Chapter 3

When I first discovered that Mia kept sending Mind Links to Lucas in the dead of night, claiming she was having nightmares, I stormed into her quarters and dragged her out in front of the entire squad.

While the warriors were whispering and snickering, Lucas walked up and slapped me across the face.

Every warrior on site froze.

I held my ground, asserting my claim. "You're my man. She has no business bothering you at midnight."

Lucas only gave me a chilling look, pulling the pale, trembling Mia behind his back.

"Look at you, acting like an unhinged shrew. You think you deserve to call me your man?!"

He left me standing there, enduring the stares and whispers of the crowd.

Because of that incident, Mia was given the slot for an overseas deployment that I had spent an entire month preparing for.

Meanwhile, Lucas threw me into the pack dungeons to reflect on my actions.

For every day Mia sulked, I spent a day locked in that cell.

Without a single drop of water or crumb of food.

It took Lucas a full week of pampering her before he returned.

Afraid the rumors might upset her, he transferred the management rights of an entire territory to her name as compensation.

I shook my head, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying.

"I just want to explain to her that there's nothing between us anymore."

The clear suspicion in his eyes sent a sharp ache through my chest.

I had to admit, I still loved him.

I knew that as the Alpha of the Moonstone Pack, his pride ran deep. Over the years, I had never dared to cross him.

I was always terrified that a single wrong look would hurt his ego.

Yet I never imagined he could be this cruel to me.

Just to clear Mia's grievances, he orchestrated a trap to back me into a corner.

It wasn't that I stopped loving him. I was simply terrified to.

Once the humiliation cracked open, it spread like wildfire.

My eyes turned red instantly.

Lucas's brow furrowed deeper.

"If you have something to say, just say it. What are you crying for...?"

Just as he reached out his hand, a figure hurried out of the club.

Mia was wearing a tailored evening gown, exuding wealth and effortless confidence.

She looked far more radiant than the timid newcomer she used to be.

Far more like the woman Lucas treasured above all else.

"Why did you come out?"

Lucas's tone softened immediately.

She looked down, her eyes rimming with tears, which instantly threw Lucas into disarray. He wrapped an arm around her, murmuring softly, "Who upset my Mia?"

Mia finally broke into a smile through her tears, lightly swatting his shoulder. "I heard Sienna was here. I wanted to see her."

"You see her now. Are you satisfied?"

He was asking Mia, but his eyes were fixed on me.

I imagined she was quite satisfied.

The Sienna who once saved her at the pack summit was now standing before her in tattered clothes, blood and sweat matting her hair against her face.

A complete and utter wreck.

What else could she possibly want?

I wanted to scream at them, but I didn't dare.

I was terrified that if I upset Mia, my mother wouldn't even last the next few days.

I forced myself to paste on a subservient smile.

"Mia. Long time no see."

She seemed far more composed than I was.

"Sienna, you didn't have to come all this way. I've already forgiven you."

I looked up at her.

Forgiven me?

Forgiven me for taking away her phone when she tried to seduce someone else's Alpha?

Or forgiven me for standing in her way of becoming the Alpha's Luna?

My mind went blank. I simply stared at her in silence.

Lucas suddenly flared up.

"Mia was kind enough to forgive you. Don't you know how to say thank you?"

My heart felt like it was being sliced into ribbons.

I clamped down on my teeth to keep the tears from falling.

I rolled those three words over and over in my mouth, biting down until the taste of copper filled my throat, before choking them out:

"Thank... thank you..."

Lucas shifted his gaze away. He pulled a pack reserve card from his pocket and pressed it into Mia's palm.

"There's fifty million on here. It's up to you whether to give it to her."

My eyes lit up instantly.

As long as I got that money, my mother could get the herbs and survive.

I looked at Mia with desperate hope, only to watch her slowly curl her fingers around the card.

A faint smirk played at the corner of Mia's lips.

"Sienna made the entire squad laugh at me back then, and she made the Alpha misunderstand me. I can't just hand it over that easily, can I?"

Lucas chuckled and tapped the tip of her nose affectionately.

"Whatever you want."

Panic seized me.

My mother was waiting for this money to survive. All my savings had been spent on her care. I was completely penniless, and everyone in the pack avoided me like a curse.