The morning after I had received a 50-million-dollar deposit from Elisa, I arranged to meet Leno.

Leno and I strolled through the forest, where a small wooden cabin stood at the center.

We had once met and fallen in love in that cabin, built a new pack together, and made the cabin our shared secret.

"Flora, I heard from the Beta that we really did build a pack and that you became my Luna, right?" Leno's ears were flushed red, his eyes flitting nervously as he dared not meet mine.

After I confirmed it, his whole being radiated joy. "That's great! I really made you my Luna," he said, smiling.

His beaming smile under the sunlight seemed to overlap with the one he'd had 20 years ago, when I'd first agreed to let him court me—it left me momentarily dazed.

I instinctively reached out my hand, but Elisa's voice suddenly echoed in my ears. "If you want 200 million dollars, fine. I'll transfer a deposit right now."

Just yesterday at the hospital, Elisa had wired me 50 million dollars without hesitation.

My eyelid twitched hard. As the Luna, I managed internal affairs for the pack, yet the funds I had at my disposal amounted to only 50 million dollars.

And yet, Leno spoiled Elisa so much that she could spend 50 million without batting an eye.

I had promised Elisa, "I'll give you back a Leno with his memories restored before the mating ceremony."

I pulled back the hand I had extended to him, ignored his hurt expression, and quickly entered the cabin.

Leno hurried after me, standing inside the cabin and looking at me cautiously. "Back then, when I was covered in wounds and thought I'd die here, you suddenly appeared. I thought the Moon Goddess had come to save me," he reminisced.

Curled up at the door of the cabin and with knife wounds deep to the bone—that was how he looked when we'd first met.

"Later, I realized you were the best gift the Moon Goddess ever gave me. I swore I'd make you the happiest Luna," Leno said.

I had dragged him into the cabin, brought him medicine and food every day, and listened to him talk about past sorrows and future hopes. The passion of our youth bloomed every day like roses did.

That was until three years ago.

"Flora, did I do it?" Leno asked. He blushed, looking at me with a boyish shyness and hopeful anticipation.

I looked at him coldly. "Leno, in two months, you're going to have a mating ceremony with another young and pretty she-wolf."

"No way! You must be mistaken—I've loved you for so many years, how could I be with another she-wolf?" he shouted in disbelief.

When I saw his agitated expression, my tears started streaming down suddenly. I thought to myself that I'd made a fool of myself again.

Leno frantically wiped my tears and held my hand, repeatedly professing his feelings. My tears only flowed more uncontrollably at that.

The Leno before me was still the same one who once swore under the full moon to make me his Luna.

Now, his pack was strong, and I had become Luna—but he no longer loved me.

The next day, I arrived at the cabin separately from Leno.

Every vase in the cabin was filled with fresh roses—it used to be my favorite flower.

In the years Leno had been exiled from the pack, he had nothing to his name. Yet every morning, he would pick fresh roses to greet me with at the cabin.

When Leno saw me arrive, he excitedly said, "Flora, look what I brought you."

I walked into the cabin and revealed Elisa standing behind me. Her eyes were red-rimmed as she stood at the door, staring at Leno with grievance. Tears began streaming down her cheeks, and her tailored clothes made her protruding belly even more noticeable.

He slammed the door in Elisa's face in anger and sat across from me, breathing heavily.

"Why did you bring her here?" he demanded.

"She has something she wants to say to you," I said.

"I have nothing to say to her!"

Leno glared at me, panting hard. He was clearly furious at me.

I stayed silent and didn't respond.

After returning yesterday, Leno asked his Beta about what had happened over the past decade. Upon learning about Elisa, he immediately denied any intention to hold a mating ceremony with her.

He even found the moonstone brooch I once gave him and started wearing it whenever he went out.

When Elisa found out, she approached me this morning and asked to go to the cabin with me.

Of course, I agreed—after all, Elisa was my boss now.

Elisa sat on the grass outside the cabin, sunlight filtering through the forest and casting a glow on her face—her face almost seemed to glow.

I had to admit—she was truly beautiful. Especially the way she silently cried in the sunlight—it felt like I was looking at myself 20 years ago.

"Flora, look! I picked all these roses this morning. Do you like them?" Leno asked excitedly.

"Sorry, but I don't like roses anymore."

Ever since I learned of Leno's cheating, I had stopped liking roses.

His father had been the pack's Alpha. He seduced Leno's mother, had her bear his child, and only then told her he'd already had a Luna. After bringing them back to the pack, he ignored them completely.

Leno and his mother were left to suffer bullying in the pack.

He used to say he hated his father the most. He swore he would establish his own pack, become an Alpha, and stay loyal to his Luna forever.

But ironically, he had become the very thing he'd once despised.

His expression darkened with sadness, but he quickly collected himself and started talking to me again about the past.

Elisa sat just outside the window, perfectly centered—she only had to slightly turn her head to see him.

Leno kept his body turned away from her, but every time he got emotional, his gaze would involuntarily drift toward Elisa outside the window—his eyes full of unhidden admiration. After all, he was still in his 20s, and he hadn't yet learned how to hide his emotions.

Every day after that, Leno brought me all kinds of gifts to the cabin. Precious gemstones, rare weapons—every item had once been a promise he made to me in that very cabin.

I was the youngest daughter of the Black Wolf pack's Alpha. I had used the Black Wolf pack's resources to help him recruit talent and build his pack.

As such, he had promised to give me every gift in the world I ever wanted.

Yet the moment I refused to break our mate bond, he immediately turned to compete for the Black Wolf pack's resources.

When I questioned him, all I got in return was his condescending mockery and his disgusted gaze as I sobbed in front of him.

Elisa followed us every day, clearly seething with rage, yet always looking at Leno with tearful, pitiful eyes.

Leno's glances at her grew longer and longer, and the struggle and pity in his eyes became increasingly obvious.

I saw through his internal struggle—and so did Elisa. She looked at me smugly without saying a word, but the smile on her face said it all.

"Flora, what do you even have to compete with me?" she mocked.

The gifts kept getting more and more expensive, as Leno kept using them to remind himself that it was me he loved.

He told himself he wouldn't become a scumbag like his father. But there was no denying it—he was already drawn to a younger, prettier she-wolf.

I calmly accepted Leno's gifts, even pretending to "accidentally" bring up more of the promises he had once made.

In just two weeks, the gifts I received were worth more than the compensation Elisa paid me.

Leno's guilt toward me slowly diminished with each day's gifts, while his pity for Elisa kept growing. He even started playfully teasing Elisa in front of me.

Elisa, being in her 20s like him, could give him the youthful passion of a peer.

…

"Go from the south side—the guards won't check your luggage," I said as I handed the pass and luggage to Beta Toby, my Alpha father's Beta.

"The Alpha has asked when you'll be coming back," Beta Toby said.

"Next month. Tell my father to convert it into supplies as soon as possible. It has to be fast!" I urged.

After watching Beta Toby leave, I returned from the forest. Inside the luggage I gave Beta Toby were all the gifts Leno had given me recently—each one could be exchanged for significant funds and supplies.

While Leno was still suffering from amnesia, I intended to reclaim every bit of the Black Wolf pack's resources he had taken.

When I returned to the cabin, I happened to catch Elisa clinging to Leno and playing around. The moment he saw me, Leno shoved her away and looked at me nervously.

I avoided his gaze and casually sat by the window, looking out at the scenery.

"Flora, let's go home together tonight. I even got a gift for Lucas," Leno said.

When he mentioned our pup, a cautious smile appeared on Leno's face.

Elisa stared from the side, gaze fixed on us.

"I still have pack duties to take care of. You can give him the gift yourself," I said languidly.

Leno's expression slowly darkened as he stared at me, unwilling to look away. "Flora, I've been trying to win you back for half a month now. Even ice should've started to melt by now," he sneered.

The sudden coldness in Leno's tone reminded me a bit of the man he was before the amnesia.

I shrugged indifferently. "It's not like I asked you to."

Leno kicked over a stool and stormed out of the cabin.

Outside the cabin window, I saw Elisa throw her arms around Leno, refusing to let him leave. Leno lowered his head and gave her a rough, aggressive kiss.

Even though I had decided to give up, that scene still pierced my heart like a blade. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as I staggered away from the cabin.

The two wolves, locked in their passionate kiss, didn't even notice I had gone.

For 20 whole years, I had poured my heart and soul into helping Leno realize his dream and build a pack of his own.

As the princess of the Black Wolf pack, I gave up a life of comfort to fight alongside him in the forest.

When he was exiled and had given up on himself, I gave him resources and helped recruit people to his cause.

Later, we established a pack together, claimed our own territory, and expanded the pack.

Leno came home less and less often—until the day he asked me to break our mate bond.

In 20 years, we had gone from deeply in love to bitterly resenting each other. We even wished the other would just die.

…

One day, I said, "Leno, let's break the mate bond."