I didn’t react.
“What’s there to explain?” I said calmly. “Moving out of the Alpha residence isn’t something I can do alone. So I asked someone I trust to help.”
I still didn’t lift my head as I added, “Don’t be tense. You know Trevian. He’s pack-family to me.”
Haldrick’s jaw tightened, his throat bobbing as if words were stuck there.
After all, just yesterday, he’d told me Danella was “like a younger sister.”
Strange how harmless it sounded when it came from him—and how suspicious when it came from me.
Trevian glanced at Haldrick, lips curling slightly. “Dinner? Forget it. Save that for the celebration when the mating bond’s officially severed.”
“What did you just say?” Haldrick snapped, alpha pressure flaring.
I paused briefly.
“My cousin’s father and stepmother are dissolving their bond,” I replied evenly. “We’re throwing a feast to celebrate.”
Relief flickered across Haldrick’s face.
I felt it too—relief that he believed it.
Because in his world, I would never leave him.
I loved him too deeply… didn’t I?
The next morning, I woke later than usual.
When I descended the stairs, the great hall was already thick with the heavy scent of simmered meat broth. Danella sat at the long table, carefully ladling soup into a bowl, her expression gentle and earnest.
“Haldrick,” she said softly, “I remember you used to love rib stew like this. Back at the academy, you’d drink two bowls in one sitting. I kept it over the fire for three hours.”
Haldrick said nothing. He took a sip. Then another.
When his gaze rested on her, it softened—far more than it ever did with me.
He even allowed her to straighten his collar and adjust the clasp of his coat, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I stopped at the foot of the stairs.
I had adjusted his cloak countless times—awkwardly, maybe, but always carefully. He used to brush my hands away, frowning, complaining I was too slow or that my scent bothered him.
Now?
He didn’t flinch.
Even though her hands were warm from cooking, even though they touched his collar directly.
I forced myself to look away and walked to the table.
I took a spoonful of the soup.
It was terrible.
The smell alone made my stomach churn and the taste burned down my throat. Still, I swallowed.
Seconds later, my body rebelled.
I sprang up and rushed to the sink, retching.
Behind me, Danella gasped. “Is it… that bad? Did I do something wrong? Should I leave?”
She twisted her apron nervously, eyes shimmering, voice trembling with guilt and innocence.
I wiped my mouth calmly. “I’m just not used to it. I’ll make something else later.”
Before I could return to my seat…
Clack!
Haldrick slammed his spoon down.
The sharp sound froze the room.
“She put effort into this,” he said coldly. “If you didn’t want it, you could’ve said so. There was no need to humiliate her. From now on, prepare your own meals.”
The words struck harder than a blow.
There was warning in his eyes—annoyance mixed with disgust.
I didn’t even feel anger.
I simply turned and walked into the kitchen.
Behind me, Danella whimpered softly, “Haldrick… maybe I overstepped. I shouldn’t have—”
He didn’t come after me.
Instead, he rested a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t think too much. She’s always been like this.”
I stopped.
My hands hovered above the cutting board, trembling.
He didn’t bother hiding it anymore.
For five years, I cooked until my hands blistered, memorized his tastes, studied recipe scrolls late into the night just for a single word of approval.
I never received it.
Danella boiled a pot of barely edible broth and it became “effort.”
He shielded her from me—as if I were the aggressor.
At the Alpha Tower, they stood side by side in the lift.
I stayed behind them and pressed the rune for my floor.
Other pack members entered, whispering without much care for secrecy.
“Did you see the recording yesterday? The Alpha nearly shifted to save that she-wolf!”
“They’re former academy mates, right? They look like a bonded pair.”
“I thought Alpha Nightreaver had a Luna already. Don’t tell me—it’s her?”
Danella’s cheeks flushed pink. She waved her hands lightly. “No, no. We’re just old classmates.”
The way she said it—soft, shy, fragile—was worse than admitting it outright.
She let their imaginations do the work.
Haldrick didn’t deny it.
I remembered once draping my cloak over his shoulders in the council hall. That night, he’d pulled me aside and said icily, This is official territory. Don’t create misunderstandings.
But now?
He stood there in silence while they assumed she was his mate.
I stepped out of the lift and walked straight to the administrative wing.
“I’d like to submit my resignation,” I said.
The clerk stared at me. “You’re stepping down?”
I placed the sealed letter on the desk. “Yes.”
She lowered her voice. “Is it because of… the new she-wolf? But I thought you were—”
I smiled faintly and said nothing.
Everyone in the pack had already decided who the real Luna was.
And it wasn’t me.
Just as she was about to speak again, a guard burst in. “There’s trouble at the front gate! Alpha Nightreaver is fighting for Danella!”
I ran.
A crowd had gathered near the boundary stones. Three or four rogue wolves circled Danella, one wielding an iron rod.
Haldrick stood before her, shielding her completely. Blood streamed from a cut above his brow.
“Get back!” he snarled, alpha aura flaring.
Then he charged—fighting bare-handed.
My heart nearly stopped.
I rushed forward, shouting, “Haldrick! Are you insane?! You’d die for her?!”
He turned sharply and shoved me aside.
“What—?” I gasped.
He stepped toward me, fury twisting his features.
“Vireya,” he demanded coldly, “was this your doing?”
My breath caught. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t lie,” he growled, teeth clenched. “You’ve always despised her. Is this your retaliation? Did you send these rogues after her?”
