1

A week before my death, my Alpha mate's childhood sweetheart Sarah returned to our pack.

That night, he didn't come home.

The next day, I received his mind-link.

"I've purchased a mate-bond severing potion from the pack witch. Come home now so we can break our bond."

In our pack, the Moon Goddess was very serious about mate bonds. Once two wolves chose to form a mate, the mate bond could not be severed, unless the witch's potion was used. This potion was very expensive, costing up to $500,000 per bottle.

I smiled bitterly. He was very generous to sever the bond with me.

I coughed twice before answering, "I'm in the healing center."

His voice turned ice cold. "I don't care where you are. Even if you're about to die, you need to come back."

I calmly replied, "Fine."

He didn't know that I really was dying. Three years ago, during a rogue wolf attack, I blocked the silver dagger for him to protect him while he was unconscious.

I was poisoned by silver and became weaker and weaker over the past three years. I only had one week left to live.

The pack healer insisted I stay at the infirmary for observation but I refused.

I knew my body better than any healer could.

My life had entered its final countdown with no possibility of starting over.

I didn't want to spend my last days confined to the infirmary.

When I returned home, Damien sat by the fireplace, watching me with cold eyes.

"I thought you were too injured to move from the infirmary? You look perfectly fine to me."

I summoned my remaining strength to walk toward him, my voice hoarse as I asked, "Where's the mate-bond severing potion?"

Damien frowned, his tone growing colder.

"Where have you been sneaking off to? You look half-dead."

I didn't answer his question and asked again for the mate-bond severing potion.

I could feel myself weakening rapidly—my wolf was howling in the depths of my soul.

I refused to show weakness in front of him, and I definitely didn't want to collapse while he watched.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine. Don't think I actually care about you—I'm just being polite."

Damien let out an irritated grunt and slammed the mate-bond severing potion onto the stone table.

"Drink it. I've already had mine."

I didn't look at the potion before me, instead staring directly at Damien.

"This is my final gift to you. I hope without me, you'll find happiness."

I tilted my head back and drank the potion decisively.

The moment I finished, the potion took effect. The pain of our mate-bond tearing apart made my wolf howl in despair. With the last of my strength, I collapsed weakly onto the stone table.

Damien stared for a moment, then sneered, "Stop the act. Your wolf is too strong to be affected by such minor pain. Do you think pretending to be pitiful will make me change my mind?"

"If it weren't for you forcing my parents' hand using the pack's authority, compelling me to mate to you, I would have mated to Sarah years ago and lived a happy life."

"You've been good to me these past years, but that's because you owed me."

I managed a weak smile.

"So you've been resenting me all this time. If I died, would you forgive me?"

"We'll see when you're dead."

Damien turned and walked away.

I watched him leave without a moment's hesitation. My heart constricted painfully, and darkness engulfed my vision.

When I regained consciousness, I was in the pack infirmary with Ethan by my side—the Alpha of the neighboring Silver Ridge Pack.

He was a common friend of Damien and me. He was also the one who introduced Damien and I to each other.

After Damien and I met, our wolves recognized each other as the true mate.

Unfortunately, we hadn't fulfilled Ethan's blessing of loving each other for a lifetime.

Seeing me awake, Ethan asked anxiously, "How are you feeling?"

His eyes were filled with concern.

My heart warmed at his worry, and I smiled weakly. "I'm fine, just been too tired lately."

His eyes immediately reddened.

"How much longer are you going to hide this? The healer told me everything."

I fell silent.

Ethan asked, "Does Damien know?"

I shook my head.

"Why haven't you told him? He should know. I'm going to tell him right now."

Ethan pulled out his phone.

I stopped him.

"There's no need!"

Before yesterday, I might not have stopped Ethan. I might have even foolishly clung to a sliver of hope that Damien would feel sorry for me.

But after everything that happened yesterday, after every word Damien had spoken, my heart was shattered, and even memories became painful burdens.

I feared that if he learned I was dying now because I saved him three years ago, he would stand before me and venomously say:

"You owe it to me and Sarah. Why couldn't you have died sooner? You destroyed all the happiness Sarah and I should have had."

If that happened, I would completely fall apart.

"Why won't you tell him? Is he still misunderstanding you about what happened years ago? I'll explain everything to him."

I stopped Ethan again, shaking my head.

"Don't bother. Let the truth from those years be buried with my death."

Damien believed that I had pressured his parents, forcing him to stay in the pack and mate to me instead of leaving to find Sarah.

But the truth was that I had been the Alpha heir of another pack. Once his parents learned of my status, they believed following the Moon Goddess's guidance and being with one's destined mate would bring true happiness.

They wouldn't approve of him being with Sarah, an Omega.

Their meeting and falling in love had all been Sarah's calculated scheme. But young love burns hot enough to consume everything—the more they were opposed, the more intensely it burned.

Moreover, Sarah had already been in a relationship with another pack's Alpha. Her goal was just to become a Luna, no matter which Alpha it is.

So when Damien was attacked and was in coma, Damien’s parents forced Sarah to leave the pack.

Back then, his parents came to me, begging me to play along with their charade to maintain their positive image in Damien's heart. I was to be the villain who selfishly stole his love.

Of course, I agreed, and not just because his scent called to me.

It was because I loved Damien!

I had hoped that with time, he would forget Sarah, and I could gradually reveal the truth to him.

But my warmth never thawed his icy heart.

For years, though we were mates in name, he treated me as an enemy. He believed I had interfered and destroyed his happiness with Sarah.

Rather than telling him the truth and making him hate his own parents too,

I preferred to remain the villain, letting him continue hating me.

After all, I was dying anyway.

Damien's call came through. He had always refused to use our mind-link, considering it a desecration of his true love.

"I'm waiting for you at the Pack Council chambers. Once we officially register there, our mate bond will be formally terminated."

Hearing his cold voice, I calmly replied,

"Alright."