11

Hearing the familiar, deep voice from the other end of the line, Zara felt dazed for a moment.

Back then, because of marriage, she had abandoned the path that should have led her to the top. She didn’t just leave behind her career she left her pack, left the identity of a wolf who had once shone.

Her senior, Mavin, who had always supported her, had been furious. They had even had a huge fight because of it.

“Zara, are you really going to throw away the road you fought so hard to walk just for an empty bond and a future you can’t even see clearly yourself?”

“Rodrigo Pack isn’t a warm place. Declan isn’t an Alpha you can trust. Have you ever thought maybe he doesn’t love you?”

“If one day your bond breaks and you’re kicked out with nothing what will you do then?”

“Zara, you will regret it!”

Mavin’s voice had been full of disappointment. After a long silence, he pulled Zara into a tight embrace and let out a heavy sigh, as if trying to hold her back from stepping into a cliff she couldn’t even see.

“Fine. If one day you regret it whenever that is you can come back. I’ll open the pack’s doors for you.”

That day, Zara swore to herself that she could win Declan’s heart.

After all, back then, she and Declan hadn’t been completely without feelings.

When her mother died not long after on Zara’s eighteenth birthday Zara was driven out by her father and stepmother. They even branded her a “cursed wolf,” leaving her with nowhere to return.

It was Declan who brought her into Rodrigo territory.

She still remembered it clearly: that night was cold, fog swallowing the forest, and her body trembled from hunger and wounds. Declan stood before her like a towering shadow. The young Alpha’s gaze was sharp and icy, but he still reached out his hand.

“From today on, you’re coming with me.”

When he found out it was her birthday, Declan had someone prepare a small celebration at midnight. Not a party, not a crowd just a simple cake and a single candle. But for Zara, who had just lost everything, it felt like a miracle.

After that, there was always one lamp left on for her in the pack’s grand house as if a space had been prepared just for her.

On full-moon nights, when the wolves of Rodrigo howled from the cliffs, Declan had once stood beside her. He didn’t say much, but his presence alone was enough to make Zara believe that perhaps this man was someone she could trust for the rest of her life.

Even during the pack festival, when fireworks bloomed across the night sky, Zara had once thought that some of them were bursting just for her.

But now Zara finally understood: the version of herself who abandoned her own path just to chase love had been nothing but a joke.

That mate bond that was supposed to be sacred? It was nothing more than a chain.

“We’ll talk about it in more detail later, okay?”

Zara didn’t ask how Mavin knew she was going to break the bond with Declan. She only gripped her phone so tightly her fingertips turned white, as if the moment she let go, all the courage that had just surfaced would fall apart with it.

Then she spoke softly, but firmly.

“I want to come back.”

Inside the VIP room of a nightclub filled with bright lights and the heavy scent of alcohol mixed with expensive perfume, Declan lounged lazily, half leaning against the sofa. This was Rodrigo’s elite entertainment territory, a place where young Alphas, pack heirs, and noble blood gathered to kill boredom.

One arm propped up his head, while the other hand idly swirled a glass of wine. His long legs stretched out across the table as if the entire room belonged to him.

Declan didn’t say a single word, but everyone could feel his Alpha aura was foul the moment he walked in. An invisible pressure filled the room, making every breath feel heavier.

No one dared to ignite his temper.

Ryan, seated not far from him, hesitated for a long time. He didn’t know what had really happened, but his instincts told him it had to be related to Zara.

Finally, Ryan forced himself to speak.

“Declan calmed down. Is Zara still refusing to sign the bond severance papers?”

“This can’t be forced. Zara has always been stubborn. But now that Marina is back I’m sure she’ll agree soon.”

Ryan chose his words carefully, trying to soothe Declan.

But the moment those words were spoken, the image of Zara’s face, serious, calm, yet full of wounds when she handed over the bond severance documents, flashed in Declan’s mind again.

His chest suddenly tightened.

Irritation struck him for no clear reason, like the claws of the wolf inside him raking at the walls of his heart.

Even Ryan knew: from the very beginning, the one who wanted to break the bond had been Declan, while the one who refused had always been Zara.

So then what did Zara’s attitude this time mean?

Would she agree? Declan didn’t believe it.

Before Declan could think any further, a drunk heir from a conglomerate his arm slung around a woman laughed loudly at the topic.

“Who doesn’t know how much Zara loves Brother Declan?” he said, bursting into laughter. “When the mate bond first formed, Brother Declan deliberately brought a she-wolf from another pack to a charity banquet. Zara knew, but instead of getting mad she even helped that she-wolf get access and protection, just to please Brother Declan.”

He took another gulp of his drink, then smirked.

“In my opinion, even if Marina’s back, Zara still won’t want to break the bond. She might even be willing to become the third party in an Alpha’s bond.”

After saying that, he laughed loudly again.

Ryan agreed deep down. All this time, Zara had tried far too hard to hold onto Declan. She swallowed her pride, endured pain, even sacrificed her blood and dignity as a wolf.

But because Declan didn’t like her, even though in name she was Luna Jordan, in reality Zara had long become a laughingstock among Rodrigo’s upper circle a Luna with no place beside her own Alpha.