I held the Lunar tonic in my hand like a lifeline.
This… was something I had saved for over a year. I had bartered furs for it. Brewed herbs for the sick in nearby packs. Hunted alone in the deep woods when Alpha Lucas refused to send a warrior with me. This was mine, something I clawed at — with every shred of strength left in me before I could finally afford it.
A small vial of the lunar elixir—rare and sacred to she-wolves. Meant to heal the soul and restore strength during a full moon.
But I said nothing as Alpha Lucas snatched the vial from my trembling hands and gave it to Heidy without hesitation.
As always.
After becoming his mate, I was no longer allowed to run with my pack. No longer allowed to fight, to hunt, to train. Alpha Lucas claimed a true Luna stayed in the Pack House, not on the battlefield or anywhere else.
I hadn’t shifted in over five years.
As the daughter of a powerful Alpha—I had once been feared. Trained by warriors. Gifted with powerful bloodlines, blessed by the Moon Mother herself.
Now, I was nothing more than a ghost in my mate’s territory. A housebound Luna in name only.
My claws dulled. My wolf is silent.
Firewood, moon salt, meat, herbs, charcoal ink, healing salves, and even tea leaves were all costs Alpha Lucas expected me to manage with no coin of my own. Every money I asked for was accompanied by a scoff, a reminder that I was a burden. A leech.
I lived like this for twenty years.
Pleasing. Shrinking. Swallowing every insult like ash.
I didn’t want to go on like this.
I walked back to my room—the once beautiful room now dull and cold—and sat at the old wooden desk.
My fingers trembled over the computer keyboard as I typed, word by word, the severance document.
A Mate Bond Severance.
Tears burned down my cheeks, each dropping a silent howl of despair that no packmate would hear.
I didn’t even realize Alpha Lucas had returned until I heard the door creak open.
He entered with the grace of a man who knew he owned everything in his path.
His eyes landed on my tear-stained face, and he sighed, irritated.
“Crying again?” he said. “Claire, must you always be so dramatic? It’s just a damn supplement. Why does it matter so much to you? Or are you jealous of Heidy again?”
I stayed silent.
That angered him.
A low growl rumbled in Lucas’s chest, his irritation boiling over. He stalked toward me like a predator closing in on a wounded mate, then backhanded me across the face—sharp, deliberate, and thick with dominance. It wasn’t just a slap; it was a warning from a wolf who knew no mercy.
His hand grazed my cheek like he couldn’t be bothered to use his strength on me anymore.
“Look at yourself,” he sneered. “Fat. Bloated. You haven’t shifted in years. There’s no muscle left. So why waste rare and expensive tonics on you? Heidy earns 137,000 a year. You? You’ve earned nothing.”
My chest tightened.
I didn’t tell him I’d gained weight because I was overworked, or that I only ate what was left after everyone else had fed. I served the warriors, cleaned the pups, tended the sick, cooked the meals, and mended the tunics.
I didn’t tell him I wore the same wolf-hide cloak for ten winters.
Never bought myself armor.
Never ran under the full moon.
So this was what Alpha Lucas Barlowe meant by "seeking pleasure"?
He towered over me now, his Alpha dominance pushing down like a crushing fog.
“What are you doing?” he barked. “Come here.”
He expected me to help him undress. To kneel and pull his boots off like I always did.
For two decades, I obeyed.
But not tonight.
Tonight, I sat frozen, staring blankly ahead, my fingers clenched around the shard.
“Claire,” he growled, his voice lowering. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
I looked at him, and for the first time in years, I saw him clearly—not as the mate who once whispered false promises into my ear, but as the male who broke me piece by piece.
“When you were young,” he hissed, “you were so cute. Sweet. You used to smile and beg me to play with your hair. What are you doing now? You’re nothing but an old she-wolf. A useless Luna.”
I didn’t flinch when he grabbed my collar and yanked me to my feet.
But deep inside, my wolf stirred.
Just a twitch.
A flicker.
--
Years ago, under the blood moon, he said to me:
Marry me, Claire Wildfang. I will be the wolf who charges forward, and you will be the one who holds the Pack. We’ll rely on each other, be each other’s harbor in the storm. Hand in hand, we’ll run through life’s wild hunt.”
At the time, Lucas had just ended things with Heidy.
Was it love? Or just bitterness?
I was too young to tell the difference.
“You’re gentle. Strong. Smart. Loyal,” he said. “Heidy’s too wild. She doesn’t get me. But you, Claire… you’re everything I need.”
Years ago, I believed him.
I gave up on myself. I gave up my alpha father’s pack. Gave up freedom.
Twenty years of being the perfect Luna. The perfect mate. The perfect fool.
Now I saw it for what it was.
Alpha Lucas Barlowe mated with me with a clear plan — a calculated trap from the start. His sweet words were bait — honey layered over poison.
He needed someone who would support him while he and Heidy clawed their way up the ranks of the Council of Alphas.
He needed someone to carry the burden so he could chase his ambitions. A stepping stone. A housekeeper. A weak Luna who wouldn’t challenge him.
He needed someone to waste.
And I let him.
I was deep in thought when suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket, its glow slicing through the shadows. I hesitated.
How many moons had passed since anyone remembered I existed?
How long had I been forgotten — cast aside like a lone wolf past her prime?
It’s already been so long, that I don’t even remember anymore.
