Chapter 5 She was in complete agony, her chest feeling like it was being ripped apart, tears pouring down her face until she finally grabbed at her heart and managed to breathe again. Right then, her phone rang-it was Greyhound confirming her bus ticket to Moonlight Ridge. "Ms. Blackstone, your ticket to the northern territories has been confirmed. Would you like to upgrade to first class?" "Regular seat is fine," Luna June whispered, barely able to speak as she wiped away her tears. The call had just ended when the hospital room door opened. Alpha Nicholas walked in with that confident stride, his black jacket perfect down to the last detail. "Who were you talking to?" he asked, his voice flat. "A friend," June said, putting her phone down. He didn't ask anything else, just stood next to the bed, towering over her. "We figured out what happened. It was Megan who gave them the moonlight grass extract." His tone was like he was talking about the weather. "But she didn't know they were allergic, so let's just drop it." June felt like someone was crushing her heart with their bare hands, the pain so bad she could barely breathe. When it was her, he'd wanted to destroy her completely. But for Megan Silvermoon, it was just "she didn't know." She opened her mouth, wanting to scream at him, to let out all the anger and hurt she'd been holding in. But all that came out was a quiet, barely audible: "Okay." It was like all her fight had just drained away. She was so tired, too exhausted to argue anymore. All those sleepless nights, all that pain-it all turned into a bitter, mocking smile. So that's what the difference between being loved and not loved looked like. Alpha Nicholas seemed surprised by her reaction, hesitating before saying, "The pups are going to the mountain training grounds next week. Megan and I will be running with the pack. You can stay at the house." He waited for her to beg or have a breakdown, like she usually did, but June just nodded calmly. "Got it." He frowned, sensing something was different about her, but his phone rang. Looking at the screen, he said, "Pack business. I have to go." The door closed behind him, and June finally opened her fist, showing four crescent-shaped cuts in her palm that were bleeding. Over the next few days, her phone kept buzzing with messages from Megan Silvermoon. Tons of photos and videos showing all the fun times at the mountain training grounds. In one video, Kai Blackstone and Cora Blackstone proudly introduced Megan to other pack pups: "This is our mom!" The other pups all got excited: "Wow, your mom's so gorgeous!" "Your dad's the strongest Alpha and your mom's beautiful-you guys are so lucky!" "But who usually takes care of you at home?" one pup asked. Kai and Cora's faces went blank for a second: "Oh, that's... just our caretaker who looks after us." June's hand shook, and the water glass slipped from her fingers, smashing on the floor. She slowly bent down, staring at the broken pieces, and suddenly started laughing. So that's all she'd been for all these years: just free help. But it didn't matter. She was about to quit that job anyway. From now on, their precious "mom" could take care of them. A week later, Marcus brought Kai and Cora back to the pack house. The two pups ran straight to the kitchen, their faces full of smugness. "Mom!" Cora yelled. "You won't believe it-Aunt Megan shifted wrong during training and hurt her paw, and Dad was so worried about her!" Kai jumped in excitedly: "Yeah, Dad got the whole pack healer team just for Aunt Megan, even skipped the territory patrol to stay with her!" June stood by the oven, quietly listening to them brag as she put on her oven mitts. "Mom, are you even listening?" Cora stomped her foot angrily. "Dad treats Aunt Megan way better than you-" The oven timer went off with a loud beep, cutting her off. The smell of something sweet filled the kitchen immediately. The pups' eyes got big, and they crowded around. "It's cake!" Kai said, trying to see over the counter. "I want some!" June pulled out the pan, but the edges of the cake were burned. She made a face and threw it straight in the trash. "No!" Cora screamed. "Why did you throw it away?" "It's burned. Can't eat it," June said calmly. "You're lying!" Kai kicked the trash can angrily. "You're doing it on purpose! You're still mad about before, so you won't let us have any, you horrible mom!" Cora's face went bright red: "We don't want a mom like you!" June took off her oven mitts, feeling that crushing feeling in her chest again. She looked at these two pups she'd almost died bringing into the world and suddenly felt like they were complete strangers. "Well then," she said quietly, "I don't have pups like you either." "From now on, go find Megan Silvermoon instead." She turned and started walking toward the stairs. Behind her, the pups started screaming: "We hate you! We'll hate you forever!" June paused for just a second but didn't turn around. As she stepped on the third stair, something slammed into her back- "Die!"