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.

Yuna didn't sleep well that night.

After losing her pup, sleep never came easily anymore. She drifted in that hazy space between dreaming and waking when a sudden, bone-deep chill wrapped around her wrist.

Her eyes snapped open. Amy stood by the bed, red-rimmed eyes glistening, fastening a cold iron cuff around her wrist.

Yuna froze for a moment, then took in Amy's trembling hands.

"Amy?"

At the sound of her name, Amy seemed to break completely. Tears spilled down her face all at once.

"Luna, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She dropped to her knees beside the bed, her voice shaking so badly the words nearly fell apart. "Alpha has my little brother. If I don't cuff you tonight and take you to the basement, he'll send my brother to the border camp."

Yuna lowered her gaze to the iron cuff locked around her wrist. A heavy weight pressed down on her chest.

The first thing she felt was not anger, but a numb, almost absurd disbelief.

Just to vent Vera's anger, Damon had pushed things so far that even Amy had been driven to this.

Amy's face was soaked with tears, and she barely dared meet Yuna's eyes. "I don't want to do this. I really don't. Luna, please hate me if you must, but I can't abandon my brother..."

Yuna was quiet for a moment before she spoke softly.

"I don't blame you."

Amy froze, then the tears fell even harder.

Just then, the door opened.

Damon walked in, his black boots striking the floor with slow, heavy steps. His presence carried a cold weight with it.

He had clearly already heard that Amy succeeded. His gaze went first to the iron cuff around Yuna's wrist before finally lifting to her face.

"Since you're awake, stop playing the victim," he said flatly. "Vera waited for you all night. She's been crying this whole time. It's time you were punished for your absence."

Yuna looked up at him. The last trace of emotion in her eyes was gone.

Amy was still kneeling beside the bed, trembling. Yuna didn't want her caught in the middle any longer, so she slowly sat up and climbed out of bed, the cuffs still locked around her wrists.

"There's no need for anyone to drag me there," she said softly, her voice eerily calm. "It's just the basement. I can walk there myself."

She lifted her cuffed wrists and walked straight for the door.

Damon stood by the doorway. He didn't reach out to steady her, and he didn't stop her. He only watched with cold eyes as she walked toward the end of the corridor.

The heavy iron door slowly shut behind her, and a wave of cold, damp air rushed up to meet her.

The basement had no windows. High up on one wall, a narrow vent was the only opening. Even the moonlight couldn't reach inside. The darkness pressed in from every side, like the inside of a coffin.

Yuna was locked in there for the entire night.

Her body was still weak, and old pains in her back and abdomen flared. However, the physical pain was nothing compared to the unbearable quiet.

Wolves had sharp hearing. Even through thick walls and floors, she could hear every sound above her.

She heard footsteps passing back and forth above her. Servants moving through the halls, preparing the guest rooms. Then Damon's voice came clearly through the floor as he gave the orders himself.

"Get the room on the east side ready. It's closer to mine. It'll be more convenient for Vera to stay there."

Yuna leaned back against the cold wall and slowly closed her eyes.

She knew exactly what that meant.

Damon had brought Vera into the main house.

The home that had once belonged to just the two of them had finally welcomed its new mistress.

There was no sense of day or night in the basement.

Yuna only knew that time stretched unbearably slow after she was locked inside.

The cold seeped in from every wall, gnawing at her bones.

She curled up in a corner, listening to the faint, broken sounds from above.

When Damon carried Vera upstairs, she let out a soft, low laugh.

The sound came through the floorboards and stabbed at Yuna's ears like needles.

Late into the night, the iron door suddenly creaked open.

Yuna looked up to see Vera stepping in, holding a small lantern.

She wore a soft white dress tonight, her expression smug and impossible to hide.

"This place really suits you," Vera said, glancing around the basement with a light, mocking laugh. "After all, losers belong in the shadows."

Yuna stared at her, her gaze icy and unreadable.

"What are you doing here?"

Vera crouched down slowly, meeting her eyes at the same level.

"Just here to show you who Damon finally chooses."

As she said that, she pulled a tiny silver vial from her sleeve.

The moment she opened the stopper, a sharp, acrid smell spread through the air.

Yuna's face went pale.

It was silver dust.

For a werewolf, even the smallest amount was enough to cause excruciating pain and suppress their healing.

"Don't look at me like that," Vera said, voice soft but venomous. "I just want you to learn a lesson. You've always thought you were so high and mighty. Let's see if you can still hold that haughty air when silver burns your skin."

Before Yuna could react, Vera flung the silver dust onto her arm.

Pain exploded in an instant.

Yuna gasped and her face drained of color as her skin turned fiery red, blistering under the silver.

She jerked back instinctively, her back slamming hard against the cold wall. Cold sweat broke out across her skin.

Vera watched her tremble in pain, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

"Does it hurt?" she murmured, stepping closer, her voice low and cutting. "When I lost my pup, I hurt far more than this. Even if you die here, Damon won't turn back."

Yuna gritted her teeth, refusing to make a sound.

The quieter she remained, the more furious Vera became.

The next second, Vera suddenly pulled the wick from the lantern and threw it toward the corner of the basement, where old wooden crates and dry hay were stacked.

Flames shot up with a roar.

Yuna's head snapped up.

Vera stood before the fire, a twisted smile on her face.

She murmured, "Let's see who Damon will save when it counts most."

The fire spread fast.

The basement was already sealed tight, and the thick smoke filled the air instantly, making it hard to breathe.

Yuna forced herself to her feet and rushed toward the iron door, pounding on it with all her strength.

"Someone! Open the door!"

Above, she could hear the sound of hurried footsteps.

She even caught Damon's voice, low and heavy, sharp with sudden, taut anger.

"What's going on?"

Vera shrieked just then. "Damon! Save me!"

The basement door finally crashed open.

Through the rolling smoke, Damon was the first to reach Vera. He pulled her tightly into his arms.

"Are you okay?" His voice was strained.

Vera clung to him, trembling and crying. "Damon, I'm so scared..."

Yuna stood in the glow of the fire and the choking smoke, her arm raw and blistered from the silver dust, her breathing ragged.

She watched Damon hold Vera tightly against him, and the last flicker of hope inside her quietly died.

He carried Vera out of the basement almost immediately.

Outside the iron door, chaos erupted as everyone gathered around.

Yuna pressed herself against the wall, fighting through the burning pain and choking smoke, struggling to keep her trembling body upright.

Just as she was about to collapse, the sharp sound of hurried footsteps came from outside again.

Someone burst back into the room.

Yuna jerked her head up, her chest twisting as if something had yanked at it.

For a brief, ridiculous moment, she even thought Damon had returned for her.

But the next second, he strode past her and headed straight for the spot where Vera had just been standing.

On the floor lay the talisman.

He bent down and picked it up, gripping it tightly in his hand, not sparing her a single glance.

So that's why he had come back. It wasn't to save her.

He had come back for something Vera had dropped.

With the talisman in hand, Damon spun and rushed toward the exit.

It wasn't until he was nearly at the door that he seemed to remember someone else was still there. He cast her a look.

But it was too brief, a glance so fleeting it felt like an illusion.

The next second, he was gone, swallowed by the thick smoke.

Yuna stayed rooted to the spot and laughed.

She laughed softly, but the heat drove her tears from her eyes.

Nine years of love, promises as mates, the vow at the Frostveil Pack's cemetery... In the end, it wasn't enough to outweigh a single talisman hanging around Vera's neck.

The fire roared higher, the beams snapping and cracking.

Yuna let herself give up completely.

She no longer begged for help, and she no longer expected anyone to turn back for her.

She grabbed a half-damp scrap of burlap from the corner and pressed it over her mouth and nose, forcing herself to crawl toward the small side door where the meals had first been brought.

The basement was packed with junk, and that side door was rarely used. But the latch had long since loosened.

Yuna pushed against the door repeatedly, ignoring the searing pain in her arm and choking smoke.

The latch finally gave way, and a rush of night air poured in.

She crawled out, fire still raging behind her.