Chapter 3

When the old butler, Harris Johnson found me, I had already been lying in a pool of blood for three hours.

"Luna! Oh my God!"

Harris who had served my family for more than thirty years and watched me grow up, fell to his knees beside me in panic.

Despite his strength, tears filled his eyes as he took in my condition.

"Hurry! Call the doctor! Immediately!"

The doctor arrived swiftly and had me rushed to a private hospital.

In the ambulance, my consciousness flickered in and out.

Amidst the pain and fever, I began to dream.

In the dream, I was taken back to the days when we had first formed our mate bond.

Back then, Damian had been gentle and considerate. He would walk with me under the full moon, stay by my bedside all night when I was sick, and whisper, "You are my whole world."

Those sweet memories now sliced into my heart like a thousand tiny blades.

"So it was all a lie," I sobbed in my dream, drowning in anguish.

"Ella, wake up." Damian's voice yanked me back to reality. He stood by my hospital bed, his face devoid of any concern, only impatience. "I warned you to stay away from Selena."

"Damian." My voice was hoarse as I asked, "Was any of this ever real?"

"What?" Damian replied.

"In these ten years, was there ever even a shred of genuine feeling for me?" I turned my head to look at him, my eyes once burning with passion for him now dead and lifeless. "Or were you deceiving me from the very start?"

A complex expression flickered across Damian's face, but it quickly hardened back into indifference. "Ella, don't flatter yourself. The mate bond is nothing more than a tradition of the pack. I never loved you."

Each word hit like a silver bullet to my heart.

"Fine." I closed my eyes. "I understand."

So that's how it is.

Ten years of affection, ten years of devotion, ten years of love meant nothing to him.

I was nothing to him.

"Very well." I let out a faint laugh, laced with despair and a twisted sense of relief. "Thank you for your honesty."

Seeing my reaction, Damian grew uneasy.

The wolf inside him howled in his mind, a primal instinct triggered by his mate's suffering.

But he suppressed it, convinced it was just one of my tricks.

"Ella, I hope you understand your situation." He stood up, his voice turning cold once more. "If you refuse to cooperate, it won't just be you-your unborn children will suffer as well. And if you dare to harass Selena again, you'll face the consequences."

With that threat, he turned and walked away.

The room fell silent once more, save for my heavy breathing.

Another voice stirred again in my mind, "Do you see? He will never love you. Only I can give you the power to save your pups."

I ignored the voice, gently caressing my slightly rounded belly.

I remembered what my late mother once told me: "Ella, remember, no matter what happens, never give up hope. Live bravely for those you love, and for those who love you."

My gaze grew steadily more resolute.

I would live on-for the sake of my pups.

And for myself.