Without Love, Farewell Means Nothing

Warm breath spilled over my face, and the atmosphere grew strangely tense and amorous. "My birthday present to you. It's a tonic to cure the effects of the contraceptive potion in your system. You can now breed my pup, Evangeline."A shiver ran down my spine. I'd had a pup once upon a time. I'd been so thrilled about it that I couldn't wait to tell Michael. I thought he'd be just as excited.But he'd surprised me when he handed me a potion. "Evangeline, Nora is the Luna for me. No one else is worthy of being bred by me. This potion will render you barren. You'll only have to focus on raising Soren for me."Every year after that, Michael would make me drink the potion to keep me infertile. I never missed a dose.A decade passed, and Michael still saw me as an outlet for his pent-up desires as well as his son's caregiver. But now, he'd given me permission to carry his pup.From his perspective, I ought to weep with joy and strive even harder to please him. But for the first time, I

I ignored Ingrid and turned to look at Ellen. "See? Michael's the Alpha, and Soren is the heir of the pack. There are plenty who'd volunteer to look after them, so why do you insist I stay?"Ingrid was the lowest-ranking Omega in the pack. She was a small-time singer, and her only advantage was her uncanny resemblance to Nora. It was precisely because of this that she meant more to Michael and Soren than I did.Ellen glared at me, the affection in her eyes vanishing instantly, as did the warmth in her tone. "You really want to leave?"My gaze was unwavering. "We agreed I'd only stay for ten years. I don't want to be trapped here for the rest of my life. I don't belong here—"I was cut off by a hard slap in the face.Ellen glowered at me viciously, venom dripping from her voice as she growled, "Only a she-wolf as pathetic as your mother could give birth to trash like you! You should be grateful and learn your place!"Your mother died young, and your father thought of you as a usel

They couldn't care less about whether or not this was the life I wanted, nor did they bother to ask if I was comfortable and happy here. They certainly did not care about the kind of freedom I wanted.I tossed Soren's bottle of pills aside, then walked over to the trash pile and grabbed the gilded canary cage that hadn't been discarded.I glanced at Michael and said plainly, "I couldn't take good care of the canary, and I failed in raising Soren, too. I do not meet your expectations as a Luna, nor Soren's expectations as a mother. Let me go, and let's never see each other again."Blair nodded earnestly. "Never again!"Michael was too prideful to stop me from leaving after seeing how determined I was to leave. He simply stared at me icily. "You'll regret this one day, Evangeline!"He didn't spare me another look after that and instead turned to head back into the villa.The breeze whipped my face as the sports car zipped down the road. For the first time in a long while, my heart

Michael stared at me, his gaze steely. "Don't worry, once I've marked you, no one in the pack will ever question your authority again. You will be the most respected she–wolf in the pack."Our ceremony may not be as grand as the one I had with Nora, but it will be lavish all the same…"I'd heard about Nora's marking ceremony. It was the most lavish one in history, the details of it spreading to every corner of the werewolf kingdom. Even I had heard about it in my remote part of the woods.At the time, I'd dreamed of having a marking ceremony of my own. I didn't need it to be as grand as Nora's. I only wanted the werewolf who marked me to love me wholeheartedly.Alas, my dream did not come true. Michael didn't love me at all. Nora had always been his true love, and every other she-wolf would always be her replacement. I'd sooner reject him from the start than for us to spend the rest of our lives breeding contempt for each other.Michael's composure slipped and turned into rage whe