Chapter 4

I moved back to White Moon Pack's ancestral home.

Mom didn't ask much, just brought the medicine she'd prepared into my room.

At dinner, I put down my spoon and spoke:

"Dad, Mom, the baby is gone. I want to divorce Kael."

I cried as I told them everything.

Mom's soup bowl crashed onto the table. Her hand trembled as she touched my flat abdomen.

"My poor child, how could you bear all this alone for so long?"

Dad's face turned ashen. After a long silence, he slammed the table hard:

"You must divorce that animal!

No century-old alliance is worth more than a single hair on your head!"

I leaned into Mom's embrace as the grievances I'd accumulated for days finally broke through.

I stayed at the ancestral home.

I thought the divorce process would proceed smoothly, but when Dad returned from the territory council hall, he was shaking with rage:

"That animal Kael! He's forcing all the processing plants on the West Coast to break their contracts with us, cutting off our fishery sales!"

I shot to my feet, blood rushing to my head.

How dare he? How could he have the nerve?

I grabbed the car keys and rushed out. I had to ask him if he had even a shred of conscience left.

I pushed open the door to Kael's villa. Kael was half-reclined on the sofa.

Lila was wearing my silk nightgown, the moonstone necklace my father gave me for my eighteenth birthday around her neck.

She nestled in his arms, feeding him grapes.

My treasured white porcelain tea set was now being used by her to brew cheap fruit tea.

Hearing the commotion, Kael's head snapped up, his expression instantly darkening.

Lila shrank back, burrowing deeper into his embrace.

"Who let you in?" His voice was ice-cold, without a trace of guilt. "Aren't you the one clamoring for a divorce?"

I pointed at the necklace around Lila's neck, my voice trembling:

"Kael, this is my villa. Your little Omega is wearing my things."

"What's yours and mine?" He frowned, his face full of impatience.

"Lila likes it, so what if she wears it for now? As Ocean Pack's Luna, how can you be so petty and mean?"

"I'm petty? You're working with outsiders to cut off White Moon Pack's livelihood, and you have the nerve to call me petty?"

"You brought this on yourself!" Alpha Kael shot to his feet, shielding Lila firmly behind him.

"You insisted on forcing me to send Lila away, then sent rogues to intercept and kill her on the road!

If I hadn't arrived in time, she'd already be dead! I'm doing this to teach you a lesson!"

I looked at Kael, finding it utterly absurd:

"Kael, she's not worth my effort to deal with. I find it beneath me."

Kael demanded sharply:

"If not you, then who? Besides you, who else would dare hire assassins on my territory?"

Lila peeked out from behind him, sobbing softly:

"Luna Elara, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'll leave right now. I'll never disturb you two again."

As she spoke, she started to get up, but Kael pressed her back down.

"Don't go!" he shouted. "With me here, no one can bully you!"

Watching Lila and Kael's coordinated performance made me nauseous. I wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

Kael turned to look at me, deliberately softening his tone as he reached for my wrist:

"Elara, stop this. I've already arranged it. Next week I'll send Lila to the Antarctic research station. I'll never let her come back for the rest of her life.

Let's forget about all this and live well together, okay?"

Looking at his hypocritical face, the last trace of attachment in my heart turned completely to ash.

I pulled my hand back, a shallow smile appearing on my face: "Okay."

Kael froze, clearly not expecting me to agree so easily. The joy in his eyes was impossible to hide:

"Elara, I knew you still had feelings for me!"

I withdrew my wrist and spoke calmly:

"However, next week is the renewal ceremony for the two packs' alliance. After the ceremony ends, I'll move back."

He nodded repeatedly, so excited he could barely speak: "Yes, yes, yes! Whatever you say!"

I said nothing more and turned to leave the villa.

The moment I closed the door, the smile vanished from my face.

Kael. Lila.

What you owe me, what you owe my unborn child.

I'll claim it all back, principal and interest, at next week's renewal ceremony.