Chapter 1
Clara’s POV
“If Mom drinks this, will she finally stop bothering us?”
Philbert, my son, let out a rare smile. His voice was soft, but it hit me like a silver blade dipped in poison, cutting straight through my eardrums.
My mate, Edmond, was the most powerful Alpha of the Silver Crescent Pack—and a ruler obsessed with the dark side of alchemy.
He had been secretly funding rogue witches to develop illegal substances. Rumor had it they’d finally perfected a serum called Severance, a banned drug that was selling for insane prices on the black market.
Hiding in the shadows, I listened to their whisper, my blood turning to ice.
They were planning to use that illegal trash on me.
Once the drug kicked in, it would sever my emotional connection to them. It was designed to numb my wolf instincts and paralyze my ability to feel. With me out of the way emotionally, they could bring back Edmond’s childhood crush without feeling a shred of guilt—a she-wolf who had been exiled years ago and had just recently crawled back.
After breakfast, when Philbert placed a glass of dark red liquid in front of me, I knew they had decided to pull the trigger.
I didn’t take the glass. I just stared at my son. His amber eyes flickered with nerves and a twisted kind of anticipation.
Inside me, my wolf was clawing at my ribs, screaming, “Let me out! I’ll rip these cold-blooded bastards to pieces!”
I used every ounce of strength I had to fight the urge to shift.
Fifteen years had passed since Philbert first shifted under the full moon, but I had never felt like such a stranger to him.
There was no doubt that the glass held Severance.
They said just one drop could paralyze the mating bond and the emotional ties between blood relatives. It wouldn’t make you lose your memory—you’d still know who your family was—but when you looked at them, you’d feel nothing. Just a dead, hollow void.
I used to love Edmond and our pup with my entire life.
The pack’s High Priest once told me my emotions burned hotter than a normal wolf’s—that it was a blessing from the Moon Goddess, but also a curse. He said I’d eventually burn myself out with my own love.
I had laughed at him back then. Now, it looked like he was right.
Eighteen years ago, Edmond was nothing but the ignored bastard of his dad, hated by his own family.
I was the one who begged my father—the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack—to form an alliance with his family. The condition was a political mating between me and Edmond.
I knew he didn’t love me, but I truly loved him. I spent years helping him climb his way to the center of power until he finally took the Alpha throne.
Along the way, we had Philbert, who had grown into the sharp young warrior standing before me.
They were my everything. They were where my wolf belonged.
Then, when Philbert was eight, Rita showed up.
She arrived in a pure white dress, looking like some untouchable Moon Goddess.
She didn’t declare war on me; she just stood there, acting fragile, and greeted my mate, “Hey Edmond, you look even hotter than before.”
And just like that, he folded.
In the northern plains, Edmond was a beast who made every surrounding tribe shake with fear—a predator who had conquered three packs in six months. But in front of this she-wolf, he tucked away his claws.
He had told me privately that he hated Rita because she had refused to mate with him when he was at his lowest, choosing instead to leave the pack.
I was the one who had saved him when he tried to jump off a cliff. I was the one who kept his frozen body warm and walked him out of the abyss.
But now, not only Edmond, but even my Philbert was under her spell.
Philbert had always been a cold kid—smart, calculated, just like his father.
But when Rita rubbed his wolf ears, he actually blushed. She had stolen their hearts without even trying.
They became a tight-knit family, and I became the “obstacle” in the way of Edmond’s fated mate.
I tried to fix it. I screamed like a maniac, using my Luna aura to fight back.
They just looked at me with disgust. “Stop acting like a feral rogue, Clara, or I’ll have the Council strip your title.”
Rita didn’t fight back against my “attacks.” Instead, she left a letter soaked in her pheromones for Edmond, saying she wanted to “return everything she took from me.”
Then she vanished into the woods.
Her leaving didn’t fix anything; it only pushed Edmond and Philbert further away.
Edmond gripped that letter until his eyes turned bloodshot, pointing a finger in my face and cursing me for driving her away.
Philbert was even worse—he threw his training gear at me and swore he’d never call me his mother again.
After that, the packhouse went cold.
Edmond moved into his office and didn’t set foot in my bedroom for seven years. He never marked me again.
Philbert gave me the cold shoulder for seven years, never even acknowledging me in public.
And now, here he was, personally bringing me a drink he’d mixed himself, waiting for me to turn into a mindless, emotionless ghost.
The liquid in the crystal glass swirled like a dark whirlpool. Philbert’s hand shook slightly as he held it. He was still young; he couldn’t hide his bloodlust.
I looked at him, a self-deprecating smile tugging at my lips. “What’s this? A new herbal wine?”
I knew exactly what it was, but a part of me—the part that still loved my son—wasn’t ready to give up hope.
“It’s just... a special cocktail,” Philbert said, his eyes darting around. His long lashes brushed his cheeks as he looked down, unable to meet my gaze.
“It’ll help you sleep. Just drink it, Mom.”
