Chapter 1
I never expected to see Alpha Lucas again—
and certainly not at the Tribal Moonlit Festival hosted by Alpha Charles of the Blackthorn Pack.
Lucas, now Alpha of the Foster Pack.
Charles, Alpha of Blackthorn pack, the alpha king.
This wasn’t just some symbolic gathering. The festival was sacred—a ritual of alliance, bloodline declaration, and lunar blessing for all werewolf packs.
I stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as he held Noah’s hand—my son—
standing at the center, with his current partner, Bianca, by his side.
Bianca, widow of his late elder brother.
She wore the silver-embroidered shawl reserved for Lunas, basking in flattery and reverence from Pack dignitaries.
“Alpha Lucas, your new hunting grounds are phenomenal—an ideal for northern resource expansion!”
“If you lead the Alliance forward, it will surely be the Moon Goddess's will!”
I watched from the shadows, candlelight flickering between us.
Some older Alphas and Betas, once familiar with me, murmured in confusion:
“Alpha Lucas… where’s Winnie? You two were inseparable…”
Lucas’s smile stiffened.
Even little Noah’s bright face dulled.
Bianca’s eyes gleamed, lips curling into a soft, practiced smile:
“Fated bonds don’t always survive reality. They’ve dissolved their bond. There’s no such thing as eternal ties, right?”
Gasps rippled.
“What? Impossible! When Winnie vanished back then, didn’t Alpha Lucas search the entire Northlands? He prayed at the Moon Temple for seven nights straight… and now that bond is gone?”
To me, it was nothing but irony.
I was only eighteen the first time I met Lucas—
beneath the moon altar, at this very same festival.
That was the night my wolf soul, Wendy, first awakened.
When I saw him, it struck like lightning.
Wendy howled in my blood:
“He’s ours! Our fated Alpha!”
Under the moonlight, I accepted his mark. I became the Luna of Foster Pack.
I bore him our son, Noah. The entire pack praised us as a “Moon-Chosen Pair.”
But the nightmare came far faster than the joy.
His elder brother, Ross, died in a territorial war.
The council pressured Lucas into “honoring both bonds”—a political move to preserve the Alpha bloodline.
I still remember Bianca kneeling before me, tearful:
“I couldn’t bear Ross a child. Please… give me Noah. Only he can keep me alive through this grief…”
Lucas held my hand by the Moonstone Altar, swearing:
“Winnie, no matter what name Noah takes—you will always be his mother. I’ll remember what you’ve sacrificed. We’ll have more children. There’s a future… our future.”
And I believed him.
I handed over my child.
I gave up everything sacred to me as a mother—for the Pack, for Alpha honor, for political peace.
But months later, Lucas moved into Bianca’s residence, claiming she needed help to “heal from her grief.”
Noah stopped calling me “Mama.”
He ran to her arms instead, smiling like she was his world.
That’s when I saw the truth:
“Honoring both bonds” was just an excuse for power—and for her obedience.
And I, the Luna once marked under moonlight, became the “cold-hearted mother,” the “jealous ex,” whispered about behind every Pack’s back.
Wendy snarled in my mind:
“Do you see now, Winnie? He said you were fated—but he never truly respected you.”
My heart died that day.
So when I returned from my disappearance, the first thing I did was hand him the bond dissolution contract.
He stared at it, stunned:
“You’ve lost your mind. Just because of Noah? I didn’t have a choice!”
“We can have more children, Winnie. Don’t do this…”
I laughed coldly.
“Then give Noah back to me.”
He was silent for a long time… before signing.
His voice broke:
“I’m sorry… I can’t.”
I didn’t respond. I simply said:
“I, Winnie, reject you, Lucas, as my mate.”
It felt like a silver blade tearing through my chest—
like my soul was being split open.
But through the pain, Wendy’s voice came clear, resonating from deep within my bones:
“This is your release, Winnie. You were never his shadow.”
From that moment on,
Alpha Lucas and I were no longer bound—by soul, by blood, or by fate.
