Chapter2

I met Eric at my coming-of-age ceremony. When Eric Davis walked through the crowd toward me, I felt a dangerous, thrilling tension—that fatal attraction from destiny. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, his muscle lines faintly visible beneath the fabric, his movements carrying the elegance unique to high society. But he was already twenty-five. A wolf man without a mate at twenty-five surely had a rich romantic history. "How many girlfriends have you had?" I swayed my champagne glass, deliberately tapping the rim against his tie pin. The redness at the tips of his ears surprised me. "To be honest… you're the first." "A virgin?" I couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny about waiting for your fated mate?" He frowned, looking offended. I later learned he was indeed waiting—just not for me. His courtship was intensely suffocating. When he knelt under the full moon to propose, I thought I'd found a fairytale romance. After marriage, we moved to the Takhaya Pack. Though the Davis family guarded a declining coal mining business, Eric was passionate about healthcare. I used the Brown family's medical resources to help him establish the pack hospital. "What should we name the hospital?" I hovered the pen over the registration documents, turning to ask him. "Lucia's Sanctuary," he answered without hesitation, his eyes suspiciously bright. Back then, I naively thought the name symbolized hope and sanctuary, happy that my mate was such a kind man. The truth surfaced on our third anniversary. When the servants carried a dead-drunk Eric home, he kept calling that name: "Lucia… I miss you so much… Please don't go…" I stayed by his bedside all night, watching him vomit relentlessly. When the morning sun shone in, he touched my haggard face. "You've worked hard, dear." "Last night, I heard you calling Lucia's name repeatedly. Who is Lucia?" My directness caught him off guard. Eric didn't expect me to ask so bluntly. He bolted upright in bed. After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Lucia and I aren't what you think. We're just childhood friends. We lost contact after she went to the Dawnstar Pack for studies." Disappointment drenched me like ice water. "Then why do you go to the Dawnstar Pack for 'business trips' every year?" I stared at his face, suddenly finding it utterly unfamiliar. His silence was deafening. From then on, Eric and I became strangers living under the same roof. Until the physical exam two months later, when two lines on the pregnancy test broke the stalemate between us. For the child's sake, I considered giving him a chance. I didn't want the pain of severing the mate bond, nor did I want my child born without a father. "I'm going to be a dad?" Eric held the ultrasound photo like a boy with a new toy, lifting me and spinning me around. "Do you even care?" I broke free from his embrace. "Of course!" His smile was perfect. "You two are the most important people to me." Watching him busily prepare the nursery, I foolishly felt hope back then. Maybe the bond of blood could fix this marriage?