Chapter 5

Loretta's POV

I forced down the wave of emotions threatening to overwhelm me and turned to leave.

The moment I stepped out of the office, I heard the girl's gentle voice comforting him. It didn't take long for him to calm down.

I lifted my head, refusing to let the tears in my eyes fall.

I retreated to a deserted corner by the stairs and gripped the railing tightly with one hand.

The unbearable pain from the mate bond finally broke through the walls I had built around my emotions.

My tears fell uncontrollably.

Maybe we weren't true mates, but I had loved him for eight years.

We had sworn our vows as mates before the Moon Goddess's altar.

Giving him up now felt like tearing out a piece of my own flesh.

But it was fine. Everything would get better. I would forget him completely.

I didn't know how much time had passed.

When I finally calmed down, I went upstairs toward my desk and ran into the girl coming down the hall.

She was beautiful from head to toe, the kind of girl who had clearly grown up surrounded by love and care.

Zane's Beta, Craig Neal, was personally escorting her.

She smiled as she approached me and said gently, "It's all right now. Zane won't blame you anymore."

She placed a pearl in my palm. "This is for you. Don't be sad. Remember to take care of the scratch on your face. A scar wouldn't look good on a girl's face."

What a beautiful and kind girl.

Compared to her bright and lively presence, I felt like a clown trapped in a world of darkness.

Seeing that I didn't respond, Beta Craig frowned and reminded me coldly, "Are you not going to thank Ms. Winteringham?"

So her last name was Winteringham.

She pulled her hand back and smiled. "It's okay. Let's go."

The two of them left.

I stood there, staring at the silver-blue Australian pearl in my palm.

It was flawless, as pure as the girl herself.

I just wondered if Ms. Winteringham knew that Zane already had a mate.

When I returned to my desk, I printed another copy of the original document and placed it in front of Josephine.

When Josephine saw me, there wasn't a trace of guilt on her face. Instead, she looked smug.

"You saw it clearly. That's the kind of woman who deserves Alpha Zane."

I slammed the documents down in front of her. "I'm not worthy, and neither are you. If all you can do is resort to cheap tricks like this, you'll never get anywhere in life. You're already in your thirties. Find someone to bond with and stop chasing impossible dreams."

Josephine's expression changed. She slammed her hand on the desk and stood up. "Loretta!"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with her and turned away.

Back at my desk, I took out a small mirror and looked at the faint scratch on my cheek.

The wound wasn't deep. I wiped it with a damp tissue and didn't bother doing anything else.

After all, with a face like mine, one more scar hardly mattered.

Then I thought of Ms. Winteringham again. There was something about her that seemed familiar.

Near the end of the workday, I received a call from my father. He said Hudson Fawks was back, and he wanted me to come home for dinner.

I was both surprised and happy. "Huddy is back? Didn't he say he wouldn't be back until the fifteenth?"

Levi Preston replied, "He finished his work early and came back ahead of schedule."

"Okay. I'll come home after work."

I drove back to the Silver Moon Pack.

The Silver Moon Pack had moved to a residential area in the western part of the city. The house my parents lived in had only been purchased this year.

My father, Levi, owned a mid-sized real estate company. We weren't from a wealthy elite family, but we were comfortable, and I had grown up in a privileged environment.

But the real estate market had declined in recent years. More than six months ago, the company suffered major losses from failed investments and was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.

When Levi learned I was pregnant with Zane's child, he never forced me to demand an explanation.

Watching him grow older and more exhausted, to the point where he had to sell off his assets to pay his debts, I finally made the decision to go to the Blade Pack.

At the time, I had my own selfish reasons. I wasn't doing it only for Levi. I was doing it for myself too.

I got what I wanted. The Silver Moon Pack paid off its debts with a large sum of money from the Blade Pack. But I paid the price I deserved.

So the pain I was suffering now was something I had brought upon myself. I had no one else to blame.

When I returned to the Silver Moon Pack, Grace Fawks came out of the kitchen. "Loretta, you're back."

Grace was my father's current partner.

When I was nine years old, my parents broke the bond. My mother took my brother with her and left me behind.

Later, Grace met my father. They never formed a mate bond, but lived together as a couple.

At first, I couldn't accept her. I even hated her. But over time, I came to feel her kindness.

Hudson treated me well, too. After losing my brother, I gained a new one.

"Grace, where are Dad and the others?"

"They should be on their way back. They'll be home soon. Go rest for a while."

"Okay."

I returned to my room, and all my exhaustion and pain disappeared in an instant.

I sat on the edge of the bed and noticed the photo album on the nightstand. I picked it up and opened it. The first picture was an incomplete family portrait.

The photo had already faded with age. I had been only eight years old that year.

My young and handsome father held me in his arms. My fourteen-year-old brother stood beside him, while my mother stood on the other side.

I had torn the photo myself because I hated my mother for taking my brother away and leaving my father and me behind.

But after all these years, that deep sense of betrayal and pain had faded.

I turned to the next page.

In the photo, I was a bright and beautiful teenager, with sunlight falling across my radiant smile.

I had long golden hair, delicate features, and eyes that sparkled like stars.

But later, I became seriously ill and had to take steroid medication, which caused me to gain weight. I could only prevent further weight gain through strict dieting and exercise.

Suddenly, I thought of Ms. Winteringham. Her features looked somewhat similar to mine in the photo, especially her eyes.