Chapter 2

• Aurora’s POV
• “Aurora! I’m going to tear him apart! How dare he betray you? You should never have saved him in the first place!”
• From deep inside me, my soul mate—my little wolf Nana—roared with pure rage.
• “Nana, this is the perfect excuse to break up with him. Then I can marry into the Green Pack and finally leave the Ginder Pack.” I kept trying to calm my furious little wolf.
• “But Aurora, you’ve given so much over these four years. Can you really just let it all go?” Nana’s anguished howls echoed inside me.
• I glanced at my phone. On the screen was Grace in that pure white wedding dress—the very dress I had sewn for myself with my own hands. Around her neck hung the gem necklace glowing with a deep, almost blood-red light, the only keepsake my mother ever left me. And now, it was nothing more than a decoration brightening another she-wolf’s happiness.
• A dull ache pulsed in my chest. Even though I had finally been handed a clear reason to break up with John, the sting of betrayal still crushed me. Four years together—four years believing he was my mate. Damn it, I needed time to let go.
• My knees buckled beneath me. I collapsed to the floor, powerless, tears spilling freely.
• A memory from that stormy night four years ago tore through my mind without mercy…
• Down the mountain road, a twisted, mangled car lay smoking thick black fumes. I rushed forward and found John slumped in the shattered driver’s seat, covered in blood. This was the same boy who had once stepped in front of me like a ray of light when Josephen bullied me and left me helpless.
• “Save me… don’t tell anyone… please…” he choked out, barely conscious.
• I used every ounce of strength in my body to drag him out of the wreck. The moment we escaped the crushed metal, his pain overwhelmed him, and he lost control of his human form. Before my eyes, he shifted into his wolf—beautiful but terrifyingly wounded. A deep gash on his hind leg was bleeding relentlessly, staining his fur a dark red.
• Fear slammed into me, but hesitation didn’t. I shifted into my wolf form, hoisted his injured body onto my back, and staggered toward an abandoned forest cabin. Inside, I tore my clothing into strips to stop the bleeding, fumbling with shaking hands. In that frantic struggle, I lost my mother’s ruby necklace, but I didn’t dare waste a second going back for it.
• For the next six months, John was severely injured. Paralyzed from the waist down, he couldn’t shift back to his human form. I kept everything secret, sneaking away every few days with herbs and food to tend to him. Maybe it was in those long, hidden days—when we clung to each other just to survive—that love quietly took root.
• When he finally stood before me again in human form, his eyes were clear, like the sky after rain. He confessed to me and revealed who he truly was: the rightful heir of the Palmer Pack, robbed of his position by a scheming illegitimate half-brother. He swore he would reclaim everything stolen from him, marry me openly, and help me recover the necklace I had lost.
• Now, he had kept most of those promises. He took back his power and wealth. He even found the ruby. Yet instead of returning it to its rightful owner, he offered it to another woman as a symbol of love—letting Grace wear it around her neck.
• “Nana,” I whispered inwardly, tears pouring down my face like a broken dam, “I was so stupid to think John would be the one to save me. Why does fate keep stabbing me in the back?”
• I wiped away the tears clouding my vision, my gaze turning cold and sharp. “And Nana, those clues I found about my parents’ deaths… I’m almost certain it wasn’t an accident. Luna Rebecca arranged everything.”
• “Nana, tell me this. John cheating on me right now—does it count as a blessing or is it just another curse?”
• Moonlight spilled through the room like cold water, washing over the empty living space.
• My bags had been packed long ago. Only a few suitcases sat in the corner of the walk-in closet, marking the end of this so-called home—a place that was nothing more than a fragile illusion.
• As Josephen’s health improved, her hostility toward me returned tenfold. A year ago, I fled the Ginder Pack and moved into this “home” John built for me. But now, even this place couldn’t hold me anymore.
• I sat quietly, mind tangled with grief and fury, until the sharp beep of the fingerprint scanner shattered the silence.
• The door opened, and John appeared. He still wore the perfectly tailored groom’s suit, his handsome face tired from the day’s stress, yet carrying that power that had always made my heart stumble.
• The image frozen on my phone felt like a vicious joke—him passionately kissing Grace under the spotlight.
• “John, congratulations on your wedding,” I said calmly. The cold wetness on my cheek reminded me that tears had already fallen without my noticing. I stood as he walked toward me.
• “Aurora, you found out?” he asked, frowning as he stepped closer, his tone dripping with that familiar, lazy softness he used whenever he wanted me to obey. “I never promised Grace anything. She just wanted a ceremony. It was only to fulfill her last wish. The witch said she has, at most, six months left.”
• “So you let her wear the wedding dress I spent weeks stitching for you and the only keepsake my mother left me, just to make her happy?” I stepped back, needing distance to see him clearly. From here, I noticed the impatience in his brow—something I had been too blind to see.
• “It all happened so fast. She asked last minute, and there wasn’t time to make another dress. Aurora, you’re the most understanding person I know. You get me, don’t you?”
• He sank onto the couch, tugging at his loosened tie, irritation flickering across his face. “As for the necklace, let her use it for a few days. I’ll get it back and buy you a better one. Don’t let her have regrets, and don’t make things difficult for me.”
• “‘Don’t make it difficult for you,’ huh?” I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Fine. Then let’s break up. Take care of her openly. Live out your perfect little dream. Sounds like a win-win.”