Chapter 8

Tears streamed uncontrollably down Freya’s cheeks. Seeing the truth with her own eyes was far more devastating than any whispered rumor or stolen image.

Ever since she had given birth, her intimacy with Riven had dwindled into near nonexistence.

She once foolishly believed it was because he was protecting her fragile post-shift body after pupbirth.

But now she understood—he had simply been satisfying his wolf elsewhere and no longer bothered to pretend with her.

Her crystal comm-stone vibrated. Another taunting message from Sorenna lit up its surface.

This time, it was a photo of the bathchamber in complete disarray—and a pair of ripped obsidian-silk thigh stockings tossed beside the wolf-mark mirror.

Sorenna’s words followed, [Guess what your Alpha just did? It’s only a necklace. Take it if you want. His heart and everything else are with me now.]

Freya didn’t block her. Sorenna still had a role to play in the coming days.

Her bitter thoughts were shattered by a distant, desperate wail echoing through the Moon Manor corridors. “Mommy! Mommy, where are you?!”

The heartrending cries jolted her back to reality. Freya wiped her tears and stepped out of the chamber.

Kael sprinted toward her, leaping into her arms like a frightened wolf pup. “I thought Mommy didn’t want me anymore!”

He burst into sobs, burying his face in her shoulder. “Promise me—wherever you go, you have to take me with you!”

Hearing the commotion, Riven arrived in haste. He froze, watching the mother and pup cling to each other, but a strange unease crept up his spine.

He approached and offered Freya the Eternal Heart. “I ran into a pack elder,” he said evenly. “We ended up talking longer than expected.”

Freya’s trembling fingers brushed across the necklace, her mother’s final treasure.

She once believed that bonding with Riven would give her the loving pack family her father had always given her mother.

But not all males were like her father, devoted to one mate for life. Most were like Riven.

After all, wolves were good at lying, good at loving two worlds, good at maintaining an illusion.

Perhaps pushed past her limits, Freya collapsed with fever the moment they returned to Manor.

Feeling the heat burning off her skin through the night, Riven panicked. He immediately carried her in his arms and raced to the Healer’s Ward.

When she finally awoke, a healer greeted her warmly and offered a cup of moon-water.

“Luna Freya, thank the Moon Goddess—you’re awake! You’ve been burning with fever for three days and three nights. Alpha Riven and your pup haven’t left your side once.”

She added with a sigh, “I don’t know what troubles you, Luna. If I had a mate and pup who guarded me so fiercely, I would be glowing with joy.”

After advising Freya to release her worries, the healer slipped out of the chamber.

Freya glanced at the lunar calendar beside her bed—and her breath caught.

Just then, Sorenna strutted into the ward, her belly visibly round, her scent thick with early-pregnancy hormones.

“I’m pregnant,” she announced coldly, tossing a moon-clinic report onto Freya’s bed. “The pup belongs to Alpha Riven.”

“So?” Freya replied softly. Her voice was hoarse from illness.

“The pup needs a father, so kindly step aside and sever your bond with him,” Sorenna demanded.

She hadn’t expected to become pregnant either, but now she possessed the perfect weapon to drive Freya out.

“Does Riven know?” Freya asked.

“He will,” Sorenna smirked. “I’m just giving you the courtesy of hearing it first.”

Remembering Riven’s warning not to push her luck, Sorenna swallowed hard.

Freya spoke quietly, “My birthday is on the fourteenth. If you can call him away from his press gathering that day, I’ll sever our mate bond.”

Sorenna blinked. “You’re serious? You won’t trick me?”

“I don’t lie,” Freya said. And she meant it.

It wouldn’t merely be a mate bond severance. It would be her disappearance from his world—forever.

Not long after, Riven saw Sorenna in the hallway. His gaze darkened.

“What are you doing here?” he asked coolly.

“Alpha Riven,” she said in a humble tone, “it’s my first pregnancy… and I heard Luna Freya has experience giving birth. I came to seek her advice…”