Evelyn’s POV

I was carried back to my room that day. The pain and the images in my head almost killed me. I couldn’t get out of bed for the next 3 days.

And Tristan never bothered to check on me once. I heard that he was busy taking Leah to parties and introducing her to all his members.

Then I got an unexpected call, from my best friend in college, Haley.

“Hey, Evelyn! Just want to check on you and see if you are still coming to Storm Fang Pack for business next week. We should definitely find a time to meet up!”

I took in a small deep breath.

Shit. I almost forgot that.

For the past few years, I have been working on a huge real estate project called Carnival City with a company in Storm Fang Pack, AKA the largest and most powerful pack in the world.

Originally, I planned to go over there next week and sign the contract with CEO Jason.

I also wanted to catch up with Haley and…possibly visit Haley's brother.

Her brother, Asher Hawthorne, was no one else but the Alpha of Storm Fang Pack, the tycoon that dominated the business world.

If he could advise on my project, it’d definitely help me.

But Asher Hawthorne was a notorious playboy. I heard that he never wasted time on women unless he was interested in having sex with them. So I knew that maybe meeting with Alpha Asher was a long shot.

But now, I had completely forgotten all about that.

Because of what happened with Leah.

“I don’t know, Haley…Maybe there’ll be a change of plan. I can’t go anymore.” I said lowly.

“What? Why?”

There’s no point hiding this with my best friend. I covered my face and choked, “…Tristan is leaving me for another woman…the birth mother of our adopted child. If he does, there’s no point for me to keep working on that project…”

I developed the Carnival City project to solve Blazewood Pack’s financial crisis. But none of that matters now if I am no longer the Luna.

“WHAT?! That jerk!!” Haley cried in disbelief, “Have you talked to a divorce lawyer? Make sure you get 80% of his assets!”

“I…I don’t know, Haley. We haven’t talked about division of assets yet.”

“Hang in there, girl. I’ll see what I can do to help,” she said firmly before hanging up.

It felt good to be comforted by a good friend.

And it made me wonder—maybe I shouldn’t leave without a fight. I should at least do something for our marriage.

Leah wasn’t the right one for Tristan. She left him once for another man 4 years ago before we got married. I didn’t know why she came back to Tristan this time and she would betray him again.

I just needed to show him that she couldn’t be trusted.

But who was here to help me? Not the members. They weren’t too fond of me. Definitely not the elders. They all thought I was a Northern chick with no class.

Then, finally, I thought of Roman. My baby boy.

Although Leah was his mother by birth, I was by his side for the past 3 years. My boy would be on my side.

Standing outside of the packhouse, I saw Roman’s school bus drive close. I was on this spot every morning and night for the past 3 years, waiting for Roman to come back to school.

As soon as the door opened, I started waving and calling for my boy:

“Roman! Darling! Over here!”

He jumped off the school bus. But as soon as he saw me, he started running in the opposite direction.

“Get away from me!” He cried.

I rushed to grab his shoulder, stunned, “What? Roman, why—”

“You want my mommy to leave! I hate you!” he shouted, “Daddy, Mommy, and I are a real family! Not you!”

Tears welled up in my eyes. Roman knew Leah was back. And he chose her over me.

“Roman, I—I’m your mom, remember?” I choked, “I took you to the hospital when you were sick. I went to all of your parent and teacher's meetings. I tugged you in every night…I love you…”

He struggled in my arms, screeching, as though he didn’t want me to touch him.

Passersby stopped and stared at us. One guy even came forward and said, “Miss, please let go of the child.”

“It’s ok. He’s my kid.” I quickly explained.

“NO!” Roman shrieked, “You hit me! You put my head into the toilet! You scared me! I don’t want you. I want Mommy Leah!”

I froze on my spot. I didn’t none of those stuff! Why would Roman lie about those?!

Leah suddenly appeared near the front gate, with Tristan behind her back. She dashed over, crying, and held Roman tightly in her arms.

“My poor baby! What’ve you been through!” she wailed.

“You hit Roman?!” Tristan growled at me, “Are you doing this because you can’t have your own child and you are jealous of Leah?”

I looked at him in shock. How could he think this way?

Leah sobbed, “Don’t blame her, Tristan. I get it. People only love their own kid. Roman and I are outsiders here. Maybe we should leave…”

“Yes, you do!” I blurt out.

“ENOUGH!” Tristan snarled, glaring at me. “Leah’s the woman I love and Roman is my only son! I can’t leave them. And they need me.”

I started to tremble in pain. “Then what about me, Tristan? I’m your mate!”

“Nobody says you aren’t!” Tristan said impatiently, “You’ll still be Blazewood Pack’s Luna. Leah is here simply because of love. She’s not interested in your position.”

“You won’t even notice that I’m in the house. I just want to stay with Tristan.” Leah said softly.

I felt dizzy.

If she was the woman he loved, then what did that make me? A free employee who helped him run his pack? How could I stand the pain while my husband fucked another woman every night in the next room?

No, I couldn’t handle that.

And I didn’t think Tristan’s love for me was completely gone.

So with a trembling hand, I started undo my blouse, revealing my delicate collarbone and then my chest. My scent quickly filled the air. I heard Tristan’s breathing suddenly became heavy.

“…What are you doing?” he gritted with sweat on his forehead.

I took a step further, locking eyes with him, whispering, “Don’t you miss me? The feeling of being with your mate…it’s better than anything else in the world. You know that.”

The matebond was working.

He stared deep into my eyes, obsessed, and murmured, “…My mate.”

Evelyn’s POV

My heart pounded in my chest. I took another step further and reached out to him.

A sharp scream pierced through the air.

Leah collapsed on the ground. She gripped her chest, panting and crying, “No…my chest…”

Tristan was snapped back to reality. He went to her in panic, “God! What’s going on?”

“My chest…it hurts…” Tears streamed down Leah’s face, “Just let me go, Tristan. There’re obviously feelings between you and your mate. The matebond…how can I beat that?”

“We have love! It conquers everything!” Tristan said decisively, “Come! I’ll take you to the hospital.”

He spooned her up with one arm and held Roman with another hand. Before leaving, he shot me a glare.

“Don’t force me to divorce you, Evelyn!” he snarled, “If I do that, you’ll have no money and nowhere to go. So be nice to Leah and Roman from now on. Only that will guarantee you a place under my roof!”

He stormed away, leaving me heartbroken on the spot.

Maybe I should do what Haley suggested—get a good divorce lawyer and guarantee for a basic life in the future.

But Tristan was a powerful Alpha, and I didn’t even have money to hire a decent lawyer. I couldn’t win this in court.

I wandered back to my room, absentminded, not knowing what to do next. The next morning, I got a call from work.

One of the staff on the Carnival City project told me that CEO Jason wanted to discuss our contract. Maybe he had heard about my divorce and had doubts about our cooperation.

So I struggled out of bed and went to the office.

Yet to my surprise, Leah was the only person in the office when I came in.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked, astounded. “And where’s everyone?”

She gave me a mocking smile, “I told them to have the day off. Oh, and I already talked to CEO Jason and invited him to come here to sign the contract. You’re welcome.”

I couldn’t believe this.

“You have no right. This is my office!” I snapped.

She giggled, pleased to see me enraged, “Not anymore. I told Tristan that I wanted the Carnival City project. And he says I can have it.”

I rounded my eyes in shock.

I worked days and nights on this project, making budgets, drafting the proposal, and finding investors.

Yet now, the project that I poured my heart and soul into became a gift from my husband to his mistress.

“Why the shocking face? You know Tristan would give me anything,” Leah coiled a lock of her hair, smiling. “This project is nothing too fancy. But it’ll be a good stepping stone for me to become Tristan’s Luna.”

I stared at her, breathing rapidly.

“You want to be Tristan’s Luna?” I cried, “B…But you said that you are here simply because of love. And you are not interested in that position!”

“Oh my god, you believe that? That’s just something I say for Tristan!” she smiled a twisted smile, “Of course I want to be Luna. Why else would I waste time on Tristan?”

I took a step back, my body trembling, “You don’t love him! You are just bouncing from Alpha to Alpha! I’m going to tell him—”

“Be my guest. See if he believes you.” Leah giggled, approaching me step by step. “Tristan has blind faith in me. He would do anything for me…Let me tell you a little secret. Remember your miscarriage?”

A chill ran through me. “…What?”

Leah leaned in, looking at me with a smug smile.

“I couldn’t keep Roman when I first had him. So Tristan suggested bringing him here and told you Roman’s adopted. But you happened to be pregnant as well at that time. So I got really worried: If a woman already has her own child, how could she be nice to an adopted kid? And you know what Tristan said about that?"

I stared at her in horror, my mind froze.

"Tristan said, ‘Just get rid of her baby, problem solved.’ "

Leah laughed heartily.

"He put wolfsbane in your drink, and your child slipped right out. After that, he brought Roman back as your only child…That’s how far Tristan would go for me!”

The whole world collapsed around me.

Shock, anger, disbelief…almost tore my soul apart!

“No….NO!!” I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. “This isn’t true…Tristan would never…I’m going to ask him!”

“Whatever, Evelyn.” Leah giggled.

I shoved her aside and jerked around, dashing out of the office.

I needed to see Tristan.

I wanted to tell him that Leah didn’t love him at all. She’s just using him. And I wanted to hear him explain. I knew he didn’t murder our baby.

I ran out of the building and across the street. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a truck coming at me at full speed. But it was too late for me to dodge.

BANG!!!

The truck hit me, sending me flying, and then crashing onto the ground.

Pain shot through my body. My vision became blurred. Blood pooled underneath me.

Vaguely, I saw the truck driver jump off and walk over.

“He…Help…” I groaned weakly with tears, “Pl…ease…”

Yet the driver only gave me an indifferent look and turned to Leah, “Miss Leah, what’s next?”

“Drag her into the woods and bury her.” Leah looked down at me with a sweet smile. “Once she’s gone, Tristan will have no choice but to make me Luna.”

They were together.

This was murder.

But my energy was gone. I shut my eyes, trembling, and slipped into the darkness.

Evelyn’s POV

I thought I was dead already.

But when I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in the hospital bed. A nurse was checking my blood pressure by the bedside.

“Oh my god, you’re awake!” she said cheerfully, “Finally! It’s been a week!”

…A week?

“W—Where…am I?”

She told me an address, which was hundreds of miles far from the packhouse. Leah must have driven a long way before dumping me.

“A couple of hikers found you in the woods and sent you to the hospital. You’d be dead already in they were a couple of hours late.” the nurse’s face turned serious, “What’s your name? And what happened to you?”

I groaned trying to sit up, “Did…did anyone come to look for me?”

“No. Nobody came.”

Tears poured out of my eyes.

I was gone missing for a week. Yet my own husband didn’t even bother to look for me.

“I…I need to go.” I gasped and struggled to get out of bed, “I need to find Tristan…”

The nurse followed me crying, “Hey you’re not fully recovered yet! Come back!”

She said that my ribs were fractured. My left leg was broken. And I was suffering from a concussion, which could develop into a serious disease if wasn’t taken seriously.

But I still insisted on checking out from the hospital.

I had no money and no phone at the moment. So how to go back to the packhouse was a big issue.

My only option was to hitch a ride.

I traveled the freeway for a whole morning, staggering. My ribs and left leg hurt like hell. My wolf was healing me as quickly as possible. But it still wasn’t enough.

Before I dropped down by the streetside again, a kind family stopped the car and gave me a ride.

We started talking in the car. The family told me that something big was happening at the packhouse.

“…Alpha Tristan is getting married again soon!” the wife said excitedly, “The new Luna is Ironclaw Pack’s daughter! And the adopted kid, Roman, isn’t adopted at all! He’s Alpha Tristan and Leah’s son! The boy has real Alpha blood!”

“Finally, we can have a highborn Luna. Someone who truly deserves our Alpha,” the father commented.

I gazed out the window numbly. The agony was making it hard for me to breathe.

“…And where’s the old Luna?” I asked lowly.

The wife shrugged, “Who cares? Not even Alpha Tristan cares. He didn’t mention her once in public once Leah was back.”

I wanted to cry again but also didn’t want to do it in front of strangers. So I turned around and covered my eyes.

3 hours later, the car stopped at the Central Square in front of the packhouse. A lot of people were gathered here.

I thanked the family and got out of the car. Going into the crowd, I heard people say that CEO Jason was coming from Storm Fang Pack today to sign a business contract with us. And all those people were here to welcome him.

“Miss Leah is in charge of the Carnival City project!” someone said in the crowd, “Well done, Leah! Finally, a Luna who knows what’s she doing!”

I clenched my fists in anger.

Carnival City was my project. Leah stole the fruit of my work. Yet nobody here knew that.

In the center, Tristan, Leah, and Roman were posing happily for the cameras.

“We are all excited about CEO Jason’s arrival, about the Carnival City. This is an important moment for the entire Blazewood Pack,” Tristan said with a charming smile.

“But why isn’t Luna Evelyn here today?” a reporter asked.

A deep furrow appeared between Tristan’s brows.

Before Tristan could answer, Leah jumped the gun and said, “Evelyn doesn’t want to come. Maybe she’s sick. Or maybe…she just doesn’t want to be in the same room with me.”

People let out low hisses.

Someone cried, “She’s obviously jealous of you! You made this project work. You gave birth to our Alpha’s only heir. Only you matter here! Evelyn can go fuck herself!”

“Guys…please. Have some sympathy.” Leah said softly, “I never want to fight with her. As long as I have Tristan, it’s enough.”

They held hands and smiled looking at each other.

I couldn’t control the growing pain in my chest watching them like this.

…Did Tristan even bother to look for me while I went missing?

Maybe he really didn’t care. Maybe I would humiliate myself by coming back to confront him.

Just then, a honk came from the near distance.

The crowd stirred. Tristan announced loudly, “CEO Jason is here. Let’s all go welcome him!”

A line of cars appeared at the end of the road, speeding toward us. At the front was a black Maybach.

It pulled up in front of the crowd.

The car door opened up. Jason got out of the front seat.

Tristan rushed forward and stretched out his hand to welcome this mighty CEO.

But Jason ignored that hand. He hurriedly walked to the backseat and the back door in a humble manner.

Another man got out of the car.

He stood tall, around 6'3", with a broad, athletic build that screamed strength and control. His chiseled jawline, sharp cheekbones, and strong chin all gave him a commanding presence.

And those piercing green eyes were intense, with a sharp, almost predatory gaze.

A deathly silence fell.

Everyone in the crowd froze in shock, including me.

“Asher Hawthorne.”

The handsome man offered his hand to the dumb-founded Tristan, saying in a deep, sexy voice.

“Nice to meet you.”

A round of surprised gasps broke out from the crowd.

Alpha Asher…What was he doing here?!

He was the Alpha of Storm Fang Pack, a huge business tycoon. There were hundreds of thousands of companies under his reign.

The Carnival City Project was huge to us, but nothing to him.

Why would he show up here today?

“Alpha Asher heard about our project and was really interested in it,” Jason explained to Tristan. “So if you agree, the Hawthorne Enterprise will become your new partner.”

Tristan inhaled sharply, and so did every elder behind his back.

“Of course!” Tristan gasped out in joy. “Come in please. Let’s discuss this in detail.”

“Wait.” Asher interrupted in a chilling voice, “Why isn’t Evelyn here? She’s in charge of the project.”

There was a buzz of comments around me.

“Luna Evelyn? I thought Leah is in charge!” a man gasped.

“So did Leah lie about that?” a woman asked.

Leah’s face turned pale slightly. Then she forced out a smile.

“Luna Evelyn found working on this project too exhausting. So she stepped back and handed everything to me. Trust me, Alpha Tristan. I can do a better job,” she explained.

I clenched my fists in anger.

Another lie. I didn’t hand it to her. She stole it after hitting me with a truck.

Yet Alpha Asher completely ignored her, as though she didn’t exist in his eyes.

“I don’t do business with amateurs. Certainly not with your mistress.” He said freezingly to Tristan. “Bring Luna Evelyn back by tonight! Or the cooperation is off.”

With that, he strode past Tristan and Leah and headed toward the packhouse. Jason and the burly soldiers from Storm Fang Pack followed their Alpha.