Two hundred years ago, my queen left behind a letter and vanished without a trace.

The Lycans of the court told me she was dead, that she would never return.

I didn’t believe them. I searched for her relentlessly for one hundred and ninety years.

In the last ten years, I finally gave up the hunt.

But then she returned, with a human man by her side, and said to me, "Step down from the throne of the Lycan King, and I’ll allow you to remain by my side as my consort."

I smiled bitterly and replied, "We’re no longer mates. There’s no need for me to step aside."

She scoffed. "You’d give up so easily the chance to stay with me?"

She didn’t know. Ten years ago, I had already severed our mate bond and marked another as my queen.

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"If you relinquish the throne, I’ll grant you the chance to stay by my side."

Alicia leaned into the man’s embrace, her tone dripping with arrogance as she addressed me.

"If it weren’t for the alliance between the Northern Territories and the Stone Pack arranged since birth, I would have never become your mate."

"For two hundred years, I lived in anonymity among humans, and I found my true love. The throne belongs to me now."

Her words dragged me back to the memories of two centuries ago.

Shortly after our marking ceremony, Alicia had left a letter and disappeared.

The Lycans of the court used every method to find her, but none could uncover her whereabouts.

They told me Alicia was dead.

But I refused to believe it. I searched for her for one hundred and ninety years.

Only now did I learn that she had deliberately hidden her trail, unwilling to accept the bond between us.

I let out a cold laugh and shook my head.

"Alicia, you’ve been gone for two hundred years. Ten years ago, I performed the sacred rejection ritual to sever our mate bond—" Before I could finish, she cut me off with a sharp, mocking laugh.

"You would willingly sever the bond? Then why is that vase of snow lilies still sitting in this room? Isn’t it here because you’ve been clinging to the past?"

She pointed to the vase of snow lilies, the very ones she had picked from the mountains for me two centuries ago.

But after she left, I moved to another residence and never set foot in this room again.

I opened my mouth to explain, but she swept her gaze across the room and sneered.

"Everything here is exactly as I left it. If you weren’t still in love with me, why would you have kept it unchanged all these years?"

Hayden chimed in at the perfect moment, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"King Langston, truly a devoted mate. Even the decor hasn’t changed. Though it’s a shame Alicia hasn’t thought of you once in these two hundred years."

"We’ve spent three lifetimes together in the human world. Alicia couldn’t bear to be separated from me, so she insisted I come with her to the werewolf realm."

Listening to their biting words, I let out a wry smile.

Alicia had been gone for two hundred years.

I had endured the whispers and judgment of the court, searching for her while holding the Northern Territories together.

While I worked tirelessly to maintain order in the werewolf realm, she lived carefree among humans, spending three lifetimes with Hayden.

If it weren’t for me, the pack territories would have crumbled a century ago during the rogue invasions.

I spoke coldly.

"Alicia, you abandoned your position as Lycan Queen. The throne now belongs to another. I suggest you leave."

Elianna had gone to handle a rogue disturbance and wouldn’t return for another two hours.

I knew Alicia’s temperament. If I didn’t drive her away, she would cause a scene.

I called for the warriors to escort her out, but she grabbed one by the arm and shouted furiously.

"This is my residence! Remove this jealous man from my sight! Open your eyes! I am the Lycan Queen!"

The warrior looked to me for guidance and replied carefully.

"The current Lycan Queen is Elianna. We take orders only from her."

With a crash, she hurled the vase of snow lilies to the ground, shattering it into pieces.

Alicia’s gaze bore into me, her eyes sharp and expectant, as if waiting for some reaction to the shattered vase at my feet. When she saw my indifferent expression, her anger flared hotter.

“Langston!” she snapped, her voice cutting through the air. “Don’t act like you don’t care! You think I won’t destroy everything you’ve built over the last two centuries?”

One of the pack warriors, sensing the tension, stepped forward cautiously. “Alpha, should we send for Luna Elianna?”

I shook my head calmly. “No. She’s handling urgent pack business. Let her be.”

Alicia’s face darkened at my words, her lips curling into a sneer. “Still lying to me, Langston? Do you really think there’s anyone in this pack—or any pack—stronger than me? You’re pathetic.”

She wasn’t wrong. In terms of raw power, Alicia had always been unmatched. Even her cousin, Elianna, who now held the title of Luna, had never surpassed her. Elianna had spent most of her years as Alpha of the Eastern Moonlight Pack, overseeing the containment of rogues in the Rogue Tower. Her strength lay in strategy and leadership, not sheer force.

When Alicia had disappeared two centuries ago, Elianna had stepped in to help me manage the pack. Over time, the pack had seen her value, and after a formal vote, she became my Luna. It was a practical decision, one that had brought stability to the Northern Territories.

Alicia’s laughter cut through my thoughts. She turned to the warriors, her voice dripping with mockery. “Tell me, who in this pack is stronger than me? Who deserves to be Luna more than I do?”

The warriors hesitated, their eyes darting to me. I spoke before they could. “Elianna.”

Hayden, the human man at Alicia’s side, let out a derisive chuckle. “Langston, even I know Elianna’s been stationed at the Rogue Tower for years. Do you really expect us to believe she just waltzed back to become your Luna?”

Alicia smirked, her arm sliding around Hayden’s shoulders. “My cousin may have been a formidable Alpha, but she’d never stoop to marrying a widower. Langston, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

With that, she strode into my private chambers, dragging Hayden behind her. She rummaged through the drawers until she found the box of trinkets she’d once gifted me—jewelry, mostly, from our early days. She held up a necklace, slipping it onto Hayden’s neck with exaggerated care.

“There,” she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “It suits you. These should have been yours all along.”

Hayden grinned, preening under her attention. “Can I keep them? I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

“Of course,” Alicia said, her tone saccharine. “They’re yours. Just like the Alpha’s throne will be.”

Her eyes flicked to me, a challenge in her gaze. I merely shrugged. “If Hayden likes them, he can have them.”

The necklaces were outdated, relics of a time I’d long since moved past. Elianna had gifted me a new set during our marking ceremony, and I’d been meaning to get rid of the old ones anyway.

Alicia’s face twisted in anger. She slammed the box to the floor, the contents scattering across the room. “Stop pretending, Langston! You used to treasure these. Now you act like they mean nothing.”

She moved to the antique vase in the corner, smashing it with a single swipe of her hand. “If you won’t give me the throne, I’ll destroy everything you hold dear.”

The warriors looked on in horror, one of them stepping forward again. “Luna Elianna *is* Langston’s mate. Alicia, please, stop this before she returns. She won’t tolerate—”

Alicia’s hand shot out, gripping the warrior by the throat. “No one disrespects him!” she snarled, her voice cold and lethal.

I stepped between them, my tone firm. “Alicia, she’s done nothing wrong. Let her go.”

But Alicia only tightened her grip, her eyes blazing. “No one gets in my way.”

Hayden smirked, his arms crossed. “You heard her, Langston. Step aside. Alicia’s always been protective of me. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

I tried to intervene, but Alicia’s strength was too much. Within moments, the warrior slumped to the ground, lifeless.