Chapter 5

When Ava opened her eyes again, she was lying in the bed of the pack hospital.

“You’re finally awake.” The Pack Doctor let out a heavy sigh, eyes full of pity.

“You lost the baby, Luna. It was a massive hemorrhage—another few minutes, and even the Lunar Deity couldn’t have saved you.”

Ava’s mind went blank.

The healer told her that it was a servant delivering food who found her—barely breathing, covered in blood.

“Your family should be ashamed. How could they treat you like that? And your mate—he hasn’t answered a single call!”

Ava interrupted quietly, her voice hoarse:

“Don’t tell him I was pregnant.”

What was the point? He would never believe her anyway.

Liam’s heart was elsewhere—she didn’t want any connection left between them.

The healer hesitated, then sighed and left the room.

Liam never came to see her.

But his face appeared everywhere—in Ella’s pack social media.

The first post showed a bowl of soup:

“Ten years later, and it’s still my favorite taste.”

The second was a photo of a man sleeping beside her bed:

“Had another nightmare. Thank the Lunar Deity I woke up to see you.”

Ava’s chest tightened.

Liam used to make soup for her too.

He used to stay by her bedside when she was sick.

Only now did she realize—

the gentleness was never meant for her.

He had only been loving Ella through her shadow.

When she was finally discharged, Liam called at last.

“Something urgent came up in the pack. I sent Beta Ryder to pick you up.”

Ava didn’t question him. Didn’t beg, didn’t cry.

Just said softly, “Alright.”

When the call ended, she ran a hand over her flat abdomen.

Liam—just another name soon to be deleted from her contact list.

And this time, she meant it.

When Ava arrived home, she froze at the sight before her.

Ella stood in the living room, painting on the wall.

Their framed photos—hers and Liam’s—were thrown on the floor, splashed with paint.

Ella turned, smiling sweetly.

“Oh, Ava, you’re back! I thought the wall looked messy. Just giving it a new look. You don’t mind, do you?”

Ava’s gaze swept over the chaos.

“Do as you like,” she said quietly.

This house had stopped feeling like home long ago.

Soon, it would truly belong to Ella.

Liam walked out of the kitchen, holding a plate of berries and cheese.

When he saw Ava heading upstairs, he stopped her.

“Ella’s trying to make peace. And this is your attitude?”

“What else do you expect?” Ava’s voice was weak, her face pale from surgery.

“Should I kneel and thank her for destroying my photos?”

“Liam, don’t blame her,” Ella cut in quickly, pretending to soothe him.

“She doesn’t mean it…”

“Didn’t mean it?” Liam snapped, shaking off Ella’s hand. His wolf eyes glinted with frost.

“She cursed you, Ella! Ava, you’ve truly disappointed me.”

Ava didn’t reply. Too tired to argue, she brushed past him and went upstairs.

She had barely lain down when the door creaked open again.

Ella stepped inside, her fake gentleness gone—her wolf eyes gleaming with scorn.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Watching him protect me like that?”

Her lips curved in a cruel smile.

“I told you, he was only playing with you. You were the filler, Ava—the substitute. The Mark’s gone now. What do you have left to fight me with?”

Ava turned her back, pulling the blanket over her head.

Ella’s claws dug into her shoulder.

“You know what the pack’s saying about you?” she hissed.

“That you warmed your half-sister’s mate’s bed for four years and still ended up with nothing. That even stray she-wolves sell for more.”

Her voice turned venomous.

“Face it, Ava. The Walker bloodline doesn’t want you. Liam doesn’t want you. You’re just like your dead mother—unwanted, useless trash.”

At the mention of her mother, Ava’s wolf eyes flared, sharp as a blade.

“You sound scared, Ella. Scared that maybe, in those four years, he really fell for me?”

Ella blinked—then burst into cruel laughter.

“Fell for you? If he did, would I be standing here mocking you right now?”

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving the room echoing with silence.

Ava clutched the sheets, her body trembling.

Cold seeped deep into her bones.

But it was fine.

She was leaving soon.

And she’d never have to see their filthy faces again.

The day before she left the Wick Pack, Ava went to the Lunar Deity temple.

Since the miscarriage, she dreamed every night of a child crying in the dark.

She came to ask the priestess to guide her pup’s soul back to the forest—

so it could finally rest.

But when she entered the temple, she froze.

That silhouette before the temple—broad shoulders, familiar stance—

Liam.

Whispers drifted around her.

“They said the Luna’s illness was fatal. Alpha Liam climbed the steepest temple himself to beg for her protection.”

“He nearly fell off the cliff. It’s a miracle he came back alive.”

Ava’s eyes moved to his bandaged arm, still bleeding through the gauze.

She remembered asking him once to come pray with her for a child.

He’d said he was too busy with pack affairs.

But now—he stood there, humble and devout, for another woman.

A bitter smile touched her lips.

So he wasn’t too busy after all.

She just wasn’t worth the climb.

By the time she left the Moon Temple, the sky had turned dark.

The wind in the valley was cold.

She wrapped her cloak tighter and started down the stone steps.

Then—

A black shadow lunged out of the forest.

Before she could even scream, a rough hand covered her mouth.

The world spun—and everything went black.