Chapter 1After my bestie and I gave birth under the same full moon, I jokingly suggested we arrange a future mate bond between our pups.
My Alpha mate, Caelan Blackthorn, instantly went cold.
"They're siblings," he said flatly. "They can't be mated."
For a second, I genuinely thought I'd misheard him.
Then he smiled like he was discussing patrol schedules.
"On our bonding night, after I marked you, I used an Alpha command to knock you out. And we mated right beside you until dawn. That was also the night both of you conceived."
My mind went blank.
Stiffly, I turned toward the nest beside mine, where Sable Nightshade lay with her eyes closed.
At twenty, I'd taken fifteen silver-laced cuts trying to save her life from Rogues. She'd cried in my arms afterward and sworn she owed me forever.
Caelan subtly stepped in front of my line of sight, casually blocking Sable from view.
"Relax," he said. "Sable isn't trying to take your place as Luna. We'll all live together from now on. Officially, you'll still be my mate."
Every drop of blood in my body turned cold.
Then the icy mechanical voice of the Arcane Pact echoed in my head.
[Would the Contractor like to abandon the villain redemption mission and leave the Contracted Realm immediately?]
My eyes landed on the moonstone beads wrapped around Sable's wrist.
Years ago, when Caelan had nearly died from silver poisoning, I'd driven across three territories to a sacred grove and begged the Moon Priestess to bless them for him.
He never took them off after that.
But tonight, while Sable and I were both in labor, he hadn't hesitated to give them to her.
Caelan calmly tucked her hand back beneath the blanket before turning toward me.
His fingers brushed away the tears on my cheek.
"You're a mother now," he murmured. "Why are you still crying so much?"
I slapped his hand away violently.
"Why her?! Why did it have to be her? She already had a mate bond forming with someone! Were you really pathetic enough to break that?"
Caelan glanced at the reddening skin on the back of his hand before lifting his eyes to mine, looking genuinely surprised.
"You still think the bond she never introduced you to was with someone else?" A laugh escaped him, low and amused. "There were plenty of times you called through the pack link while we were mating. Sable would tremble so hard trying not to respond. Honestly, it was hard to stop once we started."
His smile turned almost regretful.
"Guess we won't get opportunities like that anymore."
I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood instantly.
My throat felt packed with cotton. I couldn't speak for several seconds.
Finally, my voice trembled out.
"Why lie to me? If you'd told me the truth from the beginning, I would've released the bond!"
If I'd walked away sooner, maybe I wouldn't have ended up this shattered.
Caelan sighed softly, and for the first time, pity surfaced in his eyes.
"How could we tell you after what happened back then?" he said quietly. "The night you got attacked by those Rogues trying to save Sable and lost the pup... Sable was terrified. I was in the car around the corner with her. I stayed to comfort her, and we got carried away. By the time we realized it, we'd forgotten to call for help."
Something inside my head snapped.
That night, Sable and I had been leaving the pack gathering when we were ambushed in the forest.
I'd fought like hell to hold the Rogues off so she could escape.
Even while I was being beaten and violated with silver chains, I kept telling myself Sable would come back with reinforcements.
She had to.
But when I woke up, I was already in the pack infirmary.
Caelan had held me in my arms, shaking so hard he could barely breathe. He'd sworn he would avenge me.
And he had.
At least, that was what I'd believed.
Now, looking at the calm indifference on his face, I finally realized something horrifying.
Even mate bonds could be faked.
If strangers hadn't found me that night, I probably would've died alone in those woods.
My hand shot toward the bowl of bone broth on the bedside table. I hurled it at him.
The ceramic bowl crashed onto the floor and shattered into pieces. Broth splashed everywhere.
Caelan had made it personally last night. He'd remembered to add mountain ash berries because Sable craved them during pregnancy.
And somehow forgotten I was deathly allergic.
The signs had always been there. I'd just never doubted him.
Caelan stood motionless as broth dripped from his hair and soaked his clothes. He didn't even look angry.
Instead, he let out a long breath.
"You can hate me," he said quietly. "Blame me all you want. Just don't take it out on Sable. She cares about you more than anyone. She just gave birth too, and the wolf can turn feral postpartum. Try to be understanding."
I clenched my fists so tightly my nails cut into my palms. Only then did the shaking ease slightly.
The agony from the fresh bond wound on my neck reminded me with every second that he knew exactly how fragile a she-wolf's body and emotions were after giving birth.
He simply didn't care about mine.
The Arcane Pact's emotionless voice rang through my mind again.
[Would the Contractor like to abandon the villain redemption mission and leave the Contracted Realm immediately?]
[Failure to choose within 24 hours will be treated as forfeiture. The Contractor will remain permanently inside the Contracted Realm.]
[Countdown initiated...]
Chapter 2
Fresh tears spilled down my face as I turned toward Sable and screamed, "Sable! How long are you going to keep pretending to sleep? Was mating with my Alpha really that exciting?!"
Sable finally opened her eyes. Her face was pale as death, and she couldn't meet my gaze.
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Caelan.
"How could you tell her?! How could you hurt her like this? I told you I didn't want the Luna title or a future with you! I was going to leave after the pup was born!"
The second she said that, Caelan wrapped his arms around her possessively. His voice shook with panic.
"But I can't let you leave me, Sable. That's why I had to tell her. Please don't go. This is all my fault. Don't move too much or you'll reopen your wounds."
He used to speak to me that way too.
Caelan had lost his mother young. His father was never home, and he'd been raised mostly by an omega caretaker from a rival pack.
Unfortunately, the woman had been a monster. Whenever nobody else was around, she tortured him with silver.
One day, when she nearly killed him with a silver-laced whip, I'd barged into the house and stopped her with my healer's power.
That was the day I pulled him out of hell.
Later, that same omega retaliated by paying Rogues to kidnap me.
Caelan had clung to me desperately while they beat him bloody with silver chains, refusing to let go no matter how hard they hit him.
By the time pack warriors arrived to save us, he was barely conscious.
Even while the healers worked on him, he'd gripped my hand tightly, whispering over and over, "Don't leave me, Lyra."
The way he treasured me back then looked exactly like the way he looked at Sable now.
The only difference was the woman in his arms.
I'd imagined this situation before. If we ever hit the so-called seven-year bond strain, what would I do?
Every version of the future ended the same way. I'd drag Sable out for a midnight run through the forest, let my wolf howl out the pain, and eventually move on.
I would've survived it.
But why did the other woman have to be Sable?
Now who was left for me to run with?
Sable shoved Caelan away and stumbled to my bedside, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Lyra, please don't cry. I'll leave tomorrow. You and Caelan can go back to how things used to be."
I pressed my lips together so hard they hurt.
Sable had once been the beloved daughter of an Alpha family. When she was five, her entire pack was slaughtered in a territorial war, leaving only her alive.
Her relatives from a neighboring pack stole her inheritance and dumped her with humans, where she was abused for years because she couldn't shift properly.
After meeting her, I'd begged my parents to take her into Silverpaw Pack. They treated her exactly like their own daughter.
I still remembered the first full moon she celebrated with us. She'd cried under the moonlight, and I'd laughed while telling her everything I had belonged to her too.
Half my snacks. Half my territory runs. Half my parents' love.
I just never expected she'd want half my mate too.
"Get out!" I shouted through gritted teeth. "I never want to see you again! You're a disgusting bond-breaker!"
The pups started wailing from the noise, their tiny faces turning bright red.
I picked mine up immediately, heart aching as I rocked the baby gently. My wolf whimpered inside me, desperate to protect our young.
Tears dripped helplessly down my face.
Sable covered her mouth and sobbed harder. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Caelan's expression darkened instantly. He picked up the crying pup beside Sable before glaring at me with suppressed fury.
"Sable cared so much about you she couldn't bear hurting you even a little," he snapped. "She was my fated mate from the very beginning. You're the one who stole someone else's bond!"
I froze.
Caelan had once told me his intended mate died in the pack massacre years ago.
When he and Sable first met, they'd pretended to be strangers. They constantly acted like they couldn't stand each other.
More than once, I'd even begged Caelan to be gentler with her for my sake.
I'd secretly been proud of myself for helping repair their bond.
Now I realized I'd been the joke all along.
I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face.
Then I reached out and ripped the moonstone beads off Sable's wrist. The beads scattered across the floor.
"That's mine!" I screamed. "Neither of you deserves it!"
Cradling my pup against my chest, I forced myself to stand.
Every step felt like walking barefoot across silver shards. Pain tore through my body, making me tremble violently.
But I never stopped walking.
Behind me, Sable burst into hysterical sobs while Caelan shouted furiously after me.
Then the Arcane Pact spoke again.
[18 hours remaining. The Contractor is advised to make a decision immediately.]
Chapter 3
I wandered down the pack house corridor with my pup in my arms, numb from head to toe.
I should have hated Caelan for betraying our bond. I should have hated Sable for destroying the trust I gave her.
But more than anything, I hated that the two of them had taken the most important people in my life away from me at the same time.
In a daze, I pulled out my phone and opened my photo gallery.
One picture after another flooded my screen.
Caelan and me running through the forest at dawn, our wolves racing toward the rising sun.
Kissing under the full moon in the sacred clearing.
Swimming together in the hidden lake at the edge of our territory.
And in every single memory, Sable had been there too.
I finally realized it.
Somewhere along the way, our mate bond had stopped being about two wolves.
It had become three.
And I had never noticed.
I deleted over ten thousand photos.
Then I stared at the glowing Arcane Pact interface floating in front of me and let out a bitter laugh.
What had Caelan really done wrong? He just didn't love me.
I tightened my arms around my pup as tears blurred my vision again.
I'm sorry, sweetheart. Mommy can only leave you behind in this Contracted Realm.
At least let me stay with her a few more hours.
A pair of worn leather boots suddenly appeared in front of me. I looked up.
Caelan stood there, guilt and heartbreak filling his eyes.
The next second, he pulled me into his arms.
His familiar warmth shattered the last of my composure, and I broke down sobbing against his chest.
Pathetically, a tiny part of me still thought maybe he loved me a little.
"I'm sorry, Lyra," he said softly. "I lost my temper earlier and said a lot of things I shouldn't have. I never wanted to hurt you. I was just worried about Sable. I was afraid she'd really leave with the pup. Stop being stubborn, okay? Ever since you walked out, Sable's been crying nonstop..."
Sable. Sable. That was all he cared about now.
Any hope I still had was crushed by his own hands.
Every breath felt like swallowing silver shards.
After a long silence, I cut him off.
"Promise me you'll take good care of our daughter."
Caelan froze for a second, then visibly relaxed. He cupped my face gently, his tone lighter now.
"Lyra, of course I will. I'll take care of both of you from now on. You just gave birth, so you need to focus on recovering..."
Before he could finish, his phone rang.
The moment he answered, his face drained of color.
"Don't panic. I'm coming right now."
As soon as he hung up, all the tenderness vanished from his expression. His face darkened with fury.
"Sable's son was born with a broken wolf spirit. The healers still haven't found a way to fix it. She's already emotionally unstable, and then you destroyed those moonstone beads, so now she's convinced you'll never forgive her. She's threatening to jump off the cliff! Are you happy now?!"
Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed my wrist.
"Come with me. Now."
He dragged me toward the cliffside overlook behind the pack house.
The violent tugging tore at the wounds from childbirth, and pain exploded through my lower body so sharply I almost blacked out.
Warm blood trickled down my legs. Dizziness slammed into me wave after wave.
I bit down so hard on the inside of my cheek I tasted blood, barely managing to stay conscious.
At the cliff's edge, Sable stood beyond the safety line.
Her face was pale as death. The freezing wind whipped through her loose gown, making her look so fragile it seemed like she might disappear at any second.
The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up briefly before dimming again. Tears streamed down her face.
"Lyra... my pup is dying. And you won't forgive me, right? I've lost everything. Everything!"
She swayed dangerously at the edge.
Before I could speak, Caelan panicked.
"Sable, don't do this! Lyra already said she forgives you. She came here to apologize!"
I stared at him in disbelief. The absurdity of it was suffocating.
But Sable didn't believe him either. Her eyes were unfocused, almost delirious.
"You could never forgive me," she whispered. "Not if you found out the Rogues who attacked you back then... were hired by me. You'd want me dead—"
Something inside me shattered completely.
I lunged at her like a madwoman.
But before I could reach her, a powerful arm yanked me backward.
I turned around and met Caelan's icy stare.
"Sable was young and stupid back then," he snapped. "She made a mistake. Afterward, she was so guilty she almost killed herself several times. If I hadn't stayed by her side and helped her through it, she probably wouldn't even be alive right now."
I went completely still. Cold spread through my entire body.
He knew. He had known the truth all along.
While I drowned in the trauma of what happened to me, he ignored my pain completely.
But Sable, the person who destroyed my life in the first place?
He pitied her.
