u/NoConcentrate2335

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Chapter 1

On the third anniversary of our mating bond, my younger sister Alexis suffered a miscarriage because of the slap I gave her, and everyone called me vicious.

"If you did something wrong, you have to accept the punishment."

That was what my mate, Alpha Liam, said as he forced me to sign the severance of our bond.

My own Alpha parents stood beside him, silent and complicit, before they sent me to the Pack Prison. When I was released, it happened to be the day Liam married Alexis.

I didn't storm the ceremony or claw apart the wedding hall the way everyone expected. Instead, I took the first rail out of Millfield, leaving my scent to fade into nothing.

Seven years later, Liam and I crossed paths again in front of a small-town hospital emergency room.

He had brought in his pregnant Luna for treatment after a threatened miscarriage. I was the doctor on duty.

"Scarlett?" He froze when he recognized me. His gaze eyes flickered down to my palm, tracking the silver-edged, deep, ugly scar cut across my skin. "You…"

He swallowed in hesitation, searching for a question he no longer dared to ask the moment he saw the cold indifference in my eyes.

"Family members must wait outside," I said calmly, as if he were any other patient's relative.

When the emergency care was finished, I gave him the postoperative instructions in detail.

Liam nodded as if he understood every word, yet his expression was distracted. In the end, he asked something that had nothing to do with the patient.

"After you got out… why didn't you come home? We were worried about you."

Before I could answer, a small voice broke in behind me. "Mama, are we going? I'm hungry."

Liam stared at the little girl who looked so much like me. His eyes welled up with tears instantly. "She's…"

A nurse called my name at that exact moment. I offered Liam a polite nod, took my daughter's little hand and walked away quickly.

"Mom, who was that man?" Hope asked, glancing back with innocent curiosity.

"A patient's family member," I replied.

"He looked like he was crying. He kept watching us."

"You must have been mistaken."

Hope's nanny had an unexpected emergency today, so I had to bring her with me to the hospital. Thankfully she had just called to say she would be here soon to pick Hope up.

Night fell, and emergencies kept pouring in.

It was nearly midnight by the time I finally dragged my exhausted body back to my office. I didn't expect to find Liam waiting outside the door.

I frowned slightly. "Need something, Alpha Liam?"

The distant, formal address made him falter for a second.

"Alpha Liam, you can relax. Luna Alexis isn't in serious danger. After one night of observation, she should be able to go home in the morning."

My tone was no different from how I spoke to any other patient's spouse.

Maybe it was the words "Luna Alexis." I saw Liam's eyes wet again. Emotion churned beneath the surface, yet after a long struggle, all he managed to say was a strained, quiet "Thank you."

"If there's nothing else, I'll head out. You can speak to the next on-call doctor if you need anything." I inclined my head and walked away.

At the nurse station, Viki grabbed my arm with barely concealed excitement. "Dr. Reynolds, that was him, right? The strongest, wealthiest Alpha in Millfield. The Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack."

I nodded. "Yes."

"I heard he's also the CEO of the Bloodmoon Group. Before he got married, he was the most desired bachelor in the entire region. Handsome, powerful, rich."

"Luna Alexis is incredibly lucky. They're here this time to visit the Moon Temple and pray for the unborn baby's blessing."

Her eyes sparkled with open admiration for Liam and even more obvious envy for Alexis. I gave her an easy smile and said nothing.

Luna Alexis truly was living the dream now. A loving Alpha husband. Adoring Alpha in-laws. A child on the way. She was cherished by everyone around her.

Almost no one knew she had climbed to her position as a mistress. My phone buzzed, pulling me back.

[Sorry. Pack and company problems came up. I'll be late picking you up.]

A faint smile touched my lips as I replied:

[Don't worry. Focus on work. I'll grab a cab home.]

He answered almost immediately.

[Be careful. Text me when you get home.]

I slipped my phone into my pocket and realized snow had begun to fall outside. I waited for a long time, but the rideshare app kept spinning without any drivers responding.

A sharp honk sounded behind me. A black Porsche Cayenne eased to a stop at the curb. I recognized it instantly. The license plate was Alexis's birthday. Mine was one day later.

The passenger window rolled down, revealing Liam's expressionless face. "Get in. I'll drive you."

I glanced at the still-searching rideshare app. After a moment of thought, I opened the back door, sat down and calmly gave him my neighborhood.

I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. The sudden cold snap made the scars on my palm and my abdomen throb and itch. If a car was right here, free and warm, why not use it.

Liam had always had a fierce territorial streak. Back then, he refused to let me place even a tiny ornament inside his car.

Now, the entire interior smelled like Alexis's favorite roses. Pink decorations lined every corner.

When he realized I had chosen the back seat, he gave a small, bitter laugh. "You really are treating me like your chauffeur."

"Just don't want your Luna to misunderstand," I said quietly.

The words "your Luna" landed like a silencing spell. Whatever he'd been about to say died on his tongue.

The car fell into suffocating silence.

Chapter 2

I said nothing more and turned my face toward the window.

The blurred light outside flickered past, and for a moment it pulled me back to the day seven years ago. The darkest day of my entire life.

It had been the third anniversary of my mate bond with Liam. I had flown back overnight from a business trip, desperate to feel his warmth again.

What I never expected was to walk into our marital bedroom and find him and Alexis tangled together in my bed.

They were so lost in each other that neither noticed me standing at the door for a moment. Not until Alexis turned her head by accident.

"Scarlett!" Her eyes went wide, and she shrieked.

I thought Liam would at least show panic or guilt when caught cheating, but he did neither. Instead, he gently pulled the blanket over Alexis, hiding the marks he had left on her body.

"You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow." There was no remorse in his voice. Only blame.

Back then, I had a temper like fire. I couldn't tolerate even a grain of betrayal. In that instant, fury scorched every shred of reason I had left.

I lost control. I screamed, swore, threw anything I could get my hands on. The entire room descended into chaos. Alexis trembled behind Liam like a terrified doll.

"Scarlett, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. Liam and I just couldn't control ourselves."

Her voice shook with manufactured tears. Her eyes glistened like she was some fragile daisy in the wind, innocent and wounded.

A perfect contrast to the woman who had just been rutting with my fated mate, breathless and begging him to go deeper, harder, like an animal in heat.

Liam shielded her carefully, glaring at me with condemnation.

"You scared Alexis. Look at yourself. You are acting insane."

Maybe I was insane. During the pack meeting, I exposed their photos and videos to the entire council, forcing everyone to see the truth behind their pretty masks.

But the moment the footage started playing, my parents rushed forward to stop me.

"Scarlett, are you crazy? Take it down. NOW. If people see this, how is Alexis supposed to show up in the pack again?"

My parents had always treated Alexis like a fragile relic. When she was young, she was abducted by a rogue and lost for years. They did not find her and bring her home until she was eighteen.

To make up for the guilt of losing her, they spoiled her endlessly. They insisted I yield to her in everything.

Her choices mattered more. Her feelings mattered more. Even our birthdays had to be shared because mine fell just one day after hers, yet only her name ever appeared on the cake.

But I never imagined that even in this situation, they would defend her without hesitation.

"You need to sever the mate bond with Liam."

My sister had crawled into my marriage bed with my Alpha mate, yet my parents wanted me to divorce him for her sake.

"Why?" I demanded, choking on anger. If Alexis had committed the betrayal, why was I the one expected to give up my husband? Their favoritism no longer had boundaries.

A crushing weight settled on my chest, so heavy I could barely breathe.

"Alexis is your sister. As the older sibling, you should let her have what she wants." My mother frowned, irritated that I had even questioned her.

I looked at Liam then. The man who once meant everything to me. He stared back with chilly detachment, as if I were a stranger, offering no explanation and no defense.

Alexis leaned into his arms, her voice soft and trembling. "Scarlett, Liam doesn't love you anymore. Although he's my brother-in-law, he and I truly care for each other. Please… please let us be together."

"So you remember he is your brother-in-law? Have you no scent of honor left?"

My anger snapped, and I slapped Alexis hard across the face.

Chapter 3

Alexis staggered sideways and collided with the coffee table.

A strangled cry tore from her throat as she clutched her stomach in pain.

"Alexis!" Liam's expression changed instantly.

"My stomach… it hurts. It hurts so much." Her face drained of color, her voice trembling.

Liam scooped Alexis into his arms and bolted for the pack hospital. As he passed me, he shot me a look so vicious it was as if I had committed some unforgivable sin.

But I knew the truth. Alexis had been the one who threw herself into that table.

That was also the moment I learned she had already been secretly involved with Liam long before I walked in on them.

She had gotten pregnant in the shadows while I was still wearing the mark of his mate. Hours later, after every attempt to save the baby, the baby's heartbeat faded into silence.

"Are you satisfied now?" My father's face was flushed with fury. His hand flew across my cheek before I could react. The slap landed with full force.

My skin burned and my ears rang, but even that pain was nothing compared to the crushing ache in my chest.

Everyone blamed me for Alexis losing her child. They demanded that I apologize. My wolf growled in fury, refusing to submit. And so did I.

My defiance came with consequences. Liam and my parents pressured the pack hospital where I worked, revoking my status as the pack's lead healer, and disqualifying me from the professional evaluation I had spent years preparing for.

Then they cornered me with threats and forced me to sign the bond-breaking deal. The three people closest to me worked together to send me to the pack prison.

"If you do something wrong, you must accept punishment. When you finally understand your mistake, we will take you home."

Home. The word almost made me laugh. I no longer had a home. The moment I discovered Liam and Alexis in my bed, my home had been destroyed.

Inside the prison, I became a target. They fed me spoiled bread and rancid pasta. The water was filthy. Beatings came without warning.

Kicks, fists, anything they felt like using. I lived every day hovering between life and death.

While I suffered, my mate and my parents were overseas on vacation with my sister, helping her "recover emotionally."

A month later, when they returned, they heard I had nearly died.

After eight hours of resuscitation, I was dragged back from the brink. By the time Liam and my parents arrived at the pack hospital, I had already been transferred to a room.

They walked in to find a hollowed-out husk of my former self, my body bruised and barely recognizable. Liam's first words were, "Do you understand your mistake now?"

He continued, his voice cold and detached, as if he were speaking to a stranger.

"Do not forget you still owe Alexis an apology. While you are recovering, think carefully about how you will apologize to her."

"Because of you, her emotions have been unstable. She almost developed depression."

People say the ultimate death isn't the body's, but the bond's. If my heart died the day Liam and my parents sent me to prison, then after hearing his words, it shattered completely.

I no longer wished to argue. There was nothing left to fight for.

"I understand," I said quietly.

I did. I had been blind. Blind enough to fall in love with a man as cold and ruthless as Liam.

Blind enough to keep hoping for my parents' affection despite knowing exactly where their loyalties lay.

Back in the present, Liam kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror. He opened his mouth several times but said nothing.

The car stopped beneath my apartment building. I unbuckled my seatbelt, stepped out, and offered a polite, distant thank-you.

I turned to leave, but Liam finally broke. "Scarlett!"

I paused and looked back at him.

"Why are you living in a place like this?" He scanned the area. The dim lights. The rusted iron gate that groaned with every breath of wind. The crumbling, stained walls.

"You… you have not been doing well, have you?" His voice cracked as he stared at the building. His eyes became teary again. "Do you want me to help you with…"

"No. I am doing just fine. But thank you for the concern."

I meant the words, but confusion knotted inside me.

Why was the man who once abandoned me, who forced me to break our mate bond and sent me into a cage to die, now looking at me with such sincerity?

Why did he suddenly care?

Chapter 4

Liam did not believe me.

He insisted on convincing himself that I was only pretending to be strong.

"Scarlett, you do not have to lie. I saw everything. I know you hold resentment toward me, but even if we broke the mate bond, the pack-blood still runs through us both."

I gave a faint, distant smile. "Alpha Liam must be joking."

From the moment I walked away seven years ago, I no longer had a family.

I would never forget how lonely and hollow I felt while recovering at the pack hospital. After the first day, no one came to visit me again.

I felt the distant echoes of the celebration, that the pack was enthusiastically preparing for Liam and Alexis's wedding.

To keep me from causing trouble, my parents made sure the guards monitored my every move.

Ironically, on the wedding day, I did not go anywhere near the ceremony. Instead, I boarded a train headed far from Millfield.

As the train pulled away, fireworks lit up the entire Millfield sky, celebrating the new Alpha couple. Liam and Alexis. Their joy. Their future.

Millfield and Ashbourne were separated by mountains and miles. I truly believed I would never see these people again. Life had other plans.

"Scarlett, do you hate me that much? We…" He grew emotional, his voice urgent, but before he could finish, I cut him off calmly.

"There is no us. We ended seven years ago."

Did I hate him? Right after the bond-breaking, yes. There had been nothing but hatred.

But seven years had passed. Seven years had cauterized the bleeding edges of my hate. Whatever existed between Liam, me, and the Greenlight Pack, I had long buried.

Liam's voice was rough. "But the child…"

Of course. I knew the moment he saw Hope he would jump to the wrong conclusion.

"Hope has nothing to do with you."

Liam and I had been expecting a child once. I had planned to surprise him with the news on our anniversary. Instead, he surprised me first.

The injuries I suffered in the pack prison left a jagged scar across my palm. The nerve damage nearly ended my career as a surgeon.

But worse was the wound at my abdomen. Deep enough to reach bone. Blood had pooled across the floor that day. My child died before I even understood what was happening.

"That is impossible. You do not have to lie anymore. She looks exactly like me…"

Liam refused to believe otherwise. He clung to the fantasy that Hope was his daughter.

I cut him off coldly. "Believe whatever you want. The truth is the truth. She is not yours. Do not come looking for us again."

"Scarlett… I am sorry. I wronged you." His voice cracked, sorrow bleeding through his expression. Genuine or not, it no longer mattered.

Before he could continue, a gentle voice called from behind me.

"Scarlett, you are home. Why did you not come upstairs?"

It was Sharon. She must have seen me lingering outside and come down to check on me.

She glanced at Liam, who looked moments away from breaking down. Her brows pinched with confusion. "And who might this be?"

"A patient's family member. He happened to be heading this way."

I offered Liam a polite nod. "Thank you for the ride. I have work early tomorrow, so I will take my leave."

I turned and helped Sharon upstairs.

"Why so late again? I told you I am fine. You do not need to come by every night," Sharon scolded gently.

"I do not feel at ease with you living alone. And you still refuse to move in with me." I leaned my head against her shoulder and laughed softly.

This version of me, warm and alive, was something Liam had not seen in years. A shadow passed through his eyes as he watched.

Seven years ago, when I fled the pack and reached this remote little town, it was Sharon who took me in.

She gave me warmth, safety, and the sense of family I thought I had lost forever. She gave me a reason to keep living.

I did not know when Liam left. I did not care. All I noticed was a graveyard of crushed cigarettes scattered where he had parked the night before when I came down the next morning.

At the hospital, fate played its little joke again. Liam was waiting for me. He held a small pharmacy bag, clearly meant for me.

"I saw you rubbing your palm yesterday. I had Beta pick up a salve. It helps with the pain when the weather changes."

I did not take the bag. My voice was flat.

"Thank you for the concern, but I think I made myself clear yesterday. You should be worried about the person behind you."

I lifted my chin toward the figure standing just a few steps away from him

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