LOGINLuciano De Lucaâs POV Most of the elders stood frozen at my outburst, clearly taken aback by the sharpness in my tone. The first to recover was the eldest among them, his expression hardening as his gaze locked onto mine. âYou will not speak to us in that manner, Alpha King or not,â he said, his voice cold and measured. I barely heard the warning beneath his words. My anger was still too fresh, too raw, burning through whatever patience I had left. âYou will stop speaking about my mate that way,â I snapped, the words leaving me before I could restrain them. âYour ex-mate,â the elder corrected firmly. The word struck harder than I expected. A flicker of embarrassment surfaced, but it did nothing to dampen the fury coiling inside me. If anything, it made it worse. Even now, even after everything, Chiara deserved better than the way they spoke about her. She had always deserved better. If only I had realized that sooner. If only I had protected her from their judgment,
Chiaraâs POV With my plans finally set, I moved through each day with a quiet, steady sense of purpose. There was something grounding about having a future to walk toward, something that kept me from drifting back into the shadows of everything I had lost. I was no longer trapped in the past, no longer waking each morning feeling like I had nothing but memories to cling to. At least, that was true most of the time. There were moments, unwelcome and persistent, when Luciano De Luca slipped back into my thoughts. When he did, it wasnât gentle or fleeting. It was overwhelming, consuming every part of me until I could barely focus on anything else. His voice, his presence, the way loving him had once felt so natural, all of it came rushing back like a tide I couldnât hold back. The regret had begun to fade, replaced by a quiet acceptance. I had done the best I could with what I knew then. I could stand by my choices, even if they had led me here. But the pain was different. It linger
Luciano De Lucaâs POV I braced myself for the rejection I already knew was coming. Doctor B had even less reason to remain in the Nightfall pack than Chiara ever did, yet the thought of losing them both felt like a punishment I could not escape. Doctor B and I had never been truly close. There were only brief moments where something almost resembling friendship had surfaced, and even those moments had often been shaped by how much she reminded me of Chiara. Even now, as she studied the map spread across her desk, I could see it clearly. The same quiet focus. The same careful way of thinking things through. In my mind, I could picture Chiara doing exactly this, weighing each option, measuring every risk and reward before deciding where to rebuild her life. The thought twisted something bitter inside me as I wondered if Giacomo would be part of that decision. If they were truly in love, then of course they would choose a future together. âNo,â Doctor B said, pulling me back to the
Chiaraâs POV The image of Silvia Romano with her arms wrapped tightly around Luciano De Luca lingered in my mind long after the divorce ceremony had ended, refusing to fade no matter how much I wished it would. It felt like the final fracture of something already broken, the last quiet confirmation that whatever had once existed between us was truly over. My wolf sank into mourning again, heavy and silent inside me, yet beneath that grief, something stronger began to take root. A quiet, stubborn determination pushed through the pain, reminding me that walking away had not been weakness, but necessity. Seeing them together forced me to accept a truth I had resisted for far too long. Luciano had always been bound to Silvia in ways he had never been to me, tied by obligation, guilt, and something deeper I could never quite reach. Letting him go had not been easy, and it still felt like I was dragging chains made of regret and heartbreak wherever I went, but I knew now that I had done
Chiara's POV I could feel Luciano De Lucaâs eyes on me long before I turned and met his gaze, and even when our eyes finally locked, he did not look away. His expression remained controlled, unreadable in the way he had always mastered so well, yet his eyes betrayed him completely, carrying a sadness that felt too deep to belong to a man who had once been my husband. There was longing there too, quiet and persistent, as though he were trying to memorize something he no longer had the right to hold. Did he understand how much I still loved him, how every step I had taken toward this ending had felt like walking through fire I could not escape? Did he care at all that what he called the right decision had left me in pieces I was still struggling to hold together? The ache in my chest had not softened since the mutual rejection, instead it had grown sharper with time, as if distance only made the wound more aware of itself. I told myself that space would eventually help me forget h
Chiaraâs POV The divorce ceremony was meant to be simple. Brief. Almost clinical in its execution. A quiet undoing of something that had once been sacred. Each partner was required to stand before the judge and deliver a prepared statement, a formal acknowledgment that what had once been binding was now broken. I had written mine carefully, folding the small slip of paper until it fit neatly in my palm. Now, as I stood there, my fingers trembled around it. Compared to the raw devastation of the rejection ceremony, this should have been easier. Less painful. More distant. But it wasnât. Standing here, exposed before witnesses, admitting aloud that our marriage had failed felt like reopening a wound that had never truly healed. Most people avoided this kind of public spectacle now. Divorces were handled quietly, privately. But we were not most people. The Alpha King and his Luna were bound by tradition, even in separation. So here we were. Side by side. Before a judge. I
Chiaraâs POV I looked down at my dress, genuinely unsure what was wrong with it. Yes, it was more revealing than the conservative outfits Iâd worn throughout our marriage, but I didnât think it warranted the fierce glare Luciano De Luca was giving me now. Did he think I was embarrassing him? W
Luciano De Lucaâs POV The family gathering was being held at my parentsâ villa. I paced the length of the living room, my footsteps sinking into the thick carpet as I moved back and forth. The guests would arrive any moment nowâyet Chiara still hadnât shown up. My gaze kept snapping to the fro
Chiaraâs POV The news took a long moment to sink inâlong enough for Caterina to start looking worried. âAre you okay, sweetheart?â Caterina asked, stepping closer. Over the past two days, pregnancy reactions had begun to surface. As a Healer, I knew it was inevitable, but knowing didnât make it
Lucianoâs POV I genuinely wasnât sure. I often thought about the question Chiara had asked me at the barâwhether I loved her or not. My answer that night had been inadequate, but the truth was, nothing had changed since then. Earlier that day, while I was seated behind my desk at the Alpha Head







