Chapter 2

At that moment, Ethan reached out and tilted Sophia’s chin upward, his fingers cool against her skin as he quietly studied her face. His expression was not severe, and his voice remained controlled, but Sophia had spent twenty-seven years beside him and understood him too well to mistake gentleness for softness.

“Sophie,” he said, looking into her eyes, “tell me where you went. Are you trying to make me punish you again?”

Years ago, hearing those words would only have made her feel guilty. Ethan had always been this way. He worried easily, became anxious whenever she disappeared, and hated being left outside her decisions. Everyone in Ashford Territory envied her for having an Alpha who loved her so completely, but only she understood how deep his possessiveness ran. When she was younger, she believed his control came from devotion. Now, standing in front of him after learning the truth, she suddenly found herself unable to tell where love ended and ownership began.

A brief panic rose in her chest.

If Ethan discovered she already knew about the Moon Registry, about Vanessa, about the inheritance transfer, and most of all that she intended to leave him entirely, she did not know what he might do. Ethan had never accepted losing anything he considered his.

So she lowered her eyes and answered quietly, “I went to the healer’s hall.”

As she spoke, her hand unconsciously rested over her abdomen beneath her cloak.

Two moons.

She had only learned it earlier that day.

There was already a small life inside her.

The moment the words left her mouth, Ethan’s gaze changed. Something dark flickered across his eyes and disappeared so quickly she almost thought she imagined it. He stepped forward instead and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“Sophie,” he said softly, “you still haven’t given up.”

His voice carried familiar helplessness, the same tone he had used countless times before whenever this subject arose.

“You’ve exhausted yourself for years.”

His hand slid through her hair.

“You’ve visited healer clans in the northern mountains, accepted fertility blessings under the full moon, worn moonstones blessed by priestesses, and swallowed more medicinal brews than anyone should. We’ve tried everything.”

He paused and looked at her quietly.

“That’s enough.”

His expression softened further.

“The healers already said your fertility path is closed. Stop hurting yourself.”

His thumb brushed against her temple.

“I don’t need pups. As long as I have you, my life is already complete.”

Sophia looked at him.

She remembered believing those words.

Every failed blessing had ended with Ethan comforting her. Every time another healer lowered their head apologetically and told her there was no hope, Ethan would bring her home and tell her they could live without heirs. Whenever she cried and apologized for disappointing him, he would hold her and say she mattered more than any future child.

For years she thought she was fortunate.

Now she suddenly wondered whether he had been comforting her because he already knew she would never conceive.

At that moment, the moon crystal hanging from Ethan’s waist emitted a faint glow.

Someone was calling him through mindlink.

His expression shifted so subtly most people would never notice it, but Sophia did. She saw the slight relaxation in his shoulders and the softness that appeared in his eyes before he accepted the connection.

He reached out and lightly touched her head.

“No more thinking about this.”

Then he smiled.

“I have something to deal with outside. Stay home tonight.”

His voice became lower.

“And don’t disappear without telling me. You know I don’t like worrying.”

He left shortly afterward.

Sophia remained standing where she was and let out a quiet laugh.

Someone had obviously been waiting for him.

He had returned only to make sure she was still home.

Half an hour later, one of the servants delivered a memory crystal and said it had been left anonymously.

Sophia stared at it for a while before activating it.

A conversation began immediately.

A man’s voice asked casually, “Vanessa is really carrying your pup?”

Ethan answered without hesitation.

“Yes.”

The man laughed.

“So the old Alpha finally got what he wanted.”

Sophia frowned.

Then she heard the next sentence.

“You insisted on staying with Sophia back then, and the old Alpha only agreed after making you give her moonbane and forbidding you from registering her as your true mate. Now Vanessa has conceived. What are you planning to do?”

Sophia’s entire body went cold.

Moonbane.

Her fingers tightened.

Moonbane was forbidden among werewolves because it did not kill. It simply destroyed the possibility of children and made the victim believe their own body had failed them.

Her thoughts returned instantly to seven years ago.

Their mating night.

She remembered Ethan entering their chambers carrying a bowl of herbal medicine.

He sat beside her and smiled.

“The elders prepared this.”

She had asked curiously what it was.

He stroked her hair and said gently, “A fertility tonic. They say if you drink it tonight, the Moon Goddess will bless us with strong pups.”

She remembered feeling embarrassed.

Remembered Ethan feeding her patiently because she complained it was bitter.

She remembered trusting him completely.

After that night she never conceived.

Years passed.

Years of trying.

Years of rituals.

Years of disappointment.

Years of believing she was incomplete.

Sophia slowly covered her mouth.

She had never failed.

Someone had decided for her.

The recording continued.

The man asked, “But didn’t you say Sophia was the one you loved?”

Ethan answered quietly.

“I do love her.”

Sophia closed her eyes.

Then she heard him continue.

“My parents died because of conflict with the Carter Bloodline. I chose to overlook that.”

His voice remained calm.

“I’ve treated her well all these years. Aside from status and heirs, I’ve given her everything.”

The man asked, “And Vanessa?”

This time Ethan did not answer immediately.

After a while he finally said, “Vanessa makes me feel peaceful.”

His voice became softer.

“She gives me something Sophie never did.”

Sophia turned off the crystal.

The room became silent.

She sat there for a long time before lowering her hand to her abdomen.

Inside her—

there was a child.

Not impossible.

Not a miracle.

Simply a child who survived despite everything.

After a long time, Sophia opened a mindlink.

Adrian answered quickly.

“Sophia?”

She looked out at the moon.

“Senior Brother.”

His tone became concerned.

“What happened?”

Sophia was silent for several moments before she finally asked,

“Can the healer’s hall prepare a severing rite tomorrow?”

Adrian sounded startled.

“What are you severing?”

Sophia closed her eyes.

Then she answered quietly.

“The pup bond.”

The next morning, she went alone to the healer’s hall before sunrise.

But the moment she entered, she saw Ethan standing beneath the white stone corridor with Vanessa in his arms.

His hand rested protectively around her waist.

His expression was gentle.

The same expression Sophia once thought belonged only to her.

Vanessa smiled and looked up at him.

“It’s only a blessing ceremony. There’s no need to worry.”

Ethan frowned.

“I told you to use the private chambers.”

Vanessa lowered her head.

“I’m not someone important. I don’t want to waste your resources.”

Ethan smiled.

“You’re different from Sophie.”

His eyes softened.

“She likes the finest things. You don’t ask for anything.”

Then he lowered his head and kissed her hair.

Sophia stood quietly in the crowd.

For the first time, she realized that perhaps she had never been difficult to love.

She had simply been loved conditionally.