Chapter 01
Erica's POV
The night breeze carried the scent of pine and rain, blending together as one.
In the cold stone hall, a hundred pairs of eyes stared at me, Luna, who was never truly recognized.
The white robe I wore felt heavy, not because it was new, but because the years I had lived through clung to it like dust.
I began to remember the nights when I fed Lucas when he was sick, treated Alpha Richard's wounds every time he returned from a failed hunt, or simply acted as a substitute, signing decrees and taking over his duties as Alpha when Alpha Richard disappeared in a fit of rage.
Now I stood upright at the end of the hall, waiting for them.
Yes, I was now waiting for the main door to open and I saw my husband, Alpha Richard, enter with a steady gait. In fact, his stern facial features could not distract me. However, unfortunately, tonight he brought a woman with him.
The woman walked like the moonlight. Her scent hit me because I could smell musk mixed with the smell of rain, which indicated that she was my husband's mate.
Hazel, a name that made every defense I had built feel like it was crumbling like a curse.
“Starting tonight,” Alpha Richard's voice echoed, snapping me out of my reverie.
“Pack Cendana welcomes my historic mate, Hazel!”
His words made my heart ache. How could he say that? Had he forgotten that I was his wife and Luna, who had been by his side for five years?
Whispers began to sound like a small fire searching for dry leaves. My body froze, but my hands reflexively searched for Eric's fingers.
Those small fingers grasped my hand, his eyes looking at me. His brown eyes were soft like the sunset, similar to Richard's.
“Mother,” the soft call made me slightly aware that it was the only call I received without a crown or ceremony.
It turned out that Eric's voice made Hazel come closer.
Now Richard was standing right next to Hazel, staring at me with his sharp gaze.
“I didn't come here to take anything,” Hazel said softly. “I just came back to take what was rightfully mine.”
Before I could react, Richard stepped forward, standing right in front of her.
“Erica,” Richard called, apparently no longer wanting to call me Luna as before, perhaps wanting to say outright that I was no longer his Luna. “You have done more than I ever asked, the Pack is very grateful to you.”
Richard's words cut my heart again. He thanked me as if he were thanking a servant who had closed the door to his party.
I tried to lift my chin. “What do you mean, Alpha?” I asked bluntly.
“Release this bond, tonight!” he replied in a cold and firm tone.
Eric, who sensed the urgency that Ricard exuded as Alpha, immediately pressed his body against my waist. My hand also gripped Eric's small hand more tightly.
“Alpha Ricard,” my voice trembled, but I forced myself to remain strong.
“Are you kidding? I've spent five years taking care of your child, five years calming your anger. For five years, I have been a protective wall for this Pack when storms come!”
"Calm down, Erica. We really appreciate that,“ interrupted Beta Max, the voice of the person I always hated because from the beginning he always tried to destroy me. Even though I had done nothing wrong to him.
”Miss Erica, don't forget the law established by the Moon Goddess about true mates who can stand beside the Alpha!" he continued in a mocking tone, further destroying my pride.
I didn't understand why the Moon Goddess was only mentioned now. Why was that name never mentioned when Hazel left Richard and this pack in a state of despair?
I now tried to look at Alpha Richard. “Then what about Eric?” I asked softly.
Richard turned to his son. His gaze began to look firm. “Eric will stay in the palace under my supervision!”
My heart sank. “Then who will calm him when his nightmares come? Who else can tell him the story of the little wolf who became a star?”
Without me realizing it, Hazel suddenly stepped forward, pulling at her beautiful evening gown.
“His mother!” Hazel replied sharply.
Of course, I didn't want to lose.
“His mother is here, it's me!” I said, but the words felt like blood on my tongue.
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
The little hand I was holding immediately let go.
I immediately turned to Eric, but it was too late because now his little hand, which always sought warmth from me, had moved towards Hazel.
“Mommy,” he called out with a trembling voice, but unfortunately, that call was no longer for me. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Hazel.
Now my world had completely collapsed.
Eric ran and hugged Hazel tightly around the waist. The child burst into tears.
“Mom, I want you to—don't leave again. I miss you...”
I could only remain silent, my blood frozen, my breath beginning to gasp as if my lungs were being squeezed.
The tears of the son I raised with my own hands now fell on Hazel's dress, not in my arms anymore.
Richard had no sympathy for me at all, the man looked at me with a satisfied gaze. Even Hazel deliberately stroked Eric's hair and looked at me with a sharp smile like a dagger stabbing my heart.
“Look, Erica. My son knows who his real mother is,” he said very softly, but it was like poison burning my heart.
My body almost collapsed. My heart was broken not because of my husband, but because the son I had raised with my heart and soul had chosen to forget me in an instant.
Richard heard me. His voice was cold. “You've done all your duties so far, Erica. Don't be stubborn anymore because you don't belong here.”
I tried to interrupt, but my voice was faint. “My duties? So everything I've done is just a duty to you?”
Unfortunately, Richard didn't answer my question at all.
Eric glanced away from Hazel's embrace, his eyes empty, as if all the time and memories we had shared together had been erased. As if none of it had ever existed.
Under the half moon, I began to feel the bond between my heart and Richard's loosening.
The pain was not ordinary, like skin being forcibly torn from bone.
I knelt down to endure the pain, my chest felt empty, the cold air tortured me even more. Even my she-wolf howled in pain.
I tried to stand up, looking at them one last time.
I looked at Richard with his true mate, and I looked at Eric, who was comfortably in the arms of the woman who left 5 years ago, and me? I was just a shadow that no longer had a place there.