Chapter 2

Freya

"Let's end the marking."

Four simple words that hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. My body began trembling uncontrollably, and sharp pain shot through our mark bond.

"Why?" I asked, my voice shaking. "Is it because of that girl you picked up at the airport?"

Paxton looked at me with eyes as dark as storm clouds. "You know where the dissolution contract is. Go home, sign it, and bring it back to me. It must be completed before the full moon."

I knew that contract all too well. It had been placed in the territory's sacred chamber from the moment our marking was completed, with Paxton's signature already on it. What did that mean? It meant he had never considered this relationship permanent from the very beginning.

"Is there really no chance to make this right?" I asked, clinging to the stubborn belief that had kept me going for five years—that someday I could melt this Alpha's cold heart.

Paxton's brow furrowed, and his Alpha presence filled the room with oppressive weight, making the air itself feel heavy. "She's back, so you need to step aside. She's my destined mate."

I felt my heart being torn apart. I had stubbornly believed I could melt this Alpha's frozen heart, but now I felt my sincerity shattered into pieces. I couldn't even force a smile, and I didn't have the courage to ask who "she" was. I had always known Paxton had someone special in his heart, and I had just been a temporary marking, a placeholder.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to keep my voice steady: "I can accept dissolving the mark, but I absolutely will not leave Sterling Corporation. I earned my position as Chief Strategy Officer through my own abilities."

"Mm." Paxton's tone remained businesslike. "You're sick today, so rest. It will count against your monthly leave allowance."

"Fine." I bit back the retort that rose in my throat, feeling my inner Alpha instinct rebelling against his orders.

He turned and left without asking about my condition. The sound of the door closing echoed harshly in the silence.

I closed my eyes, finding our five-year marking relationship utterly ridiculous. The bond between us throbbed with pain, a constant reminder of what I was about to lose. Waves of pain continued pulsing through our bond, as if something deep in my soul was being slowly torn apart.

Memories flooded back like a tide.

I had learned complex werewolf cuisine to accommodate Paxton's picky Alpha palate. During the corporation's most intense internal conflicts, I had used my "Moon's Blessing" ability to help him secure deals and negotiate business. The worst time was when I drank wine laced with silver powder—werewolf poison—to obtain crucial client information. I was rushed to the hospital for stomach pumping and remained unconscious for three days.

The pain in my chest intensified, our mark bond feeling like it was being cut with a blade. I got out of bed and looked at my pale, exhausted reflection in the mirror. A flash of gold flickered in my eyes, filled with sorrow.

I'm so tired of this.

After a day on IV fluids in the hospital, I returned to work. Paxton never came back to check on me. I dragged my exhausted body to the office, where mountains of paperwork awaited.

As I walked through the Sterling Corporation lobby, I noticed the whispers immediately.

"Someone said there's a new woman in Alpha's office."

"Is that Alpha's mate?"

The whispers from the lobby still echoed in my mind, each word chipping away at my composure.

The mark-bond between us didn't just throb—it screamed, a searing agony that felt like molten metal being poured directly into my soul. Each pulse of betrayal through our connection was a fresh knife twist, the sacred link that should have been our greatest intimacy now weaponized into the cruelest torture. My knees buckled as waves of phantom pain crashed over me, the bond interpreting his touch on another as a violation of everything we were supposed to be.

The elevator ride felt eternal. I lifted my chin as I approached my office. My professional mask was firmly in place, but I could feel hairline cracks forming at the edges. I adjusted my posture, straightened my shoulders, and grabbed the files with renewed determination. Whatever was waiting for me in Paxton's office, I would face it with dignity.

Standing outside Paxton's office, I took deep breaths before knocking. "Mr. Sterling."

"Come in!" Paxton's voice remained ice-cold.

I pushed the door open and froze completely. Sitting on Paxton's lap was a girl in a white dress, her petite frame and long hair immediately recognizable from the airport video. The mark-bond twisted with such acute pain that I nearly dropped the files in my hands.

"Pax, you're always so cold when you're at the company," the girl said in a sweet, coquettish voice that perfectly matched the woman from yesterday's phone call. "I think you look much better when you smile."

Something about her struck me as oddly familiar, as if I'd seen similar features before.

Paxton looked at the girl with helpless yet tender eyes: "I'm working." His gaze held an adoring golden light that I had never seen before.

The girl pouted and reached for his tie. "Your tie isn't even straight today. I forgot to tell you, I learned how to tie them at the European Wolf Academy. From now on, I can take over this task."

Her words were like a territorial claim, announcing to me—the temporary marked mate—that I was being replaced. I silently gripped the documents tighter, feeling my Alpha instincts stirring restlessly.

Paxton's lips curved into a smile as he indulgently watched her antics, his eyes filled with tender affection I had never received. "You're always exhausted afterward. Who would I ask to tie my ties then?"

"Then I'll tie them for you every morning in advance, and after we transform, we can run through the territory together," the girl huffed playfully.

"Alright." Paxton's smile deepened.

They were flirting as if I wasn't even there, like silver knives stabbing into my eyes. Paxton had always been strictly professional at the office, hating any personal disruptions. I swallowed the bitter taste rising in my throat.

I summoned my courage. "Mr. Sterling, these files need your attention." My voice carried a hint of suppressed Alpha authority that surprised even me.

I stepped forward, and the girl turned her head. The files slipped from my hands and scattered across the floor—

The girl's face bore a five-point resemblance to mine, but more refined, with triumphant light dancing in her eyes.

It was my half-sister, Lyra.

And in that moment, I realized the most devastating truth of all: I hadn't just lost the man I loved to another woman. I had lost him to a version of myself.