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.

Damon stood in the doorway.

His gaze flickered to the red handprint on Vera's face, and his expression darkened instantly.

"Who hit you?"

Vera trembled, looking even more wronged, as if his question had hit her where it hurt.

"It was me." Yuna leaned against the headboard, her voice calm and flat. "She deserved it."

Damon whipped his head toward her, rage flaring in his eyes, barely contained.

"Yuna, are you insane?"

She looked at him and felt the absurdity of it all.

In the past, he could always sense the slightest hurt she felt. Now, he didn't even ask and assumed she was the perpetrator.

Vera kept her head down, sobbing quietly.

"It's not Ms. Yuna's fault. I shouldn't have come. I knew she had lost her pup and was weak, so I wanted to bring her some soup to help her recover. Maybe I said the wrong thing and upset her..."

Damon immediately stepped forward, shielding her with a smooth, practiced motion that was almost painful to watch.

"Vera came in good faith, and you humiliate her like this?"

Yuna pursed her lips.

"Good faith?" Her gaze dropped to the talisman hanging around Vera's neck. "She's wearing something you gave her and comes here to show me how much you love her. That's your idea of good faith?"

Damon froze, instinctively glancing at Vera.

Vera shook her head, eyes red-rimmed. "No, I didn't. I just wanted to tell her not to be sad anymore."

Yuna had no interest in watching this charade.

She leaned back against the bed, closing her eyes.

"Both of you, leave."

But Damon felt a tight knot form in his chest at the sight of her cold, indifferent expression.

She wasn't crying, she wasn't yelling, she wasn't arguing, and she didn't grab him like before to demand answers.

That was exactly what made him so inexplicably frustrated.

He forced his anger down into a low growl, "Yuna, who do you think you're scaring with that face? I hurt over the pups too. But when Vera lost hers, she didn't lash out like this."

Yuna opened her eyes at last, looking straight at him. "So in your eyes, my loss isn't worth feeling pain?"

Damon's breath caught.

Before he could answer, Vera tugged lightly on his sleeve, like she feared they would fight.

"Damon, forget it." Her voice trembled with emotion. "Ms. Yuna isn't in a good place right now. I don't blame her. Don't fight with her on my account."

The more Vera retreated, the sharper Yuna seemed. Damon's expression darkened further.

"Have I spoiled you too much?" he asked, his voice low, heavy. "So much so that you don't even care about keeping your own dignity anymore."

Yuna stared at him, silent for a long moment.

Her mind drifted back to years ago, the first time he had brought her to a full moon raid with the pack. That night, some of the wolves whispered behind her back, calling her nothing more than an orphan living under Fendon Pack's protection. Damon slammed his glass down in front of them, his face cold as ice, forcing every one of them to kneel and apologize to her.

He had said then that anyone who dared let her suffer would pay the price.

Now, the one making her suffer was him.

She said softly, "Damon, do you remember what you said all those years ago, at the Frostveil Pack cemetery?"

Damon froze.

She didn't give him a chance to avoid her question.

"You said you would always stand by me. You said I had nothing to fear, that as long as you were there, I wouldn't suffer a single wrong."

Her voice was quiet, calm, almost like she was telling someone else's story. "Have you forgotten those words?"

Damon's jaw tightened, and something flickered in his eyes. But in the end, he still avoided her gaze.

"I haven't forgotten." His voice dropped, colder than before. "But Yuna, I also said I don't love you anymore."

The room became so quiet that even their breaths seemed loud.

"Now, Vera is the one I want to protect."

The words had barely left his lips before his hand shot out, slapping Yuna across the face with brutal force.

The sound of the slap echoed sharply, sharper than the one before.

Her head snapped to the side. Blood welled at the corner of her lips, the metallic scent spreading in the air instantly.

The room went completely silent for a moment.

Vera flinched as if scared. She covered her mouth with trembling hands, but the flicker of triumph in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Damon's hand froze in midair, as if even he hadn't expected to hit so hard.

But the next second, his voice stayed cold as he added, "That slap is for Vera."

Yuna slowly turned her face back, her cheek burning with sharp pain. But when she looked at Damon, there were no tears or hatred. There was only a hollow emptiness where everything had finally burned out.

"I see," she said quietly.

The words landed with a weight that made Damon's chest tighten for reasons he couldn't name.

Yuna didn't argue or fight. She simply stayed silent, as if not a single extra word was worth speaking anymore.

Damon felt a tightness in his chest, the first time he'd been hit with this strange mix of irritation and helplessness. But with Vera leaning against him with red-rimmed eyes, he forced the feeling down and wrapped her in his arms, turning to leave.

The moment the door clicked shut, the last glimmer of light in Yuna's eyes finally went out.

It didn't matter. In three days, she would be gone from here and leaving Damon.