Aria's POV

I woke up to the sound of Ethan on the phone downstairs, his voice drifting up through the gap under the door.

"Now. Immediately. Send over the best moonstone necklace you have."

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. My birthday was already over.

When I came downstairs, the omega maid was setting up breakfast. She saw me and immediately dropped her gaze.

"Good morning, Luna."

"Morning."

Then I saw her—Lily standing in the doorway with a velvet box in her hands, but her eyes weren't on me at all. They were glued to Ethan.

She held up the box with a perfect smile. "I'm here to deliver the Alpha's birthday gift for you."

A pause. Her gaze swept across my face like she was searching for cracks.

"Oh, right," she tilted her head, "there have been some rogue wolves near my apartment lately, so it's not really safe. The Alpha said I could stay here for a few days."

She looked at me, and her smile widened.

"You don't mind, do you, Luna?"

My eyes shifted to Ethan.

He was frowning, but he didn't say anything. No denial. No refusal.

In that moment, the coldness in my chest spread completely through me.

So, even this line could be crossed so easily.

"Sure." My voice came out flat and empty. "Stay as long as you want."

Lily froze. She clearly hadn't expected that response.

Ethan froze too—I saw shock flash across his eyes, and something close to panic.

He stood up like he wanted to say something, but Lily moved first. She wrapped herself around his arm, pressing her whole body against him, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were full of helpless dependency.

"Ethan, see? Luna doesn't mind at all."

Ethan's throat worked. Whatever refusal he'd been about to give died on his lips.

I looked away.

"Continue with breakfast," I told the maid, then turned and headed back to my room.

"Aria."

Ethan called after me.

"You really don't mind?"

I didn't turn around.

He knocked three times that morning.

The first time, he said Lily might disturb me.

The second time, he said if I wasn't happy about it, he wouldn't let her move in.

The third time, he walked straight in, closed the door, and used that tone I knew so well—casual, soothing, dismissive.

"Aria, I've told you so many times—those omegas out there don't mean anything. They're just distractions. They could never compare to you."

He moved closer.

"So don't bottle everything up. If you want to get angry, then get angry."

I set down my book and turned to look at him.

His eyes were searching for signs of anger, sparks of jealousy, anything that proved I still cared.

But there was nothing left.

"I told you," I said, "I really don't mind."

Ethan's expression changed.

That mask of perfect control cracked, and underneath I saw something close to fear.

"Why?" His voice went tight. "Why don't you mind? You weren't like this before."

I looked at him and suddenly wanted to laugh.

Right. I wasn't like this before. I used to yell, throw things, and pull rank as his Luna during our fights. Those arguments drained so much energy from me and cost me so many tears.

Then he said he hated that version of me.

So I smiled gently. It was precisely the way he'd always wanted me to be.

"Isn't this better?" I asked him. "Isn't this what you always wanted, Ethan?"

I gestured toward the door.

"I'm a little tired. I'd like to rest."

He stood there like he'd been nailed to the floor.

Then he left.

The door closed softly.

I walked to the wall and looked at the calendar. I reached up and tore off a page.

Aria's POV

By evening, Lily's two massive suitcases were piled in the foyer.

She stood in the living room like she owned the place and waved at the staff. "Get rid of all these lilies—I want roses. And make venison for dinner with my herb recipe."

I sat by the window and stared out at the darkening sky. Ethan was flipping through files on the couch, but his gaze kept drifting toward me with something like worry mixed with guilt.

I stood up and walked over to the wall calendar.

Another day gone.

I tore off today's page, and the ripping sound cut through the silence.

Ethan's head snapped up. "You tear off a page every single day. What are you counting down to?"

"Nothing." I didn't look at him and just stared at the shrinking stack of paper. "Just gives me something to do."

He got up fast, and panic flashed in his eyes. "Aria, this is our den. My promise to you still stands—Lily shouldn't be living here. I'll take her back right now."

He turned toward the stairs and shouted up, "Pack your things. You're leaving today."

Lily froze at the top of the staircase, and tears instantly filled her eyes. "Ethan, you just agreed to this... what happened?"

"I changed my mind." Ethan's voice went cold, and his Alpha authority rolled out like a wave. "This is mine and Aria's den. I never should've let anyone else move in. I made her a promise—and I won't break it."

Lily's face went white, and her voice shook. "But Luna already said yes—"

"Her saying yes doesn't make it right." Ethan cut her off. "Pack. Now."

A few minutes later, Lily came downstairs, dragging her suitcases, eyes red and swollen like the whole world had abandoned her.

The engine started.

They left the house together.

After they left, I walked over to the wall. Six pages remained.

*****

Three days had passed since Ethan left with Lily, and he hadn't set foot in pack territory once. I didn't care. I just kept packing my things in silence, and the moonlight spilled through the window onto everything I was about to take with me.

As his Luna, I used to have full access to the pack vault. Over the years, I'd used his resources to build up properties of my own. Today, I went to the notary's office and ensured that every house and piece of land was legally registered in my name.

I deserved all of it.

I took the jewelry from dozens of display cases—most of them courting gifts Ethan had given me during our mating pursuit—and moved everything to a bank vault. The gems caught the light and threw off a cold glitter, just like my heart felt right now.

Once the mate bond was entirely severed and I officially left the pack, I'd move everything to my new home.

I had wasted five years of my life on Ethan.

These jewels, these properties—they were my compensation for the damage.

As the Alpha's former mate, I had every right to take it all.

The days slipped by one after another, and I tore off the last page of my calendar.

The Moonbreak Herb should have taken full effect in his system by now. That night, I poured his drink myself, and the bitterness of the herb disappeared entirely into the burn of the liquor. He didn't notice a thing—just like he never noticed my pain.

My phone buzzed suddenly.

A message from Lily, accompanied by a photo.

It was my grandmother's pocket watch. [Luna, I saw this pretty little watch in your room the other day and just took it. I'm bored with it now, so you can come pick it up yourself.]

My wolf spirit howled inside me.

But I forced her down. I couldn't lose control now, not when I was this close to the end.

I checked the address in her message—the riverbank by Central Bridge—and drove there immediately.

I rushed to the riverbank, and there was Lily, standing right at the edge with Grandma's pocket watch held high above her head. Her eyes glowed gold under the moonlight—a telltale sign of a wolf on the verge of losing control.

"Aria," she said with a smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I called you here tonight to settle something once and for all."

"Settle what?" I kept my voice steady, but my wolf was already pacing beneath my skin.

"I want to see who Ethan would choose—you or me."

A cold dread crept through my chest, but I couldn't look away from the watch dangling in her grip. It was the only thing I had left of my grandmother, and I wasn't about to let this woman taint it.

I stepped forward and reached for it.

I watched her performance with cold detachment, feeling nothing at all.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lily's voice was sharp and grating. "Just because you're his Luna? Ethan's wolf soul doesn't even recognize you anymore! His Alpha mark hasn't been refreshed on you in months!"

She was right.

Ethan's scent had faded from my skin weeks ago, so faint now that no one could detect it. The mate mark that was supposed to be renewed every week had turned into a pale gray scar, like a tattoo left out in the sun too long.

But I felt nothing.

Lily was clearly waiting for me to break down, scream, or maybe lunge at her and start a fight. Instead, I just stood there and watched her like I was seeing a play that had nothing to do with me.

That made her even crazier.

Jealousy twisted her features into something ugly, and her carefully maintained face looked almost monstrous now. Her eyes burned with sick obsession, and her fingers had gone white from clenching too hard.

"You wanna know why Ethan suddenly got so cold with you?" She let out a vicious laugh. "I bribed someone at the lab and faked your pheromone data. Made Ethan think you used an artificial gland transplant to trick him, and that I'm his real fated mate. He believed me right away. You're so pathetic."

My heart skipped a beat. So that was it.

That's why Ethan had turned so distant out of nowhere, why he'd looked at me with all that suspicion in his eyes.

He thought I'd lied to him.

I thought I'd be shaking with rage right now, thought I'd want to claw her face off, but there was nothing. My chest felt hollow, like an empty room after all the furniture's been moved out. The heart that used to race for Ethan couldn't even manage a ripple anymore.

"So what?" My voice came out calm, so calm it sounded like a stranger's.

Lily froze. "You're not even mad?" She stared at me like she couldn't believe it.

Mad?

I would've been once. Three months ago, I would've been destroyed. I would've confronted Ethan and demanded to know why he didn't trust me, why he threw away our bond so easily over some suspicion.

But now I just didn't care anymore.

She looked at my indifference and let out a cold laugh before throwing the pocket watch into the river.

The silver case caught the moonlight as it arced through the air, and I heard the soft splash as it disappeared into the dark water.

"You—!"

My wolf shattered through my control. I felt my canines lengthen and my nails sharpen into claws. I grabbed her throat and pinned her against the railing. "Lily, how dare you?"

That's when I heard the roar of an engine approaching fast.

Something shifted in Lily's expression. Her gaze flicked toward the familiar black sports car pulling up, and a slow, satisfied smile spread across her face.

Then she shoved me with everything she had.

I lost my balance and stumbled backward.

In the split second before I hit the water, I watched Lily throw herself in after me.

Aria's POV

Cold river water rushed in from every direction, and the freezing chill shot through every pore of my skin.

I dove deeper, searching through the murky water for that pocket watch. Moonlight filtered through the surface, barely giving me enough light to make out shapes around me.

Finally, my fingers found that familiar shape buried in the mud at the riverbed.

I gripped it tight and pushed upward.

But I was out of breath. My lungs burned like they were on fire, and my vision started to blur. Werewolves are stronger than humans, but we're not made for water—stay under too long, and we drown just like anyone else.

And then there was Lily. She was thrashing in the water, and her arms had tangled around my legs. She couldn't swim. She'd grown up in an inland pack, and she'd been terrified of water her whole life.

I tried to break free, but my body wouldn't cooperate anymore. Everything was going dark.

Then a massive splash exploded above me.

Ethan had jumped in.

His Alpha aura hit me like a wall, even underwater. It drowned out everything else in an instant.

I wanted to call out to him. Every instinct screamed at me to reach through the bond.

But I stopped myself.

The Moonbreak Herb had already taken effect. He couldn't sense my call anymore.

I forced my eyes open and watched it all unfold beneath the surface.

Moonlight cut through the water like a cruel spotlight on this whole scene.

Ethan moved through the water with powerful strokes. He was a born Alpha, and even underwater, every movement was quick and precise. He took one look at the situation and made his choice.

He swam straight for Lily.

He pulled her thrashing body into his arms, wrapped one strong arm around her waist, and kicked toward the surface.

He never once looked my way. It was like I'd already vanished from his world.

The Moonbreak Herb had severed our mate bond completely. He couldn't sense me anymore—couldn't catch my scent or hear my heartbeat.

To him, I'd been erased from his instincts entirely.

And his wolf had chosen to save Lily.

A coldness spread through my chest, colder than the river had ever been.

I used every last bit of strength I had and pushed myself toward the surface.

The afternoon sun hit my eyes like a knife. I gasped for air, and my lungs burned as I took in breath after breath.

I dragged myself onto the shore and saw Ethan kneeling beside Lily, performing CPR. His movements were precise and practiced, but his face held a desperate look I'd never seen before.

"Lily! Wake up! Lily!" He called her name over and over, his voice thick with worry.

I looked down at the pocket watch still clutched in my hand. The silver case was covered in mud, but the crescent moon engraving was still visible.

I got to my feet, and water dripped steadily from my hair and clothes, pooling on the ground beneath me.

I started walking toward the shore.

When I passed them, Ethan finally noticed me.

"Aria," he said without turning around, "you know how to swim, so I saved Lily first. You okay?"

His tone was calm and matter-of-fact, as if he were simply stating the obvious.

My steps faltered for just a second. "I'm fine."

My voice came out rough and broken, but I didn't care.

Just then, Lily stirred awake and immediately grabbed Ethan's arm.

"Ethan... I was so scared... I feel dizzy..." Her voice was soft and helpless.

Ethan's attention snapped back to her instantly. He glanced at me, and I could see the hesitation in his eyes—like he was torn between two choices.

"Go take care of her," I said, my voice hoarse. "Don't worry about me."

"I'll take her to the hospital and come right back to be with you," he said quickly.

I turned my back to him and shook my head, my eyes stinging with tears he couldn't see.

It didn't matter.

What I meant was—from now on, you don't need to worry about me anymore.

Because starting today, our mate bond is completely severed.

I'm finally free.

I stumbled to the roadside and yanked the car door open.

"Aria!"

His voice came from behind me, laced with something like panic.

I didn't look back.

The engine roared to life, and I pulled away from the riverbank. In the rearview mirror, I watched him standing frozen in place with one arm still wrapped around Lily. Confusion flickered across his face—he was probably wondering why his chest suddenly felt hollow.

That was the aftermath of a severed mate bond.

But he'd get used to it soon enough.

When I got back to the villa, the butler had already prepared hot water and herbal tea. He must have received word ahead of time.

"Luna, the Alpha instructed me to have these ready for you. He said he'll be home for dinner tonight, and he specifically asked me to prepare your favorite—"

"That won't be necessary," I cut him off.

I went upstairs and changed into clean clothes, then came back down, dragging the suitcase I'd packed days ago.

The butler stared at me in shock.

"Luna, what are you—"

"When Ethan gets back, tell him to take a good look at what I slipped into his drink thirty days ago."

My voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Tell him his role in my life has officially wrapped. We're done."

I walked to the front door and unclasped the necklace from my throat—the silver moonstone pendant I'd worn since the day I became the Alpha's mate, placed around my neck before the entire pack as witness.

I set it down on the foyer table.

*****

My car rolled to a stop just outside South Bay Villa, and I cut the engine.

I pulled off my sunglasses and scanned the entrance, but there was no one in sight. Where was Cameron?

Confused, I pushed open the heavy gate. It was eerily quiet.

The moment it thudded shut behind me, a bright piano melody filled the air.

The great hall—pitch black just seconds ago—flooded with light, revealing everything that had been hidden in the darkness.

Silver evening primrose decorated every corner, and the faint scent of herbs drifted through the space. Dozens of wolves, some familiar and some I'd never seen before, stepped out from the shadows with wide smiles on their faces. They pushed an enormous celebration cake between them.

And there, seated at the grand piano in a fitted black suit, was Cameron. His delicate features were sharp with concentration, and his slender fingers danced across the keys as music poured out like a rushing stream.

I watched the scene unfold like something out of a dream, and my heart skipped several beats.

It didn't feel real. My feet moved on their own, carrying me toward the piano one step at a time.

I reached him just as the final note faded into silence.

Cameron looked up, his golden eyes brighter than starlight, and produced a bouquet of evening primrose like a magician pulling flowers from thin air. He held them out to me with a soft smile.

"Aria, thank you for choosing me. Thank you for coming back to me."

The room erupted behind us.

"Aria, congrats on cutting the old bond!"

"Congratulations!"

I wasn't used to this kind of attention—not after everything with Ethan. I pressed my lips together and felt heat creep up to the tips of my ears.

Cameron noticed. A gentle smile tugged at his lips, and he rose from the piano bench to pull me into his arms.

The cheering around us grew louder and louder, and I buried my face in the crook of Cameron's neck. His voice drifted down to me, warm with amusement.

"Aria, you once said you'd give me a title in your life. Does that promise still stand?"

I froze for a moment, then lifted my head to look at him in surprise. Under his steady gaze, I gave a slight nod.

The next second, Cameron released his hold on my waist and stepped back. Then he dropped to one knee.

The pack members around us erupted into screams loud enough to shake the rafters.

When he pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a ring set with a glowing moonstone, I felt like all the air had been stolen from my lungs.

And suddenly I understood. This whole elaborate surprise, that question he'd asked me—it had all been leading to this moment.

Cameron took my hand and pressed a feather-light kiss to the ring finger of my right hand. Then he looked up at me, his voice ringing out clear and reverent for everyone to hear.

"Aria, will you give me the chance to be your mate?"

The entire hall fell silent, every wolf holding their breath. The moment the words left his lips, the crowd burst into a unified chant. "Accept the bond! Accept the bond!"

My heart pounded harder with each wave of their voices.

I stared into those golden eyes so close to mine, bright with hope, and memories flooded through me in a rush.

The night we first met. I'd been drowning my sorrows at a bar, broken and bleeding from a shattered bond, and he'd caught me when I stumbled. He'd wiped my tears with such gentleness while I sobbed so hard I couldn't breathe.

When I'd jokingly offered to be his sugar mommy, he'd just laughed and pulled me close, saying he was honored to catch my eye.

All those endless nights when the ghost of my old bond kept me tossing and turning in agony, he'd stayed by my side. He'd talk about random things, silly things, anything to make me smile and forget the pain.

Cameron had shown me that my life as a wolf wasn't over. That I still had a chance to start again.

He'd made me believe that my love—the kind I'd thrown myself into like a moth to flame—wouldn't drown in a hopeless bond forever. It could rise from the ashes and be reborn.

I made it through the nightmare and finally reached the dawn.

And the one who kept me going, the one waiting for me at the end of it all—it had always been Cameron.

So even though part of me still felt lost about what came next, even though the thought of forming a new bond so soon after breaking free made my wolf restless, none of that mattered anymore. Not with him.

I made the choice my heart had been begging for, and I gave him my answer without a single doubt. "I do."