Chapter 2

After the crowd dispersed, only Mother and Father stayed behind to persuade me.

"Come home with us, Nova."

This was not the first time they tried talking me into returning home. I sat slumped on the cold stone steps of the altar and looked up into their hopeful eyes.

They were chief healers of the Darkhowlers pack. It was their influence that set me on the path of healing wolfkins.

They had planned for me to take over the Darkhowlers Healing Center once I became Luna. But everything changed when I met Callum during my studies at the Werewolf Academy.

Ignoring my parents' objections, I hid my identity and followed Callum to the remote Silvermoon pack.

He had risen from poverty and fought his way step by step to become Alpha. He despised wolves who were born privileged and relied on family power or status, so for five years, I never told him my true last name. To him, I was just an ordinary wolf with no background.

Over the five years, I grew from a novice apprentice apothecary to a renowned healer. For three consecutive years, we won the Pack Elder Council's Best Partner Award. Wolves joked that we were the Alpha and Luna of Medicine.

When our lives improved little by little, I figured he might no longer mind my origins, but I never found the right moment to confess.

After the thought crossed my mind, I sighed. It did not matter anymore, so there was no need to tell him now.

"Alright, I'm coming home."

Mother's and Father's eyes immediately lit up.

"That's my pup. I'll make arrangements to take you home, and you'll never have to suffer in this tiny place again."

After seeing them off, I returned to the house I shared with Callum. The air still carried the faint scent of fir, which was once a smell I most adored, but now it felt bitterly ironic.

Just then, my wolf communicator chimed. I tapped on the pack's social page and saw that Seraphina had posted an update ten minutes earlier.

In the photo, she wore tight training gear and posed intimately with Callum on the training grounds. His hand rested on her waist as he guided her through her fighting form, and there was a doting gaze in his eyes.

The caption read. "Stole Callum away right before his coronation vows for some special training. He was a little grumpy at first, but as soon as I promised to cook venison steaks at my place tonight, he cheered right up!"

Seeing that post had my stomach churning, and I could not help but gag.

I knew that he would not come home tonight, just like every other special emergency before.

…

The next morning, I carried my packed bags to the council hall to formally request the dissolution of my mate bond and resign from my position as healer.

We were still discussing the paperwork when Callum strode in, holding a document.

My eyes flickered toward him, and I immediately caught the suggestive scratch mark on his neck—a mark left in the heat of passion.

Worse still, a sweet peach scent clung to him. It was Seraphina's scent, which was so strong it felt like she was staking her claim.

It was obvious he had a very fulfilling night.

Callum used to hate it when I left marks or my scent on him, claiming it undermined his authority as Alpha. Even when my wolf screamed at me to leave my marks on his back in our most passionate moments, I held back and gripped the sheets instead.

It turned out that he did not mind the marks; it was just that I did not have the right to leave the marks.

As he approached, an elder sighed and said, "Perfect timing, Alpha Callum. Perhaps you can talk some sense into your mate. She wants to resign and even—"

I quickly cut the elder off before he could finish his sentence, which was supposed to be "...sever your mate bond."