Freya's POV

"Only ten minutes left! The Council's marriage registration office is about to close, Miss Freya! Are you sure Alpha Felix will make it in time?"

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:20 p.m., and I had already been waiting for five hours.

This was the seventh time Felix had promised to register our marriage. I couldn't believe he would cancel on me a seventh time.

Meanwhile, I could hear the pack members whispering.

"This is the seventh time, right? Think they'll finally get married today?"

"Hard to say. If Sylvia isn't feeling well, Alpha Felix might cancel without a second thought."

"Does it matter? Freya is crazy about Alpha Felix. He could reject her a hundred times, and she'd still come running back."

No one in the pack doubted how much I loved Felix.

But during our three years together, he had canceled our bonding ceremony again and again at the last minute. His adopted sister, Sylvia, was always the reason.

The first time, Sylvia cut her finger. The second time, her cat needed to be neutered. The third time, her crystal ball predicted that our wedding date would bring her bad luck.

Then came the fourth, fifth, and sixth times.

The sixth time, she claimed she'd fallen by accident and stabbed me with a knife, just an inch from my heart.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore those ridiculous excuses. I had my reasons for wanting to marry Felix.

The pack elders often said a soul was given seven chances. Felix had saved my life once, and I had promised myself I would trust him seven times.

Today was his last chance.

I ignored the stares and looked down at my phone.

Suddenly, Felix's name appeared on the screen.

"There's an emergency in the pack. I can't make it. The registration is canceled."

I tightened my grip on my phone. Blood Moon Pack was powerful. No rogues would dare cross its borders.

Still, I had to give Felix one last chance.

I looked at the clerk. "Don't wait for me. Something came up. There won't be a marriage registration today."

I jumped into my car. I needed to find out if Sylvia was behind this again.

I crossed the hall and stopped outside his office.

The door stood slightly open.

I was about to knock when I heard Sylvia's voice.

"Why are you still going through with this ceremony? You promised you wouldn't mark her."

My blood turned to ice.

Felix sat on the edge of the sofa. Sylvia was pressed against his chest, and they looked just like fated mates.

It felt as if silver bullets were tearing through my heart, one after another. I gripped the doorknob so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

"Sylvia, I've told you. You're the Luna I really want." Felix gently pulled her away, his voice soft. "You're smart, kind, and strong. I only agreed to mark Freya because my brother, the Alpha King, has no Luna. The Council is getting restless. If I keep pretending to be a loyal mate, they'll support me as the next king."

"Oh my God. So Freya is just your ticket to the throne? You're going to throw her away like trash?"

“Of course. An Omega abandoned by her own pack doesn't deserve to be my Luna. Until then, if she's happy to be the pack's slave, why should I stop her?”

My heart felt like it had been hit by ten thousand silver bullets at once.

I'd stayed up past midnight countless times to write business plans for him.

To help him earn his Alpha title, I'd even worked on his project proposal while running a high fever for three days straight.

And that wasn't all. For three years, I'd cooked three meals for him every single day.

Three thousand two hundred and eighty-five meals!

Yet he thought I'd done all of that simply because I wanted to be his slave!

I clenched my teeth and shoved the door open.

I told myself I wouldn't back down. Not this seventh time.

The door slammed against the wall.

They both turned toward me.

“Freya?” Felix jumped away from Sylvia at the sound, his voice turning sharp. “You should have called first. And I told you, there was an emergency today.”

“An emergency? You mean pinning your adopted sister to the sofa and kissing her?” A cold laugh escaped my throat. “I’m sure the whole Blood Moon Pack would love to hear this story.”

“Watch your tongue, Freya.” Felix’s expression darkened.

I forced down the pain tearing through my chest and answered calmly, “Save it, Felix. We are done.”

“No! Freya, I'm so sorry!” Sylvia jumped up from the sofa, instantly putting on a helpless look. “I didn't mean to interrupt your ceremony. I just suddenly felt sick in my chest—”

I looked at her. “So when you feel sick, your solution is to shove your tongue into someone else's fiancé's mouth?”

Her face draining of colour, she stumbled back a step the next instant and crumpled to the ground.

I froze for a heartbeat — I had never laid a hand on her, not once.

Felix was already rushing over to catch her, then spun around and shoved me hard. My back crashed into the wall with a heavy thud, and pain exploded inside my skull.

“Are you insane?” Felix glared at me. “Sylvia is fragile! How dare you strike her!”

I fought through the pain. “Felix, I didn’t lay a single fucking finger on her. Call off the wedding.”

“Enough.” His tone turned impatient.

He settled Sylvia back onto the sofa, then turned to me. For the first time, there was no false tenderness in his eyes.

“You are overreacting. You are nothing, Freya.”

He stared at me coldly. “You should be grateful I would make you my luna. So hold your tongue, and swallow all this pain, all this betrayal, as sweetly as if it were cheese.”

I stared at him in disbelief. The walls seemed to close in, and I could barely breathe. “What if I refuse?”

He laughed, full of contempt. “You won’t. Your uncle’s pack will not take you, and your grandfather is no longer alpha. He has no power to protect you. Trust me, Freya. Say nothing, do nothing, and wait quietly for the next time I summon you for registration.”

Crack—

I did not hesitate this time. My palm cracked across his cheek, the sound echoing through the study.

“This is the last time.” I straightened and lifted my chin. “We are finished. From this second onward, you have no right to claim me as your mate.”

As the words left my mouth, I was grateful for the first time in my life that I did not have a wolf. We were not fated mates, and no mark bound us, so my body did not suffer the soul-rending break the old tales described. Still, a heavy blow crashed straight into my heart.

Dizziness washed over me. I had to get away.

“Freya!” Felix roared. “If you walk out that door, the registration is canceled for good!”

I did not stop.

Sylvia’s voice came from behind me. “Pay no mind to her words. She has nowhere to go. A weak thing with no wolf like her has no one to turn to except clinging to an alpha like you.”

I tightened my hand around the door handle and swallowed the metallic taste in my mouth. Even if I were torn apart by rogues, I would never return to Felix, not for the rest of my life.

I walked all the way out of the Alpha Manor. Only when the cold wind hit me did I realize my entire body was shaking. My fingers grew numb with frost, while my heart hammered wildly inside my chest, each thump a reminder that everything that had just happened was real.

I kept walking mechanically, unsure how much time passed, before my phone lit up. The screen still showed the page for that one-of-a-kind wedding dress, the one I had imagined wearing to marry Felix.

I stared at it for a few seconds, closed the tab, pulled up Felix’s contact, blocked him, and deleted every trace of him without exception.

The phone rang then.

A name flashed on the screen: Howard. My grandfather.

I stared at it for a long moment before answering.

“My dearest Freya!” Grandfather’s voice bubbled with excitement. “I just tried on my suit. I will be the handsomest old man at the wedding! I sent you photos.”

My nose stung, and my throat closed up as if a stone were lodged there. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make myself say it—the wedding was off.

“Great,” I whispered. “I’ll help you pick.”

“Perfect!” Grandfather laughed happily. “My little pumpkin has finally found her happiness. Your parents will be overjoyed.”

The call ended.

I stood on the street, watched the traffic across the street. The world didn't stop just because I'd been betrayed, and Felix wasn't going to get struck by lightning either.

Invitations had been sent, the venue booked, flowers, the band, guests… even Grandfather’s tie still waited to be chosen.

Everything was prepared except for one thing. The groom.

So what else could I do?

If I told Grandpa that Felix had canceled our marriage registration again, could his health take another blow?

And my uncle? He would drag me right back to Felix just to stay on his good side.

I suddenly remembered something a man had said to me a year ago, when Felix abandoned me in front of everyone at a banquet.

"If you ever need a shoulder to lean on, I'll be there in a heartbeat."

The Alpha King.

The very man Felix wanted to overthrow.

My phone vibrated again.

An unknown number.

I hesitated, then answered.

“Miss Freya.” A deep, commanding voice came through the line. “This is Adrian. I know everything that unfolded today at Blood Moon Manor.”

My breath caught sharply.

“I need a luna.” He said.