Chapter 2

The moment the words left my mouth, the air around us seemed to freeze.

Marcus drew in a sharp breath, his teeth clenched. "Zoey, what the hell is wrong with you? You wanna sever our mate bond over something this small?

"I used to think you were a proper Luna. I never imagined you'd be this petty."

I replied coolly, "Didn't you just say I wasn't thinking clearly? Why would you wanna keep a mentally unstable woman as your Luna?"

"Watch it!" Marcus was shaking with anger, but we were still in the administrative building. Mindful of his Alpha status, he forced himself to swallow it down.

Noelle tilted her head, thinking for a moment. Then her eyes lit up.

"Dad, if you sever your mate bond with Mom, that means you can have a bonding ceremony with Aunt Clara!"

"That's great!" Rowan chimed in. "Mom, hurry up and leave. We want Aunt Clara to be our new mom!"

After eight years, I was long used to Marcus's indifference.

What I hadn't expected was that the children I risked my life to bring into the world had already chosen someone else as their mother. It felt like a blade sinking straight into my heart.

Clara glanced between Marcus and me and finally sensed something was wrong. She stepped forward and gently took my hand.

"Zoey, don't misunderstand. I never meant to take your family from you.

"If you're uncomfortable, I can return the gown right now."

I quietly pulled my hand away from hers. My face stayed blank.

"There's no need. That Luna title was yours to begin with."

The night before my bonding ceremony with Marcus, I heard him praying to the Moon Goddess.

He wished that in his next life, he could be with Clara.

That was when I finally understood why the Alpha of a powerful pack had gone against all opposition to bond with me as his mate.

It was because I looked somewhat like my cousin, Clara.

They had fallen in love during college and planned to hold their bonding ceremony right after graduation.

But just before the ceremony, Clara left him behind and chose to join another pack as a healer.

Her departure became a thorn buried deep in Marcus's heart, one that could never be pulled out. Clara was his first love, the one who got away.

He had once wanted to leave everything behind and follow her. But as the heir to the Alpha title, his fate had already been sealed.

He tried resisting, but in the end, pressure from his parents forced him to take up the role of Alpha. That was when he met me, someone who looked far too much like Clara.

Our life together was never as happy as outsiders believed. It was full of compromise and quiet misery.

All the resentment he felt from loving Clara but never having her was taken out on me.

As an Alpha, Marcus never argued with me or raised his hand.

Instead, he punished me with constant fault-finding and giving me the cold shoulder.

I had lost count of how many times I had cried or how many sleepless nights I had spent fighting myself in silence.

When I finally made up my mind to sever the mate bond, I discovered I was pregnant, with twins.

If I took the medicine to sever the bond at that time, not only would I lose the babies, but I might never be able to conceive again.

My parents had tried to persuade me.

They said Marcus was a pack Alpha, and becoming Luna was something countless she-wolves wouldn't even dare dream of.

They also said that if an Alpha's mate demanded to sever the bond, it would be a scandal that could throw the pack into chaos and damage its reputation.

Marcus's parents also promised that as long as I gave birth to the children, my family would enjoy wealth and security for generations.

Everyone told me to think of the bigger picture.

For the children. For my parents. For the pack.

So I endured, day after day.

During the past seven years, I had treated my children as my emotional anchor.

But now, they were standing firmly on Clara's side, turning all those silent years of sacrifice into a cruel joke.

If pain was truly inevitable, I would rather rip the band-aid off. Ending it cleanly was the kindest choice for everyone.

I repeated myself. "Let's sever the mate bond. You can keep Rowan and Noelle.

"Whoever you want to be their mother is up to you."

Marcus stared at me, his voice hoarse. "Are you seriously making a scene just because I didn't let you attend the banquet?

"What right do you have to talk about severing the mate bond? I'll give you time to reflect. You'd better not disappoint me again."

With that, he grabbed Clara's hand and walked away without looking back.

I was already used to Marcus's contempt.

I wasn't going to keep entangling myself with him anymore.

If Clara could give up love for her dreams, why couldn't I give up a worthless man for my freedom?

I wanted to see the world beyond this pack, too, just like Clara had.