Selenes POV
That night,sleep never came.
I lay still in the dark,listening to the faint rhythm of Lucians breathing beside me—until it stopped.
His scent shifted,moving away from the bed.The mattress dipped,then the door clicked softly shut.
Moments later,faint laughter drifted from the guest den.Mariss voice.
The sound sliced through the silence like a blade.
I pressed my palm to my stomach.A small,hidden pulse stirred beneath my skin—the pup he didn’t know existed.
He would never know.Not this time.
By dawn,he returned.The scent of jasmine clung to him.He smiled as if he hadn’t spent the night with another she-wolf.
“Selene,”he said carefully.“We need to talk.”
I looked up,my voice flat.“What now?”
He hesitated before clearing his throat.
“Maris shouldn’t stay in the guest den.She’s expecting,and she needs comfort.”
I stared,waiting for the rest.
“The Alpha’s quarters are larger,”he continued.“It only makes sense that she takes them.Just until her pup is born.”
For a heartbeat,I thought I had misheard.
Then laughter—cold,hollow—escaped me.
“You want me to give up my den…to her?”
His jaw tightened.“It’s not permanent.You’ve had it long enough.Mariss with child.She deserves comfort,Selene.Make a small sacrifice—for your best friend.”
The audacity almost made me bare my fangs.
I wanted to scream that I,too,carried life inside me.That my unborn pup deserved warmth far more than his mistress ever would.
But I said nothing.
In less than a day,I would be gone.
I forced my voice steady.
“Fine,”I whispered.
He sighed in relief,stepping closer to brush a kiss against my forehead.The touch made my skin crawl.
“Lucian?”Mariss voice echoed from the corridor.
He turned instantly,ready to obey.
“Hold on,”I said calmly.“I need your mark on something first.”
I picked up the parchment from the table.“Just pack paperwork,”I added lightly.
“Selene,not now—”
“It’ll only take a second.”
Maris called again.His patience snapped.“Fine.Give it here.”
He scrawled his signature without a glance.
When he handed it back,I smiled faintly.
He had just signed the formal dissolution of our bond—the Lunar Severance.
He had no idea he’d freed me.
“Is that all?”he asked gruffly.
“Yes.”
He left without another word.
The moment the door shut,I lifted the comm-stone.
“The bond’s severed,”I told my advocate wolf.“Pull every Redfang investment from Silvermoon Holdings.The Alpha no longer has our protection.”
Lucian had never known that my bloodline’s fortune kept his empire alive.Now it would crumble,piece by piece.
A bitter laugh slipped out as I turned back to packing.
Then came her voice.
“Selene,let me help.”
Maris stood in the doorway,her smile sweet as poison.
“Don’t bother,”I said curtly.
She ignored me,stepping into my den.Her gaze swept over the shelves until it landed on the small wooden chest—Jasmine’s belongings.
“Careful,”I warned.“Don’t touch that.”
She smiled,feigning innocence,and reached for the snow globe—a fragile orb with a tiny wolf cub dancing under falling flakes.Jasmine’s favorite.
“This is lovely,”Maris said softly,tilting it.“It was Jasmine’s,right?”
My chest ached.“Yes.Put it down.”
Her grin sharpened.
“Oops.”
The globe slipped from her hand.It shattered against the stone.Glass and water scattered.The little cub’s figure cracked clean in half.
“Oh no,”she gasped,clutching her chest in fake remorse.“Clumsy me.Pregnancy brain.”
Her eyes gleamed as she watched me kneel.
The snow globe wasn’t just a trinket—it was the only thing that soothed my nights after Jasmine’s death.
Now it lay ruined,shards glinting like tears.
I gathered the pieces with shaking hands,blood seeping where glass bit into my palms.
“It was her favorite,”I whispered.
Maris crouched beside me,her lips curling.
“Don’t worry,Selene,”she murmured,her voice dripping honey.“You’ll have other pups.You’ll move on.”
Something inside me snapped.
The wolf that had been silent for too long finally bared her fangs.
A growl rumbled up my throat,low and feral.The air trembled with it.
Mariss smirk froze as the scent of danger filled the den.
