Instinctively, I cradled my belly and turned aside, almost losing my footing.

“I’m fine, Chisel,” I whispered.

Sylvia leaned lazily against his chest, tilting her chin to look at me with open disdain. “Leah, you’re already Luna. Why do you insist on framing me? I’ve never fought you for Chisel.”

In my head Ruby howled, claws raking at my mind: We never brought the snake in! She did this on purpose!

“Leah, do you even know what you’re doing?”

Chisel’s head snapped toward me, his face filled with naked disgust. “If you’re angry, aim it at me. Don’t you dare harm Sylvia! We already have a pup on the way—do you want the Moon Goddess to withhold Her blessing because of your vile tricks?”

The words knocked the breath from my chest.

I stared at him, at the male I had loved for three years, carrying his pup in my womb—and he would rather believe another she-wolf than me, even curse our unborn pup with the Goddess’s wrath?

Chisel started to walk out with Sylvia in his arms. I lurched forward, grabbing at his sleeve without thinking. “Where are you going? Chisel, today is our third bond anniversary. You’re walking out holding another woman—what is this?”

“Let go!”

He tore my hand off with such force I stumbled back. Pain slashed across my chest like a claw. “Leah, if anything happens to Sylvia, I’ll never forgive you!”

I trembled all over, tears stinging my eyes, the same words spilling from my mouth: “It wasn’t me who brought that snake! Why won’t you believe me?”

But he no longer saw me.

His heart had always been with Sylvia. I, the Luna arranged by his family, and the pup inside me were nothing more than an unwanted tether in his bloodline.

I watched as he walked away holding Sylvia, my fingers numb. At some point the wolf rune necklace had slipped from my grasp and fallen to the floor, the sharp, clean sound echoing—but it could no longer call back the Alpha who had once sworn to protect me.

“You’re still lying! Get out of my sight!”

Chisel’s voice was harsher than I had ever heard.

A heartbeat later his palm slammed against my shoulder. My foot slipped. My body pitched backward—the edge of the stairs struck my bones, and agony ripped through me.

The pain surged like a tide. I lay sprawled on the cold steps, vision blurring, only able to see Chisel’s back as he turned to leave.

With all the strength I had left I reached out, clutching at his coat. My voice broke into a tremor. “Chisel… don’t go… my belly…”

He finally stopped—but when he turned, his eyes held no concern, only a cutting coldness. “Leah, I don’t have time for your games.”

His gaze swept over my crumpled body without a shred of warmth. “Sylvia just returned to the Pack. As Luna you should be more tolerant of her. Look at yourself now—how vile you’ve become.”

Then, without hesitation, he severed our Mate Bond.

The tears came harder.

But the sudden, sharp pain from below sent panic screaming through me, followed by the hot metallic scent of blood flooding my nose, confirming what I already feared.

“No…” I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Warm, heavy blood soaked beneath me as my vision dimmed. I could feel our pup’s heartbeat, faint and fading, slipping away.

At last, the people around me noticed. Someone rushed over, panic lacing his voice. “Miss, what happened? Are you okay? I’ll call 911!”

The wail of an ambulance howled in my ears. I lay on the stretcher, pain swallowing me whole, but I clung to the Pack Doctor’s sleeve as if it were the only thing keeping me alive.

“Pack Doctor… please… save my pup,” my voice was a thin, broken whisper, “he’s only three months… please…”

The Pack Doctor patted my trembling hand. “Don’t worry, Miss. I’ll do everything I can. I’ll call your mate right now—he’ll be here soon to calm you.”

At the mention of Chisel, a flicker of hope flared in my chest. He was my mate. With his touch, with his presence, the pup would be safe.

The line clicked. I held my breath—

But the voice that answered wasn’t his. It was hers. “What do you want?”

The Pack Doctor hesitated, then hurriedly said, “Who is this? Where is Leah’s mate? Please, hand him the phone. Ms. Leah is bleeding badly, we’re on the way to the hospital—he needs to come now!”

Sylvia gave a small, sharp laugh. “Leah, can’t you grow up? You really found someone to help you fake this, just to drag Chisel back?”

“You think waving your pup like a banner will make him come running? Stop dreaming. He already made you his mate—what more do you want?”

My breath came shallow and weak. For the sake of the pup I forced out the words: “Sylvia… I’m not fighting you… I just beg you… let Chisel come to the hospital… my pup… he’s dying…”

“Do you think I’ll believe that childish act?” Her voice crackled through the speaker, every word cutting like a fang. “If you’re so desperate, then I’ll let you hear it yourself—who he really cares about.”

I heard her call out: “Chisel! It’s Leah. She says you need to come back, that something’s wrong with the pup.”

Then came his voice—the same voice that once swore under the Moon Goddess to protect me—now full of irritation. “Don’t listen to her. She’s probably lying again. Your leg is what matters now, don’t be afraid. The Pack Doctor is coming.”

Heat drained out of my body, my heart sinking with it.

The Pack Doctor tried the number again and again. Only the dead tone of “The number you have dialed is no longer in service” filled the air.

He sighed and gripped my hand tightly. “Ms. Leah, don’t be afraid. We’ll do everything we can!”

But I already knew. It was too late.

Inside me, the small flutter grew weaker… then vanished completely. My pup… was gone.

I don’t know how long I drifted before opening my eyes again. My fingers twitched. My whole body felt weak and hollow. My belly was empty.

The pup was gone.

The sharp scent of disinfectant stabbed my nose, my heightened wolf senses making it worse. The Pack Doctor stood beside my bed, his tone soft, almost pitying. “It’s alright, Ms. You’re still young. There will be other pups.”

Instinctively my hand went to my flat belly.

So many times I’d felt that tiny heartbeat, the shared blood of my lineage flowing in him.

Now it was gone. Nothing but silence.

Tears slid down my face unchecked.

Grief gave way to a cold, creeping terror. The Brady bloodline had never liked me. From the moment I entered their house they had pushed me to bear a Brady heir, warning that without a pup I could not remain Luna of the Vance Pack.

At every family gathering, the old Luna looked at me as if I were a defective product.

Only when my pregnancy was confirmed did their faces finally soften, the old Luna even brewing herbs herself to help me carry the pup safely.

But now… the pup was gone. And it was his own father who pushed him out of me.

My parents would never let me go for this either.

They had clawed their way into this high branch of Alpha power—how could they ever allow me to “ruin” it with weakness?

“Where is the pup’s father?”

The Pack Doctor flipped through my records in disbelief. His voice dripped with fury.

“This is outrageous! Pregnant she-wolves suffer dangerous hormone surges—without a mate’s presence to soothe them, the risk is catastrophic. He skipped every single check-up, and now, during a miscarriage, he still isn’t here? Does he not know what kind of damage comes from neglecting a pregnant lady?”

His words shattered the illusions I had been clutching so desperately.

From the first moon of pregnancy until now, I had gone to every appointment alone.

Three months ago, when I’d first told him, Chisel had seemed so happy. He had squeezed my hand tight, promising to stand beside me for the first bloodline test. He swore our pup would one day inherit his throne.

But that same day… Sylvia returned.

And once she came back, his heart was no longer mine.

Each appointment afterward, he found excuses: “There’s an emergency at the company,” “I have to meet a partner.” But I’d already seen the pictures on Facebook. Those hours were never spent in meetings—they were spent with Sylvia.

“Break the mate bond. He betrayed us first,” Ruby growled in my head, her fury burning.

“Yes.” My voice was hollow. After seven years, my heart had finally burned itself out.

“If no one comes to pay your fees, you’ll have to handle it yourself.” The Pack Doctor slipped the hospital papers into my trembling hands.

I tried to stand, but dizziness crashed over me. After only a few steps I stumbled into two figures.

Chisel. And Sylvia.

At the very moment when I needed my mate’s scent to steady me, he was here, cradling her gently.

His gaze snapped to me, instantly cold. Instinctively, he shielded her behind him, his voice laced with suspicion. “You followed us here? Sylvia’s foot is already injured—what more are you plotting?”

The tears were long gone, but my knuckles still shook. I was the one who had lost a pup. I was the one who had nearly died.

And yet… he looked at me as if I were the threat.

I stared at his face, then laughed. A broken, bitter sound. I must have been mad to think he was anything else.

He had always been like this. I had just been too blind to see it.

“Chisel, let it go,” Sylvia murmured sweetly, casting me a sidelong glance filled with scorn. “She’s still too immature, not ready to be a true Luna.”

Her words doused the last embers of my anger like icy water.

No matter what I did, they would never be satisfied. I wasn’t an unfit Luna because of my failures—

I was unfit because Chisel never loved me.

“You understand your mistake, don’t you? Then apologize properly. Go outside and fetch some food for Sylvia.” His voice dripped with disappointment, as if my worth were measured only in how well I served her. “Her foot is injured. She got to stay here.”

My eyes flicked to her ankle. Just a shallow cut. Already scabbed. And yet she “needed” hospitalization?

I felt nothing now. Just exhaustion. I had lost my pup. What else could matter?

Chisel must have noticed the deathly pallor on my face. His tone softened, faintly coaxing. “What’s wrong? It’s just a small apology. Buying her something to eat… is that too much for you?”

“No.” I forced a smile, brittle as glass. “It’s not too much.”

Ruby’s snarl echoed bitterly inside me. “Not too much? We lost our pup. Compared to that, what is this humiliation?”

“Enough. Go home and wait for me,” Chisel said lightly. “Once Sylvia’s ankle heals, I’ll come back to you.”

At first… I believed him. I even waited for him.