Chapter 4

At every family gathering, the old Luna looked at me as if I were a defective product.

Only when my pregnancy was confirmed did their faces finally soften, the old Luna even brewing herbs herself to help me carry the pup safely.

But now… the pup was gone. And it was his own father who pushed him out of me.

My parents would never let me go for this either.

They had clawed their way into this high branch of Alpha power—how could they ever allow me to “ruin” it with weakness?

“Where is the pup’s father?”

The Pack Doctor flipped through my records in disbelief. His voice dripped with fury.

“This is outrageous! Pregnant she-wolves suffer dangerous hormone surges—without a mate’s presence to soothe them, the risk is catastrophic. He skipped every single check-up, and now, during a miscarriage, he still isn’t here? Does he not know what kind of damage comes from neglecting a pregnant lady?”

His words shattered the illusions I had been clutching so desperately.

From the first moon of pregnancy until now, I had gone to every appointment alone.

Three months ago, when I’d first told him, Chisel had seemed so happy. He had squeezed my hand tight, promising to stand beside me for the first bloodline test. He swore our pup would one day inherit his throne.

But that same day… Sylvia returned.

And once she came back, his heart was no longer mine.

Each appointment afterward, he found excuses: “There’s an emergency at the company,” “I have to meet a partner.” But I’d already seen the pictures on Facebook. Those hours were never spent in meetings—they were spent with Sylvia.

“Break the mate bond. He betrayed us first,” Ruby growled in my head, her fury burning.

“Yes.” My voice was hollow. After seven years, my heart had finally burned itself out.

“If no one comes to pay your fees, you’ll have to handle it yourself.” The Pack Doctor slipped the hospital papers into my trembling hands.

I tried to stand, but dizziness crashed over me. After only a few steps I stumbled into two figures.

Chisel. And Sylvia.

At the very moment when I needed my mate’s scent to steady me, he was here, cradling her gently.

His gaze snapped to me, instantly cold. Instinctively, he shielded her behind him, his voice laced with suspicion. “You followed us here? Sylvia’s foot is already injured—what more are you plotting?”

The tears were long gone, but my knuckles still shook. I was the one who had lost a pup. I was the one who had nearly died.

And yet… he looked at me as if I were the threat.

I stared at his face, then laughed. A broken, bitter sound. I must have been mad to think he was anything else.

He had always been like this. I had just been too blind to see it.

“Chisel, let it go,” Sylvia murmured sweetly, casting me a sidelong glance filled with scorn. “She’s still too immature, not ready to be a true Luna.”

Her words doused the last embers of my anger like icy water.

No matter what I did, they would never be satisfied. I wasn’t an unfit Luna because of my failures—

I was unfit because Chisel never loved me.

“You understand your mistake, don’t you? Then apologize properly. Go outside and fetch some food for Sylvia.” His voice dripped with disappointment, as if my worth were measured only in how well I served her. “Her foot is injured. She got to stay here.”

My eyes flicked to her ankle. Just a shallow cut. Already scabbed. And yet she “needed” hospitalization?

I felt nothing now. Just exhaustion. I had lost my pup. What else could matter?

Chisel must have noticed the deathly pallor on my face. His tone softened, faintly coaxing. “What’s wrong? It’s just a small apology. Buying her something to eat… is that too much for you?”

“No.” I forced a smile, brittle as glass. “It’s not too much.”

Ruby’s snarl echoed bitterly inside me. “Not too much? We lost our pup. Compared to that, what is this humiliation?”

“Enough. Go home and wait for me,” Chisel said lightly. “Once Sylvia’s ankle heals, I’ll come back to you.”

At first… I believed him. I even waited for him.