Chapter 5

I had barely taken more than a few steps when a searing pain shot through my abdomen. I collapsed to the ground, curling into a ball as the pain overwhelmed me.

The next second, Avery let out a startled scream.

"Luna Clara, what's wrong?"

Grayson rushed over. He scooped me up from the ground and held me tightly in his arms.

"Who pushed you?" His voice was fierce and frantic, just like it used to be whenever he rushed to protect me.

"It wasn't me!" Avery's eyes reddened. "Luna Clara said she wouldn't let me get away with this, and then she deliberately threw herself to the ground."

Grayson's arms stiffened. He ordered someone to pull up the surveillance footage.

The recording showed that Avery truly hadn't pushed me. I had fallen on my own.

Slowly, Grayson loosened his hold. Then, he stood up without looking at me again.

"Take Clara away."

…

I had been afraid of the dark ever since I was a pup.

When Grayson and I were young, a group of rogues had kidnapped us. We managed to escape while our captors were changing shifts and hid in a cave so dark I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face.

I was trembling with fear when Grayson took my hand and repeated over and over, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

He pulled me into his arms and used his own body heat to keep me warm.

We hid in that cave until our pack found us two days later.

Years later, we became mates. When we were choosing a home, he specifically picked the villa with the best natural lighting in the entire territory.

At night, he would even leave little night-lights on throughout the house. He told me that way, no matter where I went, there would always be light to guide me.

And now, the werewolf who had pushed me into this darkness was none other than him.

I curled up on the cold floor of the confinement cell, clutching my lower abdomen. The pain came in waves, ebbing and surging like the tide, only to recede and rise again. It seemed as though it would never end.

…

Two days later, I finally emerged from that endless darkness.

I was frail and deathly pale. The moment Molly saw me, she burst into tears. I didn't cry, for my tears had already run dry in that boundless darkness.

When I returned to the villa, Grayson wasn't home.

My phone lit up with an encrypted message.

"Your travel permit is ready, and all assets have been transferred successfully. The flight route is confirmed. We will depart at 9:00 pm tonight."

After packing my things, I went around the villa, switching off all the lights before leaving. When the very last light went out, I severed the mate bond between Grayson and me.

To my surprise, it didn't hurt as much as I had imagined. All that remained was an empty, hollow silence.

So, this was what it felt like to sever the connection.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the territory, Grayson was leaving the council building with his car keys clutched in his hand.

Azrael followed behind him, flipping through his records as he casually mentioned, "By the way, Luna Clara visited the hospital a few days ago. The hospital reported it to us, but we don't know the details."

Grayson stopped in his tracks. "When?"

"While you and Avery were away on your business trip."

Grayson fell silent for several seconds.

He recalled how I had told him I wasn't feeling well with my head bowed. My face was so pale it was almost translucent. Yet, he hadn't believed me.

He abruptly turned around and walked toward the parking lot.

But the moment he opened his car door, an inexplicable emptiness suddenly swept through his chest. It was as though something had been forcibly ripped straight out of his heart.

Instinctively, he pressed a hand against his chest. The sensation was so familiar, yet so utterly foreign.

I had severed our mate bond. I had never done anything like this before.

Grayson panicked. He started the car and sped toward home, dialing my number as he drove. But no one answered.

"The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and redialed my number over and over again.

Just as he was about to merge onto the main road, his phone suddenly rang. He slammed on the brakes and snatched it up.

"Clara—"

"Alpha Grayson." Avery's soft, timid voice came from the other end. "Some of the senior members at the merchant guild are refusing to cooperate and causing trouble. I don't know what to do."

Grayson's breathing gradually returned to normal. He leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes for a moment. Avery's voice continued to drift into his ear, but all he could think about was me.

I had never ignored his calls before, much less severed our mate bond and made myself impossible to find.

He told himself I was simply throwing a tantrum because I wanted to see him worry. But a small voice deep inside him whispered, "No. Clara isn't the kind of she-wolf who would do that."

In the end, he forcibly suppressed that voice and started the car again.

"I'll be right there," he told Avery.

Then, he turned the steering wheel and headed toward the merchant guild. He failed to notice that the car I was in was heading toward the airport on the opposite side of the road at that very moment.

The two cars passed each other at the intersection before gradually disappearing into the distance.