Chapter 1

Erina's POV

After tucking my pup, Sofia Grayback, into bed, I returned to my room. I opened my laptop and began drafting my application to leave the Moonshadow pack.

This year marked the seventh anniversary of my bond with Alpha Ryan Grayback, and it was also the year that I finally decided to let go of him.

A light knock sounded at the door. I looked up and saw my six-year-old Sofia standing there with a tiny rabbit plush in her arms.

"Mommy, are we really going to leave the pack?" She looked up at me, her eyes filled with reluctance. "But Daddy—I mean, the Alpha hugged me tonight."

She gently caressed the rabbit toy in her arm. It was the only toy that Ryan had ever given to her.

She asked cautiously and hopefully, "Do you think that this means the Alpha is starting to like me?"

I froze for a moment, dazed.

In the seven years that I'd been Ryan's mate, he had never allowed our pup to call him "Daddy". He only allowed her to call him "Alpha Ryan".

Once, when Sofia was two years old, Ryan was in a good mood and brought her to a pack gathering for the first time.

When Sofia saw a street vendor selling cotton candy by the roadside, she ran into his arms and exclaimed excitedly in her childish voice, "Daddy! Daddy, can I have cotton candy please?"

Ryan's acquaintances, who were nearby then, all turned to look when they heard her. Ryan's face immediately turned as dark as thunder—all because Sofia had innocently called him "Daddy".

He immediately let go of her, set her on the ground, and made her follow him all the way home by herself—even though she'd only recently learned to run.

"I said, you can only call me 'Alpha'."

That day, Sofia kept crying as she ran home after him, trying to keep up with his footsteps. She fell over many times and had gravel cut her feet. Her knees and elbows were bruised and bleeding by the time she came home.

However, Ryan never once looked back at her.

When Sofia was four, she begged Ryan for a very long time before he finally agreed to bring her to the amusement park. She held his hand and happily made her way there with him.

But when she accidentally called him "Daddy" again in the crowd, he immediately let go of her hand.

"You broke the rule again. You're not allowed to call me 'Daddy'."

The amusement park was a very large place for a four-year-old pup like Sofia, and she immediately got lost in the crowd.

By the time I managed to find her, she was curled up in the bushes behind a roller coaster ride, trembling and sobbing in fright.

From that day onward, she never dared to call Ryan "Daddy" again. It was also since then that the so-called "family" Ryan and I shared became a joke.

At that thought, my nose tingled with tears, and I hugged Sofia tightly in my arms.

"Sofia, Claire Barker is back. And she's the person whom Alpha Ryan has been waiting for all this time. We can't afford to stay here anymore."

Sofia's eyes dimmed. However, a split second later, she hurriedly showed me the rabbit toy and held it in front of me.

"But Mommy… The Alpha gave this to me today."

She stared at me expectantly with her round eyes and continued defending Ryan. "Mommy, if the Alpha doesn't like me, why would he still give me a present like this?"

I looked into her expectant eyes, unable to get another word out.

How was I supposed to tell her that Ryan had only hugged her and picked her up today because Claire, his first love, had just returned to the pack with her pup, Lily Barker?

How was I supposed to tell her that the rabbit toy actually originally belonged to Lily, but Ryan brought it back for Sofia because Lily just didn't want it anymore?

I couldn't bring myself to tell Sofia any of these things. I didn't want to ruin the loving image she had of her father. I had no choice but to hide the cruel truth from her again, just like how I always used to do in the past.

I lowered my head and kissed Sofia on the forehead. But when she wasn't looking, I quickly wiped away the tears forming at the corner of my eye.

This was my last shred of dignity as a mother, and the final illusion that I could preserve for Sofia. I swallowed the lump of emotion rising in my throat and asked her quietly, "Sofia, would you like to follow me and leave the pack?"

Sofia froze. After a very long time, she asked timidly, "Do we have to leave? I still haven't…"

She lowered her head and hugged the toy closer. "I still haven't called him 'Daddy' openly and proudly in public yet."

My tears finally rolled down my cheeks. I bit hard on my lips so as not to let my sobs out.

"Sofia, Alpha Ryan doesn't like us here. I'll take you away, okay?"

She remained silent for a long time. She slowly withdrew her arms and tightened her hold on the rabbit toy even more.

Finally, she looked up at me with teary eyes. "Then let's give the Alpha three more chances. If he still doesn't like us after those three times…"

She sniffled. "We'll leave him forever."

I closed my eyes. A long time later, I nodded and agreed to Sofia's request.

"Okay."

Sofia and I would give Ryan three last chances.