PENDEKAR PULAU TENGKORAK

(Grace’s POV)

The room was too quiet, save for the sounds of Alexander’s steady breathing. He was close, but his presence felt like a distant mountain I could never reach.

I turned slowly, setting my eyes on him. He was the Alpha of our pack, the man every wolf respected and feared, the partner I had been tied to for years.

His broad shoulders and powerful figure symbolized everything an Alpha stood for. Dominance. Strength. Leadership. And to everyone else, love and loyalty to his Luna. To me.

Yet, staring at him now, I felt none of that security. His golden eyes met mine briefly before he looked away, as if he couldn’t bear to hold the connection too long, as if… there was something heavy between us.

"Grace," his deep voice finally broke the silence, pulling me from my thoughts.

I should have been completely intoxicated by him, drowning in the mate bond that drew us together with an almost primal need. But instead, my body trembled, and not from the kind of exhilaration I had once felt when he touched me.

"You’re distant again." He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming as he towered over me. His fingers brushed against my arm, sending a familiar shiver through me. "Talk to me."

I wanted to. Goddess knows, I wanted to tell him everything. The doubts, the fears, the hurt that had been suffocating me slowly. But the words stayed locked in my throat. How could I tell him when I wasn’t even sure where we stood anymore?

"I’m… here," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

His jaw tightened, and his hand moved to cup my chin. He turned my face toward him firmly, golden eyes searching mine as if daring me to say more.

"You’re not here." His words punched through what little strength I had left. "No matter how much I try, no matter how much I…" He trailed off, his expression hardening as if he couldn’t finish the sentence. As if he didn’t want me to know what it was he was feeling.

Instead, his lips crashed against mine, his touch dominating, demanding. My heart screamed at me to pull away, to push him back and demand the truth, but my body reacted instinctively.

His scent surrounded me, the mate bond pushing me to respond, to surrender to him.

I hated it.

When his hand moved around my waist, pulling me closer, I froze. "Alexander…" I murmured, breaking the kiss and meeting his sharp gaze. There was an ache in my chest, a need to beg him to tell me what he truly felt. But before I could, his hands gripped my hips tightly.

"You’re mine, Grace," he growled softly near my ear, his breath hot against my skin. "No matter what happens, you’ll always be mine."

His words were possessive, but where once they would have filled me with joy, tonight they only created more confusion.

---

(Earlier That Day)

The sunlight peeking through the leaves overhead did little to warm the chill crawling down my spine.

I had just left the Silver Moon Bar. Sophia, Alexander’s sister, insisted to meet me there this afternoon.

I’d tried to tell myself Sophia’s request was innocent. But as the forest around me grew quieter, my instincts screamed at me, warning me of the danger I hadn’t yet seen.

It happened fast.

"Well, look who we have here," a rough voice snarled behind me.

I froze instinctively, turning sharply to find three rogue wolves edging closer. Their eyes scanned me hungrily, and I clenched my fists around the documents, my heart racing as I felt their predatory gazes roam over me.

"She’s a Luna," one sneered, his tone mocking as he looked at my pendant—a symbol of my rank and my tie to Alexander.

"And look at her. Weak without her wolf," another commented, stepping closer. My throat tightened as I backed away slowly, my mind racing.

They could sense my vulnerability. Moonlight, my wolf, hadn’t stirred in weeks, leaving me without the strength I needed.

"P-please," I stammered, clinging to whatever authority my title still held. "Leave now. My mate is—"

"Your mate?" The first rogue interrupted with a laugh so sharp it made my skin prickle. "Not here, is he?"

They lunged before I could react. I tried to run, but one grabbed me roughly. The force sent me toppling to the ground, the documents scattering around me.

"No!" I screamed, clawing at his grip as he loomed over me. Another pinned my arms with his knee, grinning wickedly.

"This one’s too pretty to waste," he hissed as his hand moved toward me.

My stomach churned in both terror and disgust.

"Alexander!" I cried out through our bond, desperation lacing every word as my soul begged for him to listen. "Help me!"

The bond buzzed briefly, his voice brushing weakly against my mind.

"I’m busy, Grace. Handle it."

Handle it.

The weight of his cold retort shattered me, but I couldn’t wallow in it. I struggled, kicking weakly as the rogues laughed at my attempt.

"Get away from her!"

A commanding roar rang out from a guard, carrying enough authority to make the rogues freeze.

I heard the sound of footsteps, and my heart raced with hope as my assailants scattered quickly.

Before they ran away, one of them grabbed my pendant, our sacred Luna symbol, the one that Alexander gave to me when he chose me as his Luna.

"Luna, Let’s get you home," the guard said, helping me to my feet.

When I arrived at the packhouse, I barely made it to my room before collapsing against the door.

I wanted to connect Alexander again through our mate bond and told him what happened.

But before I reached for him, my phone buzzed suddenly, the sound loud in the otherwise silent room.

I glanced at the screen and froze. It was a message from Victoria, Alexander’s former sweetheart.

Attached was an image, a pregnancy check sheet bearing her name. There was no mistaking the bolded text that confirmed her condition—or the unforgiving timestamp that indicated it had been a month since conception.

Exactly a month since Alexander had visited the Northern Territory.

My mind screamed at me to deny it, to claim it was another of her schemes. But deep down, I knew it was true. She was carrying his child. The child of the man I had thought was mine.

My heart ached with a sharp, relentless pain.

‘He was never yours,’ a bitter voice echoed in my mind. Victoria was the one he had always loved. She was his white moonlight, the kind of love story my existence could never compete with.

And with Moonlight dormant, I had no way of feeling or verifying Alexander’s emotions through the bond.

Tears poured down my cheeks as I crumpled against the bed.

---

(The next morning – Alexander’s Chambers)

The morning sun streamed through the windows, but it brought no warmth.

Alexander placed a document on the table in front of me, his expression cold and void of any emotion. “Sign this,” he said, his tone clipped.

I looked down at the paper and realized what it was immediately—a declaration relinquishing all claims to the Crimson Moon Pack’s property and rights upon our bond’s dissolution.

I picked up the pen without hesitation.

“You don’t even want to read it?” he asked mockingly.

“There’s no need,” I replied, my voice hollow.

He leaned back, his piercing golden eyes watching me with a mixture of frustration and something I couldn’t place. “You must love Ethan so much,” he said bitterly, “you’re willing to give up everything for him.”

I ignored the venom in his words and signed my name with steady hands. Pushing the document back toward him, I said, “I wouldn’t want to delay your good fortune with Victoria.”

His face darkened. “Victoria has nothing to do with this.”

“Doesn’t she?” I shot back, meeting his gaze head-on for the first time in what felt like forever.

For a moment, the tension between us was unbearable, crackling like a live wire. Then he scoffed and slid a check across the table toward me.

“Fill in the amount yourself,” he said coldly. “Consider it compensation for wasting your years with me.”

I stared down at the check for a long moment before pushing it away.

“I don’t need your money, Alexander.”

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

“Just tell me one thing,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “When’s the ceremony?”

In our pack, since the bond between the Alpha and Luna was very strong, a formal ceremony is required to dissolve the mating bond.

“Soon.” he said, standing abruptly.

Soon.

I nodded, my heart lodged in my throat. “Then I’ll be ready.”

He paused for a second, his golden eyes searching my face—perhaps for regret, perhaps for some sign I might change my mind.

But I didn’t. I refused to.

And then he was gone.