Alicia's POV

After I went back to my room, Mandy, my maid, handed me a plan booklet.

"Why are you back alone? What about the Alpha?" Mandy said with a smile as she stretched her shoulders. "I stayed up all night to finish next month's development plan for Shadowfang Pack just for you and Alpha to spend more time together."

Mandy was the daughter of Silverpeak Pack's Gamma. She was also my personal maid, and we grew up together.

When Silverpeak Pack was wiped out, she was gravely injured but lucky enough to survive. I found her and saved her when I went back to the ruins of our pack.

Later, both of us were taken in by Blake, and after I married him, Mandy stayed with me to help grow the Shadowfang Pack.

Mandy had been witness to all my life. She was not just my closest confidante but essentially the only family I have left in this world.

"Blake cheated on me," I said, not taking the plan booklet she was holding out.

In front of someone I trusted completely, the facade I’d been putting up crumbled. In unbearable anguish, I poured out what had happened that morning.

"What a bastard!" Mandy’s expression shifted from initial sorrow to pure rage. She shredded the plan booklet she’d spent all night working on. "He doesn’t deserve you. Trust me! He’ll be cursed by the Moon Goddess for this!"

Then, she pulled me into a firm hug. "Divorce him! Don't suffer this for another minute!"

Her embrace and her words of comfort eased some of the ache in my heart. I pulled back and looked her in the eye.

"I want to rebuild Silverpeak Pack," I told her firmly.

"I'll help you!" Mandy’s eyes sparked with similar determination.

*****

That night, I was alone in bed, wide awake.

Blake brought Lilith to stay in the room next to mine, and they pretty much spent the whole night going at it.

No matter how tightly I tried to cover my ears, I heard Blake’s heavy breaths, Lilith’s moans of pleasure, and the rhythmic sound of their bodies colliding.

Although Blake and I were married, we hadn’t even gotten the chance to have our own wedding night before he left for war. I couldn’t imagine the expressions he gave Lilith when they were tangled up in each other, or the way Lilith took him in.

As I thought about it, I felt like I was spiraling into despair. Bitterness and helplessness rose up in my chest.

After Blake’s betrayal, could I ever open my heart to anyone again? Was there even anyone left in the world I'd feel safe to trust?

I tugged the blanket over my head and covered my ears hard, letting the tears stream down in agony.

Sometime after midnight, Blake and Lilith finally stopped. But by then, falling asleep was impossible for me.

At daybreak, Mandy came, to help me with freshen up and breakfast as usual.

I stared at the table full of my favorite dishes but didn't have any appetite at all.

Just as I motioned for Mandy to take the food away, I heard Lara’s voice outside.

"Luna, can we come in?"

Before I could respond, Lara and a few other wolves entered my room.

They’d never done something this brazen before, and both Mandy and I were furious.

"Luna hasn’t given permission yet. How dare you barge in like this?" Mandy snapped at them.

"It’s the start of the month, but we haven’t received our wages or a work schedule," Lara argued.

I had always been on good terms with Lara, but after she took the lead and persuaded me to accept Lilith the day before, I couldn’t help feeling anger toward her behavior today.

"That's not a valid excuse," I said coldly. "Besides, didn’t you say Lilith was better suited to be your Luna? And that only she could lead you toward a brighter future?"

My words made everyone’s faces stiffen. Lara stammered, unable to utter a single word in response.

All I felt at that moment was irony.

"In that case, go to her for everything from now on. I won't be involved anymore. Get out! Now! Immediately!" I ordered, driving them away.

The group looked surprised, and then their expressions turned bitter and angry.

"I knew it! A wolfless failure like you doesn't deserve to be our Luna! We’re leaving to meet our ‘real’ Luna!" Lara stormed out in a huff, leading the others behind her.

"What jerks!" Mandy growled, clenching her teeth with anger. "Have they forgotten everything you’ve done for Shadowfang Pack in the past year? You developed wasteland, built factories, and made deals with other packs, paying them salaries every month. What a waste of money on them!"

Shadowfang Pack hadn’t been doing well financially to begin with. Plus, Emma’s poor health made it hard for her to manage anything. Therefore, development here had been stagnant for years.

It wasn’t until Blake and I got together and I spent my inheritance boosting the pack’s economy that this unknown pack within Thunderclaw Kingdom got some standing.

"Let it go," I told Mandy calmly. "Anyway, I’m not wasting another dime on this hellhole. As for the money I’ve already spent, I’ll make sure I get every cent back."

"Get every cent back?" Mandy looked at me, puzzled. "How’s that even possible?"

"Let's see," I said, smiling at her. "Go inform all the packs we’ve partnered with in business that I’m terminating our contracts."

"But we'll owe a huge amount in penalties." Mandy gasped.

"Nope," I shook my head. "The contracts were signed with Shadowfang Pack, not us."

*****

Mandy was as efficient as ever. Within half a day, she managed to "offend" every pack that partnered with Shadowfang Pack.

And that wasn’t the only task I had her carry out.

The next day, delegates from those packs gathered at Shadowfang Pack to demand explanations.

Of course, I didn’t meet with them. Instead, I simply had Mandy inform them that Shadowfang’s Luna was now Lilith, and I had no say in managing the pack anymore.

As expected, Lilith had no idea how to handle the situation. After fumbling through a mess with the delegates, she hurried to turn to me for help.

But I had Mandy bolt the door shut, refusing to deal with her face-to-face.

On the third day, even my mother-in-law, Emma, couldn’t ignore the chaos anymore.

"Alicia, see the mess you stirred up! What exactly do you want?" Emma stormed into my room with several pack members.

Mandy and I continued relishing our breakfast, enjoying the show of their anxiety.

"How can you still eat? Do you know how many representatives from other packs are demanding we pay up?" Emma slammed her hand down on the table.

"So what? I'm not your Luna anymore. Lilith is. Can't she handle it?" I asked, completely unbothered.

Emma’s anger faltered for a moment, embarrassment flickering across her face as she said, "Lilith’s never dealt with these matters before."

"Then she should learn," I cut in sarcastically. "She’s got to live up to being your chosen Luna, doesn’t she?"

"Alicia!" Emma yelled again, but she didn’t flare up right away. Instead, she tried to fake some peace, whispering, "I know you’re upset about Blake and Lilith. But they love each other, and their mate bond is a fate set by the Moon Goddess. Even Alpha King has approved it. Why fight the inevitable?"

"We did nothing wrong. You’re angry, but you shouldn’t take it out on the rest of us," Lara added from the corner.

Their words turned my stomach. I sneered and shot down their nonsense one person at a time.

First, I turned to Lara.

"You all never truly accepted me as your Luna, so why should I care about your problems?"

Then, my attention turned to Emma.

"Don’t try to intimidate me with the Alpha King. I never went against his order and stopped Blake and Lilith’s mating. All I want is a divorce from Blake, and that's all."

"You’re just a wolfless orphan from a dead pack. What gives you the right to divorce my son?" Emma finally dropped her polite facade, letting her disdain and anger show fully.

I’d known from the start she disliked me due to my lack of wolf and only tolerated me because her son had insisted on marrying me.

Even though I’d treated her with utmost respect and provided top medical care for her all year, it hadn’t changed her disdain for me one bit.

That was why she'd accepted Lilith so easily. In her eyes, someone wolfless like me was never good enough for her son.

"Because when Blake proposed, he swore that if he ever cheated on me, he would die a miserable death. Asking for a divorce is already merciful."

"Alicia! How dare you! You bitch!" Emma screamed, completely unhinged as she raised her hand, trying to strike my face in a fit of anger.

I quickly stood up and dodged her, glaring her down.

Emma, even more furious now, pointed at me and barked orders to Lara and the others.

"Get her! I'm gonna teach this bitch a good lesson!"