Chapter 1

1.

After severing the mate bond, I dragged my battered body to a rainy, gloomy seaside town in Washington.

New identity. New number.

I cut off everything related to that powerful werewolf pack.

They all think I’m dead.

Died in that rogue wolf attack that shocked the entire North American Werewolf Council.

For three whole years, fresh white roses have been laid in front of my empty grave in the pack’s cemetery.

Until one day, the glass door of the coffee shop where I worked was pushed open, and a familiar face walked in.

She looked at me in shock, asking why I hadn’t returned to the pack if I was still alive.

She asked if I knew that Alpha Seraphina had been living in guilt over me, almost destroying herself in the process.

Seraphina was my ex-mate, the supreme female Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack.

She had a rival in the pack, someone she had been fighting with for over twenty years.

They had made a pact: neither would find a fated mate, and they would battle until they were old and gray.

But Seraphina fell in love with me at first sight. She broke her vow, pursued me madly for years, and finally made me her human Luna.

Julian hated her for breaking the promise. And he took all his anger out on me, her ordinary human mate.

The first time, Julian tricked me into rogue wolf territory. I stepped into a hunter’s trap, shattering my bones and suffering massive internal bleeding. I lay in the ICU for ten days.

Seraphina used all her resources, bringing in the best wolf healers and human specialists to pull me back from the brink of death.

The second time, she threw me deep into the blizzard-swept Rockies and ordered me to hike back to the territory on foot.

Seraphina forced a halt to the pack’s hunting drills, sending the entire scout guard to search for three days and nights without sleep. They finally found me under a cold rock, in shock from hypothermia.

Just like that, she and Julian played their game. You hurt him, I save him. Back and forth.

Until the ninety-ninth time.

Julian learned from Seraphina that, as a human, I had a fatal reaction to wolfsbane powder.

He mixed high-purity wolfsbane into water and used a funnel to force it down my throat, causing me to go into immediate toxic shock.

Before I was wheeled into the ER, I used my last ounce of strength to beg Seraphina to call the Enforcers.

She just shook her head helplessly.

"Be good, Liam. We aren't going to hold it against him."

"Julian is the orphan of a Beta war hero. He lacks security. Fighting with me is the only way he feels alive."

"He didn't know humans reacted so badly to wolfsbane. He was just playing around; he didn't mean to take your life. For my sake, let it go this time, okay?"

In that moment, my heart died faster than the poison spreading through my veins.

...

The next day, waking up in the pack’s private hospital, the first thing I did was call Elder Thomas.

He was the previous Alpha and Seraphina’s grandfather. I knew he had always despised that I was just a human, unable to breed powerful offspring for the pack. He had wanted me gone for a long time.

"Elder Thomas," my voice was terrifyingly calm. "I agree to dissolve the mating contract with Seraphina."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before the old Alpha responded decisively.

"I'm glad you finally came to your senses. I’ll send the dissolution papers over. Just sign them. I’ll handle the report to the Council. Once the process is done, never appear in front of Seraphina again."

Not long after hanging up, his Enforcer appeared in the ward, respectfully handing me a document stamped with a silver wolf head.

I signed my name, stroke by stroke. Tears blurred my vision as memories of Seraphina flooded my mind uncontrollably.

In the three years we were mated, she was obedient and attentive to me.

But when it came to Julian, she had absolutely no boundaries.

The first time we met, Julian threw my dog, which I had raised for six years, into the fighting pit. He made me watch as a feral wolf tore it to shreds.

I furiously demanded Seraphina hold him accountable. She just hugged me and said, "Honey, Julian just has a bad temper. He’s not bad at heart. As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters."

Since then, again and again, ninety-nine injuries were brushed aside by her.

Now, I had finally made up my mind to sever this so-called "fated bond" with my own hands.

I trembled as I gripped the pen, tears hitting the parchment and blurring the ink.

Taking a deep breath, I signed "Liam Cross."

The Enforcer collected the file and bowed slightly. "Mr. Cross, once the notarization is complete, I will deliver it personally. Until then, please keep this confidential."

After he left, the hospital room was dead silent. It was terrifying.

Not long after, the door was pushed open again.

Julian walked in, grinning, holding a glaringly white funeral wreath.

I instantly started shaking, instinctively shrinking back. "What... what are you doing here?"

He tossed the wreath onto the floor, his smile malicious. "I'm here to send you on your final journey. Since that much wolfsbane didn't kill you, I guess I have to do it myself."

His eyes instantly turned into beast-like vertical slits. He lunged onto the bed, his hands clamping tight around my throat!

I struggled desperately. But as a human who had just undergone gastric lavage, I was no match for Julian, who had wolf blood.

The air in my lungs vanished rapidly. Darkness began to spot my vision.

Just as my consciousness was fading, a nurse on rounds rushed in, screaming.

"Mr. Julian! What are you doing?! Someone help! Help!"

In the chaos, I used my last bit of strength to grab the nurse's hand. "Call... the... police..."

Then I passed out completely.

When I woke up again, the first thing I saw was Seraphina’s icy face.

Her first words contained no concern, only the suppressed anger of Alpha pressure.

"Liam, why did you call the police? Julian has been taken away by both the human police and the pack Enforcers!"

My heart felt like it was being torn by claws. I couldn't breathe from the pain.

"He just tried to strangle me to death! Shouldn't I call the police?"

Seraphina frowned, looking at me as if I was the one being unreasonable.

"I told you long ago, Julian is the orphan of a pack hero and my childhood friend. He’s just willful; he would never actually want your life..."

"Not actually want me dead?!"

I interrupted her sharply. Three years of accumulated fear, grievance, and anger erupted.

"He tricked me into rogue territory and I stepped in a trap! He threw me into a blizzard for three days! He poured toxic wolfsbane down my throat! And just now, he tried to choke me out! Which time wasn't trying to take my life? If that nurse hadn't come in, I’d be dead! Do you understand?!"

She seemed moved by my breakdown and tried to release calming pheromones to hug me, but I pushed her away.

"Don't touch me! I won't back down this time. I am going to make him face the Tribal Court!"

Seraphina fell silent for a moment, her eyes gradually turning cold and hard.

"Julian and I grew up together in the pack house. He’s just been spoiled. I will discipline him strictly. I’ll lock him in confinement, or even kick him out of the elite guard! But I will not let him go to prison and ruin his life."

Before I could react, her guard stepped forward and handed a document to me.

"Sign this. We will let bygones be bygones, and things will go back to how they were."

I looked at the glaringly large title on the document: Liability Waiver & Forgiveness Letter. I felt like a knife was twisting in my heart.

I shook my head stubbornly. "I won't sign it!"

"Julian hasn't suffered like that before. He can't handle a human detention center. Liam, be obedient."

She rubbed her temples, looking like she had lost her patience.

"I said I won't sign!" I practically screamed.

The next second, the guard stepped forward, roughly grabbed my arm, and twisted it hard!

"Ah!"

Agony swept through my body. She grabbed my trembling hand, forced me to sign the waiver, then pressed my thumb into the ink pad and stamped it down hard!

The whole time, Seraphina stood aside, watching coldly.

I was sweating from the pain, my face as pale as paper. I looked up at the Alpha I had loved for years, my voice weak.

"Seraphina... for him... you would do this to me..."

A flash of pain crossed her eyes instantly, but she turned her head and ordered the guard.

"Call the healer. Use the best herbs. Fix his hand. Take good care of him."

Then she picked up the waiver stained with my blood and tears and walked out without looking back.

For the next few days, Seraphina didn't show her face. She only sent a few routine texts.

Rogue wolves harassing the border. Can't get away.

Stop being angry. When you get discharged, I'll throw you a grand party.

Does your hand still hurt? Take care of yourself.

But every time I received a text from her, a message from Julian would follow immediately.

Photos of Seraphina taking care of him.

Feeding him soup, giving him a massage, even peeling an apple for him with the ceremonial Alpha dagger she never let me touch.

That night, my hand hurt so much I couldn't sleep. Like a fool possessed, I called Seraphina.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

After hanging up, Julian’s message came through instantly.

Guess what we're doing?

Below it was a video. Just the thumbnail radiated extreme intimacy.

My hands shook as I clicked play. In the video, Julian was shirtless, his face flushed, writhing on a bed. Clearly, his heat cycle had hit.

He got out of bed naked, hugging Seraphina’s waist from behind, pressing his burning body tightly against the back of her crisp combat uniform.

"Sera... don't go... it hurts... the suppressants aren't working..."

"If you leave... I'll die... Please, help me through my heat..."

Seraphina’s footsteps stopped abruptly. She looked back at Julian, whose eyes were glazed over. I saw the struggle in her eyes.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, declined my call, and turned around to press Julian back onto the bed. Her voice was husky and repressed.

"Let's make this quick!"

The video went dark, leaving only the sounds of flesh tangling and Seraphina’s low growl of satisfaction.

I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave. My blood froze.

I held my phone, stubbornly dialing Seraphina’s number.

All night long. 527 calls. Seraphina didn't answer a single one.

Until the next day, when the sun was high, I received a cold reply: Emergency military duty yesterday.

Tears fell. I pulled the corner of my mouth into a sarcastic smile.

So her "emergency military duty" was helping another man through his heat in bed.