Lyanna’s POV

It was the ninth anniversary of our mating ceremony, but Alpha Draven Blackmark returned to the pack house with his pregnant mistress.

For nine years, he had treated me as though I were the moon itself. He brought me rare moonflowers blooming beneath the silver light, kissed my hand before the council and the high-ranking wolves, and swore before the Moon Goddess that I would forever be his only mate. And now? He stood proudly beside another she-wolf, his arm wrapped possessively around her swollen belly as though it were a prize he wanted the entire pack to admire.

“She is fragile right now,” he said lightly, pulling her closer as she leaned against him with a smug smile. “Her meals must be fresh. She needs someone by her side while she sleeps. Move your things to the west villa.”

My whole body stiffened.

“A-Are you serious, Draven?” I asked, my voice shaking. “You expect me to leave my own chambers and live in the guest villa like some discarded omega because of your mistress?”

His eyes narrowed, and the pressure of his Alpha aura pressed heavily against my chest.

“I was not asking, Lyanna,” he said coldly. “Do it.”

“No.” My teeth clenched as I pointed at Natalie. “You got your personal attendant pregnant and brought her here on our mating anniversary? You humiliate me before the whole pack and expect me to obey? Never.”

“I said do it, Lyanna.”

His voice dropped into the cold, commanding tone of an Alpha order—the same voice that once made the strongest warriors lower their heads. My chest tightened under the force of it, but I refused to bow.

“I would rather leave,” I said quietly. “I am done. Farewell, Draven.”

Did he truly think I would stay and care for the she-wolf carrying the child of his betrayal? Never.

I had packed my belongings weeks ago, the night I saw the truth through the mindlink crystal—a vision of Draven and Natalie leaving his private chambers together under the moonlight.

Draven scoffed and strode toward me, waving a dismissive hand.

“You want to leave? Fine. Throw your childish tantrum. You will come crawling back before the third moon, begging like the worthless castoff you have become.”

Soft laughter echoed behind him.

Council members.

Senior warriors.

The same wolves who once treated me like the rightful Luna of the Blackmark Pack.

Too bad for them.

The warriors my cousin had sent from Norththorn Pack were already waiting beyond the gates.

I picked up my travel bag and turned toward the door without looking back.

“Leave the Moonstone bracelet,” Draven ordered suddenly. “Give it to Natalie.”

My breath caught.

My fingers tightened around the silver moonstone bracelet my grandmother had given me before she passed into the Moon Goddess’s embrace. It was the only thing I had left of her—the only thing that had brought me comfort through weeks of betrayal.

“No,” I whispered as tears slipped down my face. “Not this. Anything but this.”

Draven snorted and pulled Natalie closer.

“Do not make this difficult, Lyanna. She wants it.”

I could have refused.

I could have fought.

But my hands were trembling, and my wolf was weak with heartbreak.

Slowly, I walked toward Natalie.

With shaking fingers, I unclasped the bracelet from my wrist and fastened it around hers.

“Take care of it,” I murmured softly.

But the instant the clasp shut, Natalie gasped.

A thin red line appeared around her pale wrist, and then the bracelet shattered.

“W-What did you do to me?” she cried, clutching her wrist as she collapsed. “Did you curse me?”

“What?” I stared at her in shock. “No!”

Draven reacted at once, rushing to her side and lifting her into his arms as though she were made of glass. Then he turned to me, fury blazing in his eyes.

“What did you do to her, Lyanna? Are you that jealous?”

“I did nothing…” My hands shook helplessly in the air.

“Call the healer! Now!” he roared through the mindlink, then looked back at me with icy hatred. “You. Clean this up. Every last piece.”

My gaze dropped to the shattered moonstone scattered across the stone floor.

I knelt and began gathering the broken fragments.

The sharp edges sliced into my palms, but I welcomed the pain.

“I am sorry,” I whispered.

Once.

Then again.

Blood stained my hands as I rose to my feet and looked into his eyes.

“Is that enough, Draven?”

His expression remained merciless.

“The one who used to protect you is gone. Who are you trying to gain pity from now?”

My chest tightened painfully.

“Then why do you not release me?” I asked. “If you despise me this much, sever the mate bond and let me go.”

A low, amused laugh escaped him.

“Why would I?” he said. “You will come crawling back anyway. And severing a mate bond is troublesome.”

At that moment, something inside me finally went silent.

I gathered the last broken pieces of the bracelet, cast them into the fire, washed the blood from my hands, picked up my bag, and walked out of the pack house.

This time, I did not look back.

Not at my mate.

Not at my pack.

Not at the life I had once given everything for.

And as the gates of the pack closed behind me, I silently swore before the Moon Goddess—

I would never return.

Lyanna’s POV

I thought I was finally free.

But I had not even reached the pack gates when two warriors stepped out from the shadows. Before I could react, they seized my arms as though I were some rogue wolf trying to flee.

“We must take you back, Luna,” one of them said grimly through the mindlink. “Alpha Draven Blackmark needs your blood.”

My stomach dropped.

“What?” I struggled against their grip, panic rising fast. “No—let me go!”

I fought on instinct, though I was too weak to overpower them. My heart pounded wildly, as if my wolf already sensed the horror waiting for me.

“Why does he need my blood?” My voice cracked. “Why is he doing this?”

Neither warrior answered.

They simply dragged me back inside the pack house.

---

The next thing I knew, I was bound to a healer’s chair in the pack infirmary. Cold silver restraints dug into my wrists. My body felt exposed, helpless.

Then I saw him.

Draven.

Standing there as though he were not about to destroy what remained of me.

“You brought me back for this?” I let out a bitter laugh. “To drain my blood?”

He did not even flinch.

“Stop being dramatic,” he said coldly. “You are helping. At least make yourself useful.”

“Useful?” My throat tightened painfully. “So that is all I am to you now? A blood source for your mistress?”

“You always make everything emotional,” he said flatly. “It is tiresome.”

I let out a trembling breath.

“Says the man using his mate’s blood to save another she-wolf.”

His jaw tightened. He stepped forward and gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Watch your words.”

“Or what?” I snapped, tears burning in my eyes. “You will discard me the way you already have?”

For the briefest moment, something flickered in his eyes.

Then it vanished.

“Begin,” he ordered.

The healer obeyed.

The hollow needle pierced my skin.

Pain shot through my arm—deep, sharp, unnatural—as my blood was drawn from my body. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying out. I would not let him see me break.

But my body trembled anyway.

“Alpha,” the healer said nervously, “she is already weakened. If we take more—”

“She will survive,” Draven said without hesitation. “She always does.”

She always does.

As though I were not a living soul.

As though I were only something to be used until there was nothing left.

The room swayed. Darkness blurred the edges of my vision.

Then I heard it—

A cough from the next chamber.

Soft.

Weak.

Deliberate.

“Natalie needs more,” Draven said immediately.

I froze.

“You cannot be serious.”

He did not even turn toward me.

“She needs it.”

That was all.

That was my worth.

A bitter laugh escaped me, though tears were already falling.

“So I am nothing but spare blood to you now?”

Another cough sounded, louder this time.

“Draven…” Natalie called weakly from the next room.

And just like that, he turned away.

He left me there—

Bound to the chair.

Half-drained.

Barely conscious.

While he went to her.

I stared up at the stone ceiling, swallowing the scream clawing its way up my throat.

“Continue,” he called over his shoulder. “Take more.”

The healer hesitated.

“Alpha… if we continue, she may not survive.”

“I said continue.”

Those words hurt more than the needle.

I turned my head weakly, barely able to speak.

“You are killing me for her.”

He glanced back once.

Cold.

Detached.

“She needs it more than you do.”

Something inside me shattered.

Not loudly.

Not violently.

Just completely.

---

When I woke again, I was no longer in the healer’s chair.

I lay on a narrow cot in the infirmary, covered with a thin blanket. My body felt heavy, as though it no longer belonged to me.

Healer Rowan sat beside me, his face pale and drawn.

“You are stable,” he said quietly. “For now.”

“For now?” My voice came out rough. “That does not sound comforting.”

He did not answer.

Fear twisted sharply in my chest.

“What is it?” I whispered.

He hesitated far too long.

Then he lowered his gaze.

“There was… a complication.”

My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.

And before he spoke, I already knew.

“I am sorry,” Rowan said softly. “The pup did not survive.”

The world stopped.

“No,” I whispered immediately. “No… that cannot be true.”

My breath hitched. My hands shook violently as I tried to sit up, but my body was too weak.

“No,” I said again, louder. “You are wrong.”

But Rowan said nothing.

That silence confirmed everything.

Something inside me broke beyond repair.

I threw off the blanket and stumbled from the cot, nearly collapsing as I reached the infirmary door.

“Draven!”

My scream tore through the hallway.

“Draven, you killed our pup!”

My voice echoed through the stone corridors.

But he was not there.

Of course he was not.

A hollow laugh escaped me—sharp, broken, empty.

He was with her.

Still choosing her.

Even after killing the child we had created beneath the Moon Goddess’s blessing.

My knees gave out beneath me.

I collapsed to the floor, but I felt nothing.

“I will make him pay,” I whispered, trembling violently. “I swear it.”

Rowan knelt beside me, trying to steady my shoulders.

“You need to rest.”

I shoved him away.

“Do not touch me.”

My voice cracked on the last word.

Then everything inside me fell silent.

Not my grief.

Not my pain.

But something deeper.

Something colder.

I slowly lifted my head and looked at Rowan.

My voice was barely steady.

“Prepare the separation rites,” I said. “And gather every record of what happened here.”

He stared at me in stunned silence.

Then I said, quieter but firmer—

“I am done being his mate.”

Lyanna’s POV

I was confined to a healer’s bed, weak and dizzy.

My arms throbbed from the blood they had taken, and even the effort of sitting upright made the room spin. But none of that compared to the weight crushing my chest.

Grief.

My pup was gone.

And while I lay there trying to breathe through the pain, the world beyond the infirmary walls kept moving as if nothing had happened.

One of the younger healers slipped me a scrying crystal.

Inside it was an image of Alpha Draven Blackmark at a moon banquet, laughing as though he did not have a single burden in the world. Natalie stood beside him, glowing beneath the lantern light, his hand resting possessively on her waist as though she were the rightful Luna.

Another vision appeared later.

This time, they were seated together at a private feast. Draven lifted a piece of honey cake to Natalie’s lips, leaning close enough to make her laugh softly, as if she were the only wolf in the room.

He looked happy.

Free.

As if I had never existed.

When the healers finally released me, I left alone.

No escort.

No warrior.

No word from him.

Only a small travel bag in my hand and one quiet, humiliating truth settling in my chest.

I no longer mattered to him.

I should not have returned to the pack house, but all my belongings were still there.

I had no choice.

That was when I saw them.

Outside the birthing wing.

Natalie stood there glowing with pride, as if the world already belonged to her. Draven stood beside her, one hand resting lightly on her back, the gesture easy and familiar.

A passing healer smiled brightly.

“Alpha Draven, your Luna looks radiant today.”

My stomach twisted.

I did not correct her.

I no longer had the strength to explain what I was.

So I turned away.

Then—

“Lyanna.”

His voice stopped me cold.

Of course he saw me.

He always noticed me when I was trying hardest to disappear.

I turned slowly and met his eyes across the polished stone corridor.

“I did not come looking for you,” I said flatly. “I was released today. I did not know you would be here.”

Before he could answer, Natalie clung to his arm and tilted her head sweetly.

“Let her ride back with us,” she said softly. “I feel sorry for her… she gave me blood, after all.”

The way she said it—like my suffering had been some generous gift—made something twist sharply inside my chest.

Draven let out a quiet breath, then nodded once.

“Fine.”

Just like that.

As though I were some minor inconvenience to be decided upon.

So I climbed into the carriage.

Not because I wanted to.

Because I had nowhere else to go.

The ride was silent at first.

Then Natalie shifted beside him and glanced back at me with a smile that never reached her eyes.

“Oh,” she said suddenly, laughing under her breath. “I just remembered… I left my undergarment in here.”

My head lifted before I could stop myself.

She giggled and turned to Draven.

“Can you believe it?” she said. “After what we did in this carriage last week?”

Draven gave a low chuckle.

“You were reckless.”

“Mmm,” she hummed. “You did not complain when I was sitting in your lap outside the pack gates. Or when I loosened your clothes on the road to the border and kept you distracted the whole ride.”

A smirk tugged at his mouth.

“That is because you make every journey better.”

She laughed softly.

“And the time you had to stop the carriage because I would not let you—”

“Enough.”

My voice was quiet, but it cut through the air.

Silence fell for a brief moment.

Then Natalie only smiled wider, as though she had won.

I turned my gaze to the window and forced my breathing to steady.

With trembling fingers, I reached into my bag and pulled out a messenger crystal.

I opened the glowing message from Evander.

A travel pass.

Tonight.

At moonrise.

My chest tightened—not with pain this time, but with something dangerously close to relief.

I sent a message back.

Thank you, Evander. I am sorry I missed the last chance.

His reply came almost instantly.

What happened? Tell me.

My fingers paused.

I could have told him everything.

If I asked, he would burn this entire pack to the ground for me.

But I wanted no more blood spilled in my name.

So I wrote:

I will explain later. I only need to leave first.

I stared at the words before sending them.

Because that was the only truth that mattered now.

I needed to escape.

Draven noticed the crystal in my hands immediately.

“You have been staring at that thing the whole ride,” he said sharply. “Who are you speaking with?”

“No one important,” I answered without looking at him. “Only reading messages.”

A moment passed.

Then suddenly, the crystal was snatched from my hands.

My body went still.

Not because I was afraid.

Because I could not believe he still thought he had that right.

I turned slowly to face him.

“Really?” I said, my voice low. “You are doing this now?”

“What is the unlock rune?” he demanded.

A short, bitter laugh escaped me.

“The date of our mating ceremony, Draven. You should remember it. You pretended to love me then.”

His jaw tightened as he tried.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

Locked.

Natalie leaned toward him and laughed softly.

“Let it go,” she murmured sweetly. “She probably has no one left who wants to speak to her.”

Then she looked at me and smiled.

As though I were already nothing.