Chapter 4

Aurora POV

When Sabrina came to see me, she brought the latest gossip.

"Did you hear? Julian and Elara had a huge fight at his birthday party." She scrolled through her phone while gloating. "Apparently, the trigger was because you didn't show up."

I was in the middle of a face mask and didn't even lift an eyelid.

"They'll make up eventually," my voice was muffled. "Aren't I always just one element in their twisted love game anyway?"

Sabrina thought about it and agreed, cursing them as "a pair of psychos."

After that, Julian started frantically contacting me.

Mind-link messages, phone calls, texts—they came like a bombardment.

At first it was questioning: "What's your problem? Why are you blocking my Mind-link?"

Then it became orders: "Respond to me immediately, or I'll send guards to drag you back."

I completely stopped responding to his Mind-link, blocked his number, and didn't answer any unknown calls.

My life lately had been full and busy.

I started packing, planning the detailed route for leaving Stormborn Pack, and organizing the supplies my father's people had sent.

Julian was completely shut out of my new life.

That day, I was in my room confirming the final border defense map when I suddenly heard suppressed crying outside the door.

I opened it to find Mara collapsed in the hallway, covered in injuries.

She was an old servant from the main residence who specialized in taking care of my meals and daily needs.

She was also the only warmth I'd felt at Stormborn Pack.

"Luna..." When Mara saw me, tears streamed down her face. Her arms were covered in whip marks—signs of torture.

"What happened?"

I immediately helped her up, slowly channeling my healing power into her body.

"Alpha Julian couldn't find you. He was very angry..." Mara said trembling. "He locked me in the dungeon, demanding to know your whereabouts. When I wouldn't say anything, he..."

My expression instantly darkened, my heart feeling like it had been brutally cut by a dull knife.

For Julian's sake, I'd endured five years of humiliation, but that didn't mean he could cross my bottom line.

He couldn't find me, so he resorted to these despicable methods to torture an innocent Omega!

After Mara left, I walked into my room and pulled out the second gift from the cabinet—a moonstone bracelet he'd given me on our first wedding anniversary.

The lighter's flame ignited again, illuminating the night.

"You don't deserve this, and you have no right to hurt the people around me. Not in the past, not now." I watched the woven leather cord on the bracelet gradually blacken and break under the heat, the gemstone losing its luster, my voice ice-cold. "Julian, that's the second time."

The next day, I went to the university Julian and I had attended.

We'd met in college.

Now, that time had long become the past.

I'd hidden my identity and returned with him to Stormborn Pack, where he immediately assumed the position of Alpha.

I'd followed him too, becoming his Mate and Stormborn Pack's Luna.

Back then, I naively thought we'd lead the Pack to prosperity together.

Until shortly after our wedding, when Elara appeared—that she-wolf who'd once saved him and grown up with him—everything changed.

For Elara's sake, I was driven from the Pack again and again.

This time, I would finally never return.