Chapter 2

The werewolves around me began cheering loudly for Simon and Cynthia.

Everyone in the pack knew that I was Simon's mate, not Cynthia. Yet, they still watched the couple on stage while laughing with each other, dismissing it as just another fun and amusing spectacle during the festival.

Meanwhile, Simon and Cynthia were already standing on the stage with their foreheads pressed against each other.

The light soon appeared, and it was brighter than anyone else's before them.

In fact, it was so bright that the light looked just like their own personal full moon between them.

"Whoa! That's such a bright light!"

"But doesn't Simon have a mate? What's going on?"

"Look, his mate is down here with us. Can't you see her?"

Whispered and gossipy voices immediately arose from all around me. I stared at the bright light between them, and the wolf within me howled in silence.

Cynthia then got down from the stage and headed straight for me. She whispered in my ear, "See that, Layla?"

She then took a step backward so that I could see the gleaming, victorious look in her eyes that she didn't even bother hiding from me.

"I am more like his fated mate than you'll ever get to be."

Then, she went back over to Simon's side.

The crowd's whispers and murmurs around me continued flooding my ears.

I held back my tears, threw one last glance at Noah, who was next to Simon, and fled from the square as quickly as I could.

Simon tried connecting to me via mind-link, anxiously explaining that it was all just a show and that he wouldn't ever see Cynthia again after today.

I didn't even bother listening to everything he had to say before blocking the mind-link.

I bought some food on the way, weaved through the streets, and entered the healing center.

My dad, Dominic Lunaris, used to be the pack's bravest warrior, but he was now emaciated and lying quietly in bed without a stir.

I sat down next to the bed and held his rough, calloused hands, unable to stop my tears from falling.

"I have good news and bad news, Dad," I said. "The good news is that Simon's so-called injury and Noah's so-called silver rot have been fake all along. They'd been deceiving me for a long time. But at least, that means I won't have to work as hard anymore for the rest of my life."

I began choking up, and it took me quite a while before I could finally speak again.

"The bad news is… Dad, I don't have a future with Simon anymore."

Dad still remained silent in bed, and my memories eventually began drifting into the past.

I'd first met Simon at the hunting trials organized by the Pack Alliance, and he'd draw me in like a werewolf to pure moonlight.

At that time, I'd only known him as a handsome and powerful pack member. I had no idea that he was the pack's chosen Alpha successor.

I was just an ordinary werewolf, neither inheriting Dad's superior combat abilities nor possessing any noble bloodline awakening of the sort. In fact, I could only live in the most remote part of the pack territory.

I was so ordinary that I didn't even have many friends, and naturally, I wouldn't know who Simon was.

Yet, fortunately, Simon seemed to have sensed my admiration for him from afar, and he began showering me with intense love and affection.

He didn't care that I came from a humble background. He would always come and keep me company as long as he had the time, and he was also particularly respectful to Dad.

Dad had then privately told me that Simon was a sincere, powerful, and very reliable wolf.

Even after I finally learned of his true identity, I didn't really care and continued loving him for who he was.

At that time, I had truly believed that the Moon Goddess had given me the best gift I could have ever asked for in him.

However, a siege happened, and that changed everything for good.

Late at night, Dad had led a routine patrol team along the border, only to walk right into a meticulously laid trap.

The Rogues then swarmed out like maniacs, far outnumbering the patrol team.

Dad's team was practically wiped out. When Simon finally arrived at the battlefield, he saw Dad already lying in a pool of blood on the ground.

He immediately rushed into the Rogues without hesitation, dragging him out forcibly from their claws and ending up being grievously injured by silver weapons.

At that time, Simon had held my hand and spoken in a solemn voice. "Layla, it was all my fault for failing to protect you. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

I cried so hard then and buried my face into his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

I didn't know that the wounds Simon had sustained while saving Dad would later become the shackles he repeatedly used to control me and chain me in place.

As his way of making it up to me, we brought forward our marking ceremony and became each other's mates under the Moon Goddess' oath.

However, it wasn't until then that I found out that he'd had Cynthia by his side for the longest time.

Cynthia was a she-wolf from a neighboring pack who'd grown up with Simon, and their friendship bond was just about as deep as the pact between both of their packs.

She would often use all sorts of excuses to get close to Simon. I'd keep getting jealous over them being together, but each time, Simon would pull me into his arms and bury his face into my shoulder while comforting me gently.

"Silly, my heart is only big enough for you. Nobody else can come in, even if they wanted to."

He often showed a strong sense of boundaries with her in front of me, and soon, my anxiety about them began easing up.

However, it took me until the fifth year of our mating, when I was happily pregnant with Noah, to catch Cynthia and Simon rolling in the sheets with each other, naked. They were in my bed.

I threw a massive fuss over it and threatened to break off the bond between Simon and me, but after countless apologies, Simon pinned me against the wall.

"Layla! Just let this blow over already, seeing that I got so deviously injured while saving your father's life back then!"

I recalled at once how he'd risked his life to save Dad, and so, I agreed to give him another chance. I hoped that he would return to being the perfect partner I once had.