Five winters ago, when Fredrik brought me back to his side within the Graywolf territory, I tried to explain why I had ended our bond.
He shook his head. "No need to explain. It does not matter."
Back then, I believed he understood me.
Now I knew he had never believed a single word.
"Fredrik, forget it. Caylin has always been skilled at pretending in front of men. Otherwise, how do you think she made your uncle fall so deeply for her?"
Zora slipped her fingers into his, her eyes flicking toward me with clear triumph.
Fredrik looked at me, his gaze filled with disappointment so deep it almost turned to disgust.
"There is a music gathering tomorrow night. I will take Zora. She has been learning the violin." He looked down at me, his tone firm. "Give her the Mooncrest violin."
I stared at him, unable to believe what I heard.
That Mooncrest violin. Five winters ago, when I returned, he had spent an enormous fortune at auction to claim it. It was a rare relic, the only one of its kind.
I had treated it as the symbol of our new beginning. No one was allowed to touch it.
Once, one of his relatives secretly took it to play. She was expelled from the Graywolf estate that same day.
Back then, Fredrik had protected me without hesitation, warning the entire pack that anything belonging to me could not be touched.
And now, he wanted me to place it into Zora’s hands myself.
My chest tightened as if something heavy was crushing it.
I looked at his face. There was no space to refuse.
Slowly, I nodded.
"Fine. I will give it to her."
Fredrik held my gaze for a moment, then wrapped his arm around Zora and left.
The villa was well sealed, yet it could not fully block the soft cries and broken breaths from the room next door.
I was not sad. The pain in my stomach had only grown worse.
Lying curled on the bed, I saw my crystal communicator light up. A message from Dante.
[Caylin, everything is prepared. I will come for you in two days.]
I held the cold crystal communicator tightly and closed my eyes.
Two days until the mating ceremony.
The next morning, I handed the violin to Zora.
She opened the case right away and lifted the bow.
A harsh sound cut through the air, sharp enough to make anyone uneasy.
Then she took out a pair of scissors and, without hesitation, cut the strings one by one. The strings I had specially commissioned from a master craftsman.
"These strings are terrible. I cannot even play a proper note."
Zora looked at me, a mocking smile on her lips.
I did not respond. I turned and walked away.
As I passed the study, I heard Fredrik speaking with a relative.
"I heard you gave Zora the Bloodmoon Bracelet and the earrings. Now you even made Caylin give up that violin?"
"Caylin lost her pup trying to save you. Her parents died pulling you out of that fire. You treat her like this. Are you not afraid she will leave?"
I stopped walking.
Fredrik’s voice came out calm and careless.
"Leave? She has no pack. Where can she go?"
"Besides, she needs to let go of that useless pride and understand who holds power here. Once she behaves and stops troubling Zora, I will allow her to stay."
His relative sighed.
"Are you not worried she will truly give up on you?"
Fredrik let out a short laugh, full of disdain.
"She was raised to chase wealth. Whoever holds power, she follows."
"Why else would she leave me back then and go to Layne?"
"Now that the Graywolf power is mine, she clings to me like a shadow. Do you really think she would walk away?"
The other voice pressed again. "But what happened back then... will you not at least hear her side?"
Fredrik answered with a faint smile, his voice cold.
"She’s not worth it."
Cold spread through my entire body. I could not stop trembling.
So he had never understood.
All this time, he believed I left him for power, and returned for the same reason. So he kept me by his side while slowly crushing my dignity.
Five winters ago, Fredrik buried my parents, set aside hatred, and told me he would give me a home.
But my parents had died in the flames saving him. And I had spent two winters beside Layne, secretly gathering proof of his crimes, then sending it all to Fredrik.
That was why Fredrik could defeat Layne and rise as heir.
The one not worth anything was not me.
It was Fredrik Graywolf.
My nails pressed into my palms. Blood fell slowly, one drop after another. I felt nothing.
I stepped back quietly and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.
"Lady Celviere!"
An old voice called out from deep within the hallway.
