The atmosphere froze.

“Really? Then go ahead and marry.” The moment those words escaped my lips, Amelia’s crocodile tears paused, she had expected me to rush out crying and deny the false allegations and yet I gave her nothing.

“Enough.” Dominic's cold gaze lined with disgust pierced through me, the disbelief in his eyes gave way to profound disappointment.

“Everyone leave. The party is over.”

The guests dispersed at once, some casting pitying glances toward Amelia while others looked at me with open contempt.

When the balcony was empty, he turned to me, his voice low and deadly. “So this is what you’ve stooped to. You couldn’t win my favor… so you came after her instead!”

“Are you going to be swayed by every single sentence she says Alpha Dominic?” My cold response chilled the atmosphere.

“Amelia came to provoke me herself, even going as far as to call our children ‘illegitimate bastards’. You can simply check the surveillance stone and see what I am saying is true.”

Anticipating potential trouble, I took plenty of precautions of installing several extra surveillance stones and sure enough, they had now proven their worth.

Amelia clearly had not anticipated such a contingency, a flicker of panic flashed through her eyes.

The moment Dominic noticed this, and a look of suspicion clouded his gaze.

Just then, Alec and Leo like a pair of protective little cubs stepped forward to shield Amelia with their bodies.

Their childish voices rang out, firm and unwavering:

"No need to check the surveillance stones! Its true we were called bastards!" My heart almost sighed before the next words detonated like a bomb.

"But it wasn’t auntie who called us that, it was mom!"

My eyes widened before my entire being trembled as if shrouded with disbelief.

“Bad mommy!” Alec shouted, his face red with fury. "You hurt Auntie! It was you who told us that if we follow Auntie we will be called illegitimate!”

Leo pushed me back with his tiny hands,. "Go away! We don't want you! Auntie is good. You're bad!

We won’t let Auntie marry that old man!"

In their innocent, childish voices, they uttered the cruelest of lies.

And in doing so, they completely extinguished the last embers of love still lingering in my heart.

“Shutup!” I admonished sharply, raising my voice at the children for the first time making them cower back, stumped that the mother who always listened to their tantrums would finally snap.

“Amelia, that marriage alliance you are framing me for was surely accepted by mom, but it wasn’t for you! It was for me!”

"Enough of your lies!" Dominic snapped, cutting me off with a sharp rebuke.

"Our sons are only a few years old why would they lie? Furthermore, who in this entire pack is not aware of your fucking obsession with me since childhood. Let alone marriage, you cannot even survive a day without me!”

“You really think I can’t live without you?” I let out a faint, humorless breath, my lashes lowering for a moment before I looked at him again, as if seeing him clearly for the first time.

“Let alone fight her over you…”A soft scoff slipped past my lips.

“I would rather throw you away myself-”

Before the last word even settled

Smack.

The force snapped my head to the side, my body losing balance as I crashed onto the floor, blood trickled from the corners of my mouth resembling nothing so much as bloody tears.

For a second, I didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Only the sharp ringing in my ears remained and the stunned silence that followed.

Dominic’s hand was still raised in the air when he looked at my wide shivering irises that trembled as his limbs froze with the gravity of what had transpired.

All my life, not once had my parents raised their hands at me. All throughout our marriage Dominic never once physically abused me and yet tonight for the sake of Amelia…he even crossed that limit.

“Elara…you…it was an accident.”

The humiliation was horrifying as the hot tears trailing my eyes presented a blurry image of my mate that fathered two of my children looking at me with a guilty expression.

Amelia innocently sobbed with her palms covering her mouth. "Oh my god, I..It was never my intention to create a rift between you...I cannot believe I caused harm to my sister."

“Elara,” Dominic whispered unsure “Listen to me, if you apologise to Amelia, I will forget this incident and we can act like nothing happened at all.”

“No! This..I never wanted this sister.” Amelia’s eyes flashed with provocation as she sobbed before running away like she was an innocent preson who got bullied until the end.

“Amelia!” Dominic immediately called before throwing me his last words of so called ‘sympathy’.

“Elara, go home and apply some medicine. You have disappointed me alot so whatever happens after this is your fault.” Like a master commanding his slave he left me behind as he went searching for his true-love without looking back even once.

Two childish voices drifted as I barely stood, my body still reeling from the aftershocks.

"Brother, Mommy looks so miserable. Do you think what we did was a little too mean?"

"No. Dad said we only have one real mom and that is Auntie Amelia, this woman just took our real mom’s place and drove her out."

"That’s true! Besides, she loves us so much, she will forgive us soon. Come on, let’s go find Auntie Amelia..."

The voices faded into the distance as I walked back to the Alpha’s mansion, the cool evening air caressing the deep wounds on my chest as I looked at the place I gave five years of my life and slowly took off the family potrait that I had so lovingly decorated my ‘home’ with.

I packed my stuff wordlessly completely emptying the master bedroom as a single call stole the breath from my lungs:

“Elara” My mother cried on the other end “Your dad has come back to the White Luna Pack and thanks to you he has been showing signs of waking up!”

The phone call from my mother burned a hope in my chest that was once long forgone. Without waiting for the next day, I immediately summoned the elder’s council for an emergency meeting.

The Council chamber was cold.

Seven elders sat in a semicircle, their faces carved with age and tradition. They had crowned me Luna five years ago. Now I walked in alone as I placed my final command on the table.

[WHITE LUNA PACK AND BLOOD MOON PACK SEPERATION DECREE]

"I am taking all my territories back." I said. "White Luna Pack is no longer under Dominic. I will rule it myself."

The elders shot to their feet, panic flashing across their wrinkled faces.

"Luna Elara, you cannot do this!" Elder Marcus's voice cracked. "You are still our Luna. The pack needs you! If not for you many alliances would have fallen apart!"

"Amelia is a human" another elder added quickly. "She will die within decades. How can you give up a bond chosen by the Moon Goddess herself? Even if Alpha Dominic took your crown, he has not touched your Luna seal. Not once. You will have your position back soon-"

I raised my hand.

Silence.

"It's just a matter of time." I said quietly, "before he gives even that to Amelia."

The elders exchanged helpless glances.

I looked at each of them. "And a mate like Dominic…" I let the words hang. "I would rather live mateless."

No one spoke.

I casually tossed my Luna seal along with a package. "Tommorow, I am returning to my White Luna Pack. This is not a request."

I turned and walked out, behind me, the chamber erupting in frantic whispers.

The next day, the moment Dominic returned home, he instructed the servants to pack his luggage.

“Elara, I am going to formally take Amelia as my second wife. I am merely cleaning up the mess you created.”

He frowned as he looked at me.

“If you were not consumed by jealousy and made Amelia so shocked that she fell ill, I would have slowly explained everything to her and things would have gone back to how it was.

But your mother went as far to arrange a marriage for her? I will not sit idly and see her life being ruined. If there is anyone to blame then blame yourself.”

Alec and Leo slipped in the living room, their eyes darting between me and Dominic like they were watching a show.

Seeing my gaze fall upon them, Alec offered a half‑hearted apology. "Don't be sad, Mom. If you allow Auntie Amelia to live with us, we will love you more."

Leo nodded seriously, his small brows furrowed.

“Yeah. If you keep making trouble, we might even stop calling you Mommy.”

Contrary to Dominic's expectations I neither bursts in tears nor did I fell upon my knees to reconsider the decision.

Once the words that would have made me vomit blood now only spread through my veins like a dull ache.

“I understand.” I replied slowly making Dominic scowl, a trace of impatience surfacing in his eyes.

“What is this now? Is this another one of your attention‑seeking tricks-”

“No” I cut him off quietly. For a moment, even I was surprised at how steady my voice sounded.

“I think… I have already stood in the way of you and Amelia long enough.”

A faint breath left me, almost soundless.

“So this time, I won’t come between you….just that…today is also our anniversary so can you give me a little time as well?”

Those words came out as a shock making my husband of five years falter.

For a long moment, Dominic didn't speak. He just stood there, frozen, his eyes finally moving past me to the table behind.

To the lavish feast I had spent hours preparing. Every dish he loved, still warm with steam rising and in between them all a large home-made cake saying ‘Happy Anniversary.’

Dominic’s face contorted to that of guilt and shame when he saw me limping while I set the dishes for him.

Unknown to him, we sat down for our last lunch together as husband and wife as our children followed suit.

“Elara…I was too angry yesterday…is your wound alright?” I hummed making him continue.

“There is no need to take what happened yesterday to heart. Even after marrying Amelia, your position as the primary wife remains unchanged. Even the Luna position will come back to you in due time-"

“I went to see the healer this morning.” My fingers traced the edge of the table absentmindedly, my tone calm as I lied to Dominic for the first and last time.

“I thought… after everything that happened, I should at least understand her condition better but…”

I lifted my gaze, meeting his eyes steadily.

“They said her body is still extremely fragile and one more shock can push my sister into coma again.”

"What are you getting at?" Dominic stiffened.

"Amelia." I let the name hang. "She will feel the bond between us and ‘It will break her heart." I threw back the words he had often used to stab my heart right at him.

A muscle in his jaw twitched. For the first time, something like uncertainty flickered across his face.

"Then what do you suggest?" he asked slowly. "You think I haven't considered that-"

“I have a solution though.” I let the silence stretch before I spoke, each word clear as glass.

"How about I reject you?"

The moment those words left my lips, Dominic’s expression darkened abruptly, as if a bolt of lightning had struck straight through him.

“Reject?-”

His voice faltered for the first time.

But I didn’t give him the chance to refuse.

“Of course… it’s only temporary.” I continued calmly, my fingers still resting against the edge of the table as if I was merely discussing something trivial.

“Once Amelia recovers from her heart condition, we can always go back to how we were right? Afterall....didn't you say werewolves live for thousands of years and we have all eternity...just the two of us?"

Dominic’s expression plummeted further, the conflict in his eyes deepening as his fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table, as if he was trying to grasp onto something that was slipping out of his control.

For a long moment, he didn’t speak.

I didn’t wait for his answer.

Silently, I reached out and placed more of his favorite dishes onto his plate, my movements steady, practiced just as they had been for the past five years.

“Eat before it gets cold.” I said softly, as if nothing significant had just been discussed.

Alec and Leo brightened instantly, the earlier tension melting away as I served them as well, carefully separating the portions the way they liked, removing the spices Leo hated, adding extra sauce for Alec.

Everything exactly the way they preferred.

Dominic’s gaze lingered on the table.

Only then did it seem to fully register.

Every single dish was according to his taste and the children’s. Not a single one was for myself.

Even the plate in front of me held seafood- his favorite, something I had always been allergic to.

Yet, without a word, I picked up my chopsticks and took a bite. The faint sting spread across my tongue almost instantly, my throat tightening subtly, but I didn’t pause and continued nibbling on it despite the uncomfortable feeling making my skin red.

Across the table, Dominic stilled, a flicker of something unreadable crossed his eyes.

Wasn’t this how I had always been?

From the very beginning I had molded myself around him and the children, providing everything they needed.

I had loved them enough to erase myself completely.

‘Of course…I would do this’ his eyes spoke clearly as he glanced at me. ‘Of course, I would agree to the marriage if it means to keep him by my side.’

The tension in his shoulders eased, just slightly.

Only then did he believe me.

The silence stretched between us, thick and fragile, like glass about to shatter before he finally nodded.

“…It’s just temporary.” he muttered under his breath, almost as if reassuring himself more than anyone else.

I smiled faintly yet it was all hollow.

"I, Elara Quinn, reject Alpha Dominic Vale as my mate and alpha."

The words fell into the air like a quiet verdict.

For a split second everything stilled.

Then a sharp, searing pain tore through my chest, spreading like wildfire through my veins as the bond between us trembled violently.

Across from me, Dominic stiffened, his wolf howling in agony as he gritted his teeth barely able to sit straight.

“…I accept.” His voice came out lower than usual, restrained, as if forcing the words out.

After the meal, I bid the children farewell.

I hugged Alec. He didn't hug back, his body stiff, his arms at his sides.

I kissed Leo's forehead. He wiped it off when he thought I wasn't looking.

As I turned to leave, I heard their whispers.

"Mom really is stupid; she fell for our trick again."

"She loves us so of course she will always listen to us! Just thinking of us not calling her ‘mommy’ again would make her sad immediately."

My heart cracked. But this time I merely smiled before taking off my wedding ring and throwing it into the thrash before I took my suitcase and walked out of the mansion.