When I lost my baby, only five months old, the pain wasn't just physical—it tore through me, an ache so deep it felt like it was shredding my very soul.

At that moment, Damien—my mate, Alpha of our pack—was in our bed, tangled up with his mistress. A she-wolf who had made it her mission to provoke me at every turn.

...

Pain ripped through me like a storm. One second, I was standing tall during the pack training session. The next, my knees buckled, and I was on the ground, clutching my stomach as my world began to unravel.

Something inside me broke—no, shattered. I felt it. My pup. My five-month-old baby. Slipping away.

The agony that followed wasn’t just physical; it cut deeper than flesh. It tore at my soul, leaving me raw and gasping for air.

Desperate, I reached for Damien through the mate bond, my mind frantically calling out his name. “Damien!” My wolf howled alongside me, pleading for him to answer, to be there. But all I got in return was silence. A deafening, suffocating silence.

I tried again, pushing through the haze of pain, my voice trembling in the link. “Damien, please.” Still, nothing. My wolf whimpered, shrinking back as the bond between us flickered weakly, barely holding on. He wasn’t there. He didn’t even feel close. Something about that realization made the pain worse, sharper, as if it wasn’t already unbearable enough.

Through the fog of agony, I felt hands on me. Firm but gentle. Gamma Alex. His voice broke through the chaos, calm but strained, as he scooped me up and carried me toward the pack infirmary. I could barely focus on what he was saying; my body was too weak, my mind too full of grief.

The scent of blood clung to the air, a cruel reminder of what I’d lost. My head lolled to the side, and that’s when I heard them—two female warriors nearby, their voices low but crystal clear.

“I heard he was with her again,” one of them said.

“Serena?”

“Yeah, in the woods. They’re perfect for each other, aren’t they?”

My chest tightened, my breath catching in my throat. Were they talking about Damien? My Damien?

“He doesn’t even hide it anymore,” the other whispered. “Poor Luna. She probably has no idea.”

A lump formed in my throat, and I looked up at Alex. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his gaze shifted away, avoiding mine. That flicker of guilt in his eyes said everything. He didn’t need to confirm it. Everyone knew. Everyone except me.

Pain stabbed through my chest, sharper than anything I’d felt physically. While I was losing our child, he was with her. Serena. The Beta’s daughter.

I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but all I could do was let Alex carry me the rest of the way. The infirmary was cold and sterile, but no amount of care or soothing words could touch the ache inside me.

By the time I returned home, exhaustion weighed me down like chains. My body was weak, my spirit even weaker. But the moment I stepped inside, something felt off. The scent hit me first—roses, sweet and cloying, mixed with something else I couldn’t place.

My stomach twisted as I climbed the stairs, dread creeping up my spine with every step. Laughter drifted from our bedroom—light, careless, and unmistakably female.

I pushed the door open, and there they were. Damien. Serena. They weren’t even trying to hide it.

Serena’s smile widened when she saw me, sharp and full of mockery. “Oh, Luna. Back already?” she asked, her tone dripping with fake concern.

My heart clenched, my wolf snarling weakly in the back of my mind. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I just stood there, frozen, as Damien scrambled to cover the situation.

“Amber,” he started, his voice laced with guilt, “this isn’t what it looks like.”

Serena laughed, brushing past me as if I were nothing more than a shadow. “Relax, Alpha. She knows her place.”

Her words burned, but not as much as Damien’s silence. He didn’t deny it. He didn’t stop her.

“Why are you home?” he asked, his tone nervous. “You should be resting.”

Resting. The word was laughable. How could I rest after what I’d been through? How could I rest knowing what I now knew?

“There’s nothing going on with Serena,” he added quickly, as if that would fix anything. “She was just here for... for a pack matter.”

A pack matter. I almost laughed. Her scent lingered in the air, clinging to every surface. It was undeniable, and yet he still thought I was blind enough to believe his lies.

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. My wolf was too broken, and my heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice.

Desperate to change the subject, Damien reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. “I bought this for you,” he said, holding it out like some kind of peace offering.

The scent hit me immediately—roses, just like Serena’s. My stomach churned, and I took a step back.

“You like perfumes, don’t you?” he asked, oblivious. “I thought this might cheer you up.”

Cheer me up. As if a perfume could erase the betrayal. As if it could undo the loss of our pup, the rift in our bond, the image of Serena’s mocking smile.

My silence seemed to irritate him. He sighed, his expression shifting to one of frustration. “You’re being unreasonable, Amber.”

Unreasonable. The word echoed in my mind, louder than it should have. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand. While I was lying on the ground, bleeding and broken, he had been here. With her.

“I’m going to shower,” he said, brushing past me as if the conversation were over.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, as the sound of running water filled the room. My gaze drifted to the bed, and that’s when I saw it. Serena’s underwear, deliberately placed under my pillow.

My fists clenched at my sides, my body trembling with a mix of anger and despair. She wasn’t just taking him from me—she was mocking me, rubbing it in my face at every turn.

The bond between Damien and me flickered weakly, barely holding on. My wolf whimpered, but there was nothing left to say.

I stood by the window, the weight of my decision pressing down on me like a stormy sky. My hands trembled as I clutched the suitcase, trying to quiet the whirlwind of emotions churning in my chest. Gamma Alex’s voice echoed in my mind from earlier that day, his words steady and sincere. “Amber, you don’t have to stay here. There’s another way, another place where you can start over.”

I had resisted at first. Leaving this pack—my pack—felt like severing a piece of myself. But after today, after everything, I knew staying wasn’t an option anymore. The bond between Damien and me was fraying, hanging on by the thinnest thread, and my wolf no longer protested. She was silent now, resigned.

When I told Alex I’d made up my mind, his face softened in relief. “You’re doing the right thing,” he said, his voice warm with encouragement. “Tell me when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll be there.”

Now, standing in the suffocating quiet of the room I’d once called mine, I began to pack. I moved mechanically, pulling clothes from the drawers and folding them neatly, my hands working while my mind wandered.

The sound of the shower running in the adjoining bathroom filled the silence, a cruel reminder that Damien was just feet away, completely oblivious to the turmoil raging inside me. He didn’t even notice how shattered I’d been when I came home.

When the water stopped, my heart skipped a beat. A few minutes later, Damien emerged, his damp hair falling messily over his forehead. He glanced at me, then at the half-packed suitcase on the bed.

“Amber,” he sighed, rubbing a towel over his hair, “are you seriously doing this?”

I froze, clutching a folded shirt in my hands. “Doing what?” I asked quietly, though my voice trembled with the effort to keep calm.

“This.” He gestured at the suitcase like it was some childish tantrum I was throwing. “Packing. Acting like the world’s ending. You’re being unreasonable.”

Unreasonable. There it was again, that word he seemed to love so much lately. He thought I was overreacting, didn’t he? That everything—the betrayal, the heartbreak, the loss of our pup—could be swept under the rug if I just stopped “being unreasonable.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned away from him, continuing to pack. If he wanted to ignore my pain, fine. I’d let him.

He sighed again, the sound heavy with irritation, and walked over to the bed. “I’m tired, Amber,” he muttered, pulling back the covers. “I’m going to sleep.”

I bit back the angry retort on the tip of my tongue, choosing silence instead. What was the point of arguing? He wouldn’t listen. He never did.

As he settled into bed, his breathing evening out within minutes, I paused, standing over my suitcase. I turned to look at him, my eyes tracing the lines of his face. He looked peaceful in his sleep, like the man I’d fallen in love with years ago. But that man felt like a stranger now, buried under layers of lies and betrayal.

My gaze drifted to the items on the dresser, each one holding a memory of the bond we’d once shared. The bracelet he’d given me after our first fight. The necklace from our first anniversary. The framed photo of us on our wedding day, smiling so brightly it almost hurt to look at now.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. How did we get here? How did the love we built, the life we worked so hard for, crumble so easily?

I thought back to high school, back to the girl I used to be. I was popular back then, surrounded by friends and admirers. Boys in the pack vied for my attention, but my eyes were always drawn to Damien. He was the son of Damien, and every she-wolf in the pack dreamed of being his mate.

But then everything changed. During the coming-of-age ceremony, when everyone was discovering their wolves, I stood there, waiting for mine. And waiting. And waiting.

When it became clear that my wolf wasn’t coming, the pack turned on me. They mocked me, ostracized me, whispered behind my back about how weak I was. I became an outcast overnight.

Except for Damien. He never looked at me with pity or disdain. He stood by me, even as others shunned me. And when we discovered we were mates, it felt like a miracle, like fate had given me a second chance.

We kept our bond quiet at first, not wanting to draw attention. But then the rogues attacked. They came in the dead of night, slaughtering without mercy. Damien’s parents were killed, and just like that, he was thrust into the role of Alpha.

I’ll never forget the way he looked at me that night, his eyes filled with pain and desperation. “I only have you now,” he said, his voice cracking.

And I stayed. Through the grief, the chaos, the rebuilding of the pack, I stayed. Even when my wolf finally emerged—strong and powerful, proving everyone wrong—I didn’t leave his side. Together, we rebuilt the pack, formed the female warrior team, and restored our strength after the devastation.

For years, we were happy. I thought we were unshakable.

But then I got pregnant, and everything changed.

It was during a routine prenatal check-up at the pack clinic that he received the mind link. He left without explanation, his face pale and tense. Later, I found out why. Serena had returned.

The Beta’s daughter. The girl who’d been away for years, who always had a way of commanding attention. She swept back into the pack like she owned the place, and Damien—my mate—started slipping away from me.

I tried to ignore it at first, tried to hold on to the man I thought I knew. But today, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

As I stared at Damien’s sleeping face, the anger and sadness twisted inside me. My wolf stirred weakly, her voice whispering in my mind. “It’s time to go.”

And she was right.

I turned back to my suitcase, packing the last of my belongings. Each item I placed inside felt like a step closer to freedom, to starting over.

By the time I finished, the room felt emptier, colder. I stood by the door, one last glance at Damien’s sleeping form. My heart ached, but it was a distant ache, dulled by everything that had happened.

“I’m done,” I whispered, the words barely audible.