Chapter 3

I turned. The moment our eyes met, panic flashed across his face.

“Sandy was drunk. It wasn’t safe for an omega to be out alone, so I brought her back to our place,” he explained. “Besides, she’s your sister. It’s only right that I look after her.”

Mike was always a man of few words, yet when it came to Sandy, he suddenly had so much to say.

And every word was in her defense.

Looking at the Mike I had loved for ten years, I felt like I was staring at a stranger.

We were the ones Luna had bound as mates.

I was the one who had stood by his side, helping him build Moon Shadow into what it was today.

So why… had I become the stand-in?

“She is not my sister. She’s nothing but a homewrecker, just like her mother.” I pressed my hands against my throbbing temples, my gaze spearing Sandy with a venom I could taste. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, a low, dangerous growl vibrating in my chest, muscles coiling with the primal urge to lunge.

Not a flicker of emotion crossed Sandy’s features—she stood there like a delicate porcelain doll, unresponsive to my piercing stare.

But Mike erupted.

His Alpha aura exploded into the room, a tangible, crushing wave of dominance that made the air crackle.

He stepped in front of Sandy, shielding her, before his roar hit me.

“Lizzy! Enough. You will apologize to her. Now.”

He drew a sharp breath, a cruel smirk twisting his features.

“You got born but never got raised! No wonder your mom dumped you. You’re such a bitter, venomous piece of work—you deserve to rot alone forever!"

My face went white immediately.

The blow landed with physical force. A hollow laugh escaped me, my throat tight as I fought back the burning pressure behind my eyes. Ten years. A decade during which Mike and I never raised our voices at each other. And now, twice in a single day, he’d unleashed his fury on me—for her.

Every word was a dagger, expertly aimed.

A tear traced a hot path down my cheek, and with it came a flood of memories from a time before my world grew teeth and claws.

The countless times Sandy’s mother—my stepmother—had raised her claws against me. It was always Mike who threw himself between us, a scrawny, defiant Alpha pup using his body as my armor.

The nights I’d wept in silence. It was Mike who’d find me, his voice a solemn vow in the dark.

“Lizzy, you are the best in this world. No matter what happens, I will always love you. I will always be with you.”

How laughably naive it all seemed now.

The shield that once protected me had been reforged into the blade now piercing my heart.

I doubled over, a low whimper escaping as I clutched my head. The movement finally snapped Mike’s attention to my state. His eyes flickered away, a trace of guilt surfacing before they landed on my foot, still oozing blood onto the floor.

“You’re hurt?” The concern in his voice was thin, strained.

He sighed, the sound heavy with forced patience. “Look, Lizzy, let’s just… let’s say your wolf was out of control tonight. We’ll forget this happened, and in the future—”

“There is no future.” My voice was a feather-light whisper, yet it cut through his sentence like a guillotine.

“What?” Genuine shock colored his tone.

I could sense the questions forming on his lips, but they were stolen by a sudden, choked sob from Sandy. We both looked up to see her wrench herself from behind Mike and bolt toward the dark stretch of road.

Mike didn’t spare me another glance. He was a blur of motion, sprinting after her. In his desperate haste, his shoulder slammed into me, sending me sprawling back onto the gravel. Sharp stones bit into the raw flesh of my foot.

I sat there in the dirt, watching their intertwined figures disappear into the night. A strange, cold calm settled over me, numbing the pain, freezing the tears.

Fortunately, my physical condition is quite good. Apart from the pain, the wound has not significantly affected my mobility.

I stood up like a soldier rising from the battlefield, dusting off my clothes as if nothing had happened.

There was nothing left for me.

And it's time to go.

Congratu-fucking-lations, Mike and Sandy.

I shot a mindlink to my mother, Azendar, a simple message: Mom, I will be home soon. Then I walked back into the villa, straight to the room that still seemed to echo with their earlier intimacy.

I methodically dismantled the life I’d built. The carefully selected mating ceremony favors, the silly couple-themed trinkets, all went into the trash. My eyes landed on the oversized countdown calendar hanging in the living room, the one marked “Days Until The mating ceremory.” I hesitated for only a second.

My claws extended. I slashed through the word “Mating”. The paper tearing with a satisfying sound. In my mind, I silently renamed it: Days Until Freedom.