My mate, Raelor Thorne, is the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. He once swore that in this lifetime, he would mark only me.

Yet one month before our marking ceremony, he insisted that he must first mark with Seraphine Morcant, his late brother's mate. He claimed it was to comfort her and preserve his brother's bloodline. He said he would help her conceive an heir, so the line would not die.

I refused.

He brought it up every day after that, pressing harder each time, leaving me no room to breathe.

Then, half a month before the ceremony, I received a report from the Pack Healing Sanctum.

It stated clearly that Seraphine had already been marked and was nearly one month pregnant.

In that moment, I finally understood. Raelor had never intended to ask for my consent.

So I canceled the marking ceremony. I burned every token that tied us together.

On the day we were meant to bind our lives, I left Silvermoon Territory alone.

I traveled to the Obsidian Pack to further my mastery of healing arts and formally accepted the position of Chief Healer within their Order.

From that day forward, there would be nothing left between Raelor and me.

No bond. No mercy. No return.

There were fifteen days left until my Marking Ceremony with Raelor Thorne.

He sat on the Alpha’s stone seat, his tone casual, almost indifferent.

"Freya, I’ve told you many times. Seraphine’s situation in the pack is difficult. Since my brother, Theron Thorne, died, the Council of Elders has been trying to drive her out of the core territory.

"Only if she carries a pup with Alpha blood can she secure her position as the former Alpha’s mate.

"Theron died saving me. This isn't merely repayment for his life. It’s for the purity of Silvermoon’s bloodline."

His voice was low. Each word sounded like an order.

Three months ago, the Bloodfang Pack attacked. Raelor had been surrounded and knocked unconscious. Theron had charged into the battlefield and used his own body to block the fatal strike meant for him.

Theron had died, leaving behind his mate, Seraphine.

From that day forward, Seraphine became the forbidden place in Raelor’s heart.

I didn’t understand.

To repay a life debt, he would sacrifice our Marking Ceremony? He would make me the laughingstock of the entire pack?

"It would only be a formal mark and breeding," Raelor said as he rose and walked toward me. "There would be no feelings between us. It’s only to leave behind a pup."

He stopped in front of me and reached out to touch my shoulder. "I love you, Freya. You are the future Luna. You should understand me. Support me."

I stepped away from his hand and stood abruptly. Cold fury churned inside my chest. "Raelor, our Marking Ceremony is next month. And now you’re telling me you’ll mark Seraphine first and have her carry your pup?

"Then what am I? A hidden mistress? Or an ornament to secure your position as Alpha?"

He withdrew his hand. He lowered his gaze and adjusted his sleeve.

A moment later, he looked up. There was no guilt in his eyes, only calm certainty. "Freya, this isn’t only about Seraphine and me. It’s the decision of the Council of Elders.

"The Council has already passed the resolution. As long as Seraphine gives birth to a pup with Alpha blood, the old factions dissatisfied with my rule will quiet down.

"My position as Alpha was bought with Theron’s death. I cannot be ungrateful."

I looked at the tall wolf before me. He suddenly felt unfamiliar.

We had grown up together in the outer territory. From low-ranking wolves to his rise as Alpha, I stood beside him through every stage. With my healing gift, I pulled him back from the brink of death again and again.

I thought we shared something pure. A silent understanding.

Reality struck hard.

He had never truly placed me beside him as an equal. I was simply a suitable mate. A talented Healer. Quiet and sensible. Proper enough to stand beside the Alpha of Silvermoon.

The one he truly wished to protect was never me.

It was Seraphine, the childhood companion, who stood between him and Theron.

All these years, while I chased him, he hid behind Theron’s shadow, chasing Seraphine.

Now that Theron was dead, he could stand openly beside her under the noble excuse of protecting his fallen brother’s mate.

I was nothing more than a fool. Whenever a choice had to be made between her and me, I would always be the one abandoned.

He was about to speak again when the wolf communicator at his waist lit up. He walked outside and answered it, his voice turning low and gentle.

He had blocked our Mind Link, so I could not hear the conversation, but I could see the relaxed smile on his face. It was a smile he had never shown me.

At that same moment, my communicator received an anonymous message. I opened it.

It was a gestation report stamped with the red seal of the Healing Sanctum.

The words were clear: "The pup is developing well. Four weeks. Name: Seraphine."

My gaze dropped to the date.

It had been issued a month ago.

One month ago.

That was exactly when I had been injured and burning with fever, and he had disappeared completely.

My breathing faltered. My mind went blank. My fingers trembled so violently that I could barely hold the communicator.

So he had already been with Seraphine. He was not asking for my consent. He was informing me.

In his vision of the future, I had never been included.

The communicator vibrated again, pulling me back.

It was Eryndor Valerius, my teacher from the Obsidian Pack, the Holy Healer.

"Freya, I heard your Marking Ceremony is approaching. But I want to try one last time. Are you certain you don’t want to come to Obsidian?

"You are the most gifted Healer of this generation. The Healing Order has kept the Chief Healer position for you.

"Even if you become Luna after forming your Mate Bond, the influence of Obsidian’s Healing Sanctum cannot be ignored. If you dedicate yourself to research, your future won’t be inferior to that of a Luna."

He sighed softly. "I’m not asking you to give up being Luna. Only to shift your focus. Your talent shouldn’t be confined to standing beside an Alpha."

Three months ago, he had already extended this invitation. Obsidian’s Healing Sanctum was the sacred place every Healer dreamed of.

However, Raelor had just taken the Alpha position. Internal and external threats surrounded him. All I wanted then was to remain at his side and help stabilize Silvermoon.

So I refused.

I believed that long separation would weaken the Mate Bond we were about to form.

Now, Raelor was already the father of another she-wolf’s pup.

Since he had never valued our future Mate Bond, this ceremony had no reason to exist.

I took a slow breath and suppressed the tightness in my throat. "Master, I’ve changed my mind. I’m willing to join. From now on, I’ll devote myself fully to new healing research."

I did not mention that I would not become Luna. I didn’t want him to feel responsible for my personal matters.

His voice brightened with unmistakable joy. "Really? That’s wonderful! The Order welcomes you at any time. When will you depart? A week after the ceremony? You can settle your affairs first."

My eyes fell to the calendar. The full moon date was circled. It was supposed to be the end of happiness.

Now it was the countdown to my departure.

"No. I will leave on the day of the Marking Ceremony."

On that day, I will sever every connection between Raelor and me.

I will never return.

That night, Raelor did not come back.

The pack forum already displayed a letter of gratitude from Seraphine. It described in detail how Alpha Raelor accompanied her to pray before the statue of the Moon Goddess.

Photos were attached.

Raelor supported Seraphine as she knelt before the Moon Goddess, his expression reverent. Mirella Raven, Seraphine’s mother, held his hand, smiling warmly.

In one image, his hand rested protectively over her barely visible abdomen. His gaze was gentle. They looked like a family.

I thought of the five years Raelor and I had been together. He had accompanied me home to the outer territory only once, even though he used to visit often when we were young, and my parents treated him like their own son. My home was only twenty minutes from the core territory.

After rising in rank, he never once returned. He said he couldn’t stand the mixed scents there because it reminded him of the humiliation of his past.

The day we confirmed our relationship, he was only a Gamma.

On that single visit home, he maintained the restraint of someone climbing upward. He was polite and distant, unlike the humility and warmth he had towards Seraphine’s family, even though her parents were merely Omegas.

I closed my eyes and swallowed the ache rising in my chest.

He was capable of giving warmth. He simply never intended to give it to me.

That day, I gathered several friends I had grown up with and told them the Marking Ceremony was canceled.

Everyone around me knew how obsessed I had been with Raelor. When they heard the news, they were so shocked they nearly dropped the wraps in their hands.

"Freya, haven’t you waited so long for this day? Why would you suddenly give up Alpha Raelor?"

"Is the Council of Elders pressuring you? Or… is this because of Seraphine?"

A bitterness I couldn’t quite put into words spread through me.

How could severing this bond ever be easy?

The truth was that this relationship had been unbalanced from the beginning. Whether Raelor was an ordinary wolf or now the Alpha, I was always the one looking up at him, chasing after him. He had never once truly lowered his head to look at me.

Even this ceremony had been something I asked for. Back then, Raelor had said he disliked complicated rituals. He thought they were nothing more than hypocritical performances for the pack.

It was only because I insisted that he reluctantly agreed to hold a small internal ceremony, inviting only the Council of Elders and close friends.

I once believed that since I could wait for him to nod and agree to form the Mate Bond, I could also warm his heart over the long years ahead.

I was willing to wait for the day he would fully open his territory to me. I believed we would continue walking side by side like that.

However, ever since Theron died three months ago, everything changed.

The hidden, ugly thoughts that had been buried beneath the surface rose up with Theron’s passing.

I finally understood. Raelor was not born cold. In front of Seraphine, he never hesitated to show warmth, but when facing me, I was nothing more than a shadow beneath his scepter.

That wasn’t even the most important part.

The most chilling truth was that, on the surface, he pretended to discuss caring for Seraphine with me. Behind my back, he had already marked her and bred her, and she was carrying his pup.

He treated me like a fool.

Today, I realized that whatever future Raelor and I might have had, it had already been destroyed by that gestation report.

I didn’t tell my friends the truth. I only said that I had received an invitation from the Obsidian Pack and would be leaving to further my healing studies, so we might not see each other for a long time.

To keep the farewell from turning heavy, I stayed with them by the bonfire and drank cheap barley ale until late into the night.

When I returned to our residence, Raelor had just come back as well. The unmistakable scent of Seraphine clung to him.

When he immediately caught the mixed smell of low-grade ale on me, his brows drew together. He stepped back two paces in visible disgust and lifted his sleeve to cover his nose.

"You’ve been fooling around again with those low-ranking friends of yours. Stay away from me, Freya. Don’t bring that stench of ale into the house."

A faint, self-mocking smile curved my lips.

He was probably worried that the scent would cling to him and that Seraphine wouldn’t like it. After all, she was now carrying a noble pup.

I said nothing and turned into the bathroom.

When I came out, Raelor was sitting on the sofa, holding his wolf communicator and replying rapidly to someone. His brows were soft, his gaze full of laughter.

I glanced at the screen where Seraphine’s name was glowing.

While I was bathing, the two of them had been chatting the entire time.

Not wanting to humiliate myself further, I turned toward the bedroom, ready to rest.

Unexpectedly, he called out to me, "Freya, there’s something I need to inform you about."

My steps halted.

The last time I heard the word "inform", it was when he told me he intended to breed Seraphine and leave behind a pup.

What could possibly be more excessive than that now?