Then Johan walked into my life like sunlight.
He was the one who found me after I finally escaped that cage.
For a while, he became my whole world.
He was my salvation. My Alpha. My sunlight.
Then he almost died in front of me.
I begged the Dark Spirit Healer. I got on my knees and begged him to save Johan, even if it meant I owed him for the rest of my life.
I even sold my moon locket. The one thing I had left from my father. I sold it without blinking just to afford the trip, the meeting, the bargain.
The Dark Spirit Healer saved Johan.
After that, Johan treated me like his queen.
For ten years, my heart beat only for him.
What a joke.
The day I found out he already had a mate, I thought the world had cracked open.
And it had to be Suzette, of all the people.
The Moon Goddess had tied him to the same woman who used to crush my fingers in doors and laugh while I cried.
I had been living in the center of a cruel joke.
She was his official Luna. The one with the bond. The mark. The title. The family name.
I was just the woman he kept in his blind spot. The convenient attachment. The fool.
Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes before I knew I was crying.
I thought ten years of loving him would at least buy me a clean break.
Instead, I got fire.
“Johan,” I murmured, or thought I did.
If I could go back, I would have chosen the cage. I would have stayed locked away rather than walk toward the pretty lie he offered me.
When I fell in love with Johan, I had also signed my death sentence.
Something cold brushed over me, like a shadow running down my spine.
Is this death?
My wolf curled weakly inside me. I could barely feel her. She felt tired. Burned.
We did our best, she seemed to say. We survived as long as we could.
Surprisingly, the pain started to recede, and somewhere far away, that rough voice came back. ‘You owe me one hell of an explanation, woman.’
I tried to open my eyes. They would not obey. Everything was still dark.
Johan’s POV
My mind snapped awake.
Jessica.
I pushed myself up on the thin mattress, ignoring the sharp pull in my ribs.
The moment my hearing sharpened, I caught Suzette’s voice outside the curtain.
“No. Move her to the crematorium. We cannot delay this,” she told the warriors. “The media already noticed the fire. We need this handled now.”
Handled.
I tore the curtain aside. Three warriors jerked around. Suzette’s face went pale like she’d seen a ghost.
“Johan. You should be resting.”
I walked straight to her, my blood boiling so hot my wolf clawed under my skin.
“What did you just say?”
She swallowed hard. “I… I arranged everything. Jessica’s remains have already been-“
“Already been what?” My voice cracked. I could feel my fangs pushing at my gums.
Suzette lifted her chin.
“Cremated. And buried.”
For a moment, everything went silent. Even my wolf went still.
Then the rage detonated.
My hand snapped before I even thought.
Suzette flew sideways, hitting the floor with a choked gasp, clutching her cheek.
She stared at me like she didn’t recognize me.
“You hit me?” she whispered.
“If I wanted to hurt you, you wouldn’t be able to speak right now.” My voice shook with fury. “Who gave you the right to make decisions about Jessica? Who told you you could take authority here? I sure as hell did not.”
Her eyes flooded with tears.
“I was trying to protect you,” she said loudly. “You are the CEO of Luna Pharmaceuticals. Do you know how many people are waiting for you to slip? The board, the shareholders, the investors. If they hear you’re falling apart over… over some girl-“
My vision tunneled. My wolf growled so loudly my bones vibrated.
“Jessica,” I hissed. “Say her name correctly.”
Suzette flinched but kept going.
“I did this for you. I am the Luna. I had to make decisions. If the media-“
“Shut up.” My voice cracked like thunder. “You are nothing compared to her.”
Her mouth dropped open. She reached for me, desperate.
“Johan. Where are you going?”
“Anywhere you’re not.”
“I am your mate.”
That word slid into my ears like poison.
My wolf snarled.
A flash hit me without warning. Jessica laughing beside me, holding my arm, her eyes bright.
Johan, mark me on my twenty-third birthday. I want to be your chosen mate.
And what did I do?
I mated Suzette behind her back, her knowledge.
My chest tightened until I could barely breathe.
Suzette grabbed my pant leg. “You cannot leave. Not right now. Not after everything I did.”
I stared down at her.
“Our mating ceremony stays hidden. You announce it, and I will wipe your entire family out of Vale territories. Test me if you want.”
“You have gone insane,” she whispered. “You cannot hide your Luna forever. I am meant to stand beside you.”
“Then reject me.”
The words fell like ice. No hesitation. No emotion.
I walked out before she could answer.
Behind me I heard nothing but her sobbing and the stunned silence of the warriors who had never seen me lose control.
I didn’t care.
I drove to the cemetery with my hands shaking around the steering wheel. The warrior met me at the gates, guiding me into a cramped, dirt-patched area I didn’t even know existed.
The place looked like the wolves had forgotten it existed. Rusted gates. Dead grass. Broken markers everywhere.
When I saw her grave, shoved in the corner like discarded trash, something in me snapped again.
“This is where you buried her?” My voice scraped out. “Here? In this garbage pit?”
The warrior tried to explain, stammering something about orders, but I didn’t let him finish. I grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him against the nearest tree so hard the bark cracked. His head snapped back, and he slumped for a second before catching himself, dazed.
My claws had surfaced, tips digging into his collarbone. “You followed her command over mine?”
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