Chapter 2

Nicholas was completely enraged by what I said. The air in the room turned cold and suffocating.

"Evelyn, is wrecking this family the only thing that'll satisfy you?"

At the next moment, his Alpha energy exploded with destructive force, instantly flooding the room.

The glass table shattered with a loud crack, web-like fractures spreading across the surface under the pressure.

Natalia's legs gave out, and she let out a panicked scream.

Her cry instantly snapped Nicholas back to his senses.

He quickly pulled back his overwhelming energy. He turned around, caught Natalia just as she was about to collapse, and shielded her behind him.

"Don't be afraid. I lost control for a moment. I didn't mean to scare you."

That apology clearly wasn't for me. It was meant for Natalia.

Natalia peeked out from behind him, eyes red-rimmed. Her hands clutched his suit tightly, as if it were her shield.

"I'm fine, Alpha Nicholas. What matters now is calming Luna Evelyn. What if her wolf loses control again?"

That one sentence was all it took for Nicholas to regain his composure. He immediately told the butler to bring Patrick downstairs.

A short while later, Patrick came down in his thin pajamas as he rubbed his eyes.

He greeted Nicholas first, then affectionately called Natalia "Nat".

But he didn't even spare me a single glance.

The winter air was chilly, so I instinctively grabbed the blanket next to me and intended to drape it over his shoulders.

Yet, he recoiled from me as if avoiding a disease, and his expression was full of disgust.

"You smell awful. I hate your scent! I don't want anything that reeks of you. Get it away from me!"

He shot me a contemptuous look and ran straight to Natalia.

"Sweetheart, why are you out here wearing so little?"

Natalia took off her coat without thinking, wrapped him up, and pulled him into her arms.

Patrick buried himself in her arms and said without hesitation, "You're so nice, Nat. You're not like Evelyn. She only knows how to make Dad angry."

Nicholas frowned. "Patrick, why are you calling your mom by her name?

"Come here and apologize to your mom. She's angry because you changed the emergency contact info without permission. If you don't apologize, she's going to leave us."

Patrick's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Is Evelyn finally leaving? I'm not apologizing. Evelyn, just leave already. I want Nat to be my new mom!"

His words ripped through my heart, and I could hardly breathe from the pain.

I started to question if this was really the pup I had nearly died bringing into the world.

Was everything I bled and suffered through that day repaid only by his cruelty?

Nicholas' expression darkened. "Watch your mouth! Apologize right now!"

Patrick had inherited Nicholas' stubbornness. His eyes turned red, but he refused to say a word.

Even Nicholas couldn't get him to budge.

In the end, it was Natalia who coaxed him gently. "Sweetheart, can you say sorry to your mom? Just do it as a favor for me, okay?"

Patrick bit down on his lower lip and hesitated for a long moment before finally giving in.

His neck stiffened. Even now, he wouldn't look me in the eye, as if apologizing to me was a humiliation.

"Sorry. Happy now?"

Nicholas let out a breath of relief.

"Alright. Patrick apologized. Evelyn, can you stop making this into a big deal now? Stop talking about dissolving the mate bond. I know you're just upset and don't really mean it, so quit saying things like that."

Before I could respond, Natalia's phone chimed with a new message. She pulled out her phone and started typing rapidly across the screen.

Right after that, Patrick's smartwatch buzzed twice.

Over the next moments, the smartwatch and the phone kept chiming one after another. Patrick had a sly smile tugging at his lips and even snuck a glance in my direction.

My heart dropped. I realized then that they might be messaging each other in secret.

Could my own pup really be teaming up with an outsider to speak ill of me behind my back?

Patrick's smartwatch was linked to my family-shared ID so I could easily stay in touch with him, which meant I could see his chat messages. I never imagined I'd one day use it to spy on him.

But now, my hands trembled as I took out my phone.

A group chat named "Just Us Three" lit up my screen, every message syncing in real time.

"That woman is so annoying. She gave me something that stinks and still expects me to apologize?" Patrick had texted.

Natalia replied, "Sweetheart, you shouldn't talk about your mom like that. But it does break my heart to see you so upset."

Patrick typed, "Why won't she just disappear? Then I could stay with you forever, Nat!"

"I want to be with you forever too, but Luna Evelyn will never allow it. And she's not going anywhere. She always clings to your dad," Natalia replied.

Patrick said, "She's the worst. A crazy woman. A nasty witch!"

By the time I reached the last message, I was trembling so hard that I didn't even notice my finger had tapped the screen and accidentally sent a symbol into their chat.

As soon as Patrick realized their secret was exposed, he flew into rage and pointed at me.

He shouted, "You had no right to read my messages! Who gave you permission? I'm removing you from the home network!"

Patrick truly was Nicholas' pup. Even the way he yelled at me sounded just like his father.

He broke free from Natalia's arms, grabbed my phone, and smashed it to the ground.

The screen cracked instantly on impact.

Patrick was still fuming. He snatched up the shattered remains of the phone from the floor and hurled them at my head.

He had Alpha blood in him, and he was already quite strong.

A sharp pain shot through me as the phone's sharp edge split my temple. Warm blood trickled down immediately.

I flinched in pain as a wave of dizziness washed over me.

My chest ached with every heartbeat. I couldn't believe my own pup had done this to me.

"Get out! Get out of our house!" Patrick said. He kept shoving me over and over.

Nicholas saw me bleeding and looked somewhat helpless. "Patrick, that's enough. Don't treat your mom like that."

He pulled out a clean handkerchief and handed it to me.

"Sometimes, if your pup grows distant, you should take a hard look at yourself. How could you pry into his privacy? You're always so aggressive. Who would like someone like that?

"Come on, he already said sorry. Can't you be satisfied with that? Stop making this worse than it is."

I didn't understand any of this. What exactly should I be satisfied with?

Satisfied that my pup wanted nothing to do with me?

Satisfied that my mate stood by and let him treat me like this?

Satisfied that my pup only saw Natalia as his mom and not me?

Blood still dripped from my temple, sliding down my cheek. I blinked hard, forcing back the stinging tears welling up.

Then, I pulled out the ancient parchment scroll that I had prepared long ago.

"Sign it, Nicholas. I'm dissolving the mate bond. This is a magic scroll I bought that can dissolve the bond painlessly. We're using it now."