Chapter 1

On the day my mate's dying first love went into labor, his parents posted ten warriors at my door.

They did it only to stop me from storming the delivery room and ruining the birth of Alpha Kaelen's heir.

However, I never showed up, not even after the cries of a newborn filled the air.

His mother, the former Luna, held the other she-wolf's hand with a sigh of relief.

"Liana, with us here, that barren Elara will never harm you or the pup!"

Kaelen dabbed the sweat from Liana's brow, his eyes filled with adoration.

"Don't worry, my father has men guarding the pack borders. If Elara dares to cause trouble, we will exile her forever!"

He finally relaxed when he was sure I wasn't coming.

He couldn't understand.

All he wanted was to give his dying first love a child, a legacy.

Why couldn't I be more understanding?

Looking at the sleeping pup, a satisfied smile crossed his face.

He thought that if I would just show up and apologize to Liana, he would forgive all our previous fights.

He'd even be willing to comfort me after the birth, maybe even let me be the pup's mother in name, so I could keep my title as Luna.

But he didn't know.

I had just submitted my application to the High Council.

In one week, I would relinquish my pack status, leave with the babies in my belly, and never see him again.

...

The day Alpha Kaelen helped Liana walk out of the healing cottage, I had just managed to suppress a wave of nausea.

During his last brief visit home, passion had consumed us, leaving me with the unexpected gift of his pups growing inside me.

I gently touched my still-flat stomach, fighting the discomfort as I pushed open the door to the Alpha's main house, my heart full of joy.

The sound of happy laughter greeted me from within.

"This pup is so beautiful! His red eyes are exactly like Kaelen's. Liana, you are a true hero of the Silvermoon Pack!"

The old Luna was happily cooing over the newborn pup, while Kaelen emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of broth.

"Liana, you've worked so hard. I made this soup for you myself. You're weak after giving birth, you need to regain your strength."

He sat by her bed, feeding her with a gentle expression. They looked like a perfect, happy family.

Kaelen's father, the former Alpha, tickled the baby with a feather, beaming.

"This child is as charming as his mother. Thank the Moon Goddess he wasn't born to that boring healer, Elara. That would have been dreadfully dull."

My hand tightened on the doorknob.

I remembered my first meeting with the Elder. He had clapped my shoulder with pride, boasting that having a powerful healer as a daughter-in-law was his greatest honor.

Now, he was saying a healer didn't deserve a family.

I had only been away for ten month, studying in the human world, and my home no longer had a place for me.

I lowered my head, a bitter smile twisting my lips.

Kaelen and I had been mated for three years. We had conceived a child once before.

But a rogue attack had taken our unborn pup, and the trauma had damaged my wolf, leaving me unable to conceive for a long time.

I was devastated by the news. Kaelen held me tight, comforting me, swearing he would only ever have me as his mate, that he only wanted pups with me.

He said he would rather have no heirs than have them with anyone else.

But now, he had broken his vow.

To fulfill the dying wish of his first love, he had shattered his own promise.

I remembered ten month ago, when I left for the human world. He had held me, his possessive alpha nature making him reluctant to let go, his eyes filled with the pain of separation.

For that year, we spoke on the phone every day, sharing our lives. No matter how busy I was, I still made time to come back once a month just to see Kaelen.

Even the other wolves in the pack envied how we were still like new lovers after three years.

But then, fifteen days ago, I finally completed my studies and rushed home, my heart soaring.

I had traveled for days without rest, not feeling a moment of fatigue.

But as I neared the border, a wave of dizziness hit me, and my healer's senses picked up two faint, rapid heartbeats within me.

My hand flew to my stomach, and tears of disbelief welled in my eyes.

I was pregnant.

I was overjoyed, eager to share the news with Kaelen.

But then I found him by the pack's Moon Lake, walking hand-in-hand with Liana. Her belly was swollen, ready to give birth at any moment.

My thoughts were interrupted by Liana's frail voice.

"Elara, when did you get back? Why are you just standing there in the doorway?"

Her words made everyone in the room turn to look at me.

When the old Luna saw the scroll in my hand—my resignation from the position of Head Healer—her brow furrowed deeply.

"Why did I ever agree to let Kaelen mate with you? Resigning your post, do you expect Kaelen to support a useless wolf like you?"

The Elder joined in.

"You can't even handle the duties of Head Healer. What good are you? If I had known you were so worthless, I never would have allowed you to become our Luna!"

"Liana is fragile now. She and the pup need the best of everything. Instead of helping Kaelen, you're just adding to his burdens. Is this how a Luna should act?"

Their words were absurd, laughable.

"And Kaelen? While I was gone, he got another she-wolf pregnant with his child. Is that how an Alpha should act?"

"Elara, that's enough! I did this for your own good!"

Kaelen's brows were knitted together, his gaze as cold and sharp as silver.

"You can't have pups, so I had Liana carry one for you. I'm giving you a chance to be a mother, and you can't appreciate my good intentions?"

"Besides, this is the perfect solution. It fulfills Liana's wish so she can pass on without regrets, and you get to be a mother without the hardship. I don't know what you're so upset about!"

"If Liana hadn't saved me during the rogue tide two years ago, I would be dead. She lost her entire family, and now she's been poisoned with an incurable wolfsbane variant. She only has a few months left. Soon, no one in this world will even remember her."

"As another she-wolf, shouldn't you feel sympathy for her? Why are you always targeting her? Or do you really think I'm that kind of vile, dirty man?"

Liana clutched Kaelen's hand, her face a mask of distress as she looked at me.

"Elara, please, say no more. I know this is all my fault. I promise I'll disappear from your lives, but please don't let me ruin the bond between you and the Alpha."

Looking at the four of them, a united front against me, my heart turned to ice.

So that's all I was to them. A she-wolf who couldn't bear pups.

The irony was suffocating. My womb was currently nurturing the purest Alpha bloodline in this pack.

But suddenly, I didn't want to tell them.

Then, Kaelen spoke, his voice dangerously low.

"Elara, my patience has a limit. If you dare to target Liana again without reason, don't blame me for what happens."

"If you still want to be my Luna, then behave. Next week, I can announce in front of the whole pack that you are the pup's mother."

Next week?

I glanced at the sleeping pup in the cradle. Next week, I would be long gone.