Julian Walker, my Alpha, seems to have found a new muse.

He never painted anyone in their wolf form, considering it his most private, most primal power. But now, a portrait of her was hidden in his private studio.

The moment I saw the painting, hidden under a red cloth, I called out to the Moon Goddess’s Whisper, our sacred soul-link. “I regret it,” I whispered into the void. “I want to leave this world.”

Julian had been pushing me for weeks to hand over the management of the Northern Lights Gallery—the most important connection between our pack and the human world—to the new Omega, Sylvie.

He promised that once he helped her heal from her past traumas, the gallery, and the entire future of the pack, would still be mine.

I smiled and agreed, with one condition—that he paint a portrait of me, a portrait of his one and only Luna.

It wasn't until a welcome party for Sylvie that a reporter asked him how he felt about the sudden passing of his Luna.

His face turned a shade of gray I’d only seen on corpses.

This powerful Alpha, renowned throughout the Pacific Northwest, saw my funeral portrait and, from that moment on, could never again feel the power of the moonlight. He lost his wolf forever.

…

Julian Walker was the man of a million girls' dreams. As the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, he didn't just have unmatched power and wealth; he had a face that could charm angels and devils alike.

And right now, that dreamboat was sitting across the long table from me, his expression as cold as a winter night.

I tried to pretend everything was normal, just like always. I smiled and offered him a cup of coffee. “Drink this. You haven’t rested since you patrolled the territory last night.”

Before the cup even reached him, he slapped it out of my hand. The ceramic shattered on the floor, splintering into a dozen pieces.

“I told you, hand the gallery over to Sylvie for now.”

“It’s only temporary. As soon as she’s stable, everything will go back to being yours.”

I stared at the broken porcelain on the floor. The warm coffee snaked across the stone tiles, slowly turning cold, just like the once-unbreakable mate bond between us.

He probably hadn’t even noticed that we hadn’t sat down for a proper breakfast together in a long, long time.

“Julian, can we please not talk about this today? Do you remember what today is…?”

Before I could finish, Julian’s encrypted satellite phone rang. The moment I saw the caller ID, I swallowed my words.

I didn’t need to humiliate myself further.

Sure enough, the second he answered, a woman’s sobbing came through the phone. “Julian, I had another nightmare. I dreamt… I dreamt they were at my door again.”

Julian shot up from his seat and rushed for the door, his voice softening as he soothed her. “Don’t be afraid. I’m on my way.”

The door clicked shut, and the room fell back into a dead silence.

This was nothing new. I started eating my breakfast alone.

It didn't matter what was happening; a single call from Sylvie, and he would drop everything to run to her side, like a man possessed.

But I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

A sigh echoed deep in my soul. “My daughter, do you not regret your choice yet?”

I froze. The Moon Goddess's Whisper, which had been silent ever since I chose to bind myself to Julian, had awakened on its own.

Faced with the goddess's question, I hesitated. “It’s probably because what happened to Sylvie is exactly what happened to his mother. He couldn’t save his mother back then, so he’s obsessed with saving Sylvie now.”

The holy voice didn't reply, only letting out another long sigh before falling silent again.

I chewed my food mechanically and picked up my phone. I called the restaurant I had booked months ago—the one overlooking the entire bay—and told them to cancel my reservation.

Today was the third anniversary of me becoming his Luna. He had clearly forgotten, his mind completely consumed with comforting that poor, broken Omega.

In that instant, I started to question whether staying in this world for Julian was the right decision after all.