While I was out shopping during the day, I ran into my usually calm and composed Alpha mate, Lucian, buying the haute couture gown I had reserved for the pack's annual gala.

By evening, that same gown was being worn by his Omega personal assistant, Kiara.

I didn't cause a scene. Instead, a knowing smile played on my lips.

At my signal, the bodyguards assigned to me by my Alpha King father brought over twenty more of the same gown, piling them high in front of him.

I decided he could have his fill of them.

My sister, Nina, even worked through the night to prepare everything necessary to initiate the bond-severing ritual.

My bloodline is noble, my power immense. I have no shortage of Alpha followers.

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1

At the Mooncreek Pack's annual gala, I was holding a glass of wine, mingling with several of the pack's high-ranking members.

Since mating with Lucian, I had taken on the role of Beta in his pack, helping him manage its day-to-day operations.

As the music swelled, the dance floor pulsed with an electric energy.

Only then, as all eyes turned to the entrance, did Lucian finally arrive with his assistant. They were late.

Then I saw it. There, at the main entrance, he was adjusting the brooch on Kiara's gown.

A faint smile touched his lips, his Alpha's gaze possessive and utterly pleased with his masterpiece.

With his adjustment, Kiara's delicate features instantly became more striking.

Only then did she barely seem worthy of her haute couture.

In that moment, any illusion I had shattered.

When I saw Lucian leaving the boutique that morning, I had been filled with joy, thinking he was picking up the gown for me.

I even had my makeup artist create a specific look to complement the gown.

But right up until the gala began, he never brought it home.

I had specifically asked him, testing the waters, if he had something for me.

He brushed me off with the excuse of being busy, but I still caught the sound of a sickeningly sweet female voice on the other end.

"Alpha, will the Luna be unhappy if she finds out?"

"Don't worry, her closet is about to burst anyway."

And just like that, I understood. He was straying.

Kiara tilted her head up and gave me a sweet smile, her lovely dimples looking exceptionally familiar.

A lot like mine.

"Luna, you look so stunning tonight."

Her compliment did nothing to thaw my expression as my gaze turned colder, raking over her.

"That's a nice gown. It's the same style I had on order."

The implication was clear; no one needed it spelled out.

An Omega who had just come of age, from a small, declining family, could not afford this level of high fashion.

My stare made Kiara fidget. She bit her lip, her hands wringing nervously as she darted glances at Lucian.

Lucian met my gaze, his expression as calm and unruffled as ever.

"Eleanor, don't misunderstand. Kiara mentioned she's never attended such a grand gala, nor has she ever worn a designer gown."

"Seeing how hard she works, I bought her one as a reward."

I raised an eyebrow and nodded to my assistant standing nearby.

The next second, twenty uniformed bodyguards marched into the hall, each holding an identical gown, and came to a stop before Lucian.

Lucian stared at me, his expression baffled.

I crossed my arms, leaning against a nearby carved pillar, a sly smile on my lips.

"Pay up."

"The assistants to all the high-ranking members are here tonight. Every single one of them is hardworking. Lucian, as an Alpha, you wouldn't want to play favorites with just your own assistant, would you?"

Kiara knew I was publicly humiliating them both. The color drained from her face, and her voice trembled on the verge of tears.

"Luna, please don't make things difficult for the Alpha. It's all my fault. I'll return the gown right away."

Incredible. As if I were the unreasonable one, the villain spoiling their precious moment.

"Kiara, is it? You're overthinking things. It's just twenty gowns. That's hardly 'making things difficult.'"

"Lucian has been waited on hand and foot since childhood. It's understandable that he wouldn't grasp the implications of an Alpha gifting clothing to an Omega."

"But as his personal assistant, you should have a better sense of propriety than he does. Or did you not know either?"

Kiara lowered her head in panic, apologizing profusely.

Lucian's bloodline, status, and abilities were all superior; he'd lived a charmed life, a rising star from birth.

Countless she-wolves adored him.

All these years, he had always maintained his Alpha pride.

Any woman who dared approach him was met with an icy, unapproachable glare.

He had held me in his arms on countless nights, whispering softly in my ear.

Telling me I was the mate he cherished most.

But now, everything had changed.

I saw the ache in his eyes, but it was for another woman.

Lucian shook his head with a faint smile, took a black card from his pocket, and handed it to the lead bodyguard.

He strolled unhurriedly to my side, wrapped an arm around my waist, his gaze deep and intense.

Under the cover of the music, his unique, magnetic Alpha voice murmured in my ear.

"It's just a gown. I didn't realize you cared so much. Forget about scaring the girl; if you get angry, I'll be the one with a broken heart."

His tone was light, as if he were discussing something trivial, effortlessly shifting the focus away from Kiara.

A cold smile formed on my lips. My slender fingers wound around his tie, pulling him closer.

"Kiara has feelings for you. An Alpha as smart as you can't possibly have missed it."

"I know you don't care about the money. What happened today was a first. I expect it to be the last."

The surrounding pack members, thinking we were just flirting, erupted in good-natured hooting.

So close I could feel his breath on my skin, a flush crept up Lucian’s neck, and his legendary composure finally cracked.

He frowned awkwardly.

"Eleanor, don't be like this. What will the pack think if they see?"

"Kiara and I have a purely professional relationship. Don't let your imagination run wild."

I huffed softly and released his tie.

Humiliating him would be easy, but it would reflect poorly on me.

A jealous squabble over some Omega was beneath the daughter of the Alpha King.

Having vented my anger, I decided to let them off the hook for now.

After all, I had no concrete proof of anything between them.

I took his arm and walked toward the stage to deliver the annual summary of the year's achievements.

The assistants of the high-ranking members, all savvy enough to take a hint, gleefully took their gowns and made a point to saunter past Kiara.

"We have you to thank for this, Kiara. If it weren't for you, we probably would've never worn such an expensive gown in our lives."

"To the Alpha, giving a gown is like giving a pup a piece of candy. You wouldn't get any improper ideas about him because of this, would you?"

"Those eyes, those dimples..." one of them clicked her tongue. "So similar. No wonder the Alpha treats you differently."

One by one, their faces filled with mockery, their words laced with warning.

Kiara had probably never been so humiliated. Her head hung lower and lower, as if she wished the floor would swallow her whole.

Tears splashed onto the marble.

She waited until the crowd dispersed before running out, her eyes red.

She didn't return for the rest of the gala.

After the gala concluded, we tactfully left early to let the younger pack members enjoy their night.

As soon as I got in the car, I noticed something was off about the passenger seat.

Next to the sun visor mirror was a tube of mascara that wasn't mine.

No one but me would dare treat the Alpha of the Mooncreek Pack as a chauffeur, and no one would be clueless enough to sit in my seat.

I didn't need to guess who it belonged to.

A sharp, sudden anger flared inside me.

Though I hated to admit it, at that moment, I was provoked to the point of losing all reason.

Even when I'd learned Lucian gave my gown to Kiara, I'd only mourned the dress itself.

But for her to leave her mark in my private space? That was an open declaration of war.

In five years as mates, I had never been this angry.

I wanted to slap Lucian across the face, kick him out of the car, and speed over to Kiara to slap her twice, hard.

Just as I was about to confront him, his phone rang.

Lucian, completely oblivious to my furious expression, unhurriedly answered Kiara's call.

I started fiddling with my seat in frustration, only to hear him say:

"Okay, don't worry. I'll be right there."

My hand froze. I slowly raised my head to look at him.

Lucian frowned slightly.

"Kiara is having a breakdown over what happened at the gala. I need to go check on her."

"Eleanor, I'll have the driver pick you up. You go home first."

My voice was laced with disbelief.

"You're going to leave me here for something so trivial?"

"Eleanor, please don't make this difficult. She's a proud young woman. After what you did, she's cried herself hoarse and is emotionally unstable."

"Is she proud, or is she deliberately provoking me in front of you? Can't she calm down by herself?"

Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Eleanor, what's the point of tormenting a young Omega?"

"When did you start throwing your weight around? You were never like this."

My rage evaporated, leaving only a cold, vast disappointment.

Suddenly, it struck me as hilarious.

"Me, throwing my weight around?"

"Lucian, you have never defended another woman in front of me. This is the first time."

A flicker of confusion crossed Lucian's stern face.

"When we became mates, we made a promise. For the reputation of both our packs, neither of us would have any scandals. Are you going to break that promise now for an Omega?"

Lucian's gaze was deep and cold.

He pondered for a long moment before finally dialing the driver's number.

Finally, he leaned over to unbuckle my seatbelt and said to me in a calm tone:

"Eleanor, you're always so dominant. We're mates, not just allies. Outside of pack business, can't you be more like other she-wolves? Rely on me, yield to me a little?"

"After I handle things with Kiara, I'll stay at my parents' house for the night. We both need to cool down."

So that was it.

He was eager to display his Alpha charm for another woman.

But before, he had always said what he admired most about me was my decisive and commanding presence.

He was simply tired of me. Why invent such a self-righteous excuse and shift all the blame onto me?

I got out of the car stiffly, watching the black luxury sedan disappear down the road.

I had given him a chance, and he didn't take it.

I pulled out my phone and called my sister, Nina.

"Nina, prepare the ritual. I'm severing the bond."

I wouldn't have taken this step with Lucian if there had been any other way.

My father is the Alpha King of the North American continent, and Lucian's family is the powerful Mooncreek Pack.

Our union was driven by the pull of our bloodlines, but it was also a political alliance.

After we mated, we supported each other, sharing the resources of our two packs and achieving an unprecedented integration.

Therefore, severing the mate bond was an extremely complicated affair.

At the same time, I notified my father, preparing to withdraw all the resource support my family had provided to Lucian's pack.

The next morning, on my way to the office, I was nearly knocked over by a werewolf with green hair at the entrance of the pack building.

My Hermès bag slammed onto the ground, scraping a piece of its leather.

The coffee in the werewolf's hand flew in an arc, splashing onto the hem of my cashmere coat.

Seeing this, the two guards at the door immediately jogged over.

They started berating him for not watching where he was going.

The green-haired werewolf, startled, frantically picked up my bag and handed it to me, then took out tissues to wipe the stain on my coat.

When he saw it wouldn't come off, he was so anxious that he dropped to his knees, begging for my forgiveness.

In the dead of winter, he was only wearing a thin jacket and sunglasses, but even they didn't completely hide the bruises under his eyes.

I ignored the stained coat, frowning as I meticulously examined the scuffed leather of my bag.

Lucian, who always arrived at work at the same time as me, witnessed the entire scene.

He stood opposite me, watching quietly, his face stern and cold.

For the first time, I saw disgust in his eyes.

To him, I must have looked like I was lording my power over some poor soul.

I ignored his misunderstanding, took two steps back, and gestured for the approaching guards to stop. I grabbed the green-haired werewolf's arm, pulling him up from the ground.

"I don't know what you're going through, but a wolf never kneels so easily. You can lose anything, but you cannot lose your dignity. That is the one thing that belongs only to you!"

The green-haired werewolf kept apologizing and thanking me as he cleaned up the mess on the ground.

Finally, he scurried off in a panic.

At the corner of the office building, he glanced back, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

I returned to my office and sat at my desk, carefully examining the damaged bag.

In truth, the scuff mark was small; you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it.

But once there's a flaw, it can never be perfect again.

Because it was so precious, even a trivial imperfection was almost impossible to repair.

Harder still to repair was the bond between Lucian and me.

The look in his eyes this morning was still a thorn in my heart.

Lucian and I always had lunch together in my office, prepared and delivered by his family's private chef.

Today at noon, I waited until one o'clock. I assumed he wasn't coming.

But just as I opened my lunch box, he arrived.

And trailing behind him was Kiara.

Her eyes were red and swollen. She kept her head down, her posture the very picture of frail deference.

I put down my utensils and just watched them.

Lucian sat down beside me and let out a sigh.

"Because of last night, Kiara is being targeted and ostracized everywhere in the pack."

I picked up my spoon and ladled some soup for myself, not even glancing up.

"What's wrong? She's the Alpha's assistant, isn't she? Can't she handle a small matter like this?"

"I was hoping you could tell your people to stop making things difficult for the girl!"

According to the unwritten rule between us, we had each placed our own people in the other's pack.

Lucian was implying my people were targeting Kiara to get back at her for me.

Almost every member was present at last night's gala. It was inevitable that Kiara's actions would be criticized.

I stirred my soup with the spoon and took a sip.

"First, I have not instructed anyone to target your assistant. You know that's not my style."

"Second, for what she's enduring, she has only her own lack of propriety to blame."

"Lucian, you still don't understand pack dynamics. Your exceptional indulgence of her will only create more enemies for her. The one harming her is you, not me."

Kiara, who had been silent, suddenly took two steps forward and spoke urgently.

"It has nothing to do with the Alpha."

"Luna, I truly was inconsiderate yesterday. It was the first time I'd ever received such a valuable gift, and I was overcome with excitement. I offended you, and I apologize."

I paused for a moment, then laughed.

"Lucian, your assistant is really something. She plays dumb, but she's fiercely protective of you."

I didn't accept Kiara's insincere apology, nor did I intervene to stop my people from targeting her.

Kiara's grievances and tears struck a nerve with Lucian.

For the first time, he lost control, unleashing his Alpha presence on me. The sheer force of it shattered the vase on the table, sending shards scattering at my feet.

He even demanded I apologize to Kiara.

I had done nothing wrong. Why should I apologize?!

Lucian and I parted on bad terms that day.

That very afternoon, he took Kiara on a business trip.

That evening, while drinking with my sister Nina, she spelled out exactly why Lucian would be attracted to an Omega like Kiara.

The women of our family never show weakness.

My mother passed away long ago, and my father never remarried.

From a young age, I was raised to be a warrior and a leader, shouldering my family's heavy responsibilities.

So-called feminine frailty would only get in my way.

I had upheld my principles for thirty years without wavering.

Why couldn't he?

In the end, it was simple. He no longer loved me.

And I have no desire for something that doesn't belong to me.