The wind sliced against Rayna’s face like icy blades as she emerged into the night, the apartment door crashing shut behind her with a finality that resonated through her bones. The intense aroma of pine no longer brought her solace. Her lungs ached, not from the chill, but from the tempest raging within her heart.

She strode aimlessly, feet thudding against the pavement, boots resonating on deserted roads. Her sight became hazy…not from tears, but from anger. In sorrow.

With a type of heartache that ripped at the spirit.

She had sacrificed everything. What’s next? She possessed nothing.

When she arrived at the brink of Ironfang Ridge, she halted her steps. Her legs would not move any farther. She slumped onto a bench by the dimly lit park, hiding her face in her hands.

The picture flashed in her mind…Luca, breathing heavily, groaning, entwined with someone else's embrace. Not showing any signs of guilt. Not even attempting to clarify. As she gave him the pouch of coins, his face showed no sign of regret. Just annoyance.

He discarded her as if she were worthless.

A sob escaped her lips before she could prevent it.

“Don’t weep,” she murmured to herself. “Don’t weep for him.”

However, it was already too late. The tears flowed quickly and warmly, tracing paths down her face. The wolf inside her snarled under her skin…hurt, shamed. Enraged. They had formed a connection with him. He was meant to be the one. And at this moment...

"He's unworthy," growled her wolf.

The well-known sting of nausea surged in her throat. The wave of magic from the earlier insemination still resonated within her essence…a gentle thrum of existence, hardly a murmur. Yet it was present.

An offspring.

Not belonging to Luca. A stranger.

She wasn’t aware of his name at all. Yet, that child within her was the sole connection she had to this world at the moment. Footsteps neared from behind. She rose abruptly, clearing her face, the tension in her back becoming stiff.

“Rayna,” Luca called out.

She did not look back.

“Return indoors.” He disregarded her.

"Why did you go ahead with it?" She tightened her jaw.

"Ahead with what?” "That... stunt," he uttered, as if it were something lewd.

"Selling yourself in that manner." Becoming pregnant through insemination. "It’s strange, Rayna."

“I did it for you,” she remarked without facing him. "I did it because you mentioned that with that amount of money, you could attend Silvermist."

" ...that we might finally experience a genuine life together."

Luca sneered. “And you believed that bearing another wolf's offspring was the solution?”

She turned around, her eyes afire. "Absolutely!" I believed that giving up my body, my dignity, everything was worthwhile if it ensured you would achieve your dreams. If it signified that we had a future".

He stared at her…without regret in his golden eyes, just indifference. "You should have consulted me beforehand."

"I wasn't aware I needed to get approval to secure your future." His lip twisted. "You're different now, Rayna." “Oh, I’m curious why,” she retorted. “Perhaps it’s due to the guy I confided my heart in, screwing another girl while I was making the greatest sacrifice of my life…for him!”

He folded his arms. "Do you believe that your sacrifice elevates you above me?"

"I believe it fosters my loyalty." A heavy silence lingered between them, filled with tension and resentment.

Then Luca moved a bit nearer, and she sensed the spark of the connection…the one that had always existed between them. Destined. Chosen by the Moon Goddess. It pulled at her heart, fragile and timeless.

Yet rather than drawing her nearer… he lifted his chin. “I, Luca of Blackthorn, reject you as my mate.”

Rayna's heartbeat ceased. For a moment, she believed she had misunderstood. The breeze became calm. Her breath caught.

"What?" she murmured. His voice remained steady. "I reject you, Rayna." As my mate. This… connection between us? "It's over."

The temperature of the air dropped. Rayna sensed her wolf pull back in astonishment. Agony…piercing, intense, instinctive…sliced through her breast. She staggered backward as though hit. “You can’t be serious,” she replied, her voice shaking.

"You simply cannot…"

"I can," he interrupted her. "And I have."

“No,” she murmured, tears pricking at her eyes once more.

“You can’t just reject the bond as if it’s insignificant.” "You can't discard me simply because you're too scared to face what I did for you."

His demeanor became grim.

"You have made your decisions." “Now I’m making mine.”

She looked at him, her throat tightening. A piece of her wanted to plead. Yet the more powerful aspect…the wolf inside her, the flame inherited from the vampire lineage no one was aware she possessed…surged in rebellion. “Alright then,” she replied, her voice soft, trembling with rage.

“I, Rayna of no pack, accept your rejection.”

The bond broke. The separation was immediate and vicious. As if a string within her ribcage had been pulled from the marrow. Her breath hitched. A chill ran down her back. Then… quiet. The bond that had once resonated softly between their souls had vanished. Deleted. As if they had never been bound in any way.

Luca stepped backward. “Farewell, Rayna.”

She remained silent. She faced away from him and strode into the darkness. Her hands shook, yet she didn't weep again.

Because now?

Now, she was all alone.

However, not empty.

Within her, a new existence awakened. A secret existence. A heritage arising from two ancestries that no one wished to recognize.

She was uncertain about what tomorrow would hold.

Yet she would fight for it.

Even if she needed to accomplish everything by herself.