Chapter 2

Then the Hale family rebelled in the southern borderlands, and the fireline spread all the way to Lornell Vale—where my home stood.

It should’ve had nothing to do with Vale.

But years ago, Kael had made an enemy of the southern leader, Ethan Crane.

Crane seized the chance, fabricated a charge, detained my entire clan, and claimed we were colluding with the enemy.

He only released one person to return and deliver the message—

My younger brother’s widow, Tessa Hale.

She knelt in front of Kael and me, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

“They said… if Kael is willing to give up the territory they want, they’ll release everyone.”

“Otherwise… they’ll kill them all.”

I wore plain mourning clothes as I knelt at Kael’s feet, my forehead pressed to the freezing marble.

“Please,” I said. “That’s my family. My people.”

Kael was silent for a long time.

Then he turned his back to me, his voice cold as metal.

“Territory is what I bought with blood. I won’t trade it for people.”

I begged until my throat went raw.

He avoided me. He refused to see me.

Ten days later, the Vale family was executed in public.

Blood spread across the snow like a dark red river.

I lost my home.

And I remembered Tessa.

She had already lost her husband—and now she’d been dragged into this game…

She was innocent too.

I searched everywhere for her, thinking I should at least place her somewhere safe.

Instead, I found her in Kael’s bed.

Tessa’s arms were looped around his neck, her fingers hooked into his necklace. She was panting, whispering “Alpha” into his ear.

They were so lost in it that they didn’t look up until I smashed a porcelain cup against the wall—shards exploding outward.

Kael grabbed the blanket and wrapped Tessa up tightly, then spoke with infuriating righteousness.

“This has nothing to do with Tessa.”

“I lost control.”

“And this is… the first time I’ve truly fallen in love.”

So that was it.

I spent ten years at his side—shielding him from storms, washing blood off his hands—

And he’d never once “truly” fallen in love.

Tessa curled in his arms, crying so softly she seemed like she might melt.

“Arwen… Ryan is dead, but I still have to live.”

“Do you want me to guard a grave for the rest of my life?”

The way she “lived” was by crawling into my husband’s bed.

I shook with rage. My vision went dark. A twisting pain tore through my lower abdomen.

Then I blacked out.

That was the day I learned I was pregnant.

The pup inside me… was Kael’s first child.

He was ecstatic.

Expensive herbs were delivered to my room like money didn’t exist.

Doctors came three times a day. The windows were sealed tight, as if one thread of cold wind could harm me.

For a while, he even treated me gently—like he truly wanted to mend the he’d made.

He wanted to take Tessa as a “second mate.”

I refused with everything in me.

Kael had no choice but to back down. He sent Tessa out of the Compound, claiming she would “recover” near the border.

But Tessa wasn’t satisfied.

In a fit of spite, she ran away—vanishing into the snowy night.

When I was six months pregnant, news came from the border:

Tessa had been captured by Ethan Crane.

Crane delivered his threat:

If Kael didn’t cede three territories, he would kill her.

The man who once said, “Not an inch of land,” sat in front of a map for an entire night.

The next day, against everyone’s furious opposition, he gave the order.

Cede three territories.

I stood in the doorway, my fingertips numb with cold.

So he *could* trade land for someone.

It was just that I wasn’t worthy of that trade.

But Crane was a madman.

When he discovered that Tessa was also carrying Kael’s pup, he laughed and tossed out a choice like a game.

“You can only save one child.”

“Either you cut Tessa open and take the pup—she won’t survive.”

“Or you send me the Luna’s child—so Tessa and her pup walk away alive.”

I clutched my belly. Terror flooded my bones like ice water.

Even the noble ladies who were close to me tried to reassure me.

“You’ve been married for years. You helped him rise. He won’t abandon you for someone else.”

They were all wrong.

Kael stood beside my bed, calm as if he was negotiating a contract.

“Arwen, Crane is too ruthless.”

“If we cut the pup out, Tessa will definitely die.”

He paused, like he was forcing my head down into a nod.

“You’ve always been soft-hearted. You won’t watch her die. Right?”

I stared at him. My throat felt like it was being strangled.

“Then what about my child?”