I couldn't stand listening to their conversation anymore and ran back to my room. However, my wolf howled in anger. Desperate to avenge herself, she exerted too much force to get me shifted which resulted in my human body acting up. I couldn't properly shift to my wolf, instead I began shivering in the cold.

"Ava?"

At some point, Lucas had appeared.

His expression darkened at the sight of me laying on the floor, shivering in cold.

Without hesitation, he scooped me into his arms and laid me on the bed, his fingers trembling as he wrapped me in a blanket and began rubbing my hands and sole of the foot.

"I'm sorry, Ava. I failed to take care of you." He said in a regretful voice. I could see his eyes moistened with guilt and concern, just as they always were whenever he saw me in pain.

"Don’t worry. I’ve arranged for the best moonstone this time. It will last longer than the previous one. In a few days, I’ll replace the moonstone in your body with this new one."

I used to believe that those tears in his eyes were genuine for me. I even forced myself to be strong, and patient. I would even laugh and crack jokes while being in pain just to lighten his mood. Looking back now, I was such a fool.

"Lucas, I've endured so much pain all these years while inserting a stone in my chest." My voice was weak, yet every word carried the weight of my torment. "Can I stop using these moonstones anymore?"

‘Didn’t you already prepare spare life sources for Ember? Then… Can I have my life source back?’

For a fleeting moment, uncertainty was visible in Lucas's eyes, only to be swiftly replaced by a warm, reassuring smile. His fingers gently brushed against my cheek, his touch disarmingly soothing as he said, "Ava, don't torment yourself with impossible hopes. Your condition is too fragile. You don't have your life source and are dependent on moonstones to live. Abandoning the moonstone is out of the question. Without the artificial heart, your life would be... unpredictable. Can you really ask me to take that risk?"

But I knew the truth – the life force giving energy to Ember was mine, stolen from me by the man I loved. A cold dread seeped into my bones, leaving me numb. Yet, I managed a faint smile, a very good attempt to conceal the turmoil brewing inside. "You're right, as always. I was being foolish.”

After dinner, I grabbed an opportunity to mix a sleeping potion in his wine. As expected, he fell asleep early. Even in his sleep, due to the presence of intoxic Wolf's Bane in the potion, he couldn't help muttering his heart out loudly, “Ember… I’ll protect you forever, even if it costs my life.”

I laughed at his words in irony. The person who was risking their lives for his beloved was not him, but me and my mother.

I quietly left our bedroom and walked into his study room, a place I was never allowed before.

As expected, the room’s door was locked with patterns. I drew the pattern that resembled the initial of Ember’s wolf name and it cracked open. As I scanned the room, I found it to be filled with Ember's memory. There were many paintings showing Ember with Lucas, their interaction looking intimate, and considering the relationship they shared with each other, one would call them shameless.

I found a diary lying on his study table that was supposed to be his journal. Five words were written on it: “First and last love: Ember”

I flipped the pages of his journal. Every page was filled with sketches of Ember that were drawn by him with affection. His journal was filled with his feelings and devotion towards Ember. He wrote

[Today, I saw Ember for the first time, and I think she is the one made for me]

[We live at the same home. I can touch her whenever I want but I can't claim her because of the rules of our pack. The distance between us is getting me crazy]

[Today, I married Ava. She is Ember’s step sister and looks similar to her. I couldn't hold myself in bed. Despite knowing her body is fragile, I went for three rounds. I miss Ember too much, so I keep calling her name in my heart as if that would turn the woman beneath me into her…]

And that wasn’t all. Pages after pages, he wrote how he slept with me thinking about Ember or made me close my eyes while he stared at her painting when releasing himself in me. He also mentioned all the expensive gifts he had been sending to Ember all these years.

Not a single one for me.

He had even bought a necklace made up of the precious gemstone that was one of its kind in the whole world.

And the only thing Lucas had ever given me… was a stone in my chest that brought nothing but agony.

While I was drowning in grief over my mother’s death, shivering in cold and losing my wolf, Ember had been flaunting the necklace to her friends that she received from my husband.

In rage, I closed Lucas’s journal, planning to return. As I turned to leave his study room, my legs stumbled on something and a wooden box fell from the table. The shining stone placed on the top of its lid grabbed my attention and I couldn't help opening it. Inside were laying several pacts signed by the blood, just as the one I signed before I agreed to donate my life source for my mother.

I opened all the pacts and read the content written on them. There were several pacts Lucas had managed to sign with those who were in need of money or some dark rituals he could perform only on one condition, and the condition was whenever he asked them to give their life source to Ember, they would be ready to hand it over.

Since my pack was filled with healers and shamans, I knew very well that whoever performs dark rituals, his wolf suffers worse than death and after dying, both heaven and hell reject him. Being a top shaman in the whole kingdom, he must have known the consequences of all those dark rituals he had been doing for these people yet he did it willingly, all for Ember. He was indeed a devoted lover, but he was my mother’s murderer and I was never ever going to forget that.

The night had been endless, and sleep seemed like a distant dream. By morning, Lucas assumed I had woken up early and suspected nothing. Perhaps because he had seen me struggling to shift the night before, he made breakfast himself, a table filled with carefully arranged, nutritious dishes, each one an illusion of care.

When Lucas saw me sitting quietly, he watched me with concern. "Ava, why aren't you eating? Are you feeling unwell?"

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Just a little tired, that's all."

Lucas's gaze softened, and he reached out to stroke my hair. "You've been pushing yourself too hard, Ava. You need to take care of yourself."

I felt a surge of anger at his feigned concern, but I pushed it down. I was about to bring up the divorce, but Lucas casually continued. "Ava, I was thinking... since the full moon is approaching, why don't we hold a Pack's gathering at the late Alpha’s residence ? It might do you some good to get out and stretch your legs."

I raised an eyebrow, my tone cold. "You want me to go on a run with the pack and your mother, knowing how much she hates me?"

Lucas's expression turned sheepish, but he quickly recovered. "I know it's been tough, Ava, but I promise I'll be there to protect you. And besides, your sister will be there too. It'll be good for you to bond with her."

I felt a pang of anger at the mention of Ember's name, but I kept my cool. "I'll think about it," I said, my voice neutral.

Lucas smiled, seemingly satisfied with my response. "That's all I can ask for, Ava. Now, let's get ready to head out. The pack is waiting for us."

When we arrived at the pack's gathering spot, I saw Ember, dressed in her usual elegant attire, chatting with Lucas's mother, Emily. Emily was also sparing no chance of showing her adoration to her. Ember's eyes locked onto mine, and she smiled, saying pretentiously to Emily, “Grandma, stop feeding me so much out of love, I’ll get fat. Why don't you offer your special dishes to Auntie? Maybe by then, she will not look this sickly?”

Ember, was the maternal granddaughter of Emily’s husband from his first wife. Lucas didn't have any blood ties with Ember since he was Emily’s son, and Ember’s mother was Emily's step daughter. Since the late Alpha didn't have any male heir from his first wife, he married Emily and had Lucas. Lucas later inherited the pack while Lucas’s step sister married my father out of love, who was the Alpha of the pack and had been already married to my mother.

My father, being seduced by his new mistress, chased my mother and me out of his residence and we lived in isolation, only to be robbed of both my fiance and husband by Ember just like her mother robbed my mother's. Lucas's mother hated me for being ordinary and sick. She also felt ashamed of accepting me as her daughter-in-law in public.

As soon as her gaze fell on me, her knuckles tightened and she rushed to my side, whispering coldly, “Who asked you to come here? You are nothing but a sickly thing. Do you want everyone to assume we don't treat you well?”

“My son is getting older day by day, still without a son to inherit his pack. You can't give him a son, can't help him in running his pack, too sick to even please him in bed. Why don't you leave him to marry someone else? Or just die?”

There was nothing new in it. I was accustomed to being cursed by my mother-in-law every time she saw me. Earlier, Lucas would stand up for me and defend me in front of his mother, even if it was a feign concern. But now that his beloved was standing before his eyes, fresh and cheerful, he didn't bother even looking at me.

“Uncle…” Suddenly Ember jumped over Lucas, hugging him tightly, her chest rubbing against his and lips almost brushing with his as she said while looking upward to face his eyes, “Long time no see, Uncle. Have you already forgotten me now that you have Auntie by your side?”

“How can it be possible, Ember? No one can take your place in my heart. Ember… I-”

“Sssh…” Ember pressed her finger on Lucas's lips, a gesture looking very passionate as she continued, “I know Uncle misses me. You don't need to explain anything to me. I understand! I was joking with you.”

The conversation going between them in public seemed to be an adorable conversation between uncle and niece but only I knew what it was about.

“Uncle, did you bring me a gift?” She asked excitedly, “Do you remember what day it is?”

“Of course,” said Lucas, “How can I forget the day we met for the first time?”

So holding a gathering in a pack was just an excuse. What Lucas wanted was to celebrate the day of their first meeting, as an anniversary. I laughed bitterly. He had never remembered or asked me about my birthday. He didn't even celebrate our anniversary, giving excuses of his mother’s dislikeness that could disturb my mood or my weak body. But, he took the chance only to celebrate a little occasion that could relate him with Ember.

Soon maids and servants wheeled in several luxurious gowns, each designed by different designers in the world and matched with executive jewelry.

Ember again jumped in excitement. She immediately hugged Lucas before placing a soft kiss on his cheeks, “You are still the best, Uncle.”

“Thank you so much for these gifts, Uncle,” she said while breaking the hug, “You gave me so many expensive gifts. I’m afraid someone would get jealous.”

After she mentioned this, Lucas' gaze could shift to me and see that I was wearing a plain T-shirt and jeans. He seemed to be hesitant as he reached out his hands to me, saying apologetically, “Don't overthink anything, Ava. It was a special moment for Ember and mine. So, as her Uncle I just…”

“Ouch…”

Before Lucas could complete his words, Ember held her chest and cried in pain, “Uncle, my chest is aching. I… I think my condition is acting up again.”

Lucas immediately let go of my hands and rushed to Ember’s side, asking in concern and worry, “Why are your chest aching all of a sudden? Where exactly is it hurting? No, I should check it right away.”

After throwing out these words, he immediately picked her up in his arms and headed straight to the stairs to take her upstairs, showing his back to me in front of the whole pack members.

"No wonder Lucas would rather lavish Ember with attention and gifts, but treats his wife like a mere afterthought. A woman of her... limited abilities isn't worthy of being the mate of the pack's future alpha, let alone deserving of his affection."

"If not for his obsession with Ember, why would he have ever married her who looked similar to Ember? I bet she used her pitiful health to manipulate him into this union. Pathetic! She'd even cling to him like a leech just to maintain her status."

“I heard her mother died in one of the rituals Lucas performed. I bet she killed her own mother just to blackmail Lucas into marrying her. After all, he is the best shaman in our kingdom. How could he make such a mistake to even cost a life?”

“But, isn't Ember Lucas nice? How can they show affection for each other publically? Isn't it wrong? If the late Alpha was alive, would he let this happen in his pack?”

The murmurs grew louder, their voices sharp as claws. Seeing that they didn't mind pulling their Alpha Lucas into mud along with me, Lucas's mother, clearly disgusted, sneered at me. "What are you still standing here for, embarrassing us? Get back upstairs and bring back your husband this instant! Haven't you shamed us enough already?"

"My son was gracious enough to accept you as his mate despite your... frailties; it's your good fortune to have him! If your mother died in the rituals you asked for her, how is that my son's fault? You should be grateful instead of trying to cling to him. You'll get what's coming to you one day!”