Third Person's POV

Caleb’s head snapped sharply to the side the instant Aria’s palm struck his cheek.

The crack of the slap rang through the cramped apartment like a whip across stone. A red mark immediately bloomed on his skin.

Aria stood before him trembling.

Her gray wolf eyes glowed faintly, the color deepened by fury and grief. Tears streamed down her face, and her lips—still bruised from the force of his kiss—quivered as she fought to steady her breathing.

For several long seconds, she said nothing.

She had to swallow the Wolfhart raging inside her chest before she could speak. Her wolf clawed beneath her skin, demanding blood, demanding justice.

What Caleb had done went far beyond cruelty.

It was humiliation.

Not only for her—but for her brother as well.

Her gaze flickered toward Marcus.

He was slumped against the floor, shoulders bowed, his head hanging low as if the weight of the world had finally crushed him. The proud young wolf who once carried himself with quiet confidence now looked utterly broken.

Caleb’s relentless torment had achieved exactly what it was meant to do.

And Aria had finally reached her limit.

“Get out.”

The words came out as a low growl, vibrating with the power of her wolf.

Caleb slowly turned his head back toward her.

His golden eyes locked onto the disgust burning in hers.

For a fraction of a second, something in his expression faltered.

Seeing that much hatred directed toward him clearly hurt.

But Aria no longer cared.

“Leave, Caleb Lutherford,” she said coldly, her voice shaking with fury. “You’ve already done more than enough damage. Tomorrow I will petition the Pack Council for a restraining decree. What you did today crossed every sacred boundary the Moon Goddess placed between mates.”

She pointed toward the door.

“So get out of my home.”

Caleb’s jaw tightened as he stepped closer.

His Alpha aura rolled outward like an invisible storm, pressing heavily against the room.

“I’ll give you two days,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “Two days to think carefully.”

His eyes darkened.

“I am prepared to withdraw the charges. Clara and my mother are willing to settle this quietly before the council.”

He paused before revealing the price.

“But your brother must take responsibility. He will marry my sister. That is the only way to restore her honor before the pack.”

Then his gaze softened slightly as it fell on Aria.

“And you,” he continued quietly, “will return to me. Come back to your Alpha… and to your mate.”

For a moment Aria simply stared at him.

Then she laughed.

It was hollow. Bitter.

“Not happening.”

Her voice carried no hesitation.

“Neither my brother nor I will accept your disgusting offer. Marcus would never bind himself to a manipulative viper like your sister.”

Caleb’s temper flared instantly.

But Aria raised her hand sharply before he could speak.

“Don’t bother,” she cut him off.

“And as for me?” she added with icy calm. “I would rather walk this earth mate-less for the rest of my life than return to a man like you.”

Her voice dropped into a deadly whisper.

“Now walk out of this apartment before I throw you out myself.”

She pointed toward the door again.

“Tomorrow the council will receive my petition.”

Caleb’s eyes darkened dangerously.

“You’ll regret this,” he said coldly. “Both you and your brother will regret challenging your Alpha.”

Aria didn’t flinch.

“Do your worst, Mr. Lutherford.”

The two of them stared at each other in silence for several long seconds.

Then Caleb clenched his teeth and turned sharply toward the door.

His warriors followed him immediately, leaving Marcus collapsed on the floor.

The moment Caleb disappeared down the hallway, Aria rushed to her brother’s side.

---

Outside the building, Caleb stood rigid beneath the pale evening moon.

Every instinct within him screamed for him to turn around—to run back upstairs, tear down the door, and drag Aria back into his arms.

His wolf howled furiously inside his mind.

The distance between them felt wrong.

Unnatural.

Life without her had become unbearable.

The Alpha mansion that once felt alive now stood silent and hollow. Aria had been the one who filled its halls with warmth. Her scent had lingered in every room.

Without it, the place felt like a tomb.

And now everything was gone.

The hatred he had seen in her eyes earlier made one thing painfully clear.

He had already lost her.

Deep down Caleb knew that no matter what he did, winning back her love might be impossible.

But that didn’t mean he was willing to let her go.

He was selfish enough to admit that.

If forcing her to return was the only option left…

Then so be it.

He would break her resistance first.

Then he would mend the damage afterward.

Caleb trusted his sister completely.

To him, Clara was the victim.

And he would stop at nothing to punish the man who had hurt her.

Even if that meant turning the lives of those siblings into a living nightmare.

Anyone who made his sister cry deserved to suffer.

---

Back inside the apartment, Aria stayed beside Marcus for hours until his breathing finally steadied.

The next morning she sent a formal petition to the Pack Council, requesting a restraining decree against Caleb.

When the notice reached him later that day, fury burned through him like wildfire.

No one had the right to keep him away from the woman he loved.

But despite his rage, Caleb chose not to react immediately.

Instead, he waited.

He wanted Aria to break that decree herself.

To return to him willingly.

Weeks passed slowly.

Marcus’s mental state continued to deteriorate.

Nightmares haunted him almost every night. Sometimes he woke screaming, drenched in sweat. During the day he often sat silently for hours, staring into nothingness as if the world around him had faded away.

Aria brought a healer—an elder wolf skilled in mending wounded minds.

Marcus refused to speak to him.

Still, Aria refused to give up.

She fought tirelessly—for Marcus’s recovery and for justice.

But the situation only worsened.

During one of the council hearings, it became painfully clear that Marcus’s chances of winning the case were nearly nonexistent.

They had no evidence strong enough to disprove Clara’s accusations.

Aria’s hatred toward Caleb deepened even further when she discovered what he had done next.

He had bribed their advocate before the council.

A heavy pouch of gold had been enough to make the man abandon Marcus’s defense entirely.

Caleb’s influence and Alpha power were being used in the dirtiest possible ways.

He was determined to crush them.

But Aria refused to surrender.

She would fight until her last breath.

---

“Marcus?” she called softly one evening. “Where are you? Dinner is ready.”

Silence filled the apartment.

Her brows knit together.

Normally Marcus would at least answer.

“Marcus?” she called again as she walked toward his room.

Still nothing.

A strange unease crept into her chest.

She pushed the door open.

And the air vanished from her lungs.

Marcus lay on the floor.

Dark blood pooled beneath him, spreading across the wooden boards from deep wounds carved into both of his wrists.

“Marcus!”

Her scream shattered the silence.

She dropped to her knees beside him, tears flooding down her face.

“My brother… what have you done?” she sobbed, pressing trembling hands against his arms, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. “Stay with me… please stay with me.”

Her cries echoed down the hallway.

A neighbor rushed in after hearing the commotion.

Together they carried Marcus outside and hurried toward the nearest healers’ hall.

The healers rushed him immediately into the inner chamber.

Aria collapsed onto a bench outside, uncontrollable sobs shaking her body.

Her white blouse was soaked with Marcus’s blood.

Her trembling hands were stained crimson.

“You cannot leave me,” she whispered again and again. “Please don’t leave me…”

Hours crawled by.

She paced outside the chamber doors, whispering desperate prayers to the Moon Goddess.

Finally, after nearly two hours, a healer stepped out.

Aria rushed toward him immediately.

His expression was grim.

“Your brother remains in critical condition,” he said quietly. “We stopped the bleeding… but his spirit is fading. It is as though he has lost the will to live.”

Aria felt her knees weaken.

“The next twenty-four hours will be crucial,” the healer continued gently. “All you can do now… is pray.”

He walked away.

Aria remained standing there in silence.

That night she did not sleep.

She sat alone in the corridor, staring at the door of Marcus’s chamber while quiet tears slipped down her cheeks.

No one came to comfort her.

She faced everything alone.

The hours passed slowly.

And then, twenty-four hours later, the news she feared finally arrived.

The healer approached her quietly.

“I am very sorry, Miss Sinclair,” he said gently.

“Your brother has fallen into a coma.”

Third Person's POV

When Aria heard the healer’s words, her body went completely numb.

She slowly sank onto the chair beside Marcus’s bed, as if every ounce of strength had drained from her limbs. For several long moments she felt nothing—not her heartbeat, not even the steady rhythm of her breathing.

It was as if her soul had been torn from her body.

Her brother… her only family… the little wolf pup she had practically raised with her own hands… now lay suspended somewhere between life and death.

The healer had been painfully clear.

No one could say when Marcus might awaken from the coma.

It could take months.

It might take years.

Or perhaps…

He would never open his eyes again.

The thought shattered the fragile composure Aria had been clinging to.

Tears streamed down her face as she gently took Marcus’s pale hands in hers. She lifted them to her lips again and again, pressing soft kisses against his cold skin while quiet sobs shook her shoulders.

His wolf aura—once warm, steady, and vibrant—was now so faint that she could barely sense it through their blood bond.

It flickered weakly, like the last glow of a dying ember.

Why was fate always so cruel to those who had done nothing wrong?

Why were innocent wolves always the ones forced to bear the heaviest punishment for crimes they never committed?

Meanwhile Caleb, his sister, and their mother continued their lives as if nothing had happened.

They twisted the truth within the pack.

They whispered lies through their mindlinks and swayed the council with influence and power.

Aria, on the other hand, had faced everything with honesty. She had believed that truth alone would be enough to clear her brother’s name.

If she had been willing to fight with dignity… why couldn’t they?

She knew Marcus had been suffering for months.

She had seen the pain in his eyes, the way the accusations slowly crushed his spirit day after day.

She knew he had fallen into a deep darkness.

But she had never imagined it would push him this far.

She had never believed her strong little brother—the boy who once puffed out his chest and proudly promised he would protect her when he became a powerful wolf—would lose his will to live.

She never imagined the day would come when he would give up entirely.

---

ONE MONTH LATER

Life had become a constant battle for Aria.

Each day she worked tirelessly, taking whatever work she could find within the territory just to survive and pay the growing cost of Marcus’s care in the healers’ hall.

Every day felt the same.

Working.

Counting coins.

Praying silently to the Moon Goddess that everything would somehow hold together.

Clutching a small pouch filled with the money she had painfully gathered, she approached the reception desk of the healers’ hall.

“Good afternoon,” she said softly. “I’ve come to settle Marcus Sinclair’s monthly care fee.”

The young healer nodded politely and began checking the records carved into the crystal ledger stone used by the hall.

After a few moments, however, a small frown appeared on her face.

She looked up at Aria in confusion.

“But Miss Sinclair… your brother’s expenses have already been covered.”

Aria froze.

“What?”

The healer turned the ledger stone so Aria could see the name inscribed beneath the payment mark.

The moment Aria read it, fury surged through her veins.

Caleb Lutherford.

Her fingers tightened around the pouch of coins.

How dare he?

The healer shifted nervously as Aria’s expression darkened.

“I want that payment reversed,” Aria said coldly.

Her voice remained steady, but anger burned beneath every word.

“Return the gold he gave. I will cover my brother’s care myself.”

She placed her pouch firmly on the counter.

The healer hesitated but nodded slowly. Matters involving Alphas were rarely questioned—but Aria’s determination made it clear this was not negotiable.

Aria grabbed the pouch again and strode out of the healers’ hall, her mind blazing with anger.

He had already destroyed their lives.

And now he wanted to pretend he was helping?

---

She arrived at Caleb’s estate soon after.

The place was painfully familiar.

Once, it had been filled with warm memories—late evenings waiting for him, quiet meals shared beneath the moonlight, whispered conversations about the future they once believed they would have together.

Now the place felt suffocating.

Forcing down the ache rising in her chest, Aria walked straight toward Caleb’s private chambers.

“Wait—Lady Lutherford!” one of the servants called hurriedly. “The Alpha instructed that no one should disturb him.”

Aria didn’t stop walking.

“It’s Aria Sinclair now,” she said sharply.

Without hesitation she pushed the door open.

What she saw inside made her stomach twist with disgust.

Caleb stood beside the large oak desk, half dressed.

A woman sat on the edge of the desk before him, barely covered by a thin sheet.

Both of them froze when Aria stepped inside.

The woman gasped in panic before scrambling down and fleeing toward the adjoining room.

Caleb quickly pulled on his shirt while Aria turned her face away in revulsion.

The servant wisely stayed far down the corridor.

Everyone in the estate knew exactly what the Alpha had been doing.

“Aria, what are you—”

His words were cut short when Aria hurled the pouch of gold and the payment slip straight at his chest.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she snapped.

Her voice trembled with fury.

“Do you find our situation amusing? Do you really believe I would accept money from the man responsible for putting my brother in that bed?”

Caleb sighed heavily.

“You’re struggling,” he said quietly. “I thought—”

“You thought what?” she interrupted sharply.

“That you could play the generous Alpha and pay for my brother’s care?”

Her eyes burned with hatred.

“You’re the reason he’s lying there in the first place. You and your sister are the most disgusting wolves I have ever known.”

His expression darkened instantly.

He stepped closer.

“And what about your brother?” Caleb shot back. “Your brother attacked my sister.”

A bitter laugh escaped him.

“And now he tries to take his own life? That only proves he’s guilty—”

The rest of his sentence never came.

Aria’s hand struck his cheek with a loud crack.

“The case is still before the Pack Council, Caleb Lutherford,” she said coldly.

“Until the elders deliver their judgment, you have no right to condemn him.”

Her voice hardened.

“I trust my brother. And you will watch him be declared innocent with your own eyes.”

Before he could react, Caleb grabbed her arm.

Aria immediately jerked away.

“Don’t touch me.”

She raised her hands as if his skin were something filthy.

“I cannot believe I ever loved you,” she said bitterly. “I cannot believe I once dreamed of spending my life beside someone like you.”

Caleb stared at her silently.

“I was mated to a selfish Alpha who only cares about power and control,” she continued.

“That was my mistake.”

His chest tightened painfully.

“Remember this, Caleb,” Aria said quietly, meeting his gaze without fear.

“One day you will regret everything you’ve done.”

“You’ll crave comfort. You’ll long for real love.”

Her voice dropped into a whisper.

“But when that day comes… you’ll be completely alone.”

She held his gaze steadily.

“You will suffer more from regret than from any punishment the pack could give you.”

“What you did to my brother will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“And the worst part is…”

Her voice softened.

“You won’t even be able to forgive yourself.”

Her words struck him like blades.

Without another word, Aria turned and walked out.

---

Caleb remained standing there long after she left.

His gaze slowly dropped to the scattered gold on the floor.

He bent down and picked up the payment slip, crushing it tightly in his fist.

His eyes burned red as unshed tears gathered.

Every word she had spoken echoed painfully in his mind.

He tried to ignore them.

But something about her warning unsettled him deeply.

What if…

She was right?

He shook his head sharply.

No.

His sister would never lie.

Clara had always respected Marcus.

Why would she falsely accuse him?

That made no sense.

Caleb sank onto the couch and pressed his palm against his forehead.

A single tear slipped down his cheek.

No matter how many women he brought into his chambers…

No matter how many bodies he touched…

None of them ever felt like Aria.

She had always been different.

And he had likely lost her forever.

He had destroyed her family’s fortune.

He had used his influence within the pack to crush them during the council hearings.

Yet when he heard Marcus had tried to take his life, guilt had gnawed at him.

That was why he paid the healers’ hall.

Because he knew Aria was struggling.

But now even that last thread of connection had been cut.

There was no chance she would ever return to him willingly.

Caleb leaned back slowly, his expression turning cold.

“She’s right,” he murmured quietly.

“I am selfish.”

His eyes hardened.

“Then I will show her just how selfish I can be.”

Aria's POV

“I’m sorry, Ms. Sinclair,” the healer murmured, his voice low and heavy with the kind of sorrow only years of tending broken wolves could teach. “We have tried every remedy known to the Moon. But your brother… his wolf has withdrawn too deeply. It is as if his spirit has turned its back on this world. He no longer struggles to return.”

The words pierced through me like a blade sliding between ribs.

For a moment, the air refused to enter my lungs.

I forced myself to breathe slowly, deliberately. If I shattered now, I would never gather the pieces again—and Marcus had no one else left to stand for him.

So I nodded once, stiffly, like a statue carved from Lutherford stone, and turned back toward the narrow infirmary bed.

Marcus lay utterly still beneath the pale glow of the moonstones set into the ceiling. Their faint silver light pulsed softly, meant to soothe wounded wolves and strengthen their connection to the Moon. But it did nothing for him.

He looked wrong.

Too pale. Too quiet.

A leather binding rested around his wrist where the healers had tied a charm threaded with wolfsbane-neutralizing herbs—standard practice when a wolf suffered a violent shift or spirit injury. A bowl of steaming tonic herbs sat beside the bed, its scent sharp and bitter in the air.

Yet Marcus hadn’t stirred in days.

The faint aura of his wolf flickered weakly around him—like the last sparks of a dying fire.

And I was running out of coin.

Caleb had made certain of that.

My former mate didn’t simply want Marcus punished.

He wanted me ruined.

Every bit of work I managed to find slipped away within days. A stable job might last a week—two if the Moon was feeling generous. A month at most before the same hollow excuse arrived from nervous employers who refused to meet my eyes.

Pack restructuring.

New hires.

Unexpected changes.

Lies.

All of it.

This had nothing to do with work.

This was Caleb Lutherford’s reach tightening around my throat.

He wanted to drive me into a corner. To starve me of options until I crawled back to him, head bowed like a disgraced omega begging forgiveness.

Until I accepted whatever humiliating conditions he chose to grant me and called it mercy.

But I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

I wrapped my fingers around Marcus’s cold hand, squeezing gently, hoping—ridiculously—that my warmth might reach him wherever his spirit had wandered.

“Don’t you dare leave me here alone, pup,” I whispered, leaning close so only he could hear. “Not like this.”

My voice trembled, but I forced the words out anyway.

“I’m not giving up the way you did. I’ll keep fighting. Until my last breath, Marcus. I swear it.”

I pressed my lips against his knuckles.

Salt touched my tongue. Tears I hadn’t realized had fallen.

Slowly, painfully, I straightened.

My legs protested with every step, but I forced them to carry me out of the infirmary chamber. If I stayed one moment longer, I would collapse beside his bed and never rise again.

---

The corridor beyond felt endless.

The air smelled of herbs, antiseptic smoke, and quiet grief.

Somewhere down the hall a healer murmured soft reassurances to a frightened mother cradling her injured pup, and the sound nearly broke me.

Where was I supposed to go now?

I had no work.

Our family trading house had already collapsed under Caleb’s pressure. Merchants who once welcomed us now refused our coin. Suppliers suddenly “forgot” their agreements. Even permits from pack officials had begun mysteriously disappearing.

Caleb’s name never needed to be spoken.

In territory ruled by a dominant Alpha bloodline, everyone understood the cost of crossing them.

Two weeks from now, the Pack Council would hear our case again.

And every day the scales tipped further against us.

What I still couldn’t understand was how far Caleb had fallen.

Not just as a man—

But as an Alpha.

Using the pack’s influence like a weapon to tear a family apart.

And the cruelest truth of all?

I had once loved him.

Loved him more than I loved myself.

Trusted him the way wolves trusted the Moon itself.

“Aria.”

The familiar voice cut through my thoughts.

I turned—and froze.

For a heartbeat, my lungs forgot how to work.

“Lily…”

She stood a few paces away, hair hastily tied back as if she’d rushed here without stopping to breathe. Her sharp eyes scanned my face, searching.

I barely managed a tired smile.

“You’re back.”

I didn’t even finish the sentence before she rushed forward and threw her arms around me.

The force of the hug nearly knocked me off balance.

“Lily—easy,” I wheezed, trying to laugh despite the ache in my ribs. “I’m not made of Lutherford iron.”

She pulled back abruptly.

The glare she shot me could have scorched the paint off the walls.

But what shocked me wasn’t the anger.

It was the tear sliding down her cheek.

“Lily?” I asked quietly, lifting my hand to wipe it away. “Why are you crying?”

She caught my wrist before I could touch her.

“You went through all of this alone,” she said, her voice shaking with fury. “Six months, Aria. Six months of silence.”

Her grip tightened.

“What am I to you? A stranger?”

My throat closed.

“Lily—”

“Are we not sisters anymore?” she snapped. “Because that’s what it felt like.”

“You are my sister,” I said immediately, the words rushing out because they were true. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

Instead of answering, she seized my hand and dragged me toward the small cedar garden beside the infirmary—a quiet place built so grieving families could breathe without breaking down before strangers.

---

We sat beneath the shade of the cedar tree.

Cool wind carried the scent of earth and leaves, steadying the restless stirrings of my wolf.

Lily crossed her arms.

“Explain.”

I stared at my trembling hands.

The truth felt humiliating in a way I couldn’t explain.

Lily had always been my person. The one who understood every version of me—the good, the bad, the ugly truths I hid from everyone else.

And somehow, in the middle of everything collapsing, I had shut her out.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Everything became so heavy that I stopped thinking past the next hour. I lost track of everything.”

My voice broke.

“Even you.”

Her expression softened slightly.

She sighed and reached out to squeeze my hands.

“Don’t apologize,” she said more gently. “I was angry, yes. But I understand. No wolf should carry this much alone.”

Her gaze shifted toward the infirmary doors.

“How’s our little prince?”

The dam inside me shattered instantly.

“There’s been no improvement,” I whispered. “The healer believes… he’s given up.”

The rest of the sentence died in my throat.

Lily didn’t press me.

She simply pulled me into her arms.

And the moment she did—

I broke.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I sobbed, clutching her cloak like it was the last solid thing in the world. “Caleb destroyed everything. Marcus lies in there like a ghost and I can’t even save him.”

“That bastard,” Lily muttered darkly, her anger rumbling beneath her voice like a low growl. She rubbed my back gently the way she used to when we were young and the world felt survivable.

“You’re not alone anymore,” she said firmly. “We’ll fight for our little prince together.”

I wiped my face.

“The pack advocate says we have almost no chance,” I admitted quietly. “Caleb has allies everywhere. No one wants to challenge a Lutherford Alpha.”

I lowered my voice.

“I have no work left. Marcus’s treatments cost more than I can earn. Caleb wants me to crawl back to him.”

Lily grabbed my shoulders and forced me to meet her gaze.

“And you won’t,” she said with iron certainty. “Not for money. Not for mercy.”

She leaned closer.

“I want to help you. But you’re right—alone, I can’t stand against the Lutherfords.”

My brows furrowed.

“So what do we do?”

A slow smile curved her lips.

“I know someone.”

My chest tightened.

“Someone powerful,” she continued. “A wolf whose name carries weight among Alphas. One even Caleb might hesitate to provoke.”

I blinked.

“We don’t know anyone like that.”

“You know Luca,” she said.

I nodded.

“He serves this Alpha.”

My stomach twisted.

“Lily… I’ve never met this man.”

“I know,” she said gently. “But Aria… he may be the only one capable of helping you.”

Her voice softened.

“And you don’t have the luxury of pride anymore.”

My thoughts immediately turned to Marcus lying motionless in the infirmary.

“You have Marcus.”

Silence stretched between us.

Finally, I nodded.

“I trust you.”

Relief flashed across her face.

“Good.”