Chapter 1

"ALPHA William! You’ve lost your mind!"

"Lyra’s injury is still fresh, Yasmine is only scared of thunder, and you’re flying out to see her tonight?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble this will cause for Blackthorn Pack?"

Alpha William’s Alpha friend’s voice was filled with urgency and anger.

I held an umbrella, pacing in the corridor. I came out to get some air but overheard Alpha William’s conversation with his friend.

Just moments ago, he had been stroking the mark left by our fated bond and telling me to give him a pup.

Then, I heard the sound of porcelain shattering, which made my heart race.

"Stop using the pack’s safety as an excuse!"

"What do you mean, 'you only love Yasmine'? In the last ten years, when hasn’t Lyra risked her life to ensure your safety? Last month, when Silverfang ambushed us, if she hadn’t blocked that fatal bite, could you still be standing here talking about love?"

I remembered the healer witch exhausting three healing crystals to save me, while Alpha William simply said, "Well done."

Suddenly, the scene from my coming-of-age ceremony ten years ago flashed in my mind.

Under the moonlight, Alpha William’s amber eyes met mine.

The ancient magic bonded us with the fated mate bond.

That was the Moon Goddess’s blessing, and the beginning of my nightmare.

"Lyra, don’t listen to them. Your wound is still bleeding, go back to your room!"

It was Wynne, my long-slumbering wolf spirit.

"You don’t love her, why are you still keeping her around? If it were Yasmine, she would’ve dragged you into the abyss by now!"

Alpha William’s voice was cold as ice: "If I don’t make Lyra my weakness, how can Yasmine live in peace?"

"I’ve given her glory, status, and an open identity that Yasmine doesn’t have. The entire Blackthorn Pack knows that Luna Lyra is the person I cherish most—this is the best bait."

A chill ran down my spine. The rain had soaked my skirt without me noticing, and the cold crept up my ankles.

Ten years—ten whole years, and I realized I was nothing but a tool to protect the one he truly loved.

All the tenderness, all the affection, were lies!

A sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I looked down to see blood seeping through the bandages, staining my skirt dark red.

I staggered through the rain, struggling to move forward.

I collapsed in the rain.

Just as my consciousness began to fade, I thought I heard urgent footsteps and someone calling my name.

In my blurry vision, I saw Alpha William’s anxious face as he tightly held me in his arms. His voice, filled with panic, said, "Lyra! Hold on!"

Wynne’s voice grew fainter: "Don’t give up… We will tear apart this lie…"

When I woke up, I saw that Alpha William had cut an apple for me and placed it by my bed.

It was all a performance.

For ten years, I had been kidnapped ten times for him, taken eight silver bullets for him, and even gave up my life…

I had always thought I was the happiest person in the world, but I was just a joke.

"Awake?" Wynne’s voice was filled with relief. "He has Yasmine’s scratch marks on his neck."

"You went out?" Suddenly, Alpha William’s low voice sounded from behind.

"Lyra, what are you afraid of? Where did you go?"

I forced a pale smile, glancing at Faye, standing by the door, as if she had been waiting for me.

"I just woke up, didn’t see you, and got scared…"

"Tomorrow I’ll be gone for a day, stay at home and be good."

"Don’t let me see you in such a miserable state again."

I clenched his shirt, my voice trembling: "Alpha William, my wound... it hurts..."

He tore off my clothes.

Seeing the blood-soaked bandages, his brow furrowed tightly. "Lyra, do you have to torture me like this?"

He carefully changed my bandages.

As he bent down to treat my wound, Wynne sneered in my mind: "Look, his fingers are trembling. This liar is more afraid of the bond breaking than you are."

But the words I had just overheard kept replaying in my mind.

He was leaving for a day. What was he going to do during that time?

Was he going to see the one he had protected with my life?