No Longer Your Luna, I Shine Brighter

Elara’s POV

Today was the third anniversary since I became Luna of the Blackwood Pack and sealing my bond with Alpha Caleb through the mate bite.

It was also the day he finally agreed after I followed him for five long years.

Night had already come.

Alpha's home was empty, and only I was there.

Caleb had not returned for a full month.

He had pushed me away with a cold excuse, “patrolling the territory.”

But everyone knew the real reason: his Destiny mate, Seraphina, who had been gone for six years, had returned.

And she did not come alone; she brought a five-year-old child who people said carried Caleb’s bloodline.

I looked down at all the things I had carefully set up.

On the table was a flower crown I had made by hand, along with Caleb’s favorite mead.

Beside the dining table, I had placed a thin envelope that held my newest health report, showing I had the perfect body to carry his heir.

It was meant to be a surprise for him.

But the truth hit me hard.

I knew I probably looked foolish, yet I still held on to a small, sad hope.

Maybe the three years I had stayed by his side would matter more than that unclear decree from the Moon Goddess?

The clock struck midnight. Caleb did not appear.

Then my phone suddenly lit up and shook again and again.

It was a video call from Liana.

Liana was Caleb’s sister and the only one in this pack who truly cared about me.

My heart tightened as I slid my finger to answer.

“Elara!” Liana’s voice sounded panicked from the other side. “Don’t speak. Just watch!”

She quickly turned the camera.

The shaking video was shown on the small screen.

It was the pack’s sacred place, the Moonwhisper Falls.

It was clearly filmed from far away, hiding somewhere.

Alpha Caleb, who should have been “patrolling,” stood in front of the waterfall.

His tall body gently held a small woman, Seraphina. A blond little boy sat on his shoulders, happily pointing up at the sky.

Many fireflies and stars moved around the three of them.

My eyes stopped on Caleb’s hand.

That same hand wearing our mate ring was now holding Seraphina’s thin waist closely.

At the end of the video, Liana seemed to take a photo to show me, a post from Caleb’s private page, with a sentence written in old wolf language:

“Moonlight deer hunted by my own hands, for my beloved ones.”

Moonlight deer.

An old Alpha-only hunting ritual, a husband’s final sign of love for his mate.

I had never received that in three years.

The call ended.

The phone slipped from my shaking hands.

It turned out it was not that I was not good enough. I simply was not ‘the one’.

My body shook. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to call his name through the simplest Mate bond between us.

“Caleb.”

My mind hit a hard wall and bounced back.

A mental barrier.

He blocked me.

While he spent time happily with his Destiny mate and their child, he shut out his bonded wife.

I would not accept it. I gathered all the mental power I had and struck the barrier again, stronger this time!

My mind hit the wall and bounced back.

A bang was heard.

The third time, my mental power almost broke apart. A sudden pain burst inside my head, and my sight turned dark.

Right when I was about to lose consciousness, a cold and impatient thought finally pushed past the barrier and struck my mind.

“Busy.”

Only one word.

Busy.

I laughed. Then, without warning, tears began running down my face.

Helplessness and anger, two terrible forces, covered me completely in a moment.

I could not stay strong anymore. I curled up on the carpet, my heart hurting from the weak crack in our Mate bond.

It was not the deep pain of a true Bond breaking, only the chaos that happens when a contract is ignored and the most basic energy link becomes unstable.

But even that was enough to make me want to die.

“Elara!”

The door slammed open. Liana rushed inside, her eyes turning red the moment she saw my pale face and the blood spreading near my feet.

“That jerk! How dare he! I am taking you to face him!” Liana growled, very angry.

“No, Liana.”

I held her hand, calm in a way that did not make sense.

“Don’t go.”

“Why?!” Liana could not understand it. “After everything he has done to you!”

My eyes slowly moved toward the Blackwood Pack hospital.

“My mother… she is still waiting for Moonroot Essence to keep her alive.”

That rare herb belonged only to the Blackwood Pack, and it was one reason Caleb agreed to marry into the weak Silvermoon Pack.

My mother was badly injured while protecting our pack. Without that medicine, she would not have lived even half a month.

Caleb held my weakest point in his hands.

Liana’s anger slowly faded and changed into deep helplessness.

She knelt down and gently pulled me into her arms.

I rested against her shoulder, feeling empty, as memories from the last three years came back.

I once believed that if I gave him my whole heart, if I loved him with patience and kindness, one day I could warm his cold heart.

I believed this was something I could win if I tried hard enough.

Now I understood, it had only been a lonely act where I fooled myself.

I was not some kind of hero. I was only a tool, a useful one, yes, used to protect the Alpha’s pride and keep the pack stable while his destiny mate was away.

But now that the real one returned, the time for this tool had ended.

“It’s over,” I said quietly.

Liana blinked, surprised. “Elara, what do you mean?”

I slowly shook my head and gently stood up from her arms.

“I mean this, everything must end.”

Elara’s POV

Late at night, the door to the Alpha’s place slowly opened.

Caleb returned.

He brought the cold night air with him and the smell of another woman.

He looked tired. He casually opened the buttons of his collar, and when he noticed me standing beside the window, there was not even a little guilt in his eyes.

Just like every night during the last three years, he walked toward me without thinking, lifting his arms to hold me from behind.

That action was only a mark of ownership, an Alpha showing what belonged to him. It had nothing to do with love.

Right when his warm chest was about to touch my back, my thoughts went wild, showing pictures of waterfalls, glowing fireflies, and his hand resting on Seraphina’s waist.

A strong feeling of sickness rushed from my stomach to my throat.

I pushed Caleb away with force and stumbled toward the side of the bed, holding onto it while I bent over and tried to throw up.

Nothing came out.

Caleb stopped where he stood, his handsome face showing surprise for the first time.

I had never pushed him away before.

For three years, I had been like a gentle cat, quiet, obedient, always looking up at him, accepting everything he asked without question.

“What is wrong with you?” His voice sounded cold and annoyed.

I did not reply. I only held the side of the bed, tears burning in my eyes from the dry retching that made my sight unclear.

Caleb’s patience slowly ran out.

Then his phone vibrated inside his pocket. He looked at it, a small sign of annoyance crossing his face before his expression turned calm again.

He quickly sent a reply, then faced me again with a cold and careless voice.

“Get some sleep.”

He did not ask another question. He did not even look like he cared that something felt wrong with me.

After that, he turned around and walked into the study, closing the door behind him and completely shutting me out.

At three in the morning, the study door slowly opened a little.

I lay on the bed, completely awake.

I clearly heard Caleb’s phone light up again. He spoke a few quiet words, then left the Alpha’s place without any pause.

His steps slowly disappeared into the dark night.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

I did not even need to think about who had called him.

That was the power of a Destiny mate, one message, and he left everything behind.

A heavy wave of tiredness washed over me, but I forced myself to sit up.

I needed to go to the hospital to see my mom.

In front of her, I hid all my tiredness and weakness, forcing a smile on my face.

“Mom, I came to see you.”

The former priestess of the Silvermoon Pack lay weak in a hospital bed, her eyes full of hurt as she looked at her daughter’s pale face.

“Elara, you look thinner. Caleb… is he treating you badly?”

“No, he treats me well.” I gave a gentle smile while pulling the blanket neatly around my mother. “The pack has many things happening lately. He has been working hard.”

I did not want to make her worry.

After comforting my mother, I walked to the payment desk to renew her Moonroot Essence for the next month.

That was when I noticed someone at the far end of the hallway who should not have been there.

Caleb.

He should have been guiding an important elders’ meeting this morning.

But he stood there, holding a bill in his hand.

My sight was clear—I saw the words immediately: Life Support Potion.

That medicine costs one hundred times more than Moonroot Essence, a top-level witch potion used only in very serious cases when the wolf spirit is heavily hurt.

My heart tightened.

I already understood who that potion was meant for.

Holding back the pain, I quietly moved into a corner and waited.

After Caleb finished paying, he turned around and noticed me.

A brief look of surprise crossed his face before he walked toward me.

“What are you doing here?”

Right when he finished speaking, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Caleb quickly turned his body away.

A voice, gentle and calming in a way I had never heard during the past three years, clearly reached my mind.

“Shh, it’s fine. Don’t worry.”

That voice, the one I once wished to hear from him, was meant for another woman.

At that moment, my whole world completely broke apart.

I did not have the courage to look at him again. I turned around and quietly went into the empty prayer room nearby, leaned my back against the wall, and finally broke down, crying without making a sound.

I did not know how long I stayed there. When I finally fixed my makeup and calmed myself, I returned to my mother’s room.

Caleb was already there.

He stood beside her bed, wearing a face that showed deep regret, making a serious promise.

“Please don’t worry. I already reached out to the highest priestess from the Temple of Life. She will arrive soon to treat you.”

My mother’s eyes became wet with grateful tears as she kept thanking this kind and powerful Alpha son-in-law.

I stood by the doorway, watching with cold eyes.

Suddenly, I remembered what happened three years earlier.

The Silvermoon Pack had been close to collapse, with no place left to ask for help. Then the strong Blackwood Pack stepped in to support us.

But the price was me, marrying Caleb.

At that time, I was still innocent enough to believe it was a blessing from the Moon Goddess, a fate given from the sky.

Later, I understood that Caleb only needed a noble-born and obedient Luna to strengthen his control and display his so-called kindness.

It was only a carefully prepared political performance.

I was the one who believed in it the most, and the biggest fool in that whole terrible performance.

Caleb must have noticed my stare because he finished calming my mother and then turned and walked toward me.

He finally saw how pale my face looked and reached out his hand to hold mine.

“Why do you look so bad? Didn’t you sleep well?”

His voice sounded like simple concern, as if it were natural.

But this time, I did not follow along.

I quietly pulled my hand away, avoiding his touch.

That was the second time I refused him.

Caleb’s hand stopped in the air, surprise appearing in his eyes.

I raised my chin, looked straight at him, and said in a cold voice, “You have your responsibilities. I’m going outside for a walk.”

Without looking at him again, I turned around and walked away.

My steps did not pause.

But I was not going outside for a walk.

I went directly to the center of the city, to an office that dealt with ancient contracts.

I went there to end my Mate contract.

Elara’s POV

My cold attitude and distance were too obvious for him to overlook.

To “make it up” to me and bring everything back to normal, Caleb emptied his plans the following evening and took me to the most expensive restaurant in the capital.

The restaurant floated in the air, and above us, a large glass dome showed the stars spreading wide like a shining sea.

Caleb behaved like a perfect gentleman, pulling my chair out and asking for every dish I used to like before.

He acted perfectly, as if yesterday’s argument and strange tension had only been a bad dream.

I quietly watched him.

I understood very well that behind this gentle and thoughtful behavior was a heart cold and hard like metal.

He was not saying sorry. He was calming down a possession that had started behaving badly.

“Here.”

Caleb took a velvet box from his pocket and pushed it across the table toward me.

Inside lay a beautiful moonstone bracelet. In the center was a rare “Star Tear,” shining with a soft glow under the lights.

Any werewolf woman would go crazy for it.

I only looked at it calmly, feeling nothing at all.

“Nice,” I said in a flat voice.

Caleb did not like how indifferent I sounded. He picked up the bracelet and tried to place it on my wrist himself.

“Let me.”

Right when his warm fingers were close to touching my wrist, I quickly pulled my hand back.

His hand stopped in place.

He lifted his eyes, holding my wrist tightly, his dark eyes carefully studying me.

“You don’t like it?”

He had already realized my strange behavior was not accidental.

“No.” I stopped resisting and let him close the cold bracelet around my wrist.

I said “Thank you” in a polite tone that sounded almost like I was speaking to a stranger.

That polite “thank you” made Caleb far more upset than any loud argument ever could.

His brows pulled together, and the feeling that everything was under his control broke for the first time.

I looked at the expensive dishes on the table in front of me, then suddenly raised my head and met Caleb’s eyes.

“If I asked you to cook honey-glazed roasted venison for me yourself, would you learn to make it for me?”

I was asking a question, but I was also taking a final test.

Testing that tiny chance for love that was almost impossible.

Caleb cut his steak neatly with calm movements. He did not even stop when he heard my question.

“Leave that to professionals. If you want to eat something, just buy it.”

He would personally hunt rare moonlight deer for Seraphina and her son.

But he would not even try to learn how to cook a dish that I wanted.

The answer could not have been clearer.

I lifted my fork and ate a small piece of the food on my plate.

The instant it touched my tongue, the rich flavor spread everywhere, truly delicious. But after I swallowed it, only a bitter taste remained, burning inside my chest.

That was the difference between love and no love. It was that simple, and it hurt terribly.

I could not take another bite.

At that moment, Caleb’s phone vibrated again in his pocket.

He looked at it, clearly annoyed, and simply ended the call.

But less than three seconds later, the phone stubbornly lit up once more.

I watched his face closely, first annoyance, then concern, then tight tension slowly showing.

In the end, Caleb gave up.

He rose from his seat, fixed his collar, and spoke to me in a voice that allowed no refusal, “The driver will bring you home. Don’t wait for me.”

The same old situation.

Every time Seraphina needed him, he would drop everything without hesitation, even me.

But this time, I did not remain seated quietly like before, watching him leave.

I stood up as well and picked up my bag.

“Go ahead. I’ll return home by myself.”

I turned around and walked away, not giving him even one look.

Maybe my mind was somewhere else, because I did not watch where I stepped and crashed straight into a server carrying dishes.

My bag fell to the ground, and everything inside scattered everywhere.

Lipstick, keys, and an old scroll made from ancient parchment.

The termination agreement.

“What is that?” Caleb’s eyes quickly became alert. He bent down and reached toward the clear parchment scroll.

My heart jumped hard.

Without thinking, I grabbed the scroll back before he could touch it.

“That is mine!” I said angrily.

Caleb stood up straight, looking down at me like he ruled everything.

He stretched out his hand, his voice cold and hard.

“Let me see it.”

“No!”

While we struggled, Caleb’s phone rang for the third time, this time sounding more urgent than before.

He looked at the caller's name, and his face immediately turned hard and cold.

He needed to leave.

Caleb looked at me deeply, doubt burning in his eyes, but at last he let it go.

“We’ll talk later.”

After saying that, he threw those words behind him and walked out of the restaurant.

Elara’s POV

I watched him rush away without even a little pause or regret.

I did not return home.

The driver waited downstairs, but I only waved my hand and let him leave by himself.

I walked without direction along the streets of the capital city.

But my feet would not follow my mind; they slowly pulled me toward that familiar and bright place.

The Blackwood Pack hospital.

I kept telling myself that I was only worried about my mom.

But then I saw them, two figures standing under an old tree right outside the hospital entrance.

Caleb.

And Seraphina.

Seraphina wore a thin white dress.

She leaned against Caleb’s chest, crying as if her heart was breaking apart.

Caleb removed his coat and placed it over her shoulders, holding her carefully in his arms.

His touch looked gentle and careful.

I stayed hidden in the dark, far away, but because my wolf hearing was strong, I heard every word they said.

“Caleb, am I giving you trouble? Elara… she must be very angry, right?” Seraphina’s voice shook with tears, soft and harmless.

“Don’t worry about her,” Caleb said, his voice softer than I had ever heard before. “She is only spoiled by me, making a little tantrum?

Spoiled?

A little tantrum?

So all these years, when I stayed quiet, hiding my pain and swallowing my pride, he only treated it as something normal.

If I even tried to resist a little, then I was only acting immature.

“But this is not fair to her. She is your Luna, after all,” Seraphina spoke again, every word sounding like she cared about me.

“She is only a Luna.” Caleb’s voice became cold, showing clear impatience.

“Listen closely, Seraphina.”

“You are the Destiny mate the Moon Goddess gave to me. You are the only person I truly love.”

“I am sorry you went through so much pain before. That is my fault. But from now on, I will not allow anyone to harm you or our son again.”

Caleb lowered his head and placed a kiss on Seraphina’s forehead, as if she were the most important person in the world.

“I’ll take care of you both forever.”

My thoughts suddenly became empty.

Waterfalls, fireflies, the moonlight deer, and now this tender hug and promise.

One scene after another rushed over me like a huge wave.

I covered my mouth, trying to stay quiet, but the sickness returned strongly again.

I leaned against the wall, throwing up until my head felt dizzy and my stomach was empty except for the burning acid.

And then I finally understood everything.

I was not his rescue, not his comfort, and not even a second choice.

I was only a barrier.

An ugly and annoying barrier stood between him and his Destiny mate, someone he only needed to “deal with.”

It was ridiculous, but I still kept a little hope.

Ridiculous that I even tried to test a love that had never been real.

Enough.

Seriously, enough.

I leaned against the wall, feeling as if all the strength in my body had been taken away.

After wiping the mess from the side of my mouth, I raised my head and looked at the pair holding each other tightly under the moonlight.

There was no love, no pain, and no struggle left in my eyes.

Only empty dryness remained.

Caleb, you pushed me into all of this.

There was no more doubt. I turned around and walked away, moving in the opposite direction from them.

When I returned to the Alpha’s place, the first thing I did was go into the bathroom and remove the bracelet I had worn for less than two hours.

I looked at it for a short moment, then, without thinking again, threw it into the trash.

After that, I took off the dress Caleb liked so much and threw it in as well.

Then the jewelry he had given me on my dressing table, the clothes he bought inside the closet, the books he gave me in the study…

Every single item connected to him, I took out one after another.

I stacked them in front of the fireplace in the living room as if I were preparing a final goodbye.

By the time I finished, the morning light had already appeared.

I walked into the prayer room my mother once prepared for me, where the statue of the Moon Goddess stood.

I knelt in front of the statue, but I did not pray; I only looked at it quietly.

“Great Moon Goddess,” I said quietly, “When you guided me to him back then, did you think I was only a big joke?”

The statue remained quiet.

I laughed softly.

“But it does not matter anymore.”

“From this day forward, I am the one who decides my own life.”

I stood up, took out the “Termination Agreement,” and wrote my name using my own blood.

Elara Silvermoon.

After finishing, I carefully placed the agreement away.

Now the only thing missing is Caleb’s signature.

I walked to the window and watched the Blackwood Pack slowly wake under the morning light.

My thoughts began moving quickly.

What matters most to Caleb?

His position as Alpha, the pack’s peace, and his image as a leader.

He may not care about me at all, but he cannot ignore those things.

I need a witness.

Someone important enough to make Caleb protect his reputation and think carefully before touching me.

I thought about one person.

Someone who had always felt sorry toward me and had great respect inside the pack.

Caleb’s mother, Wenna Blackwood.

Elara’s POV

I decided I would not wait any longer.

Caleb returned early in the morning, still carrying the smell of Seraphina’s perfume and looking very tired.

He noticed me sitting on the sofa in the living room and looked surprised.

What shocked him even more was the large pile of things stacked beside the fireplace.

All the presents he had given me, signs of his so-called favor, were now thrown there like useless trash.

“What the hell are you doing?” Caleb’s brows pulled together tightly.

He felt as if his control was being questioned.

I did not reply to him. Instead, I stood up from the sofa and walked straight toward him.

I pushed the “Break Contract Agreement” with my signature directly in front of his eyes.

“Sign it, Caleb.” My voice sounded calm and flat.

His eyes moved to the parchment, and the moment he saw the words, his good-looking face turned cold.

He did not accept it. Instead, he laughed with sarcasm.

“Elara, don’t waste my time with this childish nonsense.”

“I’m not joking.” I looked straight at him, speaking slowly and clearly. “I’m completely serious.”

“This three-year Mate relationship? It was a mistake. And now, it is time to correct it.”

My calm attitude and firm decision made Caleb angry.

He grabbed the agreement from my hand, and when he saw my name written in blood, his eyes became dark with danger.

“Mistake?” He moved closer, his tall body standing over me like a dark cloud.

“Who was the one who begged and begged three years ago, ready to marry me just to save the Silvermoon Pack?”

“Who promised to be a good Luna, faithful to me and the Blackwood Pack for the rest of their lives?”

“And now your Destiny mate has returned, so you want to throw me away, right?” I could not stay quiet anymore, so I asked him directly.

I already knew the truth, but I still wanted to hear the words come from him.

“Seraphina is my Destiny mate. It is the Moon Goddess’s choice, no one can change that!” Caleb answered without even pausing, as if it were the most normal truth in the world.

“And what about you? What about the bond we’ve had for these three years?” I continued asking.

“What bond?” Caleb laughed coldly, his eyes showing disgust.

“That was only a contract! A political agreement to keep the pack stable and stop your family from losing everything!”

“Elara, you should understand your position. You are the Luna of the Blackwood Pack, not Caleb’s Mate!”

His words crashed inside my mind.

All the small comforts I had held onto, the last bit of pride I had protected so carefully, broke apart because of his words.

I stepped back unsteadily.

It turned out that in his thoughts, I never even had the name of “Mate.”

I was only a role.

A replaceable role called “Luna.”

“So this is your reason for turning your back on me without any pause, shutting me out, and throwing me away like garbage?” I laughed, but tears still gave me away as they ran down my face.

“I did not turn my back on you.” Caleb’s face showed no guilt at all. “I was only doing what I should do for my Destiny mate!”

“Duty?” I repeated the word, feeling the bitter meaning behind it. “Then what about your duty to me? As your contracted wife, I take care of the home, calm the pack, act as the perfect Luna, what do I receive in return?”

“I get the scent of perfume you bring home after spending the night with other women!”

“I get your cold, emotionless mental barrier when you’re enjoying family time!”

“I get your impatient ‘busy’ whenever I try to contact you!”

My feelings broke out. All the hurt I had kept inside for three years burst out at that moment.

Like a crazy woman, I grabbed everything near the fireplace and threw it at him one after another.

“Caleb Blackwood, you selfish, cold, terrible man!”

Caleb avoided everything easily. To him, my breakdown only showed that I was acting unreasonably.

His patience finally broke.

“Enough!”

His shout filled the room like an Alpha’s order, something no one could refuse.

A heavy mental pressure crashed into me like a huge wave.

I was already weak after days of mental pain. There was no way I could handle this direct psychic attack.

My sight turned dark.

The world spun.

The last thing I saw was Caleb’s cold and disgusted face, and then my body lost strength, and I fainted.

In the final moment before I lost awareness, I heard his cold voice cut into the darkness.

“I told you, stop acting unreasonable.”