Chapter 3

Mrs. Grant was completely shaken by my aura.

It took her a moment to snap out of it.

“So it was all an act before, huh?”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She gritted her teeth and threatened, “This won’t end here. I’m going to tell Ryan to sever the bond with you! Even if you beg me on your knees, I’ll make sure you’re kicked out of the Brown Moon Pack!”

I let out a cold laugh, brushing her off with disdain.

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention—about ten minutes ago, Alpha Ryan and I already performed the severing ritual in front of the Moon Goddess statue. And trust me, even if you beg me on your knees, I won’t take another step into that manor.”

Grant stared at me for a long time, clearly suspicious. To verify it, she called Alpha Ryan on the spot.

“Ryan, is it true? Did you really sever the bond?”

Ryan’s voice came through the line. He gave a simple “Mm,” then quickly asked, “We just did the ceremony—who told you?”

“Who else? I ran into Fiona on the road. That rude, low-class werewolf was shouting at me just now!”

Her face was still twisted with rage, but realizing that we’d truly severed our bond, her expression quickly shifted to smug delight. She’d never liked me, after all.

“Well, thank goodness! You two finally ended it. She’s just a worthless stray my husband picked up from an orphanage—how could she ever be good enough for my brilliant son? Even the Moon Goddess must’ve had a lapse in judgment. Now that you’re Alpha, she should’ve been kicked out long ago…”

“And it’s your useless father’s fault too—if he had succeeded the former Alpha of Brown Moon Pack, no way would he have let some powerless, lowborn girl bond with you in the first place…”

On Ryan’s end, there was only silence.

I didn’t care what he was thinking. It wasn’t my business anymore.

I wasn’t his mate now, and I wasn’t going to waste another emotion on someone irrelevant.

I hailed a taxi and headed back to the small manor where Ryan and I had lived—just the two of us—for the past three years.

That place had soaked up every drop of bitterness I’d endured. The memories were too heavy for words. I never wanted to relive them again.

I walked through the front garden and went straight upstairs to pack my things. The moment I finished, I didn’t want to stay in that house another second.

But as soon as I reached the first floor, I saw her—Daisy—standing in the hallway in a snow-white dress, smiling sweetly and innocently.

“Fiona, it’s been so long,” she greeted.

I paused. I hadn’t expected to see Daisy here.

Ryan severed our bond and gave her the key to the manor immediately? Planning to move in already?

Clearly, he’d always treasured his perfect little first love.

A chill ran through me. I smiled, descending the stairs with the same grace and poise as ever.

Daisy’s eyes flickered at the sight of me—calm, elegant, entirely unbothered. She hesitated for a beat before forcing another bright smile.

“Fiona, it’s only been a few years, and you’re really starting to look like a Luna of the Brown Moon Pack.”

“Oh dear,” she added, covering her mouth with a dainty hand, feigning embarrassment. “I forgot—you and Ryan severed your bond. You’re no longer Luna now, are you?”

So, she was here to flaunt her victory.

I wasn’t mad. I simply laughed, breezy and unbothered.

“Alpha Ryan? He’s a mate I chose to leave behind. But you, you’ve always loved leftovers, haven’t you? I don’t mind giving him to you. Just try not to rush in too quickly—it might make it look like you were the homewrecker.”

Daisy’s smile forcedly, then slowly contorted into something more sinister.

“Ryan and I love each other. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve been together years ago. You were the one who stole him—you’re the one who deserves to be despised by others!”

I gave her a withering glance. “We’ll see who’s the real homewrecker. It won’t take long.”

With that, I brushed past her, not planning to waste another second.

But just as I reached the door, a hand grabbed my wrist.

I turned to see Daisy wearing a pitiful expression, eyes shimmering with tears, like she’d just suffered some great injustice.

“Fiona, I’m sorry… I always thought of you as a friend. I just came to check on you, I swear. I didn’t even know you and Ryan had severed the bond. Please don’t be mad at me, okay?”

“Wow… you are two-faced, don’t you?”

I scoffed and was about to shake her off when she collapsed—timing it perfectly with my movement—and let out a shriek.

From a distance, it would look exactly like I’d shoved her to the ground.

How convenient.

I stared coldly at the scene she’d crafted with such flair. If I was right—and I usually was—Ryan had just returned. And he was probably standing in the doorway now.

Sure enough, a familiar voice, livid with rage, cut through the air behind me.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Alpha Ryan stormed into the hall and rushed straight to Daisy, helping her up.

Amber glowed in his eyes—a sure sign of werewolf fury. He looked at me with a mixture of anger and bitter disappointment.

“I thought after we severed the bond, you might learn to restrain yourself. But you’re still the same—cruel and disgusting. I was planning to transfer this manor into your name, but now? Forget it.”

“Ryan don’t blame Fiona,” Daisy whimpered, leaning delicately into his arms. “I made her angry. She didn’t mean to push me. It’s my fault. Yell at me instead.”

She looked so fragile, so pitiful. Her voice trembled with just the right amount of sorrow.

But the gleam in her eye when she glanced at me? That was a pure, smug victory.

Ryan’s face hardened. He turned to me and spoke in a sharp, commanding Alpha tone:

“Right now. Apologize to Daisy. Immediately.”

He wanted me to obey his word?

To grovel under Alpha tone pressure?

I looked at the pair of them—so tender, so intimate.

And then, I smiled.

Sweetly.

I stepped forward and reached for Daisy, gently pulling her out of Ryan’s embrace.

She blinked, confused, unsure of what I was doing. Caught off guard, she didn’t resist.

Then—

Smack!

“Ahhh!”

A scream pierced the air, far more dramatic than the last. Daisy clutched her swollen cheek as she crumpled back to the ground.

I still wore a smile and was eerily calm, with not the slightest hint of guilt for being the one who threw the first punch.

Looking down at Daisy crumpled on the floor, I spoke gently, almost sweetly,

“Since you claim I bullied you, wouldn’t it be a shame if I didn’t give you a real slap to prove it?”

Tears welled up in her eyes. She sat weakly, sobbing under her breath, a picture of fragile innocence.

Alpha Ryan clearly hadn’t expected me to make a move—at least not right in front of him. He stood frozen for a moment, forgetting even to help Daisy up.

His face darkened as the weight of his Alpha aura swept across the room like a thunderclap. He glared at me, fury twisting his features.

“Fiona, not only did you refuse to apologize—you escalated it? Are you trying to test my limits?”

I waved a hand lightly, still smiling—now radiant with mockery.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Ryan Grant.”

“We were mates once. Take as a part of gift.”

With that, I pulled a thick stack of printed pages from my bag and tossed them straight at his face.

Snow-white sheets fluttered through the air like feathers in a storm.

Ryan caught one reflexively. His eyes scanned the page—a series of text messages, dripping with mockery and contempt. The tone was brazened and entitled. His gaze snagged on the unmarked phone number. He went still. That number—it was one he knew very well.

He flipped the page. On the back: evidence. Cold, clinical. A detailed account of how he’d been drugged the night before.

Every line pointed to the same person—Daisy Miller.

Ryan’s brows knit into a deep scowl. He turned to look at Daisy, his eyes now glacial.

At the same time, Daisy had just read the same damning pages. Her face was drained of all colors.

She had arranged for someone to drug Ryan’s drink. She’d called him herself, luring him to a hotel, desperate to complete the marking.

But fate intervened, his driver had accidentally brought him back to the manor.

Brought him to me.

Enraged by her failure, she’d sent me those vile texts—hoping to shame me.

What she didn’t expect… was that I’m not some delicate, helpless Omega.

I have ways. I have power.

And I will never forget what they have done to me.

Before she could utter a word in her defense, I’d already rolled my suitcase to the door.

I paused—just once—to look back at the man I had once loved with everything I had.

“Alpha Ryan,” I said, voice clear and cutting,

“When this bond was broken, the one who was left behind… wasn’t me. It was you.

It’s not that you rejected me. I don’t want you anymore.

You—and your precious Brown Moon Pack—were never worthy of me.”

The High Priestess was right.

Everything the Moon Goddess gives comes with a price.