I did not know what the pearl meant when I swallowed it.
It was the morning after the Moon Feast. The mist had not yet lifted from the black pine forest. Evan had prepared venison dumplings for Karen, and hidden inside the filling was a violet moon pearl. It was a token he had given her in his youth, a symbol of oath and belonging.
I was only a substitute, yet I sat in the seat of honor.
The moment I swallowed the pearl by mistake, my fate was already sealed.
Evan did not question me, nor did he rage. He only gave a calm order, and they pinned me down on the stone altar. Wolf surgery never requires anesthesia. He personally cut open my abdomen, and the blood flowed along the engraved lines of the altar, like that of a sacrificial beast.
I lost consciousness in the agony, and drifted in and out of awareness. In that haze, I heard the call he answered.
“Did you find it?”
By the bonfire, Karen had cried herself to exhaustion and was curled up asleep in the animal pelts.
The one who answered was his brother, Diana, newly returned from the northern wolf packs. His voice was low and steady, as if he were reporting on an insignificant piece of prey.
“Yes. We found it. I will bring it over shortly.”
The pearl, still warm with my blood, rested in his palm.
He stitched my wound casually. There were no herbs, no purification ritual. Then, with visible disgust, he wiped the blood from my face using the back of his knife, as if my blood offended his sight.
I lay there with my eyes open, tears streaming down my face, yet unable to make a sound.
A replacement can never take the place of the true mate. As a she wolf chosen to imitate Karen, I should have understood that long ago.
Later, I chose to disappear.
I left the wolf pack and vanished into the borderlands, into the wastelands and the snow line. But Evan lost control. He mobilized every wolf pack he could, searching through mountains, forests, and moonlit nights, like a madman.
But that was all later.
1.
At the time, I was still lying weakly on the stone altar.
Diana stood beside me, the violet moon pearl clenched in his hand as he spoke to Evan.
“Brother, I found it. I will bring him back and make him apologize to Karen.”
Firelight flickered in his eyes.
On the other end of the communication, Evan’s voice was as cold as unmelting snow.
“Good. Tend to his wounds on the way. Do not let him die.”
In that moment, the pain in my heart was far worse than the torn flesh in my abdomen.
I had always known that my mate did not love me. His heart had never truly left Karen.
What I did not expect was that for the sake of a symbol, he would treat me as nothing more than a vessel that could be cut open at will.
On the return journey, I was placed in the back of the beast cart, laid upon rough hides. Evan drove ahead, hooves striking the frozen ground. He did not turn his head when he mocked me.
“Wake up, Diana. Break the mate bond and get out of the wolf pack. Karen is back. He is the one who should stand beside me. If you are smart, you will step aside on your own.”
I forced the corners of my mouth upward into a faint, mocking smile.
He spoke so easily, yet overlooked one simple truth.
The way Diana looked at Karen was exactly the same as the way I looked at Evan.
He always stood behind his older brother, clearing the path for his brother’s love. Yet he himself was nothing more than another shadow meant to be sacrificed.
But this time, I truly intended to leave.
I would make room for Karen.
When we arrived at the Chandler family territory, the stone gates opened with a heavy rumble. Evan impatiently pulled open the carriage door and looked down at me.
“Can you still walk on your own?”
I stood up, but staggered as my feet touched the ground.
Diana reached out to steady me, his brow tightly furrowed. He then summoned the butler Alfred through the wolf clan’s communication sigil.
The wound in my abdomen tore again, and I could barely straighten my back. Cold sweat slid down from my temple.
Alfred hurried forward to support me, while Diana had already turned away and entered the main house.
