Chapter 4

I dragged my suitcase out from underneath the bed and began to pack my things.

"Mommy?" Remus toddled along behind me, looking up with his face. "Are we going out to play?"

I crouched down and looked at him. "Yeah, Remus. We're going somewhere far away. Are you willing to come with me?"

"Of course." He threw himself into my arms without hesitation. Then he paused, as if recalling something, before casually asking, "Will Alpha Silas be joining us?"

I caressed the back of his head. "No, it's just you and me."

"Okay." He nodded eagerly. "Let's go."

It suddenly hit me that I couldn't remember when Remus stopped calling Silas daddy and changed it to Alpha.

I put him to bed, but the phone on the bedside table kept vibrating, its screen lighting up and going dark again and again.

Unable to take it anymore, I reached out to grab it.

It was a series of text messages from Silas.

"Vera, it's your birthday tomorrow. I'll send a car to pick you up at noon. I prepared a birthday party and a surprise for you."

"I've been spending so much time with Eva lately and neglecting you. I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

He said he'd neglected me so casually, as if he were simply reporting some minor change to his schedule.

I stared at those words and almost laughed.

He remembered my birthday and that he needed to make it up to me.

But he never understood that what I'd wanted all along wasn't compensation. It was a reason not to need it.

I replied, "Okay." Then I turned off my phone.

But too bad, he was destined to be disappointed tomorrow.

Around noon the next day, Remus was sitting on the carpet, playing with building blocks, when a werewolf from the Werewolf Council called me.

"Ms. Sinclair, we've arrived at your door. We can leave anytime."

I picked up my suitcase and carried Remus downstairs.

A black sedan was parked outside. Charlie came over to open the car door for me and took my suitcase.

He was an official with the Werewolf Council, responsible for keeping records of deaths and missing werewolves across its territories.

"Is everything set up?" I asked.

"Yes." Charlie sighed and looked at me, his expression complicated. "I've already drafted the death reports. But Vera, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," I replied without hesitation.

The car headed toward the cliff at the edge of the territory, traveling along a rough mountain road. Remus leaned against the car window, quietly watching the trees flash past outside.

As we passed the pack's celebration square, I saw the honor banner they had hung for Silas. I merely glanced at it before looking away.

The car stopped on a flat stretch of ground near the cliff. I asked Charlie to wait for me in the car.

He seemed to guess what I was about to do and hurried to stop me. "Vera, the council will handle the procedures for breaking your bond. You don't have to…"

"That's too slow, Charlie." I cut him off. "If we're going to stage an attack by rogues and make it look like I fell off the cliff and died, it has to be convincing. Besides, I don't want just a piece of paper. I want a clean break."

I took two steps back, closed my eyes, and felt the mate bond connecting Silas and me.

For seven years, it had carried our warmth, the rise and fall of our emotions, and all the love that had once made me believe in us without a doubt.

But now, it felt like a vine wrapped around my soul, squeezing the breath out of me.

"Mommy?" Remus realized something was amiss and poked his head out from the backseat.

Charlie immediately reached out and covered his eyes.

A sharp, cracking sound came from the bones in my right hand as they twisted. My fingernails quickly grew longer, turning into sharp claws.

I took a deep breath, aimed at my chest, and plunged them in without hesitation.

"Vera!" Charlie screamed in horror.

Excruciating pain shot through my chest. My legs went weak, and I sank to my knees. Warm blood streamed down my arm, but I didn't stop. My fingers searched inside my chest until they finally found the tough, unyielding bond.

I gave it a sharp yank.

"Ahhh!" A piercing scream shattered the silence around the cliff.

The tearing pain was so intense it felt as if my heart had been split in two. Blood gushed out, soaking through my thin clothes and pooling on the dirt beneath me in a horrifying red stain.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Remus pulled free of Charlie's grip and ran over to me, wailing.

Remus, who had been quiet all day and seemed indifferent to everything, was now crying his heart out. His tiny hands clutched my bloodstained clothes so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Mommy, you're bleeding… So much blood… Mommy, don't fall asleep. Don't abandon me… Please…"

I was all he had in this world.

I lay face down on the ground, breathing hard as my body shook uncontrollably. I knew my wolf had suffered a devastating blow, but Silas' scent had finally vanished for good.

A few minutes later, my wounds began to heal, and the bleeding gradually stopped. I shakily pushed myself up and slowly got to my feet, pulling Remus, who was crying so hard he was about to pass out, tightly into my arms.

"Mommy… Are you in pain?" He asked between sobs, his face covered in tears and snot.

"Remus, don't cry." I gently kissed his cheek and smiled. "I'm not in pain."

I could feel how weak my body was, yet I'd never felt so light before.

"I'm just… free now."

Remus stared at me, dazed. He reached out his little hands and clumsily wiped the blood from my face, imitating my words. "Free."

"Yeah." I held him closer. "We're both free now."

With my arms around Remus, I took one last look at the territory through the rearview mirror.

Soon, this would be where the crash was staged, making it look like a vehicle had gone over the cliff.

And Vera, the Luna, along with her four-year-old pup, would be declared dead in an accident.

No one would bother asking questions. After all, they were all used to it by now.

I had always been sensible and never caused trouble.

"Let's go."

The car started moving again, kicking up a cloud of dust as it left everything from the past behind.