Chapter 2

I let out a long breath, forcing down the restless growl bubbling inside my wolf.

My voice came out like ice.

“She’s not coming back.”

Shawn's lips twisted into a smile, but his eyes were cold.

"Oh? So she's latched onto some Alpha from a more powerful pack now? And she looks down on our pack, does she?"

So even now, in Shawn's mind, Joanne remained to be so contemptible.

A wave of bleak despair washed over me, mourning the years of Joanne's devotion.

"Shawn, since you hold her in such low regard, why not just reject her? I mean sever the mate bond. It would be better for both of you."

Shawn let out a low and guttural chuckle, "So she has found herself a more powerful Alpha as mate."

"Jose, tell me. Who is the Alpha?"

The predator within Shawn was fully unleashed now, his blue wolf eyes glowing with menace in the shadows, ready to tear me apart at the slightest misstep.

I jerked my head away and bolted for the stairs.

I hadn't returned for this hostile confrontation. I needed to uncover the truth behind Joanne's fall.

I refused to believe she'd ended her own life because she cherished her life so much.

Before my foot could touch the second-floor landing, a brutal force slammed me back against the wall.

Shawn's hot breath, laced with raw and primal dominance, washed over my face.

"Jose. His voice was a snarl forced through clenched teeth, "Tell me! Who the fuck is the Alpha? Tell me!"

Shawn's mask of the perpetual smile was gone.

Seeing him like this, a twisted sense of gratification flickered within me.

If he ever truly realized Joanne was dead… how utterly mad would he become?

"What are you laughing at? Shawn's claws pricked my skin, his eyes blazing feral blue. Fur rippled along his forearms as he fought the shift.

"Jose, even though you are our Luna, you never have my respect! Go ask Edwin if he even cares about you as his mate!"

"Now, tell me where Joanne is!"

A laugh escaped me, though my eyes held the telltale sheen of sorrow.

I enunciated each word clearly and coldly, "She's gone last night. She leaped from the top of the Moonlit Crag. She landed… broken beyond even her wolf's recognition, and drenched in cold blood."

"If you doubt it, just figure it out. That should be easy for a Beta like you, right?"

Suddenly, his hand gripping my collar tightened viciously. But I didn't flinch, looking at his face.

His fury and my calm were chasms apart.

Suddenly, a large hand clamped down on Shawn's.

"Enough, Shawn. If you want to see her, just go find yourself. Don't go insane."

The pressure on my collar vanished, and Shawn stumbled back a step.

The cold smirk returned on his face as he nodded slowly.

"Fine. I'll find out. Jose, if I discover you and Joanne conspired to deceive me… out of respect for my brother, I won't hurt you. But she…she won't be spared."

A faint and bitter smile touched my lips as I watched Shawn in a rage swallowed by the gate of the den.

"Look at me."

Edwin's words were full of Alpha dominance.

I did not respond to him, trying to move past him towards Joanne's room.

I hadn't taken even a step before an irresistible force yanked me backward.

Edwin's strides were long and urgent, and I stumbled awkwardly in his wake.

"Let me go, Edwin!"

"You disappeared all last night, and you returned today distracted and spouting nonsense about Joanne being dead. Jose, you are such an insane she-wolf!"

He hauled me into the Alpha's main room, flinging me onto the bed.

Then, his strong body leaned in, and his fingers clamped under my chin fiercely, forcing me to tilt my head up to look at him.

He said with hatred, "Jose, it seems I've granted you too much freedom. I remember I've warned you to stay away from Joanne!"

Edwin's contempt for Joanne was no secret in the pack.

Three years ago, Joanne's pack suffered a catastrophe. And Joanne, the Alpha’s only daughter, was forced to abandon her dignity, wandering like a lost rogue between the feasts of greater packs, begging for help.

However, Edwin, our Alpha, deemed her a sell-out, intrinsically tainted.

Even after she mated to Shawn, Edwin's disdain never wavered.

As he put it, "Just trading service to the whole pack for service to one."

But for Joanne, this bonding was like a moth to a flame.

The Beta she adored was a demon clad in a hypocritical mask.

I gazed steadily at Edwin's face for a while. His presence never changed, but I couldn't see any trace of my beloved one from it anymore.

"Edwin, we should sever the mate bond."

We had met for five years and mated to each other for three years. I had sincerely wished to stand by his side until the end, to return to the Wolf Spirit under the Moon Goddess's gaze.

But since Carmen's return six months ago, that wish had crumbled.

I just wanted to leave him. To set my wolf spirit free and be rid of him forever.

Edwin stiffened visibly and the shock and disbelief flashed across his face.

"What did you say?"

"I said, we should sever the mate bond."