Prologue After seven days of high-intensity border patrol, it was already midnight when I finally dragged my exhausted body back to the pack castle. I reached out to push the heavy oak doors. But the magical scent-ward sparked and burned my frostbitten fingertips. Access denied. I thought I was just too tired and my spiritual energy was unstable, so I tried a few more times. Still rejected. I tried to use the Mind-Link to contact Zane, but he blocked me. I stood in the freezing blizzard, shivering uncontrollably. My wounds from fighting three rogue wolves were still bleeding, staining the white snow beneath my boots. Until ten minutes later, Vivian, his irreplaceable first love, walked up the stone steps. She was holding a bottle of elf-berry wine, wearing a luxurious fur coat. The scent-ward glowed softly, recognizing the absolute Alpha privilege Zane had given her. It allowed her to pass effortlessly. I followed right behind her. The moment I stepped inside, a magical confetti spell exploded right in my face. Glittering dust covered my mud-caked, blood-stained armor. The pack members in the hall burst into roaring laughter. The tables were littered with ale bottles, and cake was smeared on the stone floor. And the white wolf-skin rug I had hand-woven for our nesting den... It was trampled into a messy, dirty rag, soaked in cheap wine. Zane sat on his carved throne, holding his phone, laughing so hard he could barely sit straight. "Who told you to only care about border patrols these past few days and ignore your Alpha?" "Now you know what the cold treatment feels like." I stood at the door, saying nothing. Today, I fought off three rogue wolves. My wounds were still throbbing with agony. I hadn't eaten a single bite, and my boots were soaked in freezing mud. Tomorrow at dawn, I had to report the defense strategy to the Pack Elders. But right now, I had to clean up this massive, humiliating mess. Seeing that I didn't chase after him and playfully argue like I used to, Zane's face darkened. "Who are you giving that dead attitude to?" "It's just a little joke. Why are you getting so boring?" He let out a cold, arrogant sneer, fully believing he had me completely under his control. "If you can't stand it, we can just break the mate bond." I thought about the new scent-ward access. The one that even Vivian knew, but was deliberately kept a secret from me. Suddenly, I didn't even want to take another step into this suffocating room. "Fine, let's break it." Chapter 1 Serena POV The great hall fell dead silent. Zane stared at me for a few seconds before a cold, mocking smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Fine, you said it. Don't come crying to me later." I turned around and walked straight into our bedroom. Behind me, some pack members quickly laughed to smooth things over. "Calm down, everyone. Luna is just throwing a tantrum to get the Alpha's attention." "Yeah, Alpha, why did you have to tease her like that?" They spoke lightly, as if my shattered heart was just a dramatic joke at their drinking party. I pulled my worn leather travel bag from the top of the wooden wardrobe. Due to the high-intensity patrol and blood loss, my hands lacked strength. The heavy bag slipped, crashing onto the hardwood floor with a loud thud. Zane followed me into the room and kicked the bag aside with his boot. "Alright, once you're done throwing your pathetic little tantrum, come out and pour me a drink." "There are so many pack members here today. Don't make me lose face." I kept my head down, searching for my Identity Crystal in the drawer, completely ignoring him. Zane waited for a moment, his tone growing increasingly annoyed and dictatorial. "Yes, changing the scent-ward password was my fault, but don't you know why I did it?" "I asked you to stay in the den and serve me, but you insisted on playing soldier at the border." "If you want to spend your entire life in the mud, why even bother having an Alpha?" I fumbled through the drawer twice before finally finding my Identity Crystal. "The Elders urgently needed the defense strategy today." "Always the Elders, always the strategy." He let out a disdainful scoff. "You always have an excuse to neglect your duties as a mate." Vivian stood at the bedroom doorway, calling my name softly. "Serena." I looked up. She had already changed into my soft indoor slippers. "Tonight was my lack of consideration. Zane just wanted you to come back earlier, he didn't mean anything else." Zane turned to look at her, his voice instantly softening. "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong." "But Serena seems to have misunderstood." "When does she ever not misunderstand you? She's just jealous." After saying that, he glared at me with deep disgust. "Vivian brought so many rare healing herbs for the pack, and you didn't even say thank you." "Instead, you give her this repulsive attitude." I stuffed my last piece of armor into the travel bag and forcefully pulled the leather straps tight. Zane's face darkened with fury. "That's enough." He reached out, his heavy hand pressing down on my bag. A suffocating, mountain-crushing Alpha aura radiated from him, trying to force me to submit. "I've already given you a way out. What more do you want? Get on your knees and apologize to Vivian." I looked up at him, my eyes completely dead. "Move." His fingers stiffened for a second before he slowly pulled them back, shocked by my coldness. "Serena, if you walk out this door today, don't expect me to ever come looking for you." The pack members in the living room all turned their attention to us. Some were still holding their ale cups. Seeing me drag my bag out, they stepped aside like I was a plague. "Are you really leaving?" "Come on, Serena, stop being so dramatic." "Just apologize to the Alpha, it's not that hard." The people who had just offered to help clean up earlier didn't move a single muscle. The cake was still stuck to the floor, and empty bottles rolled everywhere. When I tried to put on my boots, my swollen, bleeding foot from the patrol just wouldn't fit in. Vivian chased me to the entryway, pretending to be concerned. "It's so late and there's a blizzard outside. Where are you going?" Zane sneered mercilessly from behind. "Where else can she go? Back to her parents' mansion to cry, of course." He was right. Other than the Elders' home, I truly had nowhere else to go. But right before I pushed the heavy oak doors open, I looked directly into his stormy eyes. I spoke the ancient vow with absolute resolve. "I, Serena, reject you, Alpha Zane, as my mate." The moment the words left my mouth, a sound like a snapping cable echoed in my mind. The fated mate bond shattered. It felt as though an invisible claw had ripped my soul in half, tearing my heart to shreds. But I didn't look back. I dragged my bag and walked out into the howling, freezing blizzard.

Serena POV The heavy rain was pouring down by the time I rushed to my parents' grand stone mansion. My mother opened the door and froze for a moment. She didn't look at my pale face or my bleeding wounds. "Why are you back at this hour? Did you embarrass us again?" "I broke the mate bond with Zane." The bedroom light flicked on. My father walked out with a coat draped over his shoulders, his face twisting in extreme displeasure. "Are you out of your mind? You actually threw a tantrum and broke the bond with a pureblood Alpha?!" As the Elders of the pack, they guarded the ancient bloodlines and viewed power above all else. Just as I was about to speak, my mother let out a heavy sigh of disgust. She pulled my father and turned back into the bedroom. Through the thin wooden door, I heard my mother lower her voice. "I told her not to always go on border patrols. No Alpha wants a mate covered in mud and scars." "What's the point of saying this now? She ruined our family's connection to the throne!" "She's almost thirty. If she looks for a new mate now, she can only settle for a low-ranking Beta." There was a moment of silence inside. My father said coldly, "Ask her sister tomorrow if that male from last time is still available." "We need to marry her off before she becomes completely worthless." I was still standing in the living room. My armor was still covered in magical confetti, and my bleeding, swollen foot rested against the side of my travel bag. My mother's voice came from the bedroom again. "Keep your voice down, don't let her hear you. We'll force her to go on a blind date tomorrow." From beginning to end, they never asked why I broke the bond. They never asked if I was in pain. The next day at the military camp, my mother bombarded me with over a dozen Mind-Link requests, forcing me to go on a blind date. "I'm not going." It was very noisy on her end, and her tone was rushed and threatening. "It's just a meal. If you don't go, I will personally have you removed from your defense post." "If you and Zane could still make up, why would I even need to worry about selling you off?" I had no choice but to rush to the neutral tavern during my lunch break. Beta Cedric was sitting at a table by the window, his coffee already half-empty. He was built like a mountain, his eyes dark and cruel. He reeked of the lingering, pungent scent of cheap cigars. He looked me up and down, his gaze like a butcher inspecting a piece of raw meat on display. "For an Omega, you look decent enough, though a bit too old," Cedric grunted while cutting his steak. "Once we are mated, you will resign from all your duties in the pack." I stared blankly at my empty plate. "Resign?" "Of course," he chewed loudly, making a harsh, smacking sound. "An Omega's only value is breeding strong warriors." "You will just stay obediently in the den and give me several sons." A bone-chilling cold instantly shot up my spine. Suddenly, the heavy glass doors of the tavern were slammed open. The familiar scent of a brewing storm sweeping through a dark pine forest instantly filled the entire room. Zane strode in, with Vivian clinging tightly to his arm like a creeping vine. His eyes immediately locked onto me, swirling with the terrifying, crimson bloodlust of an enraged Alpha. He wasn't jealous; he was furious that his property was sitting with someone else. He marched straight to our table, completely ignoring the rules of the neutral zone. "What do you think you're doing?" Zane growled. His deep, furious voice made the silver cutlery on the table rattle. Cedric stood up abruptly, puffing out his chest arrogantly. "I'm having lunch with my future bride. What does it matter to you?" A dark, terrifying sneer was squeezed from the depths of Zane's throat. "Bride? She is my mate. I still hold her mating token." He lied effortlessly, casually creating the illusion that the bond between us was still unbreakable. Cedric turned bright red, his entire face twisting violently with anger and disgust. He glared at me fiercely and spat viciously on the floor next to my boots. "You actually dared to play me by pretending to be an unclaimed single?" "You're nothing but a scheming, shameless she-wolf." He slammed his napkin onto the table and stormed out the door in a rage. Vivian gently tugged on Zane's sleeve. "Forget it, Zane, people are watching. Don't let her ruin your mood." It would have been better if she hadn't said anything. The moment those words left her mouth, the stares from all around became even more obvious and mocking. Zane leaned across the table, his handsome face closing in until he was only inches away from me. "Serena, you are mine, and can only be mine." "Even if I throw you away, no one else is allowed to pick you up." "You will sit right here and reflect on your pathetic, degrading behavior." He turned and walked away coldly, leaving behind the echoing sound of Vivian's smug, sweet laughter. Trapped under his absolute Alpha Command, I sat paralyzed in my seat, tears blurring my vision. The gazes of everyone in the tavern pierced into me like poisoned needles. I had never felt such bone-chilling isolation and absolute humiliation.

Serena POV It took a full twenty minutes for Zane's Alpha Command to slightly recede, allowing me to barely stand up. My muscles ached unbearably as I stumbled out of the tavern. I pulled my phone out of my bag, preparing to call a cab. Instead, the screen was flooded with hundreds of notifications from the pack's internal network. My hands trembling, I clicked into the main forum. A video was pinned right at the top of the front page. It was the scene that just happened in the tavern, but maliciously edited. In the footage, I was sitting next to Cedric, smiling politely. The next second it cut to Cedric cursing at me, calling me a shameless she-wolf. As for the part where Zane lied about holding my mating token, it was completely cut out. I scrolled through the comment section below. "Disgusting Omega. She actually went to seduce another man right after a fight with the Alpha." "She betrayed our Pack!" "People like her should be banished to the wasteland!" I looked up and happened to see a few pack members walking down the street toward me. They looked down at their phones, then pointed at me. As they walked past me, they deliberately bumped my shoulder. They even spat on the sidewalk in disgust, treating me like a plague they needed to avoid. Vivian had just posted a new update on her social media. In the photo, she was wearing the shiny silver badge symbolizing her status as the Alpha's personal deputy. The caption read: "Loyalty is a werewolf's most important quality. Sadly, some people simply don't have it." She was adding fuel to the fire, completely dumping the dirty water of a traitor onto my head. My phone buzzed as a call came in. It was the Grand Elder—the man who controlled all the business operations of the pack. "Serena," his voice was cold and strictly business. "Come to the administration building immediately." When I rushed to his office, he didn't even offer me the courtesy of a seat. "The scandal caused by the video has an extremely negative impact and is intolerable." He stood with his back to me, looking coldly out the window. "You ruined our alliance project with the neighboring territory." "That video was maliciously edited!" I stepped forward quickly to defend myself. "It was Zane who suddenly barged in and ruined the meeting!" The Grand Elder raised his hand to cut me off, signaling me to shut up. He didn't care about the truth at all. In his eyes, a lowly Omega would always just be a scapegoat to protect the Alpha's reputation. "Your personal emotional disputes have damaged the pack's interests," he said sternly. "From this moment on, you are relieved of all your duties." "Hand over all core defense data files immediately. Vivian will take over your position." "I built those defense systems from scratch with my own hands!" I couldn't help but yell. "Hand them over, Serena. Now. Or you will face the pack's prison." I walked out of his office, completely numb like a walking corpse. I returned to my cramped, crowded cubicle in the basement. My old colleagues, who had worked closely with me for years, all looked away and pretended not to see me. No one dared to have anything to do with me at this juncture, afraid of getting burned and bearing the Alpha's wrath. I was completely, utterly isolated by the entire world. I dug out a brown cardboard box and silently started packing my belongings. The narrow walls of the basement felt as if they were pressing in on me step by step. The heavy oppression brought by the pack's hierarchy almost suffocated me. I picked up the mug printed with the Silver Moon Pack crest. I stared at the totem of the giant wolf howling at the sky on the cup. It was the symbol I had poured my entire heart and soul into serving since I was a child. I walked straight toward the large trash can in the corner. I let go, smashing the mug hard into it. With a sharp crack, shards flew everywhere. I ripped off my pack identity badge, took off my uniform jacket, and pulled out my territory access pass. I threw them all into the trash can. I picked up the cardboard box and strode toward the exit. I had had enough of this hellhole. I would never again let anyone exploit and oppress me at will. I pushed open the heavy glass doors, stepped outside, and walked into the stormy territory. The sky had unknowingly turned as black as charcoal. A violent thunderstorm suddenly arrived, the torrential rain pouring down like a waterfall. I walked straight toward the pack's border, and within seconds, my clothes were completely soaked. I had nowhere to go, but my only thought was: leave this place completely.