The air froze solid.

The smiles on their faces locked in place, and they stumbled over themselves to correct the mistake, words tripping out in awkward, half-formed apologies.

I didn't speak. I didn't acknowledge the glances they cast my way, some startled, some pitying.

They hadn't been wrong, really.

Soon enough, I wouldn't be the Blackthorne Luna at all.

With how Kael Blackthorne doted on Vesper Duskmere now, perhaps the moment the bond rejection decree was finalized, he'd bring her into the ancestral den and claim her before the pack.

After the intermission, the auction shifted to bloodline relics and antiquities. I had no interest in any of it. I placed bids on a few of the most expensive pieces without really looking at them, then stood and left my seat.

I had just reached the corridor leading to the grand stairwell when a saccharine voice floated up behind me.

"Luna, do you have a moment to talk?"

I had barely stopped walking, hadn't even started to respond, when I saw Vesper Duskmere raise her hand.

The next second.

A sharp crack.

A slap landed hard across my face.

For a moment, my mind went completely blank.

She had put her full strength behind it. Heat blazed across my cheek in an instant, my ears rang with a high, buzzing whine, and every thought emptied out of my head.

I pressed my hand to my face on instinct, almost unable to react at all.

When awareness came flooding back, rage surged up like something feral.

"Vesper Duskmere, what are you doing!"

I raised my hand to strike back.

But before the blow could land, a hand caught my wrist.

Kael Blackthorne.

He seized my wrist in a crushing grip, hard enough to make my fingers go numb. His Alpha aura pressed outward, a cold, heavy pulse that made the air around us thicken.

His voice carried open displeasure.

"Clara, Vesper hasn't provoked you. Why would you hit her?"

I froze for a single heartbeat, then wrenched my arm free, my voice trembling beyond my control.

"I hit her? Kael Blackthorne, ask anyone standing here who struck first!"

The words had barely left my mouth before Vesper's eyes reddened. Tears gathered fast, spilling to the edges, and she shrank into herself with a look of such wounded innocence it was almost artful.

Her voice came out soft and quivering.

"Kael, you're the one who said I was too timid, that I should find chances to toughen up. I thought about it for a long time before I decided that slapping the Blackthorne Luna in front of everyone would be the greatest challenge I could find. Otherwise I truly couldn't think of an opportunity."

Her voice grew smaller, more pitiful with every word.

"But the Luna was so fierce just now. I was frightened…"

Her tears fell one after another, like beads dropping from a snapped string.

After hearing her out, Kael frowned.

"Telling you to build courage doesn't mean you can hit someone."

Especially not me.

But the reproach in his voice was so faint it barely carried weight at all.

Vesper sniffled, crying harder now.

"I'm sorry. I was too foolish. You said the Luna had a gentle temper. I thought even if I hit her, she wouldn't get angry. I didn't expect…"

She trailed off into a choked, trembling whimper, her distress so exaggerated it bordered on performance.

Kael's expression softened completely.

His heart had cracked open for her. He forgot any thought of blame, one hand wiping the tears from her cheeks, his voice low and coaxing.

"All right, all right. No one blames you. Stop crying. Be good."

I stood there, watching this scene, and felt my chest go cold in slow, spreading waves.

Anger and hurt churned together, rising until I couldn't hold the words back any longer.

"Kael Blackthorne, I'm the one who was struck. What right do you have to forgive her on my behalf? And Vesper Duskmere, what innocence are you performing? Who decides to slap someone as a way to build courage?"

My voice climbed higher than I could rein in.

Vesper flinched at the sound, her crying worsening until she could barely breathe, gasping as though she might collapse at any moment.

Kael's heart broke for her entirely.

The look he turned on me held an edge of impatience now, his tone careless.

"She's a young she-wolf. One slap from her, how much force could it possibly carry? Do you really need to make this much of it? She's already so guilt-ridden she's about to cry herself unconscious. Clara, enough."

With that, he swept Vesper Duskmere up into his arms and turned away without another glance.

I stood frozen in place, as if the ground beneath me had turned to ice.

In that moment, I truly could not believe those words had come from his mouth.

The cold crept up from somewhere deep inside my chest, spreading outward through every vein, as though I had been dropped into a frozen lake. Somewhere beneath my ribs, my wolf had gone silent. Not sleeping. Not retreating. Just silent, in the way a wounded animal goes still when the pain is too large to fight.

How I got back to the den, I couldn't remember.

The whole way, I clenched my jaw until it ached, refusing to let a single tear fall.

By the time I stepped through the door, my eyes were already swollen red beyond hiding.

The den attendants saw the red mark across my face and startled, crowding around me asking what happened, whether someone had hurt me. One of them reached for the communicator, saying she would call Kael Blackthorne immediately, that he needed to come home and answer for this.

"Don't."

I stopped her, my voice barely above a whisper.

Every wound I carried, he had given me with his own hands.

I sat by the window and pressed a cold compress to my face for a full hour before the swelling began to ease. The skin still throbbed, dull and hot, and I could feel my wolf stirring faintly at the pain, too tired to do more than press against the inside of my thoughts like something trying to breathe through shallow water.

Then my communicator chimed.

A message from Vesper Duskmere.

"Luna, did you make it home? I'm already at the Healers' Lodge. Kael is so worried about me. I only fainted for a moment, and he reserved an entire VIP ward, brought in over a dozen moon-healers to examine me."

"Oh, by the way, how's your face? My fault for not holding back earlier. It must hurt terribly. Would you like to come to the Lodge? I could be generous and spare you one healer, just to check if there'll be permanent scarring."

I read it once, then forwarded the message directly to Kael Blackthorne.

He didn't reply until well past midnight.

"Vesper meant well."

I stared at those four words. And then I laughed.

I laughed, and kept laughing, until the tears slipped down my face without permission.

The next second, I sent him a voice message.

"You're so eager to protect her? Then why don't you just take her as your mate right now? I'll step aside. I'll even wish you both a blessed union under the Moon Goddess."

This time, he replied fast.

"Clara, why do you always say things you don't mean? I've told you so many times. My Luna will only ever be you. The others are just distractions, nothing serious. Don't take it so hard. Get some rest. I'll come home tomorrow and stay with you."

Reading those words, all I felt was a hollow, boneless exhaustion.

Like throwing a punch into empty air. No impact. No echo. Nothing at all.

I let out a bitter laugh, too drained to waste another word on something so meaningless, and switched off the communicator.

The next day.

After lunch, I drove to the Blackthorne ancestral den.

I brought with me the imperial jade set that Selene Sterling had given me on my mating day. The necklace, the earrings, the bracelet, all of it heavy with old moonlight, the kind that sank into your bones when you held the pieces too long.

The set was said to be a bloodline relic of their house. Passed down through generations of Blackthorne Lunas.

But my timing was poor.

Theron Sterling and Selene Sterling had left at dawn, flying out to a coastal retreat for the season.

I asked once, and the house steward told me they wouldn't return for a full moon cycle.

I said nothing more. I handed the relic set to the steward, turned, and left.

After leaving the ancestral den, I went to a spa house in the upper district.

On the way out, I stopped and bought over a dozen pairs of earrings that had caught my eye.

By the time I returned home, the lights in the main hall were already on.

Kael Blackthorne sat on the sofa, the low table in front of him covered in gift boxes.

He heard me come in, set down his communicator, and looked up.

"The steward says you returned the bloodline relics?"

"Yes."

A single word.

He exhaled slowly, then stood and came to sit beside me.

"Still angry? Come on, stop this. I got you all these gifts. Just forgive me this once, alright?"

I looked at him, and something in me twisted with a feeling close to disgust.

In his mind, returning the bloodline relics was nothing more than a tantrum.

Not a woman severing the last thread that tied her to his house.

He was so certain. So utterly certain that I could never leave him.

That certainty was why he dared to be so reckless. Why he dared to suggest they each keep their own lovers, as though that were a reasonable arrangement. Why he dared, again and again, to parade other she-wolves in front of me and watch me bleed.

I didn't answer.

I only glanced at the familiar crests stamped on those gift boxes, and something cold and sharp surfaced behind my eyes.

"What I want can only be one of a kind."

He froze.

He clearly hadn't expected me to know he'd bought the same gifts for Vesper Duskmere.

He recovered quickly.

"Clara, you're misunderstanding. I genuinely wanted to make it up to you, so I asked Vesper to help me pick things out. When I saw she liked them too, I just went ahead and bought two of everything. Don't get upset over something this small, alright?"

Small.

I was so tired of hearing that word.

I reached out and swept the gift boxes off the table in one motion.

"Gifts can come in multiples. So can your love be split into shares too?"

My voice trembled, beyond my control.

"Kael Blackthorne, the thing I regret most right now is…"

My eyes burned red at the rims.

The rest of the words never made it out.

But he already understood.

His expression shifted. He stood immediately and caught my wrist.

"Clara, you have to believe me. You're the only one in my heart. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken the moon-oath with you. Just give me a few more years. Once I've had my fill, I'll come back to your side. I promise."

I looked at him, and a bone-deep exhaustion settled over me.

The same hollow, empty promises. Over and over.

I had no desire to keep listening.

I pulled my hand free. My voice came out flat, without a single ripple.

"Then let's wait."

Watching my face go calm, Kael probably assumed I'd finally stopped being angry. The tension in his own features eased by a few degrees.

He bent down and picked the scattered bags off the floor one by one, pressing them into my hands.

I knew he hadn't understood what I actually meant.

But I couldn't be bothered to explain.

I took the bags. Turned around. Went upstairs.

What I was waiting for had never been the day he came to his senses.

What I was waiting for was the bond rejection cooling period to end.

My Moon Blessing Day was coming soon.

Theron Sterling and Selene Sterling were far away overseas, yet they still remembered. They'd specially arranged for an exquisite gemstone-set crown to be flown in from across the continent, a piece worth a small fortune.

The delivery address was the Blackthorne Central Den.

When I received word, my first thought was to tell them I'd already signed the bond rejection decree with Kael.

But knowing they were still traveling, not wanting to ruin their good spirits, I held back.

I went to the Blackthorne Central Den.

The Moon Blessing gift had been left in Kael's private den.

He was in a Pack Council session, so I went in alone.

But the moment I pushed open the door, I saw Vesper Duskmere had already torn away the outer wrapping.

That dazzling, radiant crown was sitting on her head.

When she saw me, panic flickered across her face. She immediately arranged her features into that timid, frightened look she wore so well.

"Luna, what are you doing here?"

I was in no mood to watch her perform. I walked straight toward her and reached for the crown.

"I'm here to take what's mine."

Something flashed in Vesper's eyes. Jealousy. Resentment.

Her fingers tightened. She gripped the crown and refused to let go.

Did she want it that badly?

I was about to release my hold when I saw her deliberately press her finger into one of the crown's sharp points.

Bright red blood beaded at her fingertip almost instantly.

The next second, she crumpled onto the settee, whimpering softly.

"Luna, I just thought the crown was beautiful. I only wanted to admire it for a moment. Why would you do this to me?"

Before I could react, a force slammed into me from behind.

I was shoved hard. My whole body crashed into the edge of the low table. My forehead struck the corner with a sickening crack, and pain tore through me, sharp and immediate. Warm blood seeped from my temple.

The color drained from my face. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and looked up at Kael, who had just come through the door.

He wasn't looking at me.

He was cradling Vesper's injured finger, cleaning the wound with painstaking care, pressing a bandage over it with gentle precision.

The tenderness in his eyes was something he couldn't hide even if he tried.

Only then did I finally understand what scene Vesper had just staged.

I pushed myself upright, trembling. I bent down, picked up the blood-stained crown, and held it out in front of Vesper's face.

Kael must have thought I was gloating. Anger surfaced in his gaze instantly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I was faster.

"You like it? Then it's yours. Take it."

The reaction clearly wasn't what either of them had expected.

Vesper went still. She forgot to keep squeezing out tears.

Kael's brow furrowed tight, as if he couldn't make sense of what I was thinking.

"This is from my parents. For you."

For me?

No.

It was for the Blackthorne Alpha's Luna.

And very soon, I wouldn't be the Blackthorne Alpha's Luna anymore.

I set the crown down. My tone was light, detached.

"I don't keep tainted things. Blood on a gift is bad luck. She can have it."

I didn't look at their faces. I turned and walked out of the den.

Behind me, Kael's gaze stayed fixed on my back. His brow still knotted tight.

After our mating ceremony, I'd had two well-known indulgences. One was acquiring dens. The other was collecting rare adornments.

So every time I was upset, those were the things he used to coax me back.

A collector's piece like that crown, something truly priceless. He probably never imagined I could simply walk away from it.

On my Moon Blessing Day itself, Kael still didn't come home.

At the gathering, everyone kept asking about him, wondering if he'd slipped away to prepare some grand surprise. After all, every year before this one, he'd stayed at my side without fail.

But I didn't care where he was.

I only wanted to celebrate this day properly.

After tonight, I would be twenty-seven.

I was about to step into a brand new life.

So why waste another thought on people and things that belonged to the past?

I didn't answer their questions. I just picked up a bottle of champagne, gave it a gentle shake, and popped it open like a burst of fireworks.

The golden liquid surged out in a rush.

I raised the bottle, laughing.

"Happy Moon Blessing Day to me!"