"What do you mean, Cynthia?" Killian's voice trembled.

As he looked at me, a real fracture appeared for the first time in those always-arrogant eyes.

"Sit down! Cynthia! I order you not to move!"

A powerful Alpha aura erupted, pressing down on me, trying to force me into submission like before.

The surrounding guests dropped to their knees under the crushing pressure, trembling violently.

Only I remained standing.

The force that once made my knees buckle now brushed over me like nothing more than a passing wind.

Because my heart had already died.

What could an Alpha threaten someone who no longer feared death?

I reached up and pulled off the ridiculous clown wig, tossing it into a puddle of spilled wine.

Then I used my sleeve to wipe away the grotesque red paint from my face, little by little.

It felt as though I was erasing the past ten years of my youth, and the foolish girl I had once been.

"Killian, you know what? I truly loved you once. I thought if I obeyed you, if you remembered what we once had, you would at least save my mother. But it turns out I wasn't even worth a joke in your heart."

"Cynthia, stop!" Killian's face turned ghostly ashen. Veins bulged along his neck as he lunged forward, as if he could physically silence me. "Don't say another word! We can start over. As long as you…"

"There's no starting over. Do you know why I insisted on saving my mother?"

I stepped toward him slowly. My wolf roared inside me.

"Because she was the only person in this world who truly loved me. And you," I pointed at him, tears streaming down my face as I laughed, "you used that love to make me drink poison alcohol, to turn me into a clown, to make me kneel like an idiot before a murderer. Killian, you're the pathetic one. You keep calling me a traitor. Take a look at yourself now."

"Enough!" Killian's face drained of color again. The veins in his neck stood out sharply. "Cynthia, don't push me! I hid your mother's death to make you atone. It was the only way you would obey!"

"Atone?" I let out a cold laugh. "Atonement means making me unknowingly earn three months of morgue fees for my own mother? Atonement means letting the woman in your arms crush my mother's only keepsake?"

I turned sharply toward Vivian.

The once-arrogant woman was now screaming, clutching Killian's sleeve in panic. "Killian, she's lost her mind! Kill her!"

"You're right."

I nodded, my gaze wild yet resolute. "The old Cynthia is dead. She died in that bottle of liquor. She died on that death certificate."

I took a deep breath.

"Cynthia, what are you doing?" For the first time, real fear surfaced in Killian's eyes. He reached out in panic, trying to grab me. "Don't do anything foolish. If you just behave, I can…"

"You can what? Buy my mother a nicer urn?"

I stepped back. I widened the distance between us.

I straightened my spine and gathered every ounce of strength into my voice.

I looked straight into Killian's eyes and shouted the vow that would damn him forever. "I, Cynthia Hartwell, reject you, Killian Ashford, as my Alpha and mate! For the monstrous lie you spun! And for my mother's death! Our Mate Bond is broken. From this moment until death!"

As the final word left my lips, a streak of crimson lightning tore across the night sky beyond the windows.

It was the Moon Goddess bearing witness.

It was punishment descending.

Killian let out a scream of pure agony.

The Mate Bond that linked our souls was torn apart by force.

He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed heavily to his knees.

He clutched his chest as if trying to hold himself together. "No… Cynthia… no…"

He remained on his knees, blood staining his lips, his hand trembling as he reached for me. The pride and coldness in his eyes were gone. Only terror and despair remained. "Please… don't leave… take it back…"

The guests descended into complete chaos.

Screams rang out. Tables and chairs crashed to the floor.

"Oh my God! She rejected the Alpha!"

"Killian is coughing up blood! Call the Healer!"

Vivian stood frozen for a second, then shrieked at the guards, "Grab her! Get that bitch! She's killing the Alpha!"

Dozens of armed guards rushed in from every direction, sealing off every exit within seconds.

I glanced once more at Killian kneeling on the floor.

He writhed in agony like an abandoned stray.

I felt no satisfaction.

"Goodbye, Killian."

I turned, seized a chair, and smashed it into the floor-to-ceiling window behind me.

Then I ran toward the shattered opening without hesitation.

Glass shards exploded outward.

I leapt into the dark, rain-soaked night.

Behind me, Killian's voice ripped through the storm. "Cynthia!"

But it was too late.

The rain drenched me in seconds, washing away the clown paint on my skin and the last fragile bond between us.

I shielded my abdomen and ran barefoot across the muddy lawn.

The cramps grew sharper with every step. I knew I would not last much longer.

But I had to run.

Not to save my own life.

But to take this unborn child farther away from the nightmare named Killian Ashford.

The rain fell harder and harder.

I plunged into the endless darkness of the border forest.

I left the grand estate behind. I left the man I had loved for ten years behind. Forever.

The rain lashed against me like an icy whip.

I had no idea how long I had been running. My legs were numb, moving only on raw survival instinct.

A tearing cramp ripped through my abdomen.

The poison from that bottle of liquor was finally taking hold.

A metallic sweetness rose in my throat. Darkness flickered at the edges of my vision.

I tripped over a tree root and crashed into a patch of muddy thorns. Spikes tore through my skin. Blood mixed with rain and dirt.

So cold.

So much pain.

My consciousness began to fade.

Was this how I would die? Rotting in the mud like a stray dog?

Killian's cold face flashed through my mind.

"Cynthia, the blood of a murderer runs through your veins. It disgusts me."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Maybe death would be easier.

No more atonement. No more humiliation. No more facing the man who had shattered my heart.

I closed my eyes in despair and let the darkness swallow me.

Just as my heart was about to stop—a powerful surge of warmth exploded from deep within my abdomen.

My baby?

My eyes flew open in disbelief.

A brilliant golden light shone through my belly, piercing the filthy clown costume and blazing against the black night.

It was warm. Dominant. Radiating the aura of a king.

The light wrapped around me and forcibly drove the alcohol poisoning from my body.

Then a young yet commanding wolf's howl echoed through my soul.

"Awhoo!"

Under the golden glow, the phantom of a massive white wolf appeared.

Its fur was snow-white. Its golden eyes burned with fury. It lowered its head and brushed its muzzle gently against my cheek. Then it turned and roared into the storm.

The rain was forced back by its aura, creating a barrier of still air around us.

The Royal White Wolf.

Tears burst from my eyes.

The legend was true. Only the purest ancestral bloodline bore a White Wolf spirit companion. And it could protect its host even before birth.

Killian was a blind fool.

The 'bastard' he had tried to kill with that liquor was, in fact, the only White Wolf King born in a century—his own strongest heir.

"My baby…"

I cupped my heated abdomen, tears streaming down my face.

"Did you save me? You're angry too, aren't you?"

The White Wolf spirit looked at me with a lingering affection, then dissolved into starlight and sank back into my body.

Strength flooded my limbs.

I gritted my teeth and pulled myself out of the mud.

I could not die.

I wiped the mud from my face and looked toward the distant, brightly lit estate.

"Killian, look carefully. You failed to kill me tonight. From now on, I'll be your nightmare."

Cradling my abdomen, fueled by that golden power, I plunged deeper into the forest.

This was not an escape.

It was rebirth.

Five years later.

Overseas, in Meridia.

"Congratulations, Ms. Hartwell! The Soul-Return Elixir has sold for thirty million dollars!"

The auctioneer's gavel came down hard.

Thunderous applause erupted.

I sat in a private VIP box on the second floor, lazily swirling a glass of red wine as I watched the powerful elites below argue fiercely over a single bottle of medicine.

"The price climbed fast."

I took a slow sip of wine. A faint, mocking smile curved my lips.

Five years ago, I sold my dignity for a few hundred dollars.

Five years later, these people would bankrupt themselves just to meet me.

"Mommy!"

The private room door burst open.

A small figure rushed in like a whirlwind and threw himself into my arms.

"Leo, slow down."

I set my glass aside and caught the solid little weight against my chest.

At five years old, Leo Ashford had already grown into his features.

His hair was as dark. His skin carried a cool pallor. His face was nearly a smaller version of Killian's, except for the pair of molten gold eyes that belonged only to royal blood.

He usually wore contact lenses to conceal them. But whenever his emotions stirred, that fierce golden glow could not be hidden.

Like now.

"What's wrong?"

I noticed the fine beads of sweat on his forehead. My heart tightened instantly.

"Mommy… I don't feel good…"

His usually rosy face had turned ashen. His breathing came fast and hot.

"It feels like there's fire inside me. The white wolf… he wants to come out. He wants to bite someone…"

Within his shadow, the White Wolf spirit paced restlessly, letting out low growls as if it were about to break free at any moment.

Another episode.

My expression darkened immediately.

As Leo grew, the royal blood within him became stronger. But he was still too young. His body could not withstand such overwhelming power.

Without suppression, he could explode from within or lose his mind entirely and turn into a beast driven only by slaughter.

I quickly took out a specially crafted ice-blue potion from my ring and fed it to him.

I had developed this suppressant over the years, but its effectiveness weakened each time.

"Mommy… am I going to die?"

Leo leaned weakly against me, clutching my fingers. Fear filled his beautiful eyes.

"Don't say that!"

I cut him off sharply, though my eyes had already reddened. "As long as I'm here, no one is taking you from me."

But I knew the truth.

My potion was reaching its limit.

There was only one way to completely solve Leo's bloodline instability.

The moonlight herb.

A rare herb that grew in the coldest, darkest lands. It could soothe even the most violent wolf bloodline.

And there was only one place in the world where it grew.

Killian's territory, Moonspire Wildwood.

The place I had sworn never to return to for the rest of my life.

The hell that had buried my youth, my mother, and my dignity.

For five years, Killian had been searching for me relentlessly.

I heard he had torn the entire Moonspire Pack apart looking for traces of me, even digging up the graves of unidentified female corpses.

He lived like a walking corpse, guarding that empty estate as if in penance.

Too late. His belated love was worth less than weeds.

But for Leo, even if I had to walk back into hell, I would go.

"Ms. Hartwell," my assistant said as she stepped inside, holding a report. "There's news about the Moonlight Herb you've been searching for. Next week, at the underground auction in Moonspire, a five-hundred-year-old Moonlight Herb will be the final lot."

Moonspire.

Killian's stronghold.

How ironic.

After everything, fate was still dragging me back to that man.

I closed my eyes and drew in a slow breath, forcing down the hatred and fear rising inside me.

When I opened them again, there was nothing left but cold resolve.

"We leave tonight."

Twenty-four hours later.

Moonspire.

The underground auction house in Gutterdeep.

The air reeked of money and wolf pheromones.

Five years ago, I had stood here like livestock, judged and priced.

Five years later.

"Twenty million."

My cool voice rang through the hall.

I sat in the second-floor VIP box, lifting my paddle without hesitation.

A crimson velvet gown hugged my body, the slit revealing long, elegant legs. A delicate silver half-mask concealed my face, leaving only my cold red lips exposed.

An uproar erupted below.

"Twenty million?! Is this woman insane?"

"It's just one Moonlight Herb. It's not worth that much!"

I fixed my gaze on the Moonlight Herb glowing faint blue at the center of the stage.

It was Leo's lifeline.

Even if it cost two hundred million, I would take it.

"Twenty-five million."

A low, hoarse male voice came from the neighboring VIP box.

My hand trembled.

That voice.

I would recognize it even in death.

Killian.

The man I had loved for ten years and hated for five.

He was here.

"Mommy…"

Leo sensed the shift in me immediately. He wore his cool little sunglasses, gripping the edge of my dress tightly.

"Who's the bad guy trying to steal our stuff?"

Leo tilted his head. Behind the dark lenses, his molten gold eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint.

I drew a steady breath, forcing my fingers to stop shaking.

"Don't worry about him."

I raised my paddle again.

"Fifty million."

The entire hall exploded into chaos.

In Moonspire, everyone knew Killian was king. And someone had just challenged him openly on his own territory.

The neighboring VIP box fell silent.

After a long pause, no further bid came.

"Fifty million once!"

"Fifty million twice!"

"Fifty million three times. Sold!"

As the gavel struck, the tension in my chest loosened slightly.

Once I secured the Moonlight Herb, Leo's bloodline would stabilize. Then we would leave this cursed place immediately.

"Mommy, I'm going to the restroom!"

Leo hopped off the sofa and dashed out with his little backpack bouncing behind him.

"Leo! Don't run around!"

Alarm shot through me. I moved to follow him, but a staff member stepped in to block my way with the purchase documents.

"Damn it."

I signed my name quickly and rushed out after him.

Killian was right next door.

We could not run into him.