Chapter 3

When I returned to the residence and opened the door, I saw our wedding photo on the wall.

The man in the photo smiled brilliantly, his nose affectionately nuzzling my forehead.

That was taken when we loved each other most.

I grew up in Pathseekers Pack's orphanage.

When I was eighteen, the director wanted to make me the companion of a violent, widowed old werewolf.

While climbing the wall to escape the orphanage, I met Ronan, my fated mate.

We fell in love at first sight. Ronan took me away from the orphanage.

Back then, he was still the Alpha heir, not yet Pathseekers Pack's Alpha.

But he promised me he'd become Alpha as soon as possible and make me the honored Luna, so no one in Pathseekers Pack would ever dare bully me again.

In the first three years after our marriage, Ronan trained desperately. Every time he went on dangerous missions or fought off Rogues, he'd tuck my photo into his breast pocket.

I handled the household, being his most reliable support at home.

Later, Ronan successfully became Alpha. His prestige grew higher and higher, and all kinds of people started surrounding him.

Until I found a lipstick mark that wasn't mine on the inside of his shirt collar.

"A young woman was injured in the leg by Rogues. I helped her to the hospital and it got smudged by accident!" He irritably yanked open his collar. "Nyla, can you stop being so paranoid all the time?"

"It's because I'm afraid of you betraying me! Ronan, we said we'd be together forever, not even one day less!"

We began fighting endlessly.

I checked his mission records, his communication logs, even secretly followed and monitored him when he went to work.

It was as if Ronan did it out of spite—he really started having affairs.

He cycled through woman after woman. My body and soul suffered unimaginable torment. At his worst, Ronan deliberately displayed scratch marks left by other women on his back to provoke me.

"Satisfied?" he sneered. "Didn't you want to investigate? Now you've found out."

I felt like I was losing my mind. I knew I should let go, but I couldn't.

After all these years with Ronan, we'd already grown into each other's flesh and blood.

Separating would be bloody and raw. Staying together was mutual torture.

But a year ago, he suddenly became well-behaved, suddenly changed his attitude, distanced himself from all the women around him, keeping only one young woman.

I sent people to investigate. The moment I saw Vivian's photo, I collapsed.

The face in the photo looked exactly like me at eighteen—pure and clear.

Ronan would rather love a substitute than love me again.

That night, I lay in the bathtub and slit my wrists with a special dagger I'd bought from a witch.

When Ronan broke down the door, his fingers were trembling.

He held me and rushed to the hospital, his eyes frighteningly red: "Nyla! Have you lost your mind?! We'll live well together. I promise, from now on it's only you. I won't see anyone else!"

Lying in the hospital bed, I just felt tired. So tired I couldn't even cry.

And it was that very day that a Beta guard from Ashclaw Pack found me and handed me a yellowed file.

"Nyla, we've discovered you're the lost daughter of Ashclaw Pack's former Alpha and Luna. Years ago, Rogues attacked Ashclaw Pack. Your parents sacrificed themselves protecting the pack. You also went missing in that attack. Later, your uncle became Ashclaw Pack's Alpha. All these years, he's never stopped looking for you."

I gripped that file, my fingertips ice cold.

After the Beta guard left, I was drawn as if possessed to the window.

In the garden below, Ronan was holding Vivian tightly in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Vivian. She's emotionally unstable and has attempted suicide before. She's been hurt psychologically... I can't leave her at a time like this."

"But trust me. Once her condition stabilizes, I'll give you an answer."

The two kissed inseparably, like a pair of star-crossed lovers.

In that moment, I felt the connected flesh being torn apart, ripped into a huge hole. The pain was so intense I couldn't make a sound.

On the seventh day lying in that hospital bed, I suddenly understood.

I had to leave Ronan and personally sever all of this.