Chapter 1

On our wedding night, my Alpha mate, Damon, made one thing clear: he would never mark me.

"You might be my legal wife, but Sera is my true mate."

"Don't ever try to take her place. You’re just a human. You could never be the pack's Luna."

I stood there, frozen. It took me a long time to whisper, "Okay."

Later, I realized this marriage was nothing more than a transaction anyway.

He helped my family survive a financial crisis, and my family helped his pack secure restricted resources through our connections.

Once the deal was done, it would be time to part ways.

After that night, I never brought it up again.

For the next three years, he took Sera to every single event.

He took her to pack meetings, hunting festivals, and even my father’s birthday party. She was always the one standing by his side.

The entire pack whispered behind my back, gossiping about who the real Luna was.

But now, it's over.

Everything has been resolved.

It's time for me to leave.

I sat in the study, reading through the divorce papers one last time.

Black and white, perfectly clear.

Under the division of assets, I had checked the box for nothing.

He kept the house we lived in, which he owned before the marriage. He kept the cars. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with his stocks or investments.

I only needed to take my own savings.

Fortunately, over the past three years, we had barely communicated outside of our legal marriage status.

When he had needs, he preferred to go to his mistress rather than me.

That was normal. Werewolves barely recognized civil marriages anyway.

I signed my name at the bottom of the papers.

*Elara Vance.*

I slipped the agreement into a manila folder and placed it on the coffee table.

Then, I pulled out my phone and opened Snapchat to message him.

"Come home early today. I have something to discuss with you."

About two minutes later, a single-word reply popped up next to his avatar.

"Okay."

I turned off my phone, tossed it onto the sofa, and went into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water.

Three years ago, I actually thought that even though this marriage started as a transaction, maybe we could make it work.

But during the very first pack meeting, nobody informed me.

I only found out the next day from Gamma Clara. She told me the meeting had run late and the Alpha had returned in the early morning.

I asked Damon why he hadn't told me.

He glanced at me coldly. "You're just a human. There’s no point in you going."

He did tell me about the second pack meeting in advance.

But when I arrived, I stood at the edge of the crowd. No one spoke to me. People passed by, brushing past me as if I were a piece of furniture.

I stood there for half an hour. When I tried to politely greet a werewolf I recognized, she froze, gave a curt nod, and walked away.

Damon was in the center of the crowd, talking with the elders, never casting a single glance in my direction.

By the third pack meeting, I arrived earlier than usual and sat in the seat right next to Damon.

That was the Luna’s seat. I knew that.

But I thought, *I am his wife, at least legally.*

Five minutes before the meeting started, Sera walked in.

She walked straight up to me, looked down at me, and then turned to Damon. "Alpha, is this seat taken today?"

Damon looked at me, remaining silent for two agonizing seconds.

"No."

Sera smiled, gesturing toward me with her chin. "Excuse me, could you move?"

I stood up and gave her the seat.

That feeling of having even my nominal position stripped away in public still makes my stomach turn today.

After that, I never attended another pack meeting.

At 7:00 PM, he wasn't back.

At 8:00 PM, still nothing.

At 9:00 PM, my phone finally buzzed.

It was a text from him.

"Something came up with Sera. I'll be home late. Go to sleep, don't wait up."

I stared at the message for a long time.

"Go to sleep, don't wait up."

I had heard this exact phrase for three years.

It was always like this. It was always Sera.

She always had an emergency, and he always had to handle it.

He had to be there when she got hurt, when her missions went poorly, when she did border patrols, and when she took her ranking exams.

Once, Sera said she wanted to practice night combat in the Moonlight Woods. He drove forty minutes to take her there, waited for two hours by the forest edge, and drove her back when she was done.

It was 1:00 AM by the time he got back.

I asked him, "Have you eaten dinner?"

He said, "Yeah, had some at Sera’s."

Then he took a shower and went straight to the study.

I should have figured it out that day.

But I didn't.

I always thought that since we were married, we should give each other some time.

Maybe over time, he would realize I wasn't so bad.

Maybe if I did well enough, he would be willing to turn around and look at this home.

Looking back, if someone doesn't have a place for you in their heart, nothing you do matters.

He won't fall in love with you just because you're good; he’ll just think your goodness has nothing to do with him.

I didn't reply to his message.

In the past, I would always reply with "Okay" to show I understood.

Sometimes I would even add, "Stay safe," trying to look generous and sensible.

But today, I didn't want to reply.

Anyway, in a few days, I wouldn't be receiving his messages anymore.

An unmarked human leaving the pack would lose all connection to the werewolf world.