The moment I spoke, Zachary froze, looking at me thoughtfully.

But just then, Scarlett "coincidentally" fainted.

Without hesitation, Zachary swept her up in his arms and rushed out the door.

Landon followed closely behind, holding an umbrella over her.

All I could do was watch helplessly as their men carried away my parents' bodies.

I lay on the ground, wailing, unable to do anything.

Fifteen years ago, a beast tide had taken both Zachary's and Landon's parents.

They grew up with me. I was the one who begged my parents to use our family's bloodline essence to fund them, keeping it a secret until they became the Pack's Guardian and Healer.

I was afraid of hurting their pride, so I never mentioned it.

I never imagined Scarlett would take the credit.

And I certainly never imagined that, for her, Zachary would deny my dead parents even a moment of peace.

For the next three days, I ran to every Pack consultant I could reach.

Every single one shook their head and refused my appeal.

In my desperation, a man claiming to be a Pack consultant contacted me.

Clutchching at this last straw, I paid him a deposit without a second thought.

Later, he said he needed to bribe the Council of Elders, and I gave him ten units of bloodline crystals.

Then he said he needed energy to revoke the "Accident due to Lunar Weakness" report, and I gave him twenty units.

When we were just one step away, he asked for thirty more units and then vanished completely.

I realized I had been scammed and rushed to the Pack Hall to report it.

I cried and begged the guards to help me recover my inheritance, only to run into Zachary and Landon.

Zachary produced a certificate. It was a diagnosis from Landon, stating that I was suffering from "Moon-madness."

I didn't have to guess whose doing this was.

Zachary pressed his palms together, feigning an apology to the guard. "My apologies, Officer. I'm Willow's mate. She's a bit mentally unstable and filing false reports. Sorry to trouble you."

After that, he forcibly dragged me out of the Pack Hall.

I broke free in a frenzy and slapped him hard across the face.

"You did this!"

"Zachary, you monster! You had someone impersonate a Pack consultant and scam me out of the entire inheritance my parents left me!"

"My parents were so good to you! Why would you do this to them?!"

Tears streamed down my face, my heart aching with every drop that hit the cold flagstones.

Zachary was stunned for a moment.

He reached out to wipe away my tears, gently pulling my sobbing, broken form into his arms. "Shh," he whispered, his voice low and soft.

"Willow, be good," he murmured. "As long as you stop causing trouble, you can still be my mate."

His scent enveloped me, tinged with an undeniable possessiveness.

"We'll pick a day, give your parents a proper burial, and this will all be over."

My heart went rigid. I pushed him away with all my might.

"In your dreams!"

Scarlett blinked, a sly smile on her lips. "Willow, how can you blame Zachary? He did it for your own good."

"He was afraid you'd keep making a fuss and lose your inheritance to a real scammer. He's just holding it for you. You should be thanking him."

"Instead of wasting time finding consultants and filing reports, you should be finding a proper burial plot for your parents."

"Otherwise, once the silver dust completely corrodes their bodies, they might not even be allowed in a cemetery!"

She giggled, covering her mouth, and handed me a flyer.

"I found a burial plot for your parents. Think of it as my way of helping Zachary out."

I gave it a cold glance.

The flyer was for a cemetery specializing in "paired burials."

She wanted my parents to be buried with a wolf pup from the north who died young and a she-wolf from the west who died in battle.

I clenched my fists and slapped her hard across the face.

"Scarlett, you vicious bitch!"

Zachary shoved me violently to the ground and cradled Scarlett protectively.

"What are you doing!"

"You're not just ungrateful, you're bullying her!"

"Cemetery plots are hard to come by. You don't have a cent to your name. A paired burial is the only way your parents will get a resting place. It's a burial, and at least it's free."

"Today is the last day to retrieve your parents' bodies. You'd better figure something out!"

I sold a family heirloom and used the money to hire an elderly Pack consultant to draft an agreement to sever our mate bond.

I rushed to Landon's healing clinic, only to be told that my parents' bodies were being stored at Zachary's Guardian's barracks.

When I arrived at the barracks, there wasn't a single patch of untainted flesh left on my parents' bodies.

Their bodies had been tossed carelessly next to a waste area, baking under the scorching sun, and were already beginning to reek.

Scarlett's wolf was viciously tearing at the remains.

I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it, screaming like a madwoman, trying to drive her wolf away.

But her wolf was only enraged, and it lunged at me.

"Ah—" A large chunk of flesh was torn from my calf.

The metallic tang of silver poison filled the air, the pain making me shudder.

Scarlett let out a whistle, and her wolf obediently retreated to her side.

Pinching her nose, she sauntered over to me, a gloating look on her face.

"Willow, are you so hungry you have to fight a wolf for its meal?"

Enraged, I lunged at her, knocking her to the ground and straddling her, clawing and tearing. "Scarlett! I'll kill you!"

Zachary, who had just arrived, yanked me up and threw me aside.

Sharp stones tore open the wound on my leg, and blood streamed out.

Zachary draped his Guardian's jacket over Scarlett's shoulders and gently helped her up.

Then he turned and yelled at me, "Willow, you're insane!"

A broken, sarcastic laugh escaped me, tears streaming down my face.

I forced myself to stand and handed him the agreement to sever our mate bond.

"Zachary, I'm severing the mate bond."

He slapped it out of my hand, his eyes blazing with fury. "Just because I didn't dispatch a rescue team in time, you want to sever our mate bond?!"

"The silver dust trap was so strong back then! Even if your parents had been saved, they would have been crippled, if not dead. The subsequent treatment would have constantly drained bloodline energy. I was doing it for your own good!"

I was stunned, seeing him as a stranger for the first time.

Once, he had defied a Pack order to save a drowning pup of another pack.

He had led his brigade to save one comrade after another during the beast tides.

He was the Pack's greatest hero.

But ever since Scarlett returned, he had thrown his duties as a Guardian to the wind.

For Scarlett, he had rejected one rescue mission after another, leaving more and more families shattered.

He saw the wound on my leg, and his tone softened.

"I couldn't control the silver dust trap. I'm not the Moon Goddess; I can't save everyone."

"I know you're grieving. Once this is all over, we can go back to how we were. We can be mates again, okay?"

I picked up the agreement and held it out to him again, my voice hoarse. "Sign it."

Scarlett dropped to her knees, sobbing quietly.

"Willow, it's all my fault. I'm the reason the rescue was delayed."

"I'll kneel to you. Hit me, curse me, whatever makes you feel better. Just don't sever your bond with Zachary."

Tears streamed down her face, her delicate body trembling slightly.

Zachary helped her up, his heart aching for her. "Fine, we'll sever it! A petty bitch like you doesn't deserve my love anyway!"

With that, he coldly signed his name and then, as if throwing away trash, slammed the agreement into my face.

"You have nothing now. You'll regret leaving me sooner or later!"