Adrian dragged a hand over his face and let out a slow, heavy breath. "Why are you putting yourself through this?" he asked, his voice filled with frustration. "The Alpha King’s decree has already been issued. Even after Aurora moves in, you won’t have to share the same wing of the mansion. She won’t interfere with your authority as Luna. She doesn’t care about household matters or daily affairs."
Cassandra’s fingers curled tightly against the fabric of her dress. "Do you really think I am attached to managing this household?"
Adrian fell completely silent.
Running Grace Mansion had never been simple. Every month, Adrian’s mother needed expensive medicine that cost dozens of silver coins. There were also provisions for the guards, clothing, servants’ wages, pack obligations, social gatherings, and countless other expenses that never seemed to end. The Warren household looked impressive and grand from the outside, but Cassandra knew the bitter truth. It was little more than an empty shell.
For the past year, she had quietly used much of her own personal dowry to keep the household functioning and respected. She had never complained about the financial burden, not even once. And this cold betrayal was what she had received in return: a second mate brought home from the war.
Adrian’s jaw tightened as he glared at her. "Enough. I am not going to stand here and argue with you. I only came here to inform you of the decision. Whether you agree or not will not change anything."
He turned on his heel and walked out, the heavy wooden door slamming shut behind him with a loud bang that echoed through the room. Cassandra remained seated, staring calmly at the empty space where he had just stood. The silence that followed seemed heavier and colder than before.
"My lady..." Lulu’s trembling voice came from behind her. Cassandra glanced over her shoulder and found her young maid hurriedly wiping tears from her cheeks with the edge of her sleeve. "My lord was too much," Lulu muttered through her quiet sniffling.
"Don’t call him that," Cassandra’s voice stopped her immediately.
Lulu froze in place, her eyes wide with surprise.
Cassandra looked down at her left hand, tracing her bare skin. The mating bond that should have tied her soul to Adrian had never fully formed. Their marriage had never been consummated before he marched off to the front lines. After a full year of waiting and praying for his safe return, she had nothing to show for her devotion except a simple wedding ring and a household treasury she had nearly emptied her own coffers to maintain.
"He is not your lord," Cassandra said quietly, her tone firm and unyielding. "Go fetch my dowry records right now."
Lulu blinked in utter confusion. "The dowry records? Why do you need those, my lady?"
Cassandra lifted a hand and lightly tapped her own forehead, a faint, cold smile touching her lips. "Silly girl. Why would we choose to stay in this house any longer?"
Lulu’s mouth fell open in shock. "But your mother arranged this marriage before she passed! Your father wanted you to marry well and have children to carry on a peaceful life."
At the mention of her parents, Cassandra’s hand slowly dropped back to her lap. Her throat tightened, and for a short moment, she could not speak.
Her father had loved her mother with a deep loyalty that was almost unheard of among powerful Alpha families. He had never taken a second mate or looked at another woman. Together, they had raised six strong sons and one daughter: Cassandra. Every single one of her brothers had followed their father onto the battlefield. Three years ago, during a brutal border clash, none of them returned from the Southern Frontier.
Cassandra had been born into a proud family of warriors, so she had never been raised as a helpless or fragile noble daughter. She had begun strict combat training while she was still a young child. At seven years old, she had been sent away to study beneath a respected master, where she learned physical combat alongside advanced military strategy. She had returned home at fifteen, only to find that her father and brothers had already been dead for a year.
Her mother had been waiting for her return, completely broken by grief. Years of endless crying had taken her mother’s sight, leaving her unable to see the daughter who had finally come home. Yet her mother had still reached out into the dark, pulling Cassandra tightly into her arms and whispering, "You have to live like the other noble girls now. Find a good mate. Build a family. Have children. Live a peaceful and quiet life. You are the only child I have left in this world."
Cassandra closed her eyes tightly against the sudden sting of memory. That day, she had felt as though someone had reached into her chest and torn her heart out with their bare hands. There had been no tears left to cry; the pain had been far too deep for that.
So, she had done exactly what her mother wanted. For an entire year, she buried the part of herself that had been trained to fight and learned everything expected of a respectable Luna instead. She studied proper etiquette, household management, detailed accounting, pack finances, and complex social obligations. She learned how to carefully stretch a dwindling fortune across an entire estate without letting anyone outside realize how close the Warren family was to total financial collapse.
She had been the daughter of the Marquis of Northwatch, after all. She possessed the kind of breathtaking beauty that effortlessly attracted attention wherever she went, and suitors had once crowded around her family’s doorstep. Her mother had ultimately chosen Adrian because he had sworn on his honor that if he took Cassandra as his mate, he would never take another woman into his life. Cassandra had believed that solemn promise.
Then, six months ago, everything she had left was brutally destroyed. The Sinclair ancestral estate at Northwatch was massacred. Every single resident was killed in cold blood. No one was spared by the ruthless killers—not the elite warriors, not the household servants, and not even the innocent children. The survivors who were eventually found had suffered countless horrific wounds before their bodies were torn apart. Cassandra’s youngest nephew had been only two and a half years old, born after the death of her third brother, never even getting the chance to know the brave father he had lost.
The local pack authorities and the nearby garrison eventually captured several of the attackers. An investigation followed, and the truth was far worse than Cassandra could have ever imagined. The killers were spies from Westhaven, an enemy kingdom across the border. The war was still raging on the front lines, yet those spies had deliberately exposed themselves simply to wipe out the Sinclair bloodline. It had not looked like a normal military attack; it had looked deeply personal, like an act of targeted revenge.
When Cassandra received the horrific news, she had raced back to Northwatch as fast as her horse could carry her. She arrived far too late. Her grandmother was dead, and her mother was dead. Dark blood had soaked the wooden floors, stone walls, and fine furniture of the main residence. Dead bodies lay scattered through the very rooms where Cassandra had once grown up surrounded by laughter and family. She had stood frozen in the doorway and stared, unable to move or breathe for a long time.
She was the last Sinclair alive—the final surviving member of the Marquis of Northwatch’s lineage. As far as the outside world was concerned, the great Sinclair name had died with the rest of her family. Restoring her family’s former glory was completely impossible. At least, that was what everyone in the kingdom believed. To them, Cassandra was nothing more than a beautiful, delicate Luna who had chosen a quiet household life because she was too fragile for the battlefield.
They had completely forgotten that before she learned how to manage a household, she had learned how to read complex battle formations. They had forgotten the fierce warrior blood running through her veins.
Aurora Yates was entirely different in their eyes. Aurora had earned her fierce reputation directly on the blood-stained battlefield. She had fought alongside powerful Alpha warriors, accumulated impressive military achievements, and risen through the ranks until she became the very first female general in the history of the werewolf kingdom. Even the Dowager Luna openly praised her strength and accomplishments. A woman like that could offer Adrian everything Cassandra supposedly could not: political power, military influence, and high-level connections across the packs. With General Yates standing beside him as his Luna, Adrian’s future in the pack hierarchy would be far more secure. That was precisely why the Warren family had accepted the Alpha King’s decree without a single moment of hesitation.
Cassandra slowly opened her eyes. For the first time since Adrian had walked out of the room, her emotional expression went completely cold and still. If the Warren family truly believed Aurora’s arrival meant Cassandra had lost everything and would meekly accept her fate, then they had made a very serious mistake.
"Lulu."
"Yes, my lady?" the maid asked, wiping her eyes.
"Bring me my complete dowry records right now," Cassandra ordered, her voice steady as she rose gracefully from her chair. "And bring every single financial document concerning the expenses of the Warren household over the past year."
Lulu stared at her mistress in awe. Cassandra’s calm, sharp gaze settled directly on the closed door Adrian had just slammed shut. She had spent a whole year building his household and keeping his family afloat. Now, she was going to take back every single thing that belonged to her.