Eva Chase POV:

“Just a little further,” I whispered to myself.

My palms are sweating.

The delicate frosting on the anniversary cake began to feel slippery and stuck to the inside of the box.

Today is my anniversary with Chace Mays.

Every guard we passed nodded respectfully in a low voice.

Happy anniversary, Luna.

A warm feeling spread through my chest.

I returned a smile to each of them.

Unconsciously, his fingers touched my neck, tracing the blurry outline of our intertwined marks.

The image of him from ten years ago flashed through my mind, standing before the entire wolf pack, his voice echoing with conviction as he swore his loyalty to me.

"Eva, I will do everything in my power to protect you."

That memory is my shield.

Used to maintain our cold relationship throughout the year.

It's about ten steps away from the master bedroom door.

The wolf spirit within me suddenly became restless.

A pure sense of fear washed over me, so intense that I immediately stopped in my tracks.

The air has changed.

A tiny ripple disturbed the private spiritual connection I shared with Chace.

It was a whisper, a ghostly voice.

A sharp, shrill laugh—that was definitely not mine.

My blood is cold.

I did not hesitate.

I rushed forward and pushed open the heavy oak door to our bedroom.

The room was pitch black, and the curtains were tightly drawn.

But my eyes adjusted to the darkness immediately.

The smell hit them like a heavy blow.

Our scent—sandalwood and lily—is there.

But it was tainted.

It was contaminated by a cloyingly sweet rose scent.

It was so wrong, so aggressive, that it made my stomach churn.

My gaze suddenly shifted to the bed.

Two figures were entangled in our bedsheets.

The cake box began to tremble violently in my hands.

A sliver of moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains.

It illuminated the face of the woman beneath him.

Her head was tilted back, and her black hair was spread out on my pillow.

My sister.

Bella.

The air in my lungs was completely drained away with a silent gasp.

That wasn't a thought. That wasn't an emotion.

That was a physical event.

A cold fist slammed into my sternum. I bent over, struggling to breathe, but couldn't get any air in.

The cake box slipped from my numb fingers.

It landed on the expensive wool carpet with a soft, nauseating thud.

The sound broke the spell.

The two people on the bed hurriedly separated, their shocked gasps echoing in the sudden silence.

I can't watch. I can't process all of this.

My body acts purely on instinct.

I turned around abruptly and ran out.

I stumbled out of the room, my shoulder bumping into the wall in the hallway.

Tears blurred my vision, turning the ornate wall lamps into halos of light.

“Eva, wait!” Chace’s voice roared angrily behind me, filled with rage rather than regret.

I didn't stop.

I rushed down the magnificent staircase, my bare feet slapping against the cold marble.

But I didn't run out of the house.

not yet.

I need an answer. An excuse. Anything to make this impossible reality seem unbelievable.

I burst into his private study.

That room he always forbade me from entering alone.

My hands trembled uncontrollably as I yanked open the top drawer of his mahogany desk.

It's locked.

With a frustrated sob, I pulled harder, my fingernails splitting on the wood.

The lock opened with a crisp click.

I clumsily rummaged through the documents, files, and receipts.

Then I saw it.

A yellowed, curled-corner document was tucked at the very bottom.

A prenuptial agreement.

My fingers trembled as I unfolded it.

The legal terminology was blurry to me, but the terms were brutally clear.

My relationship with Chace was a deal.

A political strategy aimed at acquiring resources for his wolf pack.

My value is calculated as assets and alliances.

My gaze fell on the signature panel at the bottom.

His familiar, arrogant, scribbled signature.

The date is ten years ago and one day ago.

The very foundation of my life collapsed into ashes.

I am not his partner.

I am a tool.

The study door suddenly flew open and slammed against the wall.

Chace stood there, his shirt hastily buttoned up, with a red lipstick stain on his chest.

There was no shame in his eyes, only rage.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he roared.

I did not answer with words.

I picked up the agreement and threw it at his face.

Paper fluttered around him.

“Ten years,” I choked out, my throat hoarse, the words tasting like blood. “You’ve lied to me for ten years.”

A figure appeared behind him.

Bella.

She was wrapped in my favorite silk nightgown.

That was the gift he gave me for our fifth anniversary.

It hung loosely on her body, a final, intimate insult.

She pressed close to his side, her voice a sweet, trembling whisper.

“Chace, darling, she scared me.”

My wolf spirit is tearing and clawing inside my skin, begging for release.

"You!" I hissed, my finger trembling as I pointed at my sister. "How could you do this?"

Bella didn't even show the slightest bit of shame.

She let out a soft, contemptuous laugh.

"Oh, please, Eva. Do you really think someone as boring as you can keep an Alpha like him?"

“Enough,” Chace snapped, his patience exhausted.

He took a step forward, his icy gaze freezing me in place.

“I never loved you, Eva. Not even for a day. It was a duty. An arrangement.”

He vaguely gestured around the luxurious study.

"Bella, the one I love is Bella."

He stood up straight, ramrod straight.

The oppressive weight of his Alpha power assaulted me, squeezing the air out of my lungs and pinning me to the spot.

His face was a mask of indifference.

He looked at me as if I were a stranger.

A problem.

Then he said those words.

Those ancient and binding words are enough to shatter a soul.

“I, Chace Mays, formally reject you, Eva Chase, as my partner.”

A scream ripped from my throat, primal and wild.

The pain, absolute and all-consuming, tore me apart.

It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

My knees buckled.

I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my chest, panting heavily.

The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed my vision was their faces, cold and indifferent, looking down at me.

Then, in a final, desperate surge of adrenaline, I struggled to my feet and ran.

Eva Chase POV:

Eva Chase's perspective:The icy night wind burned my lungs.

Branches and sharp stones tore at my bare feet as I ran through the woods along the familiar path.

The wolf within me howls, a pure, painful wail that echoes from the gaping wound in my soul.

I don't know how long I ran.

Time has dissolved into a blur of pain and panic.

Finally, the small, tidy house came into view.

My mother's house.

My hands, wet with cold sweat, trembled as I frantically pounded on the front door.

In the dead of night, the sound was unsettlingly loud.

I leaned against the door frame, my body trembling violently, thinking my bones were about to fall apart.

The door was suddenly pulled open.

My mother, Sharon, stood there with a displeased look on her face, her hair curled with a curling iron.

She glanced at my disheveled appearance.

There wasn't a trace of worry in it.

I'm just annoyed.

"Ava? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

I staggered forward, reaching out to grab her, longing for the comfort of my mother's embrace.

“Mom,” I sobbed, “Chace…Bella…”

She stepped aside to avoid me.

I almost fell headfirst onto the cold, hardwood floor of the foyer.

She did not offer any help.

She simply clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Keep your voice down. You'll wake the neighbors."

I stared at her, my pleas stuck in my throat.

I struggled to utter the story, words tumbling out in a jumbled, desperate rush.

That extramarital affair. That rejection. That pain.

Throughout all of this, she stood there, examining her fingernails under the porch light.

She didn't even glance at me.

When I finally fell silent and started breathing heavily, she sighed.

A long, impatient sigh.

“Ava, I already knew.”

This question hangs in the air, colder than the night wind.

I noticed that she didn't look at the bloody wound on my neck, which was a physical manifestation of being rejected.

A terrible doubt began to creep up my spine.

“You knew all along,” I whispered, barely audible, “you knew about them all along.”

Her gaze was hard and unapology-free.

“Bella knows how to please an Alpha. She knows how to get what our family needs. You’re always too weak.”

She started listing my failures.

I am unable to have heirs.

I lack political acumen.

She twisted my financial support of the past decade—money I transferred from my own trust fund to her account—into a pitiful scrap.

The last fragile thread of hope I had been clinging to—the concept of home—has snapped.

I took a step back.

Another step.

The tears stopped.

A chilling calm enveloped me.

Without a word, I turned and walked back into the darkness.

I have to go back.

Back to that house full of lies.

There are some things I need.

My own stuff.

When I pushed open the front door of the villa, Chace was in the living room, holding a glass of amber liquid.

He raised his head, a mocking sneer playing on his lips.

"You climbed back so quickly?"

I ignored him.

I raised my hand and pulled the cheap silver necklace he had given me years ago off my neck.

The clasp broke.

I tossed it onto the coffee table. The clatter it made as it fell sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room.

“I am no longer anything to you,” I said flatly.

He laughed, a laugh that was grating and unpleasant.

"Good luck. You won't last a week without me."

I walked straight up to him and stood above the leather sofa where he was sitting.

For the first time in ten years, I didn't feel insignificant in his presence.

“I want my severance pay,” I said, my words clear and cold.

He blinked, genuinely surprised.

Then he tilted his head back and burst into laughter.

“What about you? Are you crazy? You’re an abandoned vagrant, Ava. You get nothing.”

He leaned forward, his voice lowered, turning into a threatening roar.

"Get out of my house, or I'll have you thrown out."

I didn't move.

“For the past ten years,” I began, my voice rising, “I have been using my own money to maintain the wolf pack’s defenses. The third year, the east wall was reinforced. The fifth year, the surveillance system was upgraded. The seventh year, new training equipment was purchased for the soldiers.”

I have listed out each of the major expenses I have paid.

My fists were clenched at my sides, my nails digging deep into my palms. The tiny, sharp pain kept me awake.

He waved his hand dismissively.

"Pocket money. Insignificant."

He is trying to destroy me.

To erase all my contributions.

Just then, Bella came down the stairs wearing that silk robe.

Chace's entire demeanor softened. He pulled her onto his lap and placed his hand possessively on her thigh.

He looked at me again, his face stiffening once more.

"Get out. Now."

I took out my phone.

My fingers were trembling, but I still managed to find the contact.

Sloane.

My only true friend.

The phone rang once, then twice.

"Ava? What's wrong?" Her voice was sharp with worry.

“He dumped me and chose my sister,” I said, my voice hoarse. “It’s Bella. I’m in the house. I need you.”

A string of angry curses erupted from the other end of the phone.

"I'll be there in five minutes. Don't move. Don't say another word to that bastard."

The call ended.

I put down my phone and met Chace's smug gaze.

I turned and walked towards the door.

The car's headlights pierced the darkness outside.

A black SUV screeched to a halt in the driveway.

The driver's side door swung open, and Sloane stood there, his face clouded with rage.

She saw me standing on the porch, shivering in my thin dress.

She ran to my side and wrapped me in a thick coat she had taken from the back seat.

It smells like her, like leather and unwavering loyalty.

That warmth, that simple act of kindness, shattered my long-held, icy self-control.

My body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Sloane hugged me tightly.

“I’m here,” she whispered, her voice firm and strong. “I’m here.”

She led me to the SUV and settled me in the passenger seat as if I were made of glass.

The car door clicked shut, sealing us in warm, safe darkness. At that moment, the dam broke.

A primal, guttural sob ripped from my chest.

I weep for the past, for the betrayal, for the chilling realization that I am utterly and completely alone.

Sloane said nothing.

She simply shifted gears, sped away, leaving that house and my old life behind in the rearview mirror.

Eva Chase POV:

The next morning, I woke up on Sloane's sofa.

My eyes were so swollen I couldn't open them, and my throat was hoarse.

But the storm of sorrow has passed, leaving behind a cold and clear reality.

Sloan was already awake, and an open laptop sat on her coffee table.

“Good morning,” she said softly. “I looked up some things.”

She turned the screen towards me.

The screen displays the Regional Alpha Council's ancient and complex laws regarding the dissolution of partnerships.

“He’s trying to screw you over,” she said, pointing to a specific clause, “but there’s a loophole. A standard prenuptial agreement is invalid if the refusal is directly caused by infidelity.”

A faint flame of hope ignited in my heart.

“I’ll go with you,” Sloan said, his jaw clenched. “I’ll teach him a lesson.”

I shook my head.

"No. I must do this myself."

An hour later, I stood in the gleaming, spotless lobby of Chace's headquarters.

I walked straight to the private elevator, ignoring the receptionist's anxious calls.

My old access control password is still valid.

The elevator doors opened directly, leading to his top-floor office.

He sat behind a huge mahogany desk, his phone pressed to his ear.

When he saw me, his face darkened with anger.

"Security!" he yelled into the phone. "Get her out of my office right now."

I walked to the door and locked it manually.

Then I turned around and walked toward him, my footsteps echoing on the polished marble floor.

I slammed the stack of printed legal documents onto his desk.

The sound was loud and satisfying.

He glanced at it, then smiled.

“You’re pathetic, Ava. You signed the agreement. You’ll leave with nothing.”

“The agreement does not include adultery,” I said firmly. “The parliament will not show any leniency to Alpha, who openly commits adultery with his partner’s younger sister to humiliate his partner.”

His smile vanished.

He stood up and tried to intimidate me with his size.

He strode around the desk, a familiar, violent glint in his eyes.

"You're playing with fire."

I met his gaze and refused to back down.

“No, it’s you,” I said, almost in a whisper, “because I have a draft of an anonymous email that I can send anytime. It contains some very…intimate photos of you and Bella. From last night.”

That was a bluff. I don't have any photos like that.

But he didn't know.

“This email will be sent to every member of the Alpha Council,” I continued, pressing my advantage. “I wonder what your very traditional and powerful father will think when he learns that his son’s reputation has been dragged into the mire before the formal pairing ceremony.”

The color drained from his face.

I've got something on him.

I struck at his only real weakness: his ambition.

He stared at me, his jaw clenched, as if he were seeing me for the first time.

Not a docile companion, but an enemy.

After a long and tense silence, he slumped back into his leather chair.

“Fine,” he roared, the word seeming to be ripped from his throat, “what do you want? Money?”

“No,” I said immediately, “I don’t want your money.”

I need something else.

Something even more precious.

“There’s a safe house. It’s in the north of the territory. It’s been abandoned for years. I want it. The property, the title deed, everything, is transferred to my name. A clean and simple transfer.”

He looked at me, puzzled.

I could see his mind racing. The property was worthless to him. This was a small price to pay for my silence.

He grabbed the phone and yelled at his lawyer, telling him to draft the electronic transfer documents immediately.

A few minutes later, the document was signed and stamped on a digital tablet.

“You have seven days to attend the formal dissolution ceremony,” he said, his voice laced with venom. “After that, I never want to see your face in this territory again.”

I picked up the tablet that displayed my proof of ownership.

A bittersweet smile of triumph crept onto my lips.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “you won’t.”

I turned and walked out without looking back.

The moment the elevator doors slid shut, my adrenaline surge vanished.

My legs felt weak.

I slid down the cold steel walls of the elevator car, my body trembling from the aftershocks of the standoff.

I won.

But I feel empty inside.

When the elevator doors opened on the first floor, Sloan was pacing anxiously back and forth in the lobby.

She rushed to my side, her eyes wide with worry.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

I was speechless.

I simply shoved the tablet into her hands.

She looked at the land deed, then at me, her expression a mixture of shock and intense pride.

“You did it,” she whispered.

She helped me to my feet, her arms firmly wrapped around my waist.

When we stepped out of the building, the cold city air felt different.

That feeling was like freedom.

Back in her car, I gulped down a bottle of water, trying to calm the nausea churning in my stomach.

"What do we do now?" Sloan asked, starting the engine. "We can't pay the bills for that shabby house."

I looked out the window, watching the city scenery rush by.

“I need a job,” I said firmly. “A real job. One that’s far away from here.”

Sloan nodded, his expression serious.

"There's a high-level talent placement center in the Neutral Zone. They work with all the major packs. The chances are slim, but..."

“Go there,” I interrupted her, “now.”

I have nothing left to lose.

I have a broken heart, a worthless property, and a terrifyingly empty future.

Sloan abruptly turned around, the tires screeching in protest.

I closed my eyes as the SUV merged onto the highway.

I remembered a skill I had kept hidden for years.

The certificate I obtained for myself in secret.

I was once told knowledge that was of no use to a moon goddess (Luna).

The car accelerated, carrying me away from my past and towards an unknown distance.

For the first time in ten years, I've taken control of my life.