Chapter 2

“Why? She is bold enough to sit on your lap before the entire pack, yet she is suddenly too shy to show her shoulders?”

“Do not speak nonsense. This she-wolf is merely bashful.”

Protected by Cassian’s defense, Sabrina Vale cast me a smug, provocative glance before lightly touching the moonstone necklace around her throat.

“Luna Emilia, it is the Winter Moon Feast! The old year must make way for the new, must it not? Old things are replaced by new ones. Surely you understand that better than anyone.”

The wolves gathered around us immediately began trying to smooth matters over, some giving me knowing looks while others urged me through the mind-link to give Cassian a chance to save face before his friends.

“Luna Emilia, we were only playing truth or dare. The wine has gone to our heads, and things became rather excessive. We shall each drink three cups of moonwine as punishment and make amends. Please, forgive Alpha Cassian.”

I said nothing.

Cassian, meanwhile, remained remarkably composed, though a faint trace of reproach darkened his expression.

“Why did you come here? I told you to remain in our chambers and take care of yourself and the pup.”

His words struck me like shards of ice.

I could scarcely believe that the same wolf who had once spent hours beside me planning the nursery for our pup, eagerly discussing which moonstone charms should hang above the cradle, could now stand beside another she-wolf and dismiss me as though I were nothing more than an unwelcome stranger.

Tears slipped down my cheeks, but I bit my trembling lip and forced my voice to remain steady.

“Cassian Blackthorne, you once told me that wolves who betray those who trust them will eventually meet a miserable end.”

His expression darkened.

“Emilia, mind your tongue. Sabrina and I are merely passing the time. Besides, look at yourself. You have let yourself go so badly during this pregnancy that you have grown as heavy as a winter-fed boar. I have already done you a kindness by enduring the sight of you and continuing to share my bed.”

He paused, then gave a cold laugh.

“And do not pretend you are some righteous Luna. No Alpha among our kind confines himself to one she-wolf. At least I have enough decency to return to you and the family once you have delivered my heir.”

My hand instinctively moved over my belly, where sorrow and fury churned together like a storm beneath dark clouds.

After I conceived, my body changed in ways I could not control. My weight increased, and my legs swelled until even walking through the pack hall became difficult.

Cramping often woke me in the deepest hours of the night, while the sickness that came with dawn left me exhausted before the day had even begun.

The fair, delicate skin I had once taken pride in had become rough and sallow, and the marks left by my growing pup stretched across my belly beneath the soft fur of my ceremonial robes.

At first, Cassian had seemed genuinely concerned. He would place his palm over my belly and ask whether our pup had moved, but his patience soon disappeared. He buried himself in pack affairs, remaining away from our chambers until the moon was high and rarely speaking to me unless it concerned the heir.

The disgust in his eyes was impossible to miss, especially whenever his gaze fell upon the marks my pregnancy had left across my stomach.

For the sake of our pup, I had pretended not to notice.

I kept telling myself that once the child was born, everything would return to the way it had been before. Cassian would remember the mate he had once cherished, and I would once again be the she-wolf he wanted beside him.

But now I finally understood how foolish I had been.

How could he take everything I had sacrificed for our pup and use those sacrifices to humiliate me while I endured every ache and sickness simply to bring his heir into this world?

For the first time, I realized I could no longer keep sacrificing my dignity for a wolf who did not even value the child I carried.

“Cassian Blackthorne, let us sever our mate bond.”

For the first time that night, Cassian’s indifferent expression froze.

Yet his confidence quickly returned, and he regarded me as though I had made some childish threat.

“Where could you possibly go, carrying my pup and severing your bond with me? Remain peaceful, and you will always keep the title of Luna of the Blackthorne Pack.”

Seeing the pain etched across my face, his voice softened, taking on the coaxing tone he used whenever he wanted me to obey him.

“Be obedient, Emilia. I promise you that every legitimate heir of the Blackthorne bloodline will come from your womb.”

Sabrina immediately twisted against him, her delicate fingers curling around his arm as she spoke in a tone of wounded dissatisfaction.

“Max, do not upset Luna Emilia because of me. She is still carrying your pup.”

Cassian pinched her slender waist playfully, his lips curling with amusement.

“That she-wolf? Pregnant or not, she is simply being dramatic.”

Watching them flirt openly before me as though I were not even there became unbearable.

The mate bond inside my chest twisted painfully, and another wave of nausea suddenly rose through me.

“Ugh—”

I barely managed to turn my head before the contents of my stomach spilled out.

Cassian and Sabrina were standing closest to me, and both were caught in the mess.

Sabrina suffered the worst of it. The beautiful fur cloak Cassian had given her for the Winter Moon Feast was splattered with the sour remnants of my sickness, staining the delicate embroidery and ruining the fabric.

She tore it from her shoulders, her eyes instantly reddening with fury.

“You wretched bitch! Did you do that deliberately?”

Something inside me finally snapped.

I stepped forward and struck her hard across the face.

“Who are you calling a bitch?”

The slap left Sabrina stunned for only a heartbeat before fury overtook her. She shoved me with all her strength.

“Max! You have to defend me! My Winter Moon cloak, the one you gave me, is ruined!”

One of the servants hurried forward with a warm cloth to clean the stained cloak and the floor, while Cassian’s gaze finally turned toward me.

“Emilia, that is enough.”