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.

For the next two days, Yuna was quiet.

She took her medicine on schedule, followed the healer's instructions, and didn't ask Damon a single question.

When Damon came, he didn't bring up Vera like he used to. He simply stood at the edge of the bed, watching her in silence for a long time.

"I heard you've been very well-behaved these past couple of days," he finally said.

Yuna didn't respond.

Damon stared at her, trying to read something in her face. But she was so calm that not a flicker of emotion crossed her features. It made him restless in a way he couldn't explain.

He frowned and said, "Yuna, how long are you going to keep this up?"

She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. "I'm not keeping anything up."

Even arguing with him felt like a waste of energy now.

Damon felt the tight pressure of frustration in his chest. After a few moments, he finally said, "Tonight's Vera's birthday. She wants to have dinner with you to clear the air. I already agreed."

Yuna's chest tightened at the irony. She was still lying in the healing room, raw from losing her child, and he came to tell her to go celebrate Vera's birthday.

"I'm not going."

Damon's expression darkened. "This isn't a request. It's an order."

Yuna looked at him and let out a small, quiet laugh.

Damon's chest tightened at the sound, and he opened his mouth to speak, but a gentle voice came from outside the door.

"Damon, don't push her like that."

Vera leaned against the doorframe, her face pale and looking fragile.

"Ms. Yuna, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to take anything from you. I just can't see us going on like this forever. If you're willing to come, I'd be grateful. If not, I won't blame you."

Damon immediately reached out and steadied her, his voice softening. "You're supposed to be resting. Why are you here?"

Vera leaned against his side, tilting her head up with a small smile. "I was afraid you two would start arguing again."

That familiar, dependent posture made Yuna's chest ache and her eyes burn.

But this time, she didn't react.

She simply looked down and flatly said, "Are you done? If so, go. I want to rest."

She probably expected Yuna to lash out, to lose control, to spiral into a jealous rage over Damon's attention. But Yuna was terrifyingly calm, which threw her completely off.

Damon's chest tightened with irritation at Yuna's coldness.

"Yuna, don't be ungrateful," he said, his voice sharp and icy. "Vera has already backed down this far."

Yuna finally lifted her gaze to meet his, her voice barely more than a sigh.

"Damon, does it even matter to you whether I'm grateful or not?"

That single sentence froze Damon on the spot.

The room fell silent. Vera was the first to give in, her voice soft. "Enough. Ms. Yuna isn't feeling well. We shouldn't disturb her rest."

After she spoke, she gently took Damon's hand like a silent reassurance.

He said nothing, just cast Yuna one last glance before leaving with Vera.

Once the door closed, Yuna slowly let her eyes drift shut.

She knew that after tomorrow night, it would all be over.

However, she didn't expect a new torment to arrive before the potion even got there.