Chapter 1

Lilian Wilder, the she-wolf that Arthur Thorne had been seeing outside, was now carrying his pup. In order to bring her into the pack and let her be his Luna, he wanted to force me to sever our mate bond.

"Sophia, I'll tell the pack that we'd wanted to break off the bond a year ago, but we only delayed it for the sake of keeping the peace in the pack," Arthur declared.

"I have to repay Lilian's kindness and make sure she doesn't suffer any grievance. So, you'll admit that you're the one who fell out of love, and that's why I'm breaking my mate bond with you."

I watched in a daze as he spoke, a chill spreading through my body. "But that means I'll be cast out of the pack. I won't have a home anymore."

In my previous lifetime, I'd heard from the Beta long ago that Arthur often left the pack territory to take care of Lilian. At the time, I'd teased the Beta, saying he'd misunderstood Arthur. After all, he was only trying to repay his debt of gratitude.

I didn't expect Arthur to actually fall in love with Lilian and force me to sever our mate bond. I refused to do it. I assumed that as long as he was still with me, he might change his mind someday.

When Arthur tried to sever our mate bond by force, I tearfully questioned him, demanding to know why. However, not only did he ignore me, but he also poisoned me with wolfsbane and left me to die in agony.

This time around, when he noticed my continued silence, he softened his tone and said, "Don't worry, Sophia. Even though you'll be leaving the pack, I'll continue to protect you as I always have. I won't let you suffer in any way!"

After hearing that, I looked up at his face that was so familiar to me.

Thinking I was moved by his words, Arthur reached out to pull me into his arms. "I know you're upset, Sophia, but Lilian saved my life, and she's carrying my pup. I have to ensure that she and the pup are safe and protected.

"Give me some time. Once the pup comes along, I'll bring you back to the pack."

Before I could respond, a familiar figure appeared from a distance.

When Lilian saw us in a tight embrace, her eyes reddened at once. "Arthur! Didn't you say you're going to sever your mate bond with Sophia? Why are you hugging her?"

Then, she turned to me and pleaded, "I know you love Arthur, Sophia, but I just want to give my pup a family! Please don't try to steal Arthur away from me, okay?"

When Arthur saw Lilian's teary eyes, his attitude changed at once. He looked at me and icily said, "Lilian needs me more than you do, Sophia! You'd better do as I say and sever the mate bond. Don't force me to do things the hard way!"

Upon hearing what Arthur said, Lilian tauntingly eyed me, as if she'd already crushed me beneath her feet.

As I looked at the two of them, I nodded and said, "Fine. Let's sever our mate bond."

Arthur was startled. He didn't understand why I'd abruptly agreed to his demand. But I also didn't miss the look of pure joy in his eyes. He and Lilian were so thrilled that they exchanged a happy glance.

As I took in their reaction, I snorted.

This time around, I was going to keep my distance from them. I wasn't going to let them hurt me anymore. But that wasn't all. I was going to take revenge and make sure that everyone who hurt me paid for it.

Arthur looked at me once more, his tone gentle as he said, "Since you've agreed to it, let's go to the elders now and have them witness the severance of our mate bond."

I nodded and trailed after them, feeling numb on the inside.

Meanwhile, Lilian deliberately fell back. Then, in a voice that only the two of us could hear, she taunted me, "See, Sophia? You were always going to end up trampled into the ground by me. Arthur is mine. Don't even think about snatching him away from me!

"You're going to be kicked out of the pack. I hope you enjoy being at the mercy of the rogue wolves!"

As she cackled with glee, she sped up and affectionately looped her arm around Arthur's. Then, the two of them walked on ahead.

As I stared at Lilian's back, I became even calmer and more clear-headed.

Nora Fenwick, my maid, saw the tears that fell from my eyes. She hurriedly tried to console me, saying, "Luna, you must trust the Alpha. He'll definitely bring you back once the pup is born."

I shook my head and wiped my tears away.

In order to get me to agree to sever our mate bond, Arthur had even bribed Nora, my personal maid.

He had done the same thing in my previous life. He got all the wolves to come and talk me into letting go, and all the while, he allowed Lilian to drag my dignity through the mud.

But there was something he didn't know.

During the pack war back then, I was the one who'd risked my life to hold back the enemy pack and lure away the ones who had surrounded Arthur. If not for that, Lilian would never have been able to rescue him.

How could someone like her locate where Arthur had been cornered? I was the one who told her where to go.

After that war, I ended up gravely wounded, and to this day, I was racked with pain every night.

Whenever I howled in pain, Arthur would come to me and patiently hug me, tenderly wiping my sweat away as he did so. He would even prepare a sumptuous breakfast for me.

But over time, Lilian became dissatisfied with only having secret rendezvous with him in the forest. Thus, once the sky turned dark, he would sneak out and spend the whole night with her.