Chapter 1

Joseph Hayes went back to his room to play, and I took out the bond-breaking agreement.

This year marked the fifth year of our bond. We've lived apart for the same amount of time. Now, I'd finally decided to let go of this relationship.

Suddenly, Joseph walked into the room, holding a soccer ball. "Mom, are we really leaving the pack?"

He wrapped his arms around me, burying his head in my chest. "Mom, David even kissed me on the cheek just now. I think he likes me."

He looked up at me, his eyes full of reluctance.

I froze for a moment and couldn't help but remember the fact that David Hayes had never once let Joseph call him "Dad" over the last five years.

When Joseph was three, David took him hunting.

He caught a wild rabbit, and Joseph was so excited that he leapt into his arms and shouted in front of his soldiers, "Dad, you're amazing! When I grow up, I want to be just like you."

David's brow instantly furrowed, and he barked, "Who's your dad? You've got the wrong person."

As punishment, he made Joseph stand at the hunting grounds. Under the blazing sun, Joseph fainted from thirst.

When Joseph was four, David took him on a night run with the pack. Later, Joseph bragged to others without thinking. "The Alpha of the pack is my dad."

David, humiliated and furious, left him alone in the dark forest, letting him cry and scream in terror.

From then on, Joseph never dared call him "Dad" again. Instead, he started calling him "David".

From that day forward, there was no more laughter from our home. Whenever Joseph spoke to him, it was always with careful caution…

Thinking about it, I held Joseph tighter, my heart twisting with pain. Looking at his childish face, I slowly said, "Joseph, your dad's mate has come back. We have to go."

Joseph's eyes dimmed. "Mom, this is a gift David just gave me. If he doesn't like me, then why would he give me a ball?"

He asked so seriously that I knew he was desperate to prove that David loved him.

My mouth opened, but the words stuck in my throat. I didn't know how to express myself. I couldn't tell a five-year-old that David was only happy because the person whom he truly loved had returned.

I couldn't tell Joseph that all these years, David despised me because he believed I had drugged him with pheromones, and that was why he could never love the pup I gave birth to.

I especially couldn't tell him that I had Wolf Spirit Degeneration, that my wolf was already gone, and that I'd be dead in three days.

Swallowing the bitterness, I told myself that I couldn't let Joseph's feelings be hurt, no matter what.

"Joseph, would you be willing to leave David and come with me?"

He hesitated, then whispered in my ear, "Mom, can we stay a little longer? I feel like Dad's starting to like me. I want to call him Dad in front of the whole pack, so they all know Alpha David is my father."

Upon hearing this, my eyes filled with tears. Choking back my sobs, I stroked his hair. "Joseph, David wants us to leave this pack as soon as possible, so how about I take you to Grandpa's pack instead?"

Joseph stared at me, then looked down, clutching his ball tightly. After a long silence, he said, "Mom, how about this? Let's give Dad three days.

"If he still treats us the same and won't accept us after three days, then we'll leave him forever and never come back to this pack."

I smiled at him and nodded, but deep down, I knew it was pointless.

I'd been waiting all these years for nothing. My heart was already dead.

Only Joseph still foolishly believed David would love him someday.

If that was the case, I'd have to let Joseph see for himself just how cold David could be. He would give up on David completely that way, without any regrets.

I'd take Joseph and leave this pack for good in three days. Then, I'd bring him to my parents, after which I would leave this world without any more worries.

When the time came, I would die in the pack where I was born and raised, with my parents by my side—and not here, in this strange place where no one loved me.

Today was the day David's childhood friend, Sophia Sinclair, returned to the pack.

They grew up together, and David's parents had always assumed she would be the future Luna of the pack.

However, just two days before their bonding ceremony, Sophia vanished, leaving the pack behind.

When David found out, he nearly broke down.

He searched for her everywhere, but there was no trace. It caused him to become withdrawn and despondent. Every full moon, he would howl alone at the sky. The entire pack knew he still longed for Sophia.

And then, one full moon night, for some reason, he drank herbal tea laced with pheromones. That night, his wolf lost control, and I happened to knock on his door to deliver council documents…

And that was how I became the Luna of the pack not long after.

The following year, Joseph was born.