Chapter 1

My Alpha mate, Cassian, slept with thirty-two women from my circle just to get back at me.

When he finally realized his revenge had been misplaced and that everything I’d done was only to stabilize the violent rage of his wolf, it was already too late.

I was gone.

…

After I told his father I was leaving, my phone buzzed violently, like a death curse.

I swiped the screen open and was instantly drowned in a flood of photos of Cassian and Sophia tangled together in intimate embraces.

While I lay in a hospital bed, grief-stricken after losing my child and my mother, he could still lounge in another woman’s bed.

It was yet another knife stabbing deep into my already shredded heart.

Oblivious to the truth, Leon tried to play peacemaker.

"Listen, Seraphina, Cassian isn’t a bad guy at his core. You two must have had some misunderstanding. You’ve loved him for so many years. Just give him another chance, please? I promise, as long as I’m alive, no one will ever shake your position as Luna."

I said nothing. Silently, I tapped open a video Sophia had just sent, and handed the phone to Leon.

Moans and the crude rhythm of flesh against flesh filled the hospital room.

Sophia’s breathless voice asked, "Cassian, you really made me leave Seraphina on the side of the road to die… Didn’t that hurt you at all?"

Cassian’s voice came low and hoarse with lust. "Hurt? What a joke! You’re the only one I love, baby. She and that kid together don’t even measure up to one of your fingers."

"But… she’s your mate. I’m afraid if something happens to her, it might drag you down…"

"Relax," Cassian said smugly, full of arrogant control. "I already used Alpha power to cut off our bond. Whether she lives or dies has nothing to do with me."

The vile words and images in that video made Leon’s eyes go wide. He shook with rage. At last, it was as if the strength drained out of him. He slumped, defeated. "It’s the Blackthorns who wronged you. I’ll take care of the divorce. Once the paperwork is done in seven days, you’ll be free.

"As for your mother and your child…" his voice cracked, "I’ll make sure they’re buried with honor, and I’ll see that you’re compensated. For now, just focus on healing."

At the mention of my child, my numb heart seized violently. I thought I couldn’t hurt anymore, but that little life who’d been kicking inside me just yesterday was now gone. It felt like a cold hand gripped my heart tight. My mouth opened, but no sound came. Only silent tears slipped down my face.

Leon watched me, grief filling his eyes. After a long silence, he finally said, "It was my fault. I should never have forced you to stay. Go, Seraphina. Leave this place. You deserve a better future."

Then he left, closing the door gently behind him.

The silence closed in once more.

This time, I couldn’t hold back. I broke down and sobbed. No matter how many tears I shed, they couldn’t wash away the sorrow.

The only reason I became Cassian’s mate, his Luna, was because Leon arranged it all.

As an Alpha, Cassian had a dangerously unstable wolf. He lost control often and would go violent and berserk. It was his fatal weakness.

To fix it, Leon had followed a witch’s advice: find someone with a unique healing gift to bind to him.

That person was me.

When Leon found me, I was crushed beneath the weight of my mother’s astronomical medical bills. Leon paid them all. In exchange, I pursued Cassian, won him over, and became his mate.

I thought it was just a cold, loveless transaction. However, living with him day after day, against all reason, I fell in love with him.

For him, I endured every backlash when his wolf lost control. The pain tore me apart; several times, I passed out and lay unconscious for three days and nights.

I never told Cassian what I put up with for him. As long as I saw him clear-eyed afterward, smiling at me, I thought it was worth it. I thought those days would last forever.

That was until, somehow, he stopped coming home at night. By then, he flaunted other women in public.

When I finally gathered the courage to confront him, he slammed a stack of papers in my face.

"Seraphina! Do you know how my mother died? Swindlers like you killed her! I’ve hated deception my whole life!

"Love? You dare speak of love? This was nothing but a filthy money deal between you and my father! You gold-digger! How are you qualified to be my Luna?

"Get out of my sight! Or I’ll cut off the money for your mother’s treatment this instant!"

I hadn’t realized he already knew the truth. Faced with his threat and my mother lying helpless in that hospital bed, I couldn’t say a word.

From then on, Cassian trampled my dignity with even more abandon, over and over. I could only endure. For my mother’s sky-high medical bills, I had no choice.

Those were hellish days with no end in sight.

One day, I found myself pregnant.

Leon nearly begged me, "Keep this child, Seraphina. Maybe… maybe it’s the only hope left for your marriage."

That child rekindled a fragile, flickering hope in me. I agreed, letting the little life grow inside me.

However, in the end, I was far too naïve. After everything I tried, I couldn’t keep my child or my mother. I couldn’t even keep my marriage.

I closed my eyes, and silent tears fell.