Damon was silent for a moment. He looked at Yuna, his gaze calm but complicated.

"Yuna, you're beautiful. In all these years, I've never seen a female more beautiful than you. You come from the Frostveil Pack, the pack that once ruled the Northlands. Your bloodline is noble. Your wolf's coat is as white as fresh snow. The pack needs a Luna like you.

"Vera is ordinary. She isn't exceptional. She isn't beautiful. But she worries about me. She takes care of me when I'm exhausted. With her, I feel a peace and a sense of belonging I never knew before."

A sense of belonging.

Yuna's chest tightened painfully at those words.

Then what about the home they built together for nine years?

"Don't worry," Damon added calmly. "I won't break our bond. You'll still be my mate. I promised your parents I would take care of you for the rest of your life."

He paused, slicing away the last shred of pretense.

"But from now on, I will never love you even a little. My life with Vera is none of your business. Sorry, I know I broke our vows, but I can't help it. I loved you for many years. If you're going to blame someone, blame me. It has nothing to do with Vera."

After saying that, he didn't even look at Yuna's pale face again. He turned and walked out of the house without hesitation.

Yuna collapsed onto the floor, and the only sound filling the room was her ragged breathing.

Nine years ago, she was just an orphan brought to the Frostfang Pack after her own pack had fallen.

Back then, she had been proud, sharp-edged, and slow to trust.

But Damon had spent four full years slowly working his way into her world.

At the time, she didn't know how to express herself. She refused to show weakness. Whenever she was injured, she gritted her teeth and endured it alone.

Whenever she saw other she-wolves getting close to Damon, she simply turned away with a cold face and walked off.

The moment she truly let her guard down happened when she was eighteen.

That year, she went alone to the Northlands to visit the newly raised memorial for the fallen Frostveil Pack.

But while she was there, a group of Rogues ambushed her.

Damon had just returned from training in the Southern Territory when he heard what happened. He rushed to the Northlands with a group of warriors and found her lying in a pool of blood.

She still remembered that night clearly. Damon had been covered in blood himself. His eyes were bloodshot, wild with fury and fear. When he gathered her into his arms, he held her so tightly it hurt.

"Yuna, when you're with me, you don't have to keep pretending you're strong all the time. You can rely on me. You can throw tantrums. You can give me every grievance, every bit of pain you're carrying.

"Because I will always come to you."

It was from that moment on that Yuna finally learned how to be a she-wolf who was cherished. She started letting herself sulk in front of him, making unreasonable demands, and showing the fragile parts of herself she had always hidden from everyone else.

But now, he said he was tired.

That night, Yuna cried in the darkness until her whole body shook, as if someone had torn half her soul out of her chest.

Even so, she still refused to give up.

The next day, she went to the Neutral Zone and found the small flower shop that Vera owned.

It wasn't a large place.

Bundles of wild roses, camellias, and silverleaf herbs were arranged outside the door. The scent of flowers drifted through the air, mixed with a faint trace of wood.

Yuna looked at that busy, ordinary, almost plain woman as she slid a check, filled with an eye-watering sum, across the table.

"Ms. Vera, stay away from Damon," she said, her voice icy. "This money will be enough for you to live out the rest of your life."

Vera stared at the check and froze. Then her eyes slowly turned red, but she didn't reach out to take it.

"Ms. Yuna," she said softly, shaking her head, her eyes glistening with tears. "I'll leave. Please don't make things difficult for Damon."

After saying that, she didn't even dare look at Yuna again. She hurriedly turned away and began packing her things.

Yuna stood there without moving. But instead of feeling relief, her chest felt heavier than ever.

That night, she received the news.

Vera had been in a car accident while leaving the Neutral Zone.

She survived, but the pup in her womb, Damon's child, didn't.

Yuna stood frozen in place, her hands and feet turning ice cold.

She didn't know if the sudden car accident shocked her more, or the fact that Vera had been carrying Damon's pup.

Yuna and Damon had been mates for five years. Because he had never felt ready to become a father, they had always avoided her heat cycles. They had never tried for a pup.

But Vera had only appeared a few months ago, and she had already been pregnant with his child.

-

A week later, Damon returned to the main house.

He didn't question Yuna or explode in anger. He simply stood in the hall and looked at her for a long time.

His gaze was intense and overwhelming.

Yuna felt a chill spread through her chest under that look.

She had just opened her mouth to speak when he suddenly strode forward and dragged her into his arms.

That night, he was almost feral. There was no tenderness or comfort, and none of the soft words he used to murmur to calm her.

There was only raw possession and a relentless hunger that felt almost like punishment.

For the next month, Damon seemed like a completely different man. He rarely left the main house anymore or handled pack affairs.

Instead, he kept her beside him day and night, claiming her over and over again.

Yuna's body was pushed to its limits under his relentless need. Yet somewhere deep inside her heart, a small, foolish hope began to grow.

Maybe he was forcing himself to forget Vera.

Maybe if enough time passed, he would turn back to Yuna.

One morning, Yuna suddenly felt a violent wave of nausea. Her vision swayed, and she could barely stay on her feet.

Quietly, she went to see the pack healer for an examination.

When the results came back, the healer lowered his head respectfully.

"Congratulations, Luna. You're pregnant. It's still very early, less than a month."

Yuna stood there in stunned silence for a long time, then her hand moved instinctively to her flat stomach.

There was no change yet, but she still felt a small, strange sensation in her chest

For a brief moment, she even allowed herself to hope.

Maybe this pup could give her and Damon one last chance to find their way back to each other.

That evening, Yuna placed the examination report in front of Damon.

"I'm pregnant."

Damon looked down and read the paper. However, there was no joy on his face.

The fragile hope inside Yuna slowly sank, little by little.

After a long silence, he finally looked up at her. His voice was low and cold.

"Are you happy?"

"This is our pup," she said, staring at him. "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

Damon suddenly smiled, but it held no warmth, only deep pain and anger.

"Our pup?" he repeated as he stepped closer to her.

"Vera was carrying my pup too. Just like you, she was careful with her belly. She told me that she wanted to keep the baby."

Yuna's face turned pale.

"I didn't arrange that car accident."

Damon stared at her, something wild and terrifying buried deep in his eyes.

"But she left because of you. If you hadn't forced her to leave with that check, she wouldn't have been on that road. She wouldn't have gotten into that accident, and my pup wouldn't have died."

Yuna's throat tightened painfully.

She was about to explain again when footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Two guards walked in. Their expressions were grim, and neither of them dared lift their heads.

Damon turned toward them. Then he gave the order, each word slow and deliberate.

"Take Luna to the training platform behind the mountain."

Yuna snapped her head toward him.

"Damon. What are you doing?"

He didn't answer.

-

The training platform behind the mountain stood high above the ground. Beneath it was a wide clearing paved with hard stone. It was originally built for pack warriors to train their jumping and landing skills.

When Yuna was brought there, her entire face had turned white.

One of the older guards finally spoke, unable to hold back any longer. "Alpha, Luna is a descendant of the Frostveil Pack and your mate. We can't..."

Damon shot him a cold glance, and the guard immediately fell silent.

"I didn't order you to kill her," Damon said flatly. "I only want her to taste what it feels like to lose a pup."

A chill spread through Yuna's entire body.

She finally understood the reason behind his strange behavior over the past month.

It wasn't regret or lingering love, nor was it even because he still cared about her.

He had only wanted her to get pregnant first, so he could destroy the pup with his own hands.

It was a sacrifice for the child Vera had lost.

"Damon," her voice trembling, eyes redrimmed. "This is still your own blood."

"So what?" He looked at her, his gaze sharp and merciless. "The child Vera lost was my blood too."

Yuna stood frozen. It felt like an invisible hand had reached into her chest and crushed her heart.

In the end, the two guards reluctantly took hold of her arms and guided her to the edge of the platform.

Their movements weren't rough, and there was even a hint of reluctance in it.

"Luna... we're sorry."

The next second, Yuna felt empty air beneath her feet.

Her body plunged from the platform, and pain exploded through her the moment she hit the ground.

She slammed hard against the stone below. Agony ripped through her abdomen as if a set of claws had torn into her flesh. Cold sweat instantly soaked through her back.

Blood slowly ran down her legs, spreading across the stone beneath her.

She curled up on the ground, the pain so intense she couldn't even cry out. In a daze, she saw Damon standing above on the high platform. His black coat whipped violently in the wind. For a moment, he looked just like the sixteen-year-old boy who had once confessed to her under the moon.

"Yuna. I'll love you for the rest of my life."

But now, that same man had destroyed their pup with his own hands.

A single tear finally slipped from the corner of Yuna's eye.

-

When she woke again, she was lying in the pack infirmary.

The healer sat beside her bed, his expression heavy. When he saw her eyes open, he quietly said, "The pup couldn't be saved. Luna, your injuries are serious. You need to rest for a while."

Yuna didn't respond. She simply placed her hand over her stomach, her fingertips trembling with cold. There had never been any visible change. The pup had been too small.

And yet, it felt as if a piece of flesh had been carved out of her body. The emptiness hurt so much she felt hollow with every breath.

She closed her eyes. After a long moment, she finally spoke.

"Call my maid, Amy."

Amy arrived quickly.

Amy came quickly. When she saw Yuna in such a state, her eyes welled up with tears.

Yuna forced a weak smile through the pain.

"I'm going to dissolve the mate bond between Damon and me."

Amy had grown up at Yuna's side, serving as her personal maid since childhood.

She knew better than anyone how much influence Yuna carried in the pack now, and she also knew how deeply Damon had once cherished her.

So when she heard those words, Amy froze.

"Luna, didn't the Alpha say he would never agree to dissolve the bond?"

Amy lowered her voice, panic making her eyes red-rimmed. "If you go to the elders or the lawmakers, Alpha will definitely find out."

Yuna leaned against the headboard of the bed. Her face was so pale it almost looked translucent, and even her lips had lost all color.

Of course she knew.

Damon no longer loved her, but he would never allow her to leave.

It wasn't because he couldn't bear to let her go. It was because she was the last survivor of the Frostveil Pack and a rare white wolf. Those things still made her valuable to the Fendon Pack.

"So go find me a witch," Yuna said, looking at Amy. Her voice was so calm it felt almost lifeless. "Do it without alerting anyone."

Amy moved quickly. By that same afternoon, she returned with news.

She had found a witch named Serena.

According to her, she could brew a potion that would break the mate bond.

But it would take three days.

After hearing this, Yuna slowly lifted her hand and touched the mark on the side of her neck. It was the mark Damon had bitten into her all those years ago, the spot where their bond had been strongest, etched deep into her very bones.

"Three days is enough."

Enough time for her to let go of everything that needed to be let go.

Things had only just grown quiet on her side when the infirmary door was pushed open.

The person who walked in wasn't Damon.

It was Vera.

Today she wore a soft-colored long dress, her hair carefully styled, looking far less plain than before.

"Ms. Yuna, I know Damon went too far. I came to apologize to you on his behalf."

Yuna looked at her coldly and said nothing.

Vera bit her lip and placed a thermos on the small table beside the bed. Her movements were careful, almost timid, as if she were afraid of disturbing Yuna.

"I made this deer bone soup myself," she said softly. "Your body is weak right now. You need proper nourishment."

Yuna glanced at the thermos, and a strange sense of irony rose in her chest.

"Take it away. I don't need it."

Vera's tears welled up instantly.

"Ms. Yuna, I truly mean no harm. I know you hate me, but the pup I carried is gone. I have nothing left. Can you just pity me, please?"

Yuna sneered. "Pity you? Haven't you already claimed Damon's love?"

It looked like Vera expected that kind of response. She lowered her gaze, resting a hand on her belly.

"Yes, Damon does love me. Do you know how he stayed by my side during those days I was in the hospital? He hardly slept at all. He held me and kept saying he would give me another pup. He said he only felt alive when he was with me."

Vera lifted her chin deliberately, letting Yuna see the charm resting between her collarbones.

Yuna's gaze lingered, and her eyes sharpened.

It was a crude, well-worn talisman, polished bright, its wolf teeth and black cord entwined with Damon's scent. It was a scent she would never forget.

"He put this on me himself," Vera continued. "Damon said as long as I had it, nothing would ever happen to me again."

Vera stepped closer, lowering her voice, feigning concern.

"Ms. Yuna, the truth is you lost long ago. You were born into privilege, and you were always just a decoration for the Alpha's side. But what a male wolf truly wants in his den is never a high and distant moon. It's a mate who makes him feel safe..."

Slap!

Before Vera could finish, a sharp slap rang through the infirmary.

"A mate who makes him feel safe? You can never be an Alpha's mate. Humans will never truly be Luna of a pack."

Yuna stared at Vera's reddened face and coldly said, "That slap is to remind you to know your place."

Vera bit her lip hard, her eyes flashing with fury.

Suddenly, she grabbed the soup bowl from the table and hurled it to the floor.

The porcelain shattered, soup splattering everywhere.

Vera stumbled back immediately, tears streaming down, one side of her face marked with the clear imprint of Yuna's fingers.

At that moment, the room door burst open.