I returned alone to our cold, empty packhouse.

I curled up under a heavy blanket, shivering and drenched in sweat as waves of excruciating pain washed over me.

I swallowed a handful of human sleeping pills, lying to myself: If I fall asleep, it won't hurt anymore.

In the drug-induced haze, I had a dream.

I dreamed of when I was twenty. Back then, Silas was a rogue without a pack, dirt poor, but he loved me with all his heart.

On my birthday that year, we walked past a high-end bakery in the human city. I saw a couple sitting by the window, the girl eating a delicate strawberry cake. It looked exquisitely beautiful and mouth-wateringly delicious—and, of course, outrageously expensive.

It was snowing heavily. I remember scooping up a handful of fresh snow, molding it into shapes, and laughing as I looked up at Silas. "Look, Silas! Doesn't this look just like that cake?"

Silas clenched his jaw, his eyes blazing with fierce love and deep shame. He pulled me tightly into his arms, burying his red-rimmed eyes into my hair.

Three days later, he stood outside my door holding that exact same cake.

A whole cake cost fifty dollars. He had braved a freezing blizzard, handing out flyers in the human city for three days just to earn twenty bucks. I have no idea how he got the rest of the money.

When I saw his frostbitten, bleeding knuckles, I broke down and sobbed.

"Silas!" I cried, pounding on his chest. "Your hands are meant for fighting, for leading, for achieving greatness! Not to be ruined just to buy me some sweets!"

I told him I didn't deserve something so expensive.

Silas frowned and cupped my face. "Aria, you are the most amazing woman in this world. You deserve every beautiful thing the Moon Goddess has to offer."

I finished that cake through my tears. So many years had passed that I couldn't even remember how it tasted. All I knew was that I had never tasted anything better since.

I slept for a long time. Half-awake, I heard my phone ring. I picked it up, and through the speaker, I heard his deep, raspy voice.

"Aria?"

I smiled, lost in the illusions of the past. "Silas... it's snowing so hard. I want to eat cake."

Before he could answer, I rolled over and let the darkness swallow me once more.

In the middle of the night, a fierce pang of hunger jolted me awake.

I walked to the kitchen, only to freeze in my tracks. Silas was home.

He had bought Chloe a massive villa. They lived there together; she cooked for him, spoiled him, and waited for him to come home. Silas was living an enviable life.

He hadn't stepped foot in our house for months.

He was leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching me with dark, unfathomable eyes.

I kept my head down, trying to walk past him, but he grabbed my wrist. He frowned and asked softly, "How did you get so thin?"

His tone was so gentle, as if he still loved me.

Startled, I violently yanked my hand away. "Silas, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you crazy?"

He stared at his empty palm, the warmth in his eyes freezing over instantly.

I walked to the dining table and stopped dead. Sitting right in the center was an exquisite strawberry cake, its candles unlit.

The phone call hadn't been a dream.

I said I wanted cake, and the great Alpha of the Silvercrown Pack actually went out and bought one. What was this? An olive branch?

But I was dying. I didn't need cake anymore. And I didn't need Silas anymore, either.

I grabbed the box and dumped the entire cake straight into the trash can.

Silas's jaw twitched. Moving with lightning speed across the room, he grabbed my shoulders and slammed me hard against the wall.

"Are you fucking playing with me, Aria?!" he snarled, his fangs elongating.

I smiled, looking him dead in the eye. "Yeah, Silas. I was messing with you. So what?"

"I say I want cake, and you run out to get it like an obedient little dog. Why are you still so pathetic?"

I deliberately twisted the knife deep into his pride. I watched the color drain from his face, instantly replaced by a terrifying, beastly fury.

His wolf was waking up.

He crushed his cigarette against the wall, dragged me into the bedroom, and threw me onto the mattress.

He was out of his mind. Like a wild animal, he ripped the collar of my nightgown.

I fought back fiercely, my fists pounding against his rock-hard chest. "Silas, you bastard! Don't touch me! You disgust me!"

He pinned my legs and trapped me beneath him. Burying his face in my neck, he bit down hard—not the intimate nip of pack mates, but a savage bite that brought tears to my eyes.

"Can't you just be gentle, Aria?" he growled low against my skin. "Do you know how many years I've waited just for you to really look at me? Do you know how happy I was when you called to ask me for a cake?"

"And then you treat me like a joke?" He raised his head, his eyes flashing with the wrath of his wolf, the amber glow reflecting his inner rage.

I fought back my tears and glared at him.

In the dimly lit room, neither of us spoke. Neither was willing to surrender.

Silas lowered his head, his lips hovering mere inches from mine—when his phone rang.

It was Chloe.

Silas stiffened, but he still answered it.

I could hear her crying through the receiver. "Silas... did you abandon me for Aria? You said you loved me... I'm at a neutral territory bar right now, and some men are following me... I'm so scared. Please come save me..."

Silas didn't answer her. He just stared down at me, a cruel smile touching the corners of his mouth.

"Beg me, Aria," he commanded softly. "Beg me to stay. Just say the word, and I won't leave."

He had forgotten. A long time ago, I had swallowed my pride, fallen to my knees at his feet, and begged. "Silas, can we please just talk? Can we stop torturing each other? Could you just be gentle with me?"

That day, Silas looked at me with eyes as cold as ice and said, "You don't deserve it, Aria."

Those words had festered in my chest for years, brewing into a rich, malicious torment.

Today, I could finally say them back.

I grabbed his collar, pulled him close, and whispered, "You don't deserve it, Silas."

He went completely rigid.

Then, he covered his eyes with one hand and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Fuck!"

He brought the phone back to his ear. "Stay there. I'm coming to get you."

He stood up without looking back, walked out, and slammed the door behind him.

The next morning, photos of Alpha Silas getting into a massive brawl with humans outside a bar over Chloe were splashed across every supernatural and human tabloid.

It was the first time he had allowed his infidelity to be so public.

The paparazzi swarmed the entrance to the Packhouse. The moment I stepped out, they ambushed me, shoving microphones and cameras into my face.

A young female reporter pushed her way to the front. "Luna Aria, do you have any comments on the relationship between the Alpha and Chloe?"

I kept walking, too bothered to even look at her. "One is a married man breaking his vows, and the other is a homewrecking slut who's proud of it. What exactly do you want me to say?"

The girl chased after me, shouting, "But everyone knows you dumped him when he was broke! You abandoned him for money! And once he built his empire, you used an ancient blood oath to force him into the mate bond!"

"Now the Alpha has found his true love. He and Chloe are soulmates. You're just a parasite, clinging to the Luna title. Don't you think you're the bully here?"

I stopped in my tracks, turned around slowly, and reached out to snatch the press badge from around her neck.

I looked at her with dead, empty eyes. "You're Chloe's friend, aren't you?"

"When Silas decided to mate with me, he used ruthless tactics against my family. Do you really think I wanted to be tied to him? The pack elders all know this. Or are you just here to smear my name so your little friend can steal my place?"

She paled and snatched her badge back. "I am her friend, but I'm an objective reporter! If you don't want to be with him, why don't you break the bond?"

I smiled and was about to answer when a sudden wave of dizziness hit me. Thick, black blood gushed from my nose, dripping down my chin.

Someone in the crowd sneered. "Look at her, pretending she doesn't care, but she's so worked up she's getting a nosebleed."

Trembling, I raised a finger and wiped the blood from my lips.

"I'm not worked up," my voice was eerily calm. "My body is failing. I'm dying. I get nosebleeds a lot lately."

The chaotic crowd instantly fell dead silent, the mockery catching in their throats.

Only Chloe's friend muttered under her breath, "Stop faking. Playing the victim over a nosebleed... It's pathetic. Relying on pity to keep a man is shameful."

She flipped her hair and stormed off. From the back, she was just as obnoxious as Chloe.