I spent six agonizing months trekking through the freezing wilderness to find my missing fated mate, Kael. On the perilous journey to find him, I was struck by a silver bullet. The toxic metal didn't kill me, but it burned through my veins, destroying my inner wolf and the unborn pup in my womb, leaving me permanently barren. Yet, when I finally found him, covered in my own blood, he was shielding a pregnant Rogue named Maya behind his back. He claimed she was his savior, and now, his lover. I was devastated. I threw a hysterical fit and made a huge scene. Finally, under the immense pressure of our allied Packs, I forced him to leave that girl behind in the wilderness and return home with me. After that, we held our wedding as planned. During our ten years of marriage, Kael remained as gentle and considerate as ever, acting as if that episode in the wilderness had never happened. I thought we had moved past the shadow of betrayal, believing he was still the mate who loved me more than life itself. Until one day, during a Pack war, he took a fatal bullet for me. As I held his bleeding body and weeping, he weakly grasped my hand and pleaded: "Chloe... I have done right by you in this life, but I owe Maya a life. If there is a next life... please, do not look for me." "I just want to live as a normal werewolf couple with her." In that moment, I felt as if I had been plunged into an icy abyss. I finally understood that his decade of "deep love" was nothing but a forced obligation. The man who truly loved me had already died in that wilderness. The sheer disgust and heartbreak tore me to pieces. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the time when he had been missing for six months. Feeling the dead silence of my inner wolf poisoned by silver, and touching my empty stomach where my pup used to be, I wearily closed my eyes, completely tearing that agonizing love from my soul. This time, Kael, I will grant your wish. Chapter 1 Chloe POV: A sharp buzz through the Pack's mind-link suddenly pulled me out of the sickening memories of my past life. I recognized the mental signature immediately. It was Seraphina, the former Luna and Kael's mother. "Chloe, he is back," Seraphina's voice trembled through the link, a mix of relief and fury. "Come to the main mansion immediately." I replied with a flat "Okay." I changed into a simple dress and drove to the grand estate that served as the headquarters for the Blood Moon Pack's corporate empire. The moment I stepped into the grand hall, the air was thick with suffocating tension. I saw Kael standing tall in the center of the room. He looked thinner after being missing for six months, but the expression on his handsome face was something I hadn't seen in a decade—it was a look of unprecedented, absolute tenderness. He was carefully shielding a fragile-looking female behind his broad back, his hands resting gently on her waist. The joy of a man about to become a father radiated from his golden eyes. It was Maya. She smelled like sour wildflowers, but hidden beneath that was the distinct, milky scent of a pregnant female wolf. The sight stung my eyes, awakening the suffocating disgust brought on by his dying words in my past life. In my previous life, the Pack had also found Kael at this exact moment. Only this time, without my desperate interference in the wilderness, Maya had returned with him. Seraphina stood before them, her face pale with anger. "Exile this Rogue at once!" Seraphina shouted, pointing a shaking finger at the female. "Our Pack has enough money to repay her for saving your life! There is no need for you to pledge your body to her! If you break your engagement, what is Chloe supposed to do?" Kael's expression turned instantly cold. "Maya must stay," he announced, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "She carries my Alpha heir." Seraphina gasped, her face turning deadly pale as she stumbled backward. "I... I will get the Pack Healer to verify this!" Seraphina whispered, her voice shaking with disbelief. I stepped forward and gently held Seraphina's arm, stopping her from calling the medical staff. "Seraphina, don't bother," I said, my voice as calm as a frozen lake. I turned to look at Kael, my heart completely dead. "I, Chloe, reject you, Kael, as my mate." The ancient words hung in the air, freezing the blood of every wolf in the room. Kael's head snapped toward me, his brow furrowing in deep disbelief. He stared at me with sheer astonishment, clearly wondering when I had become so agreeable. I could practically see the gears turning in his head. I knew that in his memory, a female like me, who loved him to the point of madness, would have thrown a hysterical fit, crying and screaming to tear this Rogue apart. Kael's eyes swept over my calm face, and a mocking sneer curled on his lips. "Do you really think I'd believe you'd sever our bond so easily?" Kael scoffed, his tone dripping with arrogant disdain, forcefully suppressing the sudden, sharp sting in his chest. "Don't play your little Omega tricks, Chloe. Maya is young and fragile. She can't survive your vicious schemes!" He stared at me, waiting for my familiar tears, waiting for me to argue and beg for his love. But this time, I gave him absolutely nothing. "A forced bond brings no joy. I understand that perfectly now," I replied, my voice completely devoid of emotion. Kael froze. The cruel comeback he had prepared choked in his throat. A strange, uncomfortable tightness flickered in his chest again, but he quickly pushed it down, his expression hardening. "You better not try anything," he warned harshly. Without another word, he wrapped his arm protectively around Maya and turned to leave. Just before they walked out the door, Maya peeked at me over his shoulder. Beneath her frightened-rabbit act, she shot me a subtle, victorious smirk. I watched their retreating backs, a bubble of dark, bitter laughter rising in my chest. Seraphina was furious and heartbroken. She grabbed my cold hands, trying to comfort me. "Oh, Chloe, my poor child..." I gently pulled my hands back and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Seraphina, there is something I haven't told you," I whispered softly. Seraphina froze, looking at my unnervingly peaceful face. "Months ago, when he went missing, I went into the wilderness to find him," I said, placing a hand over my flat stomach. "I took a silver bullet. The poison destroyed my inner wolf." Seraphina's eyes widened in sheer horror, her face draining of all color. "How... how could this happen?" she gasped. I offered her a sad, empty smile, saying nothing more. What Kael didn't know was that shortly after his disappearance, I found out I was pregnant. But I kept it a secret and ran through the freezing mountains just to bring him home. In the end, that silver bullet took my pup, put my inner wolf into a permanent slumber, and destroyed my womb. For the rest of my life, I could never bear another child. But it didn't matter anymore. He didn't want my child anyway. I had repaid his past kindness with my own blood, and now, by rejecting him, I was officially granting his ultimate wish to be with Maya.

Chloe POV: Seraphina covered her mouth, a choked sob escaping her trembling lips as she stared at me in horror. She knew exactly what a sleeping inner wolf meant for a female in our society. It meant permanently losing the ability to shift, losing werewolf vitality, and most fatally—permanently losing the ability to bear children. But she still didn't want to give up just like that. Even if I had lost my inner wolf and couldn't bear children, in her eyes, I was still a hundred times better than a Rogue like Maya. She grabbed my hands tightly and pleaded, "Chloe, please, stay for just a few more days. Maybe Kael will come to his senses." "Just give me seven days!" "If that bastard still refuses to turn back after seven days, I will personally escort you out of the territory and transfer twenty percent of the Pack's corporate shares to your name." I paused. Twenty percent of their massive corporate empire's shares was an astronomical fortune. And my own family, the Silver Crest Pack, was currently facing severe financial troubles. For the sake of my parents, and out of respect for this elder who had treated me like her own daughter for the past five years, I gave a stiff nod. Leaving the main mansion, I drove along the winding mountain road to the summit villa—the place Kael and I once called home. However, when I pushed the heavy doors open, a chaotic and humiliating sight greeted me. All my personal belongings—clothes, jewelry, my favorite books, and even my intimate undergarments—were casually piled in a corner of the spacious living room like trash, completely exposed under the glaring sunlight. The unique scent of vanilla and morning dew that once marked this territory as mine had been completely scrubbed away, replaced by a pungent, sour scent of wildflowers. I stood there, a wave of bitter irony washing over me. I walked up the luxurious staircase and arrived at the master bedroom. The heavy oak doors were wide open. The elegant silk sheets I had carefully chosen were gone, replaced by cheap, glaring pink bedding. And there, right beside the bed, stood a brand-new wooden crib. Kael walked up, holding Maya gently by the waist. When Maya saw me, her face stiffened. She explained cautiously, "Miss Chloe, I thought you weren't coming back..." Kael's lips curled into a smirk, his eyes holding a degree of absolute certainty. "How could she possibly bear to give up the position of Luna?" I looked at them quietly. The brief sourness that had risen in my chest from seeing my room taken over vanished into thin air. I suddenly thought to myself, the man I once loved was already completely unrecognizable. So what did this master bedroom, where I had lived for five years, even matter? "Seraphina asked me to stay for a few days. I'll be gone once the time is up," I stated, my voice completely hollow and devoid of emotion. Hearing my icy, indifferent tone, Kael's jaw tightened sharply, a flash of extreme irritation crossing his handsome face. He was already used to my unreserved devotion, not this dead, empty stare. "Suit yourself," Kael scoffed coldly, pulling Maya closer on purpose to provoke me. "But don't delude yourself into thinking you can still be my Luna. Maya is the only female I will spend the rest of my life with." I didn't waste another breath on them. I turned around, picked up a few pieces of my discarded luggage from the living room, and moved into a cramped, windowless guest room at the end of the hallway. The room was damp and cold, but I didn't care. I was only staying for those shares. Having lost my inner wolf to regulate my body temperature, the chill seeped deep into my bones. I curled up under a thin blanket and eventually fell into a heavy, exhausted sleep. In the middle of the night, I woke up thirsty and got up to drink some water. Suddenly, the door was kicked open by a furious Kael. His eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed my neck in a death grip, interrogating me fiercely: "Chloe, didn't I tell you not to lay a hand on Maya?!" "You're so jealous of her pregnancy that you actually left Wolfsbane incense in the master bedroom! Are you trying to kill her and our child?!" I couldn't breathe, my mind going completely blank. I struggled to explain, "It wasn't me..." My things had already been moved out, and I never used incense anyway. How could I possibly leave something like that behind? But the furious Kael wouldn't listen at all, his gaze terrifyingly cold. "I'll give you one last chance to explain!" I opened my mouth, wanting to say I didn't do it. But looking at the icy coldness in the man's eyes, my heart still ached uncontrollably. My head was spinning, my neck throbbed with agonizing pain, and a wave of suffocation washed over me. I suddenly felt, what was the point of explaining? He wouldn't believe it. Just as he had already determined that I was a scheming, malicious woman. My struggling hands slowly dropped back to my sides. I closed my eyes, a single tear sliding down my cheek, and completely gave up the resistance. "I have nothing to confess. Believe whatever you want," I whispered hoarsely, my heart entirely dead. "If you want to kill me, just do it. Put me out of my misery."

Chloe POV: Kael froze, his golden eyes flickering with a mix of confusion and sudden, surging rage. He shook his head violently, like a man desperately trying to wake up from a drug-induced stupor. My complete lack of resistance, my total acceptance of death, seemed to infuriate him more than any fierce argument ever could. He threw me hard onto the cold wooden floor. I coughed violently, rubbing my bruised throat while gasping for the stale air in the guest room. "You think playing the victim is going to work?" Kael growled, his voice dripping with undisguised disgust. He turned toward the hallway and barked an order: "Warriors! Drag her out and throw her out the villa gates!" At the Alpha's command, two massive Warriors immediately stepped into the room. Their faces were blank as they grabbed my arms in a death grip and dragged me out. I was wearing nothing but a thin silk nightgown, my bare feet scraping against the hard stone steps. The bitter winter wind howled outside, cutting into my skin like knives. A warm liquid trickled down my forehead. I reached up to touch it, and my palm came away stained with crimson blood. It was from when Kael had thrown me, causing my head to hit the corner of the table. Having lost my inner wolf, my supernatural healing ability was completely gone. But the physical pain was not even a fraction of the agonizing tear in my chest. My body trembled violently as I dragged my bare feet through the dead of night. My hands were as numb as blocks of ice. I desperately wanted to find a patrol or use the mind-link to ask Seraphina for help. But without my inner wolf, my mind-link was as dead and silent as my body heat. I could only stumble down the mountain on foot. I didn't know how long I had walked. Hypothermia began to set in, my vision blurred, and the shadows of the surrounding trees twisted into terrifying hallucinations— Suddenly, the blinding glare of headlights pierced the darkness. My frozen heart gave a weak thud, sparking a sliver of hope. I forced my stiff legs to speed up, wanting to go over and ask for help. But when the tinted window rolled down, it revealed Kael's cold, sharp profile. "Maya lost the baby," he said, his voice devoid of any warmth. I stopped in my tracks, my trembling body swaying in the fierce wind. "Just stay out here in the snow and freeze," Kael continued, not even glancing at my bleeding forehead. "Consider it a mild punishment for taking a life." "The freezing hell you are suffering now is only a thousandth of what Maya went through. Consider it a mild punishment for murder!" He rolled up the window and slammed on the gas. The car sped away, kicking up a spray of dirty snow and mud that slapped against my freezing legs. In my daze, I suddenly remembered that months ago, when I was lying alone on that cold operating table, losing my own child to the silver poison, my heart had shattered exactly like this. He was devastated because Maya lost her child. But what about mine? ... When I opened my eyes again, the harsh smell of medical alcohol and crushed herbs filled my nose. I was already lying in a bed at the Pack hospital. I turned my head and met Seraphina's red, guilt-ridden eyes. "Chloe, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that Rogue was so scheming, driving a wedge between you and Kael and making you suffer so much." "But don't worry. I brought her here while Kael is away dealing with Pack business." Seraphina stood up and waved toward the corridor. A moment later, Maya, wearing a hospital gown, was brought in by the guards. Her face was pale, clearly terrified by the former Luna's wrath. When her eyes landed on me, a flash of pure hatred crossed them. Seraphina stepped out to take a call, leaving just the two of us in the ward. Without the former Luna present, Maya instantly dropped her frightened-rabbit act. She glared at me viciously and hissed through gritted teeth, "Miss Chloe, what exactly are you trying to do?! I am Kael's chosen mate, and I will be his official Luna! It's so vicious of you to turn his mother against me!" I raised my eyes to look at her, my gaze as cold and dead as ash. "Tell me, Maya," I said softly, my tone steady. "Did a tiny trace of Wolfsbane really cause you to lose that baby?" Maya's head snapped up, her pupils shrinking drastically in sheer panic. "What... what do you mean?" She took a step back, her hands hanging by her sides trembling uneasily. Her acting was incredibly clumsy, full of chilling flaws. A wave of deep exhaustion instantly washed over me. I propped myself up slightly, my gaze hardening with the cold, commanding authority that once belonged to a Luna. "Get out. If you take one more step closer, I will kill you." Suddenly, Maya threw her entire body toward the hard tile floor, dropping heavily to her knees with a loud thud. "Please, Chloe, the baby is already gone!" Maya screamed, her tears instantly bursting forth like a broken dam. "Please don't hurt me anymore! I didn't know my place!" The next second, the heavy ward door was violently kicked open by Kael.