Chapter 1

When I faint due to my hemophobia after seeing blood on the training grounds, my mate, Alpha Yves Golding, is busy applying medicine to his assistant, Renee Lawson, who has only scraped her skin.

After I wake up, the first thing I do is drag my weak and exhausted body to the Elders' Council to request something I never imagined I would ask for—to break my mate bond with Yves.

Yves swiftly approves the request, then turns confidently to his Beta and says, "Come on, she's just throwing a tantrum. She's an orphan. Other than staying by my side, she has nowhere else to go. She can't possibly leave me for real.

"Besides, aren't there three days left until the Council processes breaking a mate bond? When she comes back regretfully to beg me, I'll withdraw the application. As long as the process isn't finished, she's still mine."

Then, Yves uploads a photo on Wolf Net. It features him and Renee standing shoulder-to-shoulder while showing off their muscles in the mirror. They are also gazing at each other with smiles on their faces.

The caption reads, "Every bead of sweat deserves to be remembered."

Everyone showers him with praise, teasing compliments, and blessings, and every single one stabs into my chest like a dagger.

Still, I don't fall apart.

I calmly pack my belongings and then pick up my encrypted phone.

"Uncle Harrison, it's me. Please arrange a flight back to the Silvermoon pack for me as soon as possible."

However, after my departure, Yves is the one who falls apart instead.

...

That's great, Tiffany! After all these years, you're finally willing to come back. I'm really happy for you!" On the other end of the line, a middle-aged man's calm voice rose, but soon, he turned worried.

"Why so suddenly? Does Yves know you're coming back? Or… Is he treating you badly?"

I swallowed the bitter feeling in my mouth and forced out a lighthearted tone. "It's nothing. I just want to clear my head."

My uncle, Harrison Burke, let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. But if you ever feel wronged, you must tell me."

I answered softly, "Okay."

The moment the call ended, Yves Golding pushed the door open, and the sweet scent of another she-wolf on him instantly engulfed me.

I instinctively held my breath and felt my heart squeeze in pain.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked casually. His eyes stayed fixed on his phone screen, never looking at me.

Just as I was about to answer, his phone buzzed, and a coquettish voice came through. "Alpha, thank you for bandaging my wound the other day. If it weren't for you, the arm I injured during training would definitely scar. What would I do without you?"

The voice sounded so sweet that it was cloying. Yves instinctively lowered the volume and then glanced at me.

I lost interest in answering and shut my mouth.

If this were before, I probably would've seized on his guilty look and made a scene. But now, I just felt too drained to even argue.

We were already going to break our bond anyway, right?

I silently packed my things, and when I got to the herbs, I used them to brew myself a calming cup of evening primrose tea.

Yves stopped talking tenderly into his phone and sat on the couch, reading through the pack's defense report.

He reached out his hand habitually, but his hand came up empty—I hadn't prepared the refreshing tea I'd always made for him.

He finally looked at me then, with a trace of helplessness and impatience in his expression.

"Wasn't it just that I couldn't catch you in time at the training grounds? You're still throwing a tantrum over that? Renee knows the pack healer. He said your hemophobia isn't a big deal at all. Don't make such a fuss.

"Besides, you suggested breaking our bond, and I agreed. Do you really need to keep having that cold expression on all the time?"

That day, during the pack's quarterly combat tournament, a young warrior was accidentally injured, and his fresh blood splattered at my feet.

My hemophobia struck me instantly. My body trembled as gasps rose around me, and my vision was turning black.

As I trembled, I reached out to Yves through our mind link for help, only for him to say, "Can't you go find a healer yourself? I'm busy right now."

After that, my consciousness slipped into darkness.

Later, I learned that his being "busy" was because he was tending to Renee Lawson's scraped skin.

"It's okay. Once the Elders' Council finalizes breaking our bond, you'll never have to see my cold expression again," I simply replied, not stopping what I was doing.

I thought Yves would feel relieved because of this, but instead, he suddenly raised his voice. "You'd better not regret this!"

Seeing that I remained silent without responding, Yves slammed the door and left.

I no longer had the energy to think deeper about his feelings.

After finishing what I had to do, I took a hot shower and prepared to rest.

On my phone, Yves sent me a message.

"I drank too much at the campfire party. Come pick me up, and bring a sobering potion."

I didn't want to go. But the next second, he sent another text.

"Our mate bond hasn't been officially broken yet, so you must fulfill your duty as the Luna."

At that, I helplessly dragged my exhausted body up, picked up the sobering potion, and left.

When I arrived at the campfire grounds, the sound of Yves and Renee's laughter seemed especially harsh in the night.

I recalled the night I first submitted the application to break our bond. He was also drunk like this.

His Beta asked, "Yves, are you really willing to break the bond with Luna Tiffany?"

Yves answered indifferently, "She's just throwing a tantrum. Her parents died early, and her original pack has already fallen. How could she actually leave me?

"Besides, the Elders' Council has a three-day process, right? When she regrets it and begs me, I can still withdraw the application in time."

As I hid in the shadows, I listened as he indifferently exposed the deepest scars of my life—losing my parents and the downfall of my pack.

In that moment, it felt like I lost all my senses—only a cold chill spread from my heart throughout my body, leaving me unable to move.

Every word he said was indeed true.

But what I didn't expect was that my beloved mate didn't think of cherishing me. Instead, he treated it as leverage that I could never leave him.