Jayce Garcia had been cast out of the pack, stripped of his title as Alpha, and left to wander as a rogue. And I, Ivey Nelson, his fated mate, had betrayed him, becoming the Luna of his brother, Alan Garcia, the new Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack.

Three years later, Jayce returned, stronger and fiercer than before. With a force of rogues and loyalists, he stormed the pack’s territory, reclaiming his position as Alpha. And when he found me, his rage was unrelenting.

“Ivey,” he sneered, his voice cold and cutting. “Did you think, when you abandoned me for my brother, that this day would come?”

I wanted to explain, to tell him the truth of why I had done what I did. But I couldn’t speak. My voice was trapped, my body bound, and my heart aching with the weight of his scorn.

---

“Ivey,” Jayce said, his voice dripping with venom as he sat on the Alpha’s throne, his aura commanding the room. “Do you still refuse to admit your guilt? If you continue to deny it, I’ll have you sealed in Alan’s ceremonial grounds. You’ll spend eternity with him. How does that sound?”

I was dragged into the grand hall, my hands and feet bound, a pitiful figure before the new Alpha. Everlee Peters, a Delta who had risen in Jayce’s favor, stood beside him, her voice sweet and mocking.

“Alpha,” she said, her tone soft but laced with malice, “wouldn’t it be cruel to seal her away like that?”

“Cruel?” Jayce barked, his voice sharp and unyielding. “She’s the one who’s cruel. This is nothing compared to what she deserves.”

He turned to Everlee, his expression softening as he took her hand. “Everlee,” he said, his voice gentle now, “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. When I was at my lowest, you were the one who stood by me. I owe everything to you.”

My heart ached as I watched them. Once, Jayce and I had been inseparable. We were destined by the Moon Goddess, bound by a mate bond that was supposed to be unbreakable. He had loved me with a passion that consumed us both.

I remembered the day he had brought me lavender from the pack’s gardens, his scent mingling with the flowers as he promised me forever. But now, the pack’s gardens were barren, the lavender uprooted by his command. He had erased every trace of us, just as he had erased me from his heart.

I tried to speak, to tell him the truth, but Everlee had stuffed my mouth with a thick cloth soaked in a numbing agent. I couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t even move my tongue. My attempts to remove it only made me look more pathetic, like a worm writhing in the dirt.

Saliva dripped from my mouth as I struggled, my eyes pleading with Jayce to see through the lies. But his patience had run out.

“If she won’t admit her guilt,” he said, his voice cold and final, “then she can join Alan in the ceremonial grounds. Let her rot there.”

I was dragged away, my body limp and helpless, as the warriors carried me to the sacred grounds where Alan had been honored. The place was cold and lifeless, a monument to a man whose cruelty had destroyed so many. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decay, a reminder of the lives lost in its construction.

I leaned against the heavy stone door, my heart pounding with fear. I had heard stories of those sealed in the ceremonial grounds, left to die slowly in the darkness. The thought of waiting for death, alone and forgotten, was unbearable.

The hours passed, and the air grew thinner. The stench of the tomb filled my lungs, making it harder to breathe. Hunger gnawed at my stomach, and my strength began to fade.

As my consciousness slipped away, I thought of Jayce. Was this what he wanted? For me to die here, in this cold and lonely place? Would he finally be satisfied?

And as the darkness closed in, I whispered his name in my mind, hoping that somewhere, somehow, he would hear me. But I knew he wouldn’t. I was already gone.

After I died, my wolf spirit drifted from my body.

My remains were unrecognizable, ravaged by the torment Everlee Peters had inflicted upon me.

Jayce Garcia would never see me like this.

Years ago, when Jayce’s power and aura grew too strong, his elder brother, Alan Garcia, the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, began to suspect him of plotting against the pack.

I didn’t care about the boundaries of propriety then. I went to the pack house late at night, desperate to plead with Alan. I knelt outside his office for hours, my knees nearly giving out, until he finally agreed to see me.

“I’ll spare Jayce’s life,” Alan said, his alpha tone cold and commanding, “but it depends on what you’re willing to give in exchange.”

Without hesitation, I offered myself, trembling as I laid bare my dignity before him.

Alan’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. “They say the women of the Silver Claw Pack are proud and unyielding. Yet here you are, willing to debase yourself for him. How amusing.”

To ensure I wouldn’t communicate with Jayce, Alan took my family’s pack as hostages, threatening to destroy them if I didn’t obey. He forced me to become his Luna, demanding absolute loyalty.

Before Jayce was exiled from the pack, Alan made sure to taunt him. “You showered her with your affection, Jayce,” he sneered. “Yet the moment you were stripped of your title, she willingly climbed into my bed and became my Luna. Don’t you find that hilarious?”

“Luna! Luna!” Jayce’s voice echoed with anguish and hatred, his laughter bitter and broken.

That day, I hid in the shadows, my body marked by Alan’s cruelty, watching as Jayce was humiliated. My heart ached for him, but I told myself that as long as he lived, nothing else mattered.

Someday, I thought, we would meet again. Someday, I would explain my sacrifice and the choices I had made.

But after Jayce left, Alan’s torment only grew worse. He took perverse pleasure in mocking me. “You degraded yourself to save him,” he would sneer. “And yet, he hates you. He wants you dead. How does that feel?”

Jayce didn’t stay away for long. In the southern territories, he built a formidable force, his aura and influence growing rapidly. Alan, consumed by jealousy and rage, took out his frustration on me.

Those years were a living nightmare. I lived in constant fear, never knowing when Alan would lash out.

When Jayce finally returned, I had hoped for redemption, for understanding. But instead, he wanted me dead. He wouldn’t even look at me, wouldn’t uncover my face to see the woman he once loved.

My heart shattered, but I held onto the faint hope that someday, he would know the truth.

Now, as my wolf spirit lingers, I realize that hope was in vain. Jayce will never see me as I was—only as the broken shell Alan left behind.

And yet, I would do it all again. For him, I would endure it all.

Because even in death, my love for Jayce Garcia remains unshaken.

I knelt beside the bodies, unaware of how much time had passed.

The sound of voices outside reached me, sharp and cutting through the silence.

Everlee’s mocking tone carried into the room:

“The Alpha thought you might be lonely in here, so he sent me to bring you these—your parents, your brother, your nephew…”

“Oh, and your nephew was only a year old. Those warriors, they were so careless. Just threw him to the ground. Poor thing, didn’t stand a chance.”

“Your brother managed to escape, but your sister-in-law—she was pregnant. A girl, they said.”

In the darkness, I trembled uncontrollably.

Yet no tears came.

My chest felt heavy, as if a boulder had been lodged there.

I hadn’t imagined that Jayce’s hatred for me could run this deep.

“The Alpha said you needed to feel the pain of losing everyone you loved.”

Back then, when Alan had wanted to kill Jayce’s entire family, it was me who intervened.

I used my pack’s status to make a deal with Alan: if he spared them, the Silver Claw Pack would pledge loyalty to him, and I would become his Luna.

But Alan broke his promise. He only let Jayce live.

“If I spared them all, where’s the fun in that?”

“I had to kill them. Only then would Jayce believe you betrayed him out of cowardice and ambition.”

“He’d never believe you did it to save them all.”

If Alan could see this now, he’d be satisfied.

He’d laugh, wouldn’t he?

He’d grab my throat and force me to see: “Look, Ivey! You turned yourself into a traitor for him, and he’s already moved on. He’s even wiped out your entire family. Isn’t that hilarious?”

“What a pair you were, and what a pathetic ending!”

But Alan was dead.

There was no one left who knew the truth.

After his death, Jayce gave him a proper Alpha’s burial, honoring pack tradition.

He even built a memorial ground for fallen Alphas, ensuring Alan’s name would be remembered.

Then, as the younger brother of the late Alpha, Jayce took the position for himself.

After all, Alan had no heirs. It seemed only natural that his brother would step in.