The Wolf Comes Crawling After the Bond Is Broken

At the Luna Ceremony, my mate—Alpha Ares Grant—appears at the altar with his lover in his arms.

He disdainfully throws the Snow Wolf hide, which has been enshrined on the altar, onto the muddy ground.

It's something my mother left for me before she died, and it's also a sacred relic passed down through generations of the Moonriver pack.

Legend says that if one's mate personally drapes this wolf hide over their shoulders, they will live in harmony and be granted a blessed future.

For three years, this is the moment I had been waiting for.

The next moment, he turns and places the Luna's Crown on Arthene Smith's head.

"I swear on the Moon Goddess that Estella is impure, disloyal, and a fraud. I refuse to accept such a filthy she-wolf as my mate. From now on, my Luna is the pure Arthene, and nothing else," he says.

I stare at the scene before me in disbelief and sorrow. "Ares, I'm your fated mate, your one and only Luna—"

A heavy slap lands fiercely on my face.

Ares strikes me down from the altar.

The moment I tumble down the steps, I hear his cold, bone-chilling voice say, "You think a whore like you is worthy of being the Luna?"

"Whore?"

"The Alpha actually called Estella a whore?"

The werewolves present were all startled by the sudden turn of events. The sound of their whispers surged like a tide, nearly drowning me.

As I lay on the ground, I felt my mind go completely blank. Half my face had gone numb, but my heart was the first to sound a shrill alarm, weeping and crying out in pain.

Had I just… been rejected by the mate I had silently devoted myself to for three years?

Before I could get up, Ares Grant's voice rang out again. "What? Do you think it's not fair?"

He stood on the platform, took out a handkerchief to wipe the hand that had just struck me, and threw it into a brazier.

"Throughout this week, I've always smelled a Rogue's scent on you. Arthene said you often go out late at night and sneak around. At first, I didn't believe it, but…" Ares waved a hand. "Bring it up here!"

Two attendants carried a translucent crystal stone—that was about half a person's height—onto the altar.

It was the Moonbound Soulstone, a sacred object used by werewolf packs to test a mate's loyalty and the purity of their soul.

"Go on. Place your hand on it. Let everyone see how filthy the 'daughter of the Moonriver pack's Alpha' is beneath the skin."

It was only then that I recovered from the ringing in my ears and felt my body go cold.

I went out late at night? That was to gather Moonlight Herbs at the back of the mountains to purify Ares' Blood Frenzy!

The scent of a Rogue? That was the scent of decaying grass I accidentally got on me while brewing his medicine!