce papers were delivered, neatly bound and sealed with the crimson wax of the Blood Crescent Court.

It was past noon when the front door creaked open. Alpha Aleron Nightbane entered with a bouquet of white moonlilies in hand, their petals glowing faintly in the light, a peace offering from a mate who thought his crimes could be masked with charm.

I sat alone at the table, calmly eating the stew I had prepared, one of his favorites. Elk meat braised in winter root herbs. He had always demanded meals cooked by my hand, even when my fever burned hotter than a flame. He said my food soothed his wolf. I had endured every ache, every belittlement, just to please him.

He placed the bouquet in front of me, waiting for my reaction. But I simply moved them aside without a word. Silence cracked between us.

“You humiliated me last night, Elara,” he said, his voice sharp, trying to reclaim the dominance of an Alpha. “You ruined the mood, embarrassed me in front of my Beta and council. You owe Liezel and the others an apology—”

I raised my gaze slowly, meeting his stormy eyes with a dead calmness that unnerved him.

“I apologize,” I murmured, my voice laced with ice. “I forgot my place.”

He flinched. Not at the words, but at the void in my voice, the abyss where my love used to be.

I stood, the screech of the chair echoing like a battle cry in the stillness. Limping from an injury he conveniently forgot, I fetched a plate and began laying out the dishes for him. Dishes I’d once made with love, now served like an offering at a funeral.

He hesitated before sitting, shame flickering across his features as he watched me, finally noticing the pain he had caused, the limp, the hollow eyes, the silence that screamed.

“Elara… I was drunk last night,” he tried, his voice softening. “Is your wound healing? You shouldn’t take things so personally. I mean… once you apologize to Liezel, we’ll go back to how things were.”

Back to how things were? Back to being his shadow? His servant? His unloved Luna in title only?

“I know you were raised in the countryside,” he added, condescending as ever. “It’s not your fault you never learned the proper etiquette. I’ve always just wanted what’s best for you.”

I smiled then, but it wasn’t warmth. It was war.

He froze.

“This is all a mistake,” he hissed.

“No, Alpha. The mistake was thinking I was yours to humiliate.”

I longed to cry out, to howl, to scream until the skies split open, but what good would it do in a pack where no one truly listened? Where even my own mate saw me as nothing more than a burden to tame? The lump in my throat was unbearable, a raw ache that clawed at my chest, but I swallowed it down like I always did.

So instead, I smiled.

A hollow, twisted thing stretched across my face, so painfully forced it made my skin itch, like I was wearing someone else’s expression. The mask of a Luna who knew her place. The smile of a mate who pretended not to bleed every time she was pushed aside for another.

Silence was the only armor I had left in this brutal world of wolves and shadows.

My mate coaxed me without an ounce of shame. For years, I endured his biting words, thinking they were just reminders to be better, stronger, more worthy of him as Luna. I believed I had to excel in every way to earn his approval. But now the truth clawed through lies.

Liezel had always held his heart. I was merely a shadow beside her… a placeholder he tolerated but never truly loved.

Then again…

"Say sorry to Liezel, and only then will things go back to how they were."

“I’ll apologize to my sister,” I said, my voice barely more than a breath. Alpha Aleron’s face brightened instantly, his smile soft and falsely sweet, as if my submission was a gift he’d long been waiting for.

Aleron’s lips curved into that practiced smile, the one that once made my heart flutter but now only left me hollow. He reached across the table and patted my hand gently, like a master indulging a pet. “Perfect,” he said, his sapphire eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “I’ll invite Liezel and the rest of the pack council for dinner tomorrow. You’ll cook for everyone, won’t you? Your sister will surely forgive you.”

I gave a stiff nod, swallowing the nausea clawing at my throat. The untouched lunch in front of me reeked of bitterness with Aleron, my mate, my husband, sitting across like a stranger. The image of him with Liezel was burned into my mind, poisoning every breath I took.

Later that afternoon, I handed him a box, delicately wrapped in midnight-blue foil and tied with a silver ribbon etched with our family sigil, a crescent moon wrapped in roses.

“That day, I couldn’t give you a birthday present,” I said with a trembling smile, tears threatening to spill. “This is from me.”

He barely glanced at the gift before brushing a cold, mechanical kiss against my lips, void of warmth, just the hollow affection of a man skilled in pretending. “I’ll open it after I’ve freshened up,” he said, rising without emotion.

I followed him in silence up the grand staircase, past portraits of alphas and luna queens whose stone eyes now seemed to watch my quiet disgrace.

Outside our bedroom, I paused. The door was slightly open. Drawn by instinct, I leaned closer, just in time to see him unlock his phone and dial the number I had long since learned to fear.

“Didn’t I tell you not to worry about anything, baby?” he murmured, his voice laced with false tenderness. “You’ll fall sick if you stress like this. Elara even gave me a birthday gift. Probably some stupid tie or whatever. Who cares?”

My breath caught. His voice, once my anchor, now cleaved my soul apart.

“Anyway, I’m inviting you and the others to a little dinner tomorrow. Elara will cook. Just text me what you’d like. I’ll have her make all your favorite dishes.”

The tears came, hot and bitter, blurring my vision as I watched him open the wardrobe and, without even unwrapping it, toss my gift carelessly to the back.

“And tomorrow night,” he said with a low chuckle, “once she’s done playing hostess, I’ll make an excuse and send her away. Let’s finally celebrate our love, hmm?”

Celebrate… their love.

In our home.

In our bed.

My heart twisted, a feral growl rising in my throat, and for the first time, I felt her, my wolf, stirring from dormancy, her rage and pain echoing mine. This wasn’t just heartbreak; it was betrayal against a Luna, against the sacred bond of fated mates.

At dawn, I woke, clinging to the hope it had all been a cruel dream. But as I turned to Alpha Aleron sleeping beside me, I saw only the hollow shell of the man I once loved.

Silently, I packed. Each item folded was a quiet goodbye. In the mirror, I paused, hand resting over my belly. The twins stirred, reminding me I wasn’t leaving alone.

“Mom will take care of you both now,” I whispered. “And she’ll make sure you’re never raised in a house without love.”

I took a taxi straight to the Pack’s hospital, where my grandmother, my anchor and fiercest protector, was recovering.

The moment she saw me, she pulled me into a crushing embrace, sobbing quietly. “Elara, my precious wolf child,” she wept, her voice hoarse with emotion. “How could they do this to you? Are you sure about this, love?”

“Yes,” I whispered with certainty burning in my chest. “I’ve made arrangements. We’ll leave for the Northern Fang tomorrow. Far from this cursed land. Far from Alpha Aleron Nightbane.”

She nodded, brushing tears from my cheek, her hand lingering at the spot over my womb. “Your pups deserve peace. And so do you.”

That afternoon, I called my manager, Mrs. Winters, and explained everything. She didn’t ask questions, just offered me quiet support and even transferred some funds to my account to help with the escape.

“My husband… he won’t stop,” I warned her. “He’s a ruthless wolf. If he comes looking for me, I'll send something in the mail. Give it to him. It’ll be enough to make him stop.”

At that same moment, back at the pack house, Alpha Aleron awoke to an empty bed. He didn’t panic, no, he simply assumed I was at work. He didn’t bother to call. Didn’t wonder if I was safe.

Instead, he sent a message.

[Aleron: I’ve sent you a list of dishes. Make sure everything’s perfect. Don’t screw it up.]

I stared at the screen while Grandma gently held my hand. A single tear fell.

“I’m done with this bond,” I whispered, and blocked the number tied to my torment.

Alpha Aleron’s POV

The evening descended faster than I anticipated, shadows bleeding into the edges of our pack house like an omen I couldn’t shake off.

The living room buzzed with heat, whiskey, and wolf pheromones as my so-called friends lounged around like they owned the place, but my eyes stayed fixed on Liezel, seated at the center like a queen of nothing.

"Alpha Aleron," one of the betas slurred, grinning, "we heard your elder brother, Draven Nightbane, is returning after his rogue-hunting mission. He vanished right after your bonding ceremony. If we didn’t know better, we’d say he was heartbroken over Elara choosing you."

My eyes narrowed.

Another chimed in, laughter bubbling in his throat, "Who says he’s not? He never approved of your mating. There was a rumor, remember? That both heirs of the Nightbane bloodline fell for the same countryside she-wolf."

The glass in my hand shattered, shards cutting into my palm as crimson dripped onto the floor. The room fell into instant silence.

A low growl rumbled from my chest, primal and dark. “Elara is my fated mate. She’s mine by bond, by bite, and by every law of the Moon. She’ll love no one but me. She will obey me.”

Liezel’s face drained of color, her smug posture wilting. Because she knew damn well that the rumor they mocked had truth buried beneath it. Elara, my mate, had unintentionally captivated Draven Nightbane, too.

The perfect, quiet, innocent she-wolf who was never meant for this world of claws and power captured the heart of someone like Draven.

But Liezel? She tried for Draven. Failed. And when she realized his heart was elsewhere, she turned to the next in line, me. The bastard son of Alpha Cristoff Nightbane. The second choice. The fallback.

And I was foolish enough to let her into my circle.

"Where’s your Luna anyway?" someone asked, a weak attempt to break the tension. But the words sent a jagged chill down my spine.

Where was she?

Hours had passed with no sign of Elara. My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin as I clenched my jaw and checked the time again.

I called her, but it went straight to voicemail. Tried again. Still nothing. No ringing, no tone, just silence. Cold dread twisted in my gut.

Her number had never failed me in the three years we’d been bound, but now it was suddenly disconnected.