Chapter 1

Three years after my Alpha husband died, I went to his grave to pay my respects.

I was shocked to find that his name wasn't even on the royal headstone.

I stormed into the pack's Great Hall, demanding an explanation from the King.

King Alaric sighed, looking at me with a mix of pity and exhaustion.

"Lyra, Silas isn't buried there. Before he died, he gave up all his war honors just to stay out of the royal crypt."

"He told me that he and Chloe had already missed out on a lifetime together. He didn't want to miss her again on the way to the afterlife."

Chloe. That was the woman whose name Silas had whispered every single night for fifteen years.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Silas returned from the war in glory.

This time, I didn't cling to him. I agreed to the divorce he wanted and volunteered to be the bride sent to the Shadow Moon Kingdom.

In that land, I would build a trade empire and start a path that would save thousands.

1

I had been resting in the manor for three days. Even the King remembered to send me rare herbs to help me recover.

But Silas, who had just returned to the city, hadn't come to see me once.

He had been gone for three years. I had gone to the city gates to welcome him with a heart full of joy.

Instead, one of his soldiers knocked me to the ground. The man didn't even look sorry when he apologized.

Silas didn't care about me at all. He spent the whole time comforting Chloe right in front of my face.

He didn't show up once during the three days I was healing.

"Luna, the Alpha is back," my maid whispered.

I waved my hand, telling her to leave.

Silas walked in and glanced at my messy desk and my unbrushed hair. He looked disgusted.

"You are a high-ranking lady. I've been gone for three years, and you're acting this lazy? You haven't even touched the pack's business."

He didn't even look at my bandaged ankle. He just started yelling.

I looked at him and kept flipping through my book. "If you want to blame me, you should think about why I'm like this," I said calmly.

He finally looked at my foot. His voice lost some of its edge, but he still sounded annoyed.

"My soldier was clumsy the other day. I already punished him. It won't happen again."

I arched an eyebrow. I was surprised he was even trying to be nice.

A few days ago, he didn't even look at me when I was lying on the ground. He had walked straight to Chloe to joke around with her.

He picked up a bottle of medicine and tried to apply it to my skin.

I moved my leg away. He froze.

"The healer will do it," I said.

In the past, he would have left with a cold face. This time, he actually smiled.

"Right. I'm too rough. I wouldn't want to hurt you again."

"By the way, look at this. I bought it from the Western territories. It suits you."

He pulled out a silver hair pin and tried to tuck it into my hair.

I touched the pin. It was made of rare moonlight stone.

In my past life, I begged him for gifts many times. He always ignored me.

In this life, I simply stopped bothering him and Chloe, and now he was giving me what I wanted.

If this were my past life, I would have been overjoyed. Now, I felt absolutely nothing.

I took the pin out and set it aside.

"Thank you for the thought, Alpha. If there's nothing else, please leave."

Silas was stunned. His eyes widened with anger.

His look said, "I lowered myself to see you, don't be ungrateful."

But he suppressed his rage and tried to sound soft.

"Lyra, I heard the King gave you a new territory. But that place is Chloe's hometown. Could you give it to her?"

"The King loves you. If you ask him, I'm sure he will agree."

My eyes went dark. So that was why he was being nice. He wanted something for his mistress.

"I'm old enough to leave the palace. If I give away my land, I'll have nowhere to go."

I crossed my arms and looked at him with a smirk.

He immediately lost his patience.

"Stop being difficult! I already failed Chloe by marrying you. She followed me here and has no one."

"Even if you give her the land, the King won't let you suffer. As my wife, you should take care of her. As a princess, you should be generous to the people."

He was willing to offend the King just to get Chloe a reward. No wonder they were buried together in my last life.

I laughed.

"If you have such a good reason, go ask the King yourself. Don't bother me."

Seeing that I wouldn't budge, he clenched his fists.

"A princess with no heart... you'll get what's coming to you!"

He slammed the door so hard the wind chimes rattled in a way that made my head hurt.