Chapter 2

Elena's POV

Late at night, the wind howled down from the tower and the door to my room was flung open.

Pheisar stood in the doorway. The moonlight cut his dark hair into hard, cold lines. He wore his long, dark trench coat draped over his shoulders.

"Why did you cut the Mind-Link?" His voice was low, carrying an undeniable command. He was trying to control me again.

I didn't turn around. My back was to him. My voice was utterly flat, like still water. "I don't want to hear your voice anymore."

His brow furrowed slightly. His tone instantly froze. "Because of the ceremony tonight? Stop being dramatic."

I spun around abruptly and looked up at him, my eyes sharp as knives. "You swore an oath in front of the entire Nightshade Pack, in front of the Moon Goddess! You exchanged a Blood Bond with her using our ring! I'm not being 'dramatic.' I'm accepting reality!"

His body stiffened. His gaze darted away, refusing to meet mine.

"Selene was critically injured. She had to complete the Alpha Joining before the Blood Moon, or her wolf would fade and die. I had no choice."

"No choice?" My voice started to tremble. "You had plenty of choices. You could have gone to another Alpha. You could have begged the Witch Doctor and the Elders for a solution. But you didn't."

"Don't lie to me. Don't lie to yourself, too. If you remembered when you were critically injured and I used my wolf soul, my life force, to save you—and the promise you made then to never betray our mating bond—you wouldn't have done this."

I looked up at him. Tears finally broke free, but they weren't from love. They were from white-hot fury and the pain of ultimate betrayal.

"She was sick, so you had to sacrifice me? You had to let her stand in my place, let her wear my pendant, and exchange vows with you?" I challenged him.

He finally looked at me, a flicker of tired helplessness in his eyes. "She really liked that pendant..."

I gave a bitter laugh. "That was the only thing my parents left me. You know how important it was. Are you still going to lie to me?"

He sighed. His voice was still cold, laced with condescending pity. "She's dying. Can't you just—"

"Can't I just what?" I cut him off, my voice raw. "Can't I question you? Can't I be sad? Or can't I refuse to be the price you pay to save her?"

A crack appeared in Pheisar's composure for the first time. A flash of shame, perhaps, but he didn't try to defend himself.

I slowly lifted my chin, feeling Lyra's painful whimper inside. I spoke every word clearly. "If that's the case, I reject you, Alpha Pheisar..."

"Don't you dare!" Rage instantly flashed in his eyes. His powerful aura crushed me again. He looked at me coldly. "You're too emotional. Calm down for a few days."

With that, he turned and left without a backward glance.

He hadn't given me the chance to finish the rejection vow. Why? He had already chosen Selene.

That night, I stayed awake until dawn.

The next morning, I started packing up my things in the Manor. No nostalgia. No tears. Just an unprecedented calm.

I didn't take much that belonged to the Luna of Nightshade. A wolf bone dagger, broken in a fight. A few manuscripts I had personally written. Some unremarkable antiques. And the deed to the apartment Pheisar had bought me downtown years ago to thank me for saving his life. That was my only asset I could liquidate.

Before leaving the room, my gaze swept over the silvery lamp on the fireplace mantle—the Moon Thorn Lamp.

It used to symbolize our bond, sharing the same flame. No matter how late he came home, I always lit it, telling myself, "As long as the light is on, I'm still here."

I looked at it quietly, then walked over. I didn't light it. Instead, I brushed my fingers gently across the cold metal stand and pushed it over.

"The lamp is out," I whispered to myself, then turned and walked away without looking back.

I didn't go straight to the apartment. I went to the back garden first.

I called Mira, the omega, and asked her to deliver a message to Pheisar.

"Mira, please tell Alpha Pheisar," my voice was almost cruel in its flatness, "that I burned the garden."

I had. Not the whole garden, but the section where he had personally planted the moonglow flowers for me. They once symbolized our flawless love.

Now, they were dead on the window sill, and I didn't want them to rot under his and Selene's gaze.

Flames licked the dry stems. Ash scattered on the wind, leaving a scorched patch.

It was my final goodbye to my old life.

I checked into a hotel downtown. During the day, I contacted a real estate agent and urgently listed the apartment for sale. I priced it at three million, twenty percent below market value.

When I woke up, Lyra gently stirred in my mind, softly murmuring, "You finally didn't dream about him."

I smiled faintly. "Yeah."

Today, I had to go to the Nightshade Group Headquarters for the final job handover.

For years, I had been his Chief Assistant, advising him and taking countless hits for him.

The elevator chimed, signaling the top floor for the CEO's office. I headed toward the conference room but caught a whiff of an unfamiliar, sharp she-wolf pheromone near the half-open door.

Then, I heard a familiar voice—soft, with a submissive, clinging quality.

It was Selene.

"Pheisar, my ankle hurts again," the voice had a delicate, whining lilt. "Did you bump it accidentally when you carried me back to the room last night?"

I froze. My blood turned to ice.

I peered through the crack in the door. Selene was leaning against Pheisar, her silver hair spilling over his shoulder. And he, the Alpha I had loved, was gently holding her waist.

Pheisar leaned in slightly, his tone mild. "Be careful." His movements were soft, and he made no move to push her away.

Selene took the opportunity to settle onto his lap, tilting her head up. Her lips almost brushed his chin. Her smile was innocent yet sharp.

"Pheisar, if I move closer, will you pull away?" she whispered, a sweet, sly hint in her voice.

Then the kiss landed. Soft. Close. Undisguised.

I stood in the doorway, watching the nightmare unfold.

Their scents began to merge—the she-wolf was releasing mating pheromones, so thick it made me sick.

Then, the agonizing pain of the mating bond tearing ripped through my chest.