Chapter 2

In my dream, I slipped back to the first time I ever laid eyes on Cassian.

It was at a pack gathering. He stood beside the sacred flames, his face carved from ice, his silver eyes gleaming like winter stars. His lethal hunting skills and commanding presence had already captured the hearts of half the females in the territory.

I was no exception. After that single glimpse, I started hunting for every scrap of information about him.

Back then, I was nothing but a Beta trainee from the outer territories. He looked right through me.

To earn his attention, I worked myself to the bone.

Once I finally earned my place as a full pack member, I invited him to a feast of fresh prey under the guise of giving thanks.

That night, I caught the shift in his gaze—the way his eyes lingered.

I seized that opening and pursued him with everything I had.

Fresh rabbits, polished wolf-fangs, rare healing herbs, golden wild honey.

I never spared a single gift.

Finally, I got what I wanted. He accepted my courtship.

I thought it was the beginning of happiness. I didn't know it was the start of my nightmare.

After we were together, he grew colder. Every rendezvous was cancelled for pack duty or emergency patrols.

I never doubted him. Not until our Bonding Ceremony.

That day, a memory crystal hidden in his war chest shattered my world.

Eira had compiled ten years of interceptions—every time she'd called him away with a trembling voice, every feigned crisis that summoned him to her side.

All those times he stood me up, he had been captive to her orbit, playing the dutiful guardian to her every whim. He’d spend the night curled in her furs chasing away "nightmares," hunt the finest prey to soothe her "fragile nerves," drop everything to warm her tea when she felt a chill.

Even more pathetic, I didn't have the courage to confront him.

I was terrified he would leave.

In the previous life, when Eira died in the flames, he was so terrifyingly calm. I actually thought I had won.

He emptied the entire pack nursery for me and the pup. Showered me with affection.

That sudden love blinded me completely.

Until the day I died by his hand after giving birth, I finally understood.

He was burning me alive with revenge.

When I woke, I was in a healing den.

Not Cassian beside me, but a stranger.

"You're awake?" A middle-aged male leaned over me. He carried no pack scent—just the isolation of a lone wolf from the outer rim. "I live in the den below yours. Saw the smoke, went up to check, found you bleeding on the floor. Brought you here myself." His jaw tightened. "Those rescue patrol bastards were swarming around the other female. Wouldn't even look at you."

I struggled to move. When my hand touched my belly, I froze.

"I'm sorry," he said, eyes soft with pity. "The healers said... the pup was already gone when I brought you in."

I pulled my lips into a bitter smile.

"Not your fault. I know."

"Thank you. For bringing me here."

A stranger could see I was dying, yet my mate of five years couldn't spare me a glance.

Seeing my devastation, the stranger grew angrier than I was.

"What the hell is wrong with that rescue patrol? A pregnant she-wolf lying there bleeding and they do nothing?"

"If I hadn't gone up, you'd be dead! Where is your family? Doesn't the sire even care?"

"Give me his pack-link. I'll contact him. You shouldn't be alone."

"I've already reported that patrol to the Elder Council. They disgrace the title of protector."

I nodded, but when I tried to speak, only air came out.

"The sire is dead to me."

The stranger's face flooded with sympathy.

He offered to stay. To care for me until I healed.

I refused.

I transferred the healing fees to his account and urged him to leave.

Though he walked away, the storm on the pack-link network was just beginning.

The hashtag Alpha's Den Fire exploded across the territory.

It shot to the top of every trending list within minutes.

The neighbor had uploaded photos of me—collapsed, bloody, crawling from the wreckage while the patrol guarded Eira.

The public channel erupted.

Thousands howled for blood, cursing the rescue patrol for only caring about the flames.

For ignoring the pregnant she-wolf and the life inside her.

If that's their priority, call them firemongers, not guardians of life.

I scrolled through the raging comments, feeling this punishment was still too light for Cassian.

I opened my pack-link, ready to send the severance request.

But Eira's showing-off message beat me to it.

She was in this same healing house. One floor below.

The projection showed Cassian spoon-feeding her marrow-broth, blowing on each mouthful so it wouldn't burn her tongue, his eyes soft as summer rain.

I'd seen countless images of their intimacy.

They no longer stirred anything in me.

I closed the chat and called Cassian.

He answered on the fifth ring, voice dripping with impatience.

"You still have the nerve to call?" he snarled. "What do you want? Checking if Eira's dead? Sorry to disappoint you—I've already saved her! She's alive and bouncing right below you in this healing house!"

"Asha , I've known you five years, and I never thought you were capable of murder. Do you realize what you did? You tried to kill her! Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm giving you one hour. Get down here and apologize to her face. Otherwise, we sever the bond."

Before I could speak, Eira's voice drifted through the link—wounded, weeping, perfect.

"Cassian... don't blame the Luna. It's all my fault. If she claims I set the fire, just admit it for me. Don't argue. A pregnant female's emotions can't take the strain."

Cassian let out a long, disappointed sigh.

"You're too kind, that's why she walks all over you. We grew up together in the same den—what is Asha ? What right does she have to touch you?"

"Don't worry. This time I'm going to teach her a permanent lesson."

While they were locked in their affectionate exchange, I spoke clearly into the link.

"Yes. Let's sever the bond. I agree. The dissolution papers are being transmitted now. Sign them."