I handed him to the nanny and drove away without looking back.

When I returned to the pack estate, exhaustion weighing on my bones, the first thing I saw was the moon-harp piano dumped on the lawn like scrap.

Inside, Ronan stood at the entrance, hauling several large travel trunks inside.

“Mother,” he said coolly, “Aunt Corinne will be staying within our territory for some time. She dislikes noise, so I cleared out your music chamber and turned it into a sculpting hall for her.”

I stared at him. In that moment, I understood—I no longer belonged. I was an eyesore, a remnant left behind, stubbornly occupying a place where I was no longer wanted.

That piano had been his eighth naming-day gift to me, bought with every coin he had saved that year.

He once sat beside me in the sunlight, laughing, fingers tapping the keys, clinging to my arm and saying he loved me most. That cub was gone.

Swallowing the ache, I forced a smile through the tears pressing at my eyes.

“So this is how you treat your mother now.”

Unease flickered across his face—brief, awkward—when soft footsteps sounded behind him.

Emric stepped into the yard with Corinne at his side. His gaze was as cold as Ronan’s as it landed on me.

“Corinne fears the dark. Your chamber receives the most sunlight. Move out and let her stay there.”

I lowered my eyes and nodded. “Alright. I’ll take my things and leave.”

They had expected protest, perhaps tears. My calm answer clearly startled him.

“Amarise—”

“Oh, Amarise, you’re far too kind,” Corinne interrupted with a sweet smile. “Let’s live in harmony during this time.”

I didn’t look back. I turned and went upstairs.

One by one, I dragged out heavy storage bags. Each held years of silence, endurance and unspoken sacrifice.

When I tossed thirty years of memories into the disposal wagon, Emric followed, his brow furrowed.

“Why are you throwing away so much?”

“Just things I’ll never need again.”

My tone unsettled him. He reached into a bag and froze.

“These… these are the things I gave you.”

I smiled faintly. “Things from decades ago should’ve been discarded long ago.”

Just like certain people.

His expression darkened. “You used to cherish them.”

I had. Anything from him once made my heart light, clutching it as if it were the world itself.

But forever was too long. A heart soaked in betrayal couldn’t bear it.

I brushed past him. “There’s someone new in this house now. You never liked crowded spaces, did you?”

He seemed about to explain that Corinne’s stay was temporary, but I was already loading the last of my belongings into the carriage.

He sighed. “There’s a banquet tonight. You haven’t attended one in years. Come along with Corinne.”

He hadn’t brought me to a formal gathering in a long time. Since I aged and gained weight, I no longer fit beside him.

At the banquet grounds, they stepped out first.

The host smiled brightly. “Alpha Blackspire, your Luna is as radiant as she was in her youth.”

Emric didn’t correct him. He simply took Corinne’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“And this lady is…?”

Only then did he glance my way. A brief pause—then indifference. “She’s our aide.”

I stood rooted in place. I had expected it, yet it still felt like my chest had been split open.

Holding back the burn in my eyes, I lifted my head and walked inside with the last of my dignity intact.

Corinne clung to Emric’s arm, swirling her wine as they moved through the noble packs with ease, every inch a bonded pair.

I stood apart, a shadow watching from the edge. The laughter, the splendor—none of it belonged to me.

Then, without warning, sharp agony tore through my injured right calf.

In an instant, cold sweat soaked my back.

The old wound from the carriage accident flared violently. The leg that had once been shattered by moon-forged steel throbbed with every heartbeat. I had no choice but to ask for a chamber to rest.

What the banquet stewards gave me was a narrow storage chamber—cold, unlit, sealed off from the main halls.

The moment I stepped inside, a sharp click sounded behind me.

The door locked.

Outside, Corinne’s voice rang out, sharp with triumph.

“Emric has always belonged to me. You pitiful woman who chased him for decades—so what if you were bonded to him? His heart was never yours.”

“You saw it tonight, didn’t you?” she continued mockingly. “I sat beside him in the front seat of the wolf-carriage. This moon-silk gown? Your daughter chose it for me. This limited starsteel timepiece? Your son bought it. They all adore me—not you.”

My leg screamed in agony. Sweat poured down my face as I pounded on the door, my voice breaking.

“Take him. Take all of them! Just let me go to the healer’s hall. I’m begging you!”

“Dream on,” she said coldly. “I won’t let you ruin my night. Stay here and learn where you belong.”

A placard was hung on the handle—Do Not Enter · Under Moon Ward Maintenance. Her heels clicked away, fading into silence.

I collapsed onto the frozen floor, strength drained. Reaching for my communicator, my heart sank.

No power.

“Help me!”

I slammed my fists against the sealed door until my voice gave out. The chamber was too far from the main halls, the night too quiet. No one came.

At last, the pain swallowed me whole and darkness took me.

***

Two hours later, when the banquet ended, Emric still hadn’t seen me. Irritation creased his brow as he scanned the hall.

“Didn’t I tell her to behave and stay put? Where did she wander off to now?”

Corinne held his arm, guilt carefully painted on her face.

“Did she leave because you called me your Luna? If I’d known she’d be upset, I would have explained.”

Emric snorted. “Everyone tonight was pack nobility. With how she looked, she would’ve embarrassed me. Corinne, I’m glad you were there. You saved my dignity.”

“Amarise always exaggerates. Let her sulk. Let’s go back.”

Corinne cast a smug glance toward the storage corridor, silent victory curling her lips.

And I remained locked in that dark chamber, completely forgotten.

Not one person in that family remembered me.

***

The next morning, when Nolan needed to be taken to the academy, my son finally noticed my absence.

“Why isn’t she here yet? Do you know what time it is?!”

When my communicator went unanswered, he didn’t try again. He simply waved it off and told the nanny to handle it.

I was eventually released by a citadel attendant.

After recharging my communicator, there were no messages from Emric—no concern, no questions.

What greeted me instead was a blazing headline across the crystal screen:

[The reclusive Luna of Blackspire revealed to be a master sculptor. A perfect match—an Alpha of power and a woman of rare elegance.]

Weak and hollow, I stared at it and smiled bitterly.

Then my communicator rang.

For one fleeting second, I thought it might be Emric.

But the name flashing on the screen was Zevran.

The moment I answered, his voice came through, tense with worry.

“Amarise, I called you all night. What happened? Are you alright now?”

It turned out Zevran had seen the moon-net headlines the night before. Afraid I might act recklessly, he searched for me across the territories all night.

I never imagined the last warmth in my world would come from someone outside my own pack.

My eyes burned red as I forced the tears back. “I… I’m fine…”

“No, you’re not,” he said quietly, storm held tight in his voice. “You’re not fine at all. I’m ending my journey early. I’ll come get you.”

“Thank you… I’m sorry…”

“You never need to say that to me, Amarise. My feelings have never changed.”

Years ago, Zevran had once pursued me. But I had been blinded by my devotion to Emric, unable to see anyone else.

I never thought that after thirty years, I would still have a place in his heart.

***

When I returned from the healer’s hall, I found Corinne sprawled across Emric’s black-fur bed, wrapped in a loose men’s shirt, a crystal goblet of wine in her hand. Her legs were shamelessly exposed.

Emric had always been obsessively clean. He once loathed even a trace of my scent in his chamber.

Twenty years ago, before his rise in the Alpha Council, he offended an influential envoy due to his temper. To mend it, I drank until my stomach nearly bled.

When I stumbled home that night, he didn’t ask if I was hurt. He only blocked the doorway, disgust clear on his face.

“You stink. Clean yourself before coming in.”

I was left outside in the snow until dawn. By the time I crawled back to my chamber, fever consumed me for a full week.

And now, Corinne—reeking of alcohol—lay comfortably in his bed.

So those rules were never rules. They were chains meant only for me.

She slowly rose, deliberately tugging the shirt aside, revealing crimson bite-marks blooming across her skin.

“Emric was fierce last night,” she said softly. “Hours without rest. He said you were stiff, dull, never knew how to please him.”

Nausea surged, but I swallowed it and met her gaze without flinching.

“So what?” I said coldly. “You’re still nothing more than a kept she-wolf.”

The words struck her hard. Venom flashed in her eyes. Then she scoffed, lifted the goblet and smashed it against the floor.

Glass shattered.

She screamed and collapsed.

“Corinne!”

Emric burst in, panic flooding his face as he rushed to her side, gathering her into his arms as if she were fragile crystal.

Tears trembled on her lashes as she sobbed, “I only wanted to explain last night to Amarise… but she told me to die and pushed me into the glass…”

Emric clasped her bleeding hand—only a shallow cut—yet rage ignited his eyes as he turned on me.

“Apologize. Now.”

Grief crashed over me and I cried out, “I didn’t do anything! She—”

“I should leave before Amarise finds another way to hurt me!”

Corinne’s wail cut me off as she pretended to pull away.

Instead, Emric held her tighter, shielding her like a sacred treasure. His gaze toward me was pure contempt.

“You’re narrow-minded and cruel. Go reflect on yourself.”

With that, he left, taking her to the healer as if I were the criminal.

***

Later, the guards dragged me into the underground holding chamber like discarded refuse. With no choice left, I called my son.

Ronan’s voice was sharp and distant.

“I already heard from Father. You went too far. It was a small misunderstanding and you actually injured Aunt Corinne?”

“Mother, can’t you be more like her? Be elegant for once. Stop disgracing the pack.”

My heart turned to ice.

Tears streamed silently as I ended the call.

Emric ordered punishment. No food. No water.

After a day and a night of silent torment, my injured leg throbbed violently. At last, the old housekeeper, unable to bear it, secretly released me.

The moment I reached the healer’s hall, I saw Corinne’s newest moon-net post.

The first image showed Emric’s back as he ran errands for her. The second—an expectancy report.

[With someone who truly loves you, the sense of safety is overwhelming.]

The Blackspire pack flooded the comments.

My son: [Congrats to Father for reclaiming his goddess.]

My daughter, from overseas territory: [Didn’t you joke about borrowing Alpha blood to have a cub? Looks like your efforts paid off. Congrats.]

My daughter-in-law: [We must hold a celebration feast.]

Then Emric himself replied.

[Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m only helping Corinne. If you keep stirring trouble, are you trying to force your mother and me to sever our bond?]

My son and daughter-in-law answered together. [Understood. We’ll say no more.]

But my daughter wrote next.

[Everyone knows you never let go of Aunt Corinne. Why not follow your heart? We support you.]

I never imagined the pup I loved most would say such words.

They admired their powerful Alpha father. Their plain, aging mother could never compare to Corinne.

In their eyes, I didn’t deserve to be his Luna—or their mother.

So everything I had given, all the years of sacrifice, meant nothing.

Now that the mate bond was broken and the family I protected had turned cold, I had nothing left to lose.

I typed slowly.

[Congratulations on gaining a cub in your later years. Don’t worry, I won’t disturb your happiness. Emric and I are severing our mate bond.]

The moment I sent it, my communicator began to ring nonstop.