My son, Cassian's last birthday wish was simple: for our family to celebrate together. But Alpha Thorne, my mate and leader of the Silverclaw Pack, never loved me or our son. After countless pleas, he reluctantly agreed to be there.

Yet on the night of the celebration, my mate was nowhere to be found. That same night, Cassian took his last breath, his wish heartbreakingly unfulfilled.

I managed the funeral ceremony alone, bearing the weight of our loss. Only later did I discover the bitter truth: Thorne had been with my sister, Morgana, the entire time, enjoying the snowy peaks outside our pack's territory.

And after knowing that, I packed my belongings, my composure unwavering.

In a twist of irony, this Alpha begged me not to leave in the end, pleading for forgiveness.

***

It was no surprise that Thorne would abandon everything for Morgana. I had never been his priority. From the start, I knew his heart belonged to her, despite being his fated mate. How could I compete with his first love?

As I returned from the cemetery to the pack house that was meant to be our home, I was starkly reminded of Thorne's rare presence here. It was absurd, if anyone knew, that the Alpha was seldom seen in his own pack house. For years, it had been just Cassian and me.

Cassian's presence lingered in every corner. His laughter still echoed in the halls, and his portraits pinned to the wall. Every step I took was a painful reminder of my son. The weight of his absence was crushing. I wept as I began clearing away the traces of our life together. Every reminder of my son had to go, but each piece I packed felt like I was losing him all over again.

Dragging my suitcase downstairs, I ran into my mate. His sudden appearance took me by surprise, but then I saw he was carrying Morgana into the pack house. His face was etched with concern, and he brushed past me as if I were a stranger. He didn’t even glance my way.

I had grown accustomed to this. With my sister around, I was invisible to him. Even in our youth, when my previous pack allied with Silverclaw, Thorne's attention was always on Morgana. It shocked him when, at his coming-of-age ceremony, he discovered we were the ones fated to be together.

Seeing the suitcase at my feet, Thorne finally stopped. His voice was devoid of emotion. "Aria, what is this about now?"

Morgana, clinging affectionately to Thorne’s neck, looked up at me. "Aria, I feel dizzy, and since Alpha Thorne said it’s better to rest here, so he brought me into the pack house. You don’t mind, do you?"

It was just a simple dizziness. I watched as Thorne gently settled her on the sofa, massaging her forehead as if she were made of glass.

Memories of our past flooded my mind. After we married and mated, he never truly cared for me. When I was attacked by a rogue and bled, he didn't come to check on me despite my pleas.

His response had been cold and detached, "A bleeding arm isn’t life or death. Why bother me?"

I was his mate, his Luna, but all those didn't matter to him.

Seeing them together made my stomach churn. Witnessing how much he cared for Morgana when he hadn't even bothered to check on his own son for years was enough to make my blood boil.

"Alpha... You want me out of your sight, right? Fine. We're done... I'm leaving," I said, my voice trembling with anger and sorrow.

He never wanted to be my mate. He only went through with it because of the pressure from our packs, who were allies, and the customs that dictated we should be together. Yet, he never acknowledged me or my wolf. That’s why I had grown so weak; my connection to my wolf had deteriorated so badly that I felt like only the Moonstone could repair it.

The Moonstone was a powerful heirloom passed down to the eldest child in our family, and I had received it. But until now, I had no intention of using its power. They say, that with great power comes great responsibility. I didn’t have the courage to wield it, even though it could restore my bond with my weakened wolf.

Thorne always thought I was jealous of Morgana and never looked at me properly. "Seriously? Are you changing your tactics to get my attention now?" he sneered. "You think you can no longer threaten me with your son, so now you're using yourself as leverage?"

A year ago, Cassian had started to weaken. He became pale and lost his appetite, and the pack healer couldn’t figure out what was wrong. His veins turned dark as if his blood was becoming thicker. Since then, he would often faint, and despite our kind's fast healing abilities, he couldn’t even recover from a simple headache.

During those days, I desperately mind-linked Thorne, pleading with him to visit our son who longed for him. But Thorne never came. He thought I was using Cassian to manipulate him and gain sympathy.

After almost a decade of shared life, this was how little he thought of me. I wiped away my tears and said, "Think what you want. I'm leaving."

I began to leave with my luggage, but Morgana interjected, "Alpha, I heard you planned to celebrate Cassian's birthday together. You didn't cancel that for the mountain trip with me, did you? Aria is upset..."

Thorne soothingly replied, "Don't worry. I know my priorities. We can go to the celebration anytime, but once the snow melts, we won’t be able to see it."

Hearing this, I scoffed coldly and continued dragging my suitcase out. Thorne seemed to sense something was off and rushed forward, grabbing my hand with frustration. "It's the middle of the night, and you insist on leaving now?"

He saw my swollen eyes and paused. "Is that celebration really worth crying over like this?"

My eyes must have been red and raw from crying because I saw a hint of pity in his gaze. "Let me clear my schedule next month, and I'll take Cassian then, okay?"

Next month? What next month did Cassian have? If only he cared a bit more about our son, he wouldn’t say such foolish things. I pulled my hand away. "No need!"

The Alpha stared at his empty palm, momentarily stunned. He never expected the person who used to cling to him would now avoid him like the plague. Snapping back to reality, he tried to catch up, but Morgana grabbed his arm.

"Alpha, it's all my fault. Even though I knew Cassian was faking his illness, I shouldn’t have competed with a child for your attention. Now it's made Aria angry at me."

Faking... faking illness?

My mind went blank. By the time I snapped back to reality, I had already slapped my sister across the face.

The Alpha’s face, which had been tinged with a flicker of guilt, shifted instantly to one of cold fury. He positioned Morgana protectively behind him, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on me. "What the hell are you doing? She is your sister!"

I ignored his outburst, fixing my steely gaze solely on Morgana. "Watch your tongue. It doesn’t matter if we share blood; you have no right to disrespect my son."

Morgana’s expression turned wounded as she looked up at Thorne, her voice trembling. "Alpha, please don’t let me come between you two. If my sister won’t acknowledge that Cassian is faking his illness, I’ll just drop it."

My heart pounded as I turned to Thorne, my voice low but filled with resolve. "Do you really believe our son is faking it too?"

Thorne’s silence was deafening. He glanced around, his gaze scanning the empty space as if he expected Cassian to magically appear.

With a tone that tried to mask his mounting irritation, Thorne asked, "Where did you take Cassian? I can’t sense him anywhere."

His disbelief stung. He didn’t even trust that our son had been suffering for so long. If only I had his power, I would have summoned the most renowned healers. But as the Luna, I was restricted by our pack’s boundaries and by Thorne’s refusal to acknowledge me.

If he had bothered to come home, he would have seen the table cluttered with herbal remedies and Cassian’s pale, suffering form. But he never came.

I remembered the day Cassian had told me he didn’t have much time left. His voice had been so fragile, his eyes reflecting a deep, unsettling truth. Even though I had tried to hold on to hope, I knew in my heart that he was right, given the rapid decline in his health. Cassian’s final wish had been for us to celebrate his birthday together, as a family.

Desperation had driven me to beg Thorne, even kneeling before him in a display of utter surrender. I had clung to his pants, my voice breaking as I promised that this would be the last time I would ever trouble him. I told him I was willing to let him go, to set him free. In that moment, my Alpha had looked down at me, his eyes betraying a mix of surprise and something else I couldn’t quite decipher.

His voice had wavered with a mixture of joy and disbelief. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes," I murmured, my eyes closing as tears streamed down my face.

I had loved Thorne with a fervent passion from the moment I laid eyes on him. It had been love at first sight, something everyone around us could see. Even before I knew we were fated mates, my heart had already been his. I had always sought his attention, followed him, done things for him, all in the hope of capturing his heart.

In response to my unwavering devotion, Thorne had grown to loathe me. His disdain reached its peak when, at his coming-of-age ceremony, he learned that I was his fated mate. The revelation had only fueled his resentment, as he would have preferred Morgana by his side.

He had wanted to be with her. Why didn’t I just let him go? Why didn’t I step aside and let them be together? If only I hadn’t been so naïve to believe he might change his mind. Because of my persistence, he had watched Morgana leave for another pack after finding her fated mate there.

My parents had insisted that I accept my fate and stay with Thorne. They believed that rejecting our destined bond was not an option. As a result, Thorne was forced into a mating with me, an arrangement that left me as his Luna.

Our mateship ceremony had been anything but celebratory. Thorne had deemed a grand celebration unnecessary, saying I deserved nothing more.

Years later, when Morgana returned claiming her mate had died, I had realized the futility of competing with her.

Reflecting on it, I had begged him once more, promising that I would leave him alone after all these years. That plea seemed to be the final straw that made him agree to my terms. It was clear he wanted to be rid of me.

But why hadn’t he spent even a final moment with Cassian? Why did he break that promise? It was one thing for him not to love me, but Cassian was his son too. How could he be so heartless toward him?