I let out a sharp laugh filled with anger.
When my mother was alive, she treated Ronan like her own son of the pack. Yet he walked into our Alpha hall with another she wolf in red, stood before my mother’s spirit tablet, and still dared to call me small minded.
I lifted my head and met his eyes. My voice turned calm and firm.
“Ronan, on my mother’s remembrance day, you brought your chosen mate into our den. Is that what you call generous?”
My words made his face darken at once.
He stared at me for a moment, then gave a cold laugh.
“Valea, you are impossible. You cannot even see goodwill when it stands before you.”
He pulled Marielle into his arms, shielding her, and turned to leave as if speaking to me any longer was beneath him.
I took a slow breath.
Then I turned back, forced a polite smile, and bowed slightly to each elder and guest, offering apologies and farewells.
When the last of them left the stronghold, I walked step by step to my mother’s spirit tablet and let my guard fall.
“I am sorry, Mother. On your sacred day, I still caused unrest. Let us not speak of sorrow now. Mother, I prepared a small den for the pup. Will you come and see it?”
Holding the tablet close, I walked toward the small room. But when I pushed the door open, my body froze.
The room was ruined.
The tiny wolf clothes I had folded with care were gone. The little wooden toys placed on the shelf had disappeared as well.
My first thought was that an outsider had broken into our territory.
I quickly called the pack guards.
The guard’s voice was uneasy. “Luna… it was not an intruder. It was Alpha Ronan. He ordered warriors to remove everything.”
I stood still, a loud ringing filling my ears.
After ending the call, I opened Marielle’s public page and scrolled through her recent posts. Soon, in a few casual photos, I saw something I knew too well.
The pet wolf in her chamber was wearing the small outfit I had prepared for my pup.
The soft cloth had been bitten out of shape, soaked with saliva.
On the fur rug nearby, the toys I bought were torn into pieces.
My teeth clenched so hard my chest hurt and I could barely breathe.
If those were random items, maybe it would not have cut so deep.
But they were not.
Those clothes were gathered by asking respected elders from different packs. They were passed down from their own pups.
I repaired each piece carefully, washed and dried them under moonlight, pressing them smooth, filling them with my blessings for my pup’s future.
The toys were gifts from old allies and kin when they learned I carried an heir.
And Ronan personally took them away. To give them to his mistress’s pet.
All calm left me. I held my belly and rushed toward the company tower.
The front guard froze when he saw me and quickly stood straight.
“Luna, Alpha Ronan cannot meet anyone right now.”
I ignored him and walked forward.
He hurried after me and blocked my way, lowering his voice.
“You truly cannot enter.”
Before I answered, sounds drifted from the half-closed office door at the end of the hall.
A woman’s forced and uneven breathing mixed with a man’s low laughter. The dull sound of furniture hitting the floor followed.
Heat rushed to my head, then faded at once, leaving my limbs cold.
I did not look at the guard again.
I raised my hand and pushed the door wide open.
The door struck the wall loudly.
Everything inside was exposed.
The desk was messy, scrolls scattered, a chair pushed aside. Ronan leaned against the desk, his clothes disordered. Marielle leaned against him, her skirt wrinkled, her face red.
The air smelled heavy and sickening.
Marielle jumped. The next second, tears filled her eyes and she pressed herself into Ronan’s chest.
I stood at the doorway, fingers digging into the wood, pain tightening across my belly.
“Ronan.” My voice trembled.
“Why did you give the clothes I prepared for my pup to this woman’s pet?”
As soon as she heard that, Marielle’s tears fell.
“Luna… Valea…” Her voice sounded soft and wronged. “A few days ago, I saw those little outfits on Alpha Ronan’s crystal screen. I thought they were adorable, so I joked that my pet would look cute wearing them.”
“The next day, Alpha Ronan brought me the clothes and toys. I truly did not know they were for your pup. If I had known, how could I accept them?”
Pain throbbed in my head. I had barely parted my lips when Ronan let out a short laugh. He looked down at her gently.
“Why explain so much to her?”
“How could you not accept them?” His tone was careless. “Those old worn garments, letting a pet use them is suitable enough.”
A loud buzzing filled my mind.
Old?
Suitable for a pet?
My voice scraped out slowly. “Ronan, those were the clothes I asked from—”
“Enough.” He cut me off impatiently. “Must you turn everything into a scene?”
He patted Marielle’s back lightly, his tone dismissive.
“What you did during your mother’s remembrance upset Marielle. I sent a few clothes and toys to comfort her. What is wrong with that?”
He looked at me with cold eyes.
“And now you storm into the company to shout?”
Comfort her?
Using our pup’s clothes and toys to please his mistress?
