Chapter 1After a long silence, Victor spoke coldly, "Shut up. Lower your voice, Tessa's right there."
I stood frozen on the other side of the terrace, my nails digging deep into the marble railing.
"What are you doing out here? You'll catch a chill." Victor's deep voice rumbled from behind me.
He draped an expensive cashmere coat over my shoulders, his broad, hard chest pressing flush against my back as he wrapped his arms possessively around my waist. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent deeply.
I was as stiff as a board.
Those words were poisoned silver blades, slicing through my mind again and again.
Victor took my hand. "Tessa, why are your hands so cold?"
He brought my hand to his lips, warming it with his breath.
I turned around, calmly pulling my hand away. "Victor, who am I?"
Gazing into his deep, dark eyes, memories of our whirlwind three years together flooded my mind.
He would unfailingly prepare a cup of hot cocoa for me late at night.
During the restless nights of the full moon when my inner wolf raged, he would cancel cross-territory negotiations just to pin me against the pillows, his lips grazing the sensitive skin of my nape, soothing my frayed instincts with his warm, woody scent.
...So, all of this was just for another woman?
He gently stroked my hair. "Silly girl, do you even need to ask? You are my only mate, my Luna."
I opened my mouth to speak, but his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen, his expression unreadable.
"Tessa, there's an emergency at the northern territory branch. I have to go to the study for an urgent video conference."
He leaned down and pressed a cold kiss on my forehead.
"Be good. Go to sleep, don't wait up for me."
I watched his retreating back numbly.
I returned to the bedroom alone.
On the nightstand, the screen of Victor's spare smartwatch suddenly lit up.
A chat window with no contact name popped up.
It was a photo.
The background was a high-end, private werewolf club in the central city.
In the picture, a woman wore a wine-red silk nightgown, her eyes glistening suggestively.
Her features were breathtakingly exquisite.
And yet, I could still see the faint resemblance to me.
The pure-blooded Valerie.
Before I could react, the chat history on the screen was completely erased.
Victor had cleared the messages from his end.
Less than a minute later, the deliberately muffled roar of a sports car engine came from outside.
I listened as the engine's roar faded into the distance.
I gripped the silk sheets tightly with both hands.
After a moment, I took a deep breath.
I hailed a cab and followed the synchronized location from his watch.
I didn't rush in to catch them in the act.
I just sat in the adjacent VIP booth all night, torturing myself.
A werewolf's hearing is incredibly sharp.
Chapter 2
The raw, frenzied sounds—the wet slaps of skin against skin and heavy, ragged breathing—coming from the next room were unlike anything I had ever experienced with him.
When he was with me, he was always gentle and restrained, his touches agonizingly slow, maintaining an unnerving sense of control.
Valerie's voice was a breathy, tearful moan. "Victor, three years ago, I was foolish. I shouldn't have rejected our bond..."
"Today, I'm giving myself to you completely. Mark me. Claim my neck... Please."
The moment she finished speaking, an even more ferocious, beast-like growl erupted from the other side, followed by a sharp, ecstatic gasp as flesh yielded to fangs.
I bit down hard on my lower lip until my mouth filled with the metallic tang of blood.
I fought back the urge to storm in and instead took out my phone to record the audio.
A wave of bile rose in my throat.
With the recording saved, I stumbled away.
I walked alone on the street, a cold wind lashing my face with fine rain.
The phone screen suddenly lit up with a message from Victor.
"Tessa, things are a bit tricky. I'll be back late. Go to sleep, don't stay up."
I tilted my head back.
I tried to hold back my tears, but my eyes were painfully dry.
I thought I was the Moon Goddess's most favored child.
But the truth was a harsh slap across the face.
I don't know how I made it back home.
I picked up a crystal wolf sculpture from the entryway and walked to the display case in the living room.
It was filled with crystal wolf sculptures of all sizes.
For three years, I had believed these were proof of his love for me.
I'd once been obsessed with crystal carving.
So Victor had canceled all his social engagements to learn with me.
He would hold me in his arms, guiding my hand, carving and polishing stroke by stroke.
He said he wanted to capture every part of me forever.
I walked toward the she-wolf statue in the center, my favorite one.
A dark suspicion bloomed in my mind, and on an impulse, I moved the statue.
There was a hidden compartment underneath.
I opened it, my body trembling uncontrollably.
Inside was an old hair ribbon, saturated with Valerie's scent.
The girl in the photo beside it had an arrogant, flamboyant smile, her eyes holding the pride unique to the pure-blooded.
That was a young Valerie.
I held the hair ribbon and compared it to the sculpture before me.
The expression, the eyes... this sculpture wasn't of me at all.
I was merely a vessel, a stand-in for her scent.
Just then, the fingerprint lock on the front door chimed.
Victor was back.
"Still awake? Were you scared all alone?"
He walked over, moving to embrace me out of habit.
I dodged his hand and threw the hair ribbon in his face.
"So, all your kindness these past three years was a lie?"
"Were you just smelling her on me?"
Victor glanced down, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes.
He bent down, picked up the ribbon, and carefully tucked it into his pocket.
Not a hint of panic at being caught.
"Tessa, the position of Luna will always be yours."
"Valerie is a regret from my youth. I just need some time to put it to rest."
I sneered. "Put it to rest? By soothing her in bed?"
Victor looked up, narrowing his eyes at me. "You followed me?"
He crossed his legs and leaned back on the sofa. "She's on the verge of a lycanthropic breakdown. I can't just stand by and watch a pureblood be ruined, can I?"
"I trust you can understand. You're so compassionate with injured pups; this is a noble life we're talking about."
Just then, his phone, which he'd placed on the table, lit up.
Valerie had sent a voice message.
Victor didn't bother to hide it, playing it on speaker.
The woman's voice was lazy and satisfied, practically dripping with post-coital bliss. "Thank you for remembering I like moonstone. Also, I love how that strawberry-flavored lube tastes on your tongue... don't bring the wrong one next time."
The moonstone necklace he had won for me at an auction last year for an exorbitant price.
So, that was for Valerie, too.
He extended a hand to me. "That necklace's quality isn't good anyway. I'll have my assistant pick out a larger diamond for you tomorrow as compensation."
I stood up. "Victor, I want to sever the mate bond. We're over!"
Chapter 3
Hearing those words, his eyes instantly flashed with the red glow of an Alpha, and he seized my wrist.
He wasn't using much force, but the sheer pressure of his aura was bone-chillingly cold.
"Stop this nonsense. I don't like it when you're like this."
"Where could you go without me? Back to that Rogue who treated you like a breeding machine?"
"Let go. Where I go is none of your business." I stared coldly at the hand gripping mine.
Victor's gaze darkened, but he eventually, slowly, loosened his grip.
He took a deep breath, his expression softening into one of feigned, helpless indulgence.
"Tessa, stop throwing a tantrum. I promise, I'll try to see her less in the future."
Just then, his private phone, tucked in his pocket, rang with a special ringtone.
It was the emergency line he'd set up just for me.
Victor frowned slightly and answered the call.
Valerie's voice was tearful. "Victor, I'm so scared, I can't control myself..."
Victor's voice instantly tensed. "What? You lost control of your shift and got hurt?!"
Without hesitation, Victor turned to leave. "I have to go. You get some rest."
"Victor," I suddenly felt a sharp, pulling pain in my lower abdomen.
I instinctively clutched my stomach and reached out to grab the hem of his suit jacket.
He looked impatient. "Tessa, don't act out of jealousy at a time like this."
"Her condition is critical. I have to go."
He pried my fingers off, one by one.
Without another glance at me, he strode away.
I crumpled to the floor, cold sweat soaking my back.
I forced myself up, hailed a cab, and went to the pack's medical center alone.
As I lay on the examination bed, I felt a profound sense of isolation.
I held the ultrasound report and the bloodline scent analysis, stroking my still-flat stomach.
My pup, I'm so sorry. You've come at such a terrible time.
I clenched my fists.
But now that you're here, I swear I will take you away from all this and raise you myself.
After emailing my lawyer about asset division, I prepared to leave.
Just then, I saw Victor carefully helping Valerie out of the exclusive ward for high-ranking werewolves.
Valerie had a cartoon-themed band-aid on her arm.
He was murmuring something to Valerie, his expression gentle.
Valerie looked up, and her gaze met mine.
She stopped walking and tugged on Victor's sleeve.
Victor followed her gaze, and his expression faltered.
Valerie broke free from his grasp and walked straight up to me.
She stared at my face. "How nostalgic. Even I had almost forgotten what my old scent was like."
Her casual words felt like a loud slap across my face.
She raised her hand, as if to touch my face.
I turned my head away. "Don't touch me. I am not you."
Seeing my rejection, she slapped me across the face.
A burning pain spread across my cheek, and I raised my hand to strike back.
Victor hurried over and stood in front of Valerie.
"Tessa, she's the patient here. Don't lower yourself to her level."
I slapped him hard across the face.
He didn't get angry. His gaze fell on the report in my hand.
He snatched the papers and scanned the results.
His brow furrowed. "Tessa, we can't have this pup right now."
"Valerie is also pregnant. She's suffering from a lycanthropic breakdown and can't handle any stress. Besides, Obsidian Peak will never accept a pup born of a scarred, low-ranking omega who was once claimed by a rogue."
