After Eight Winters of a False Mate Bond, I Walked Away

(Marisel’s POV)

Trevian’s cold eyes immediately turned toward the sound.

The moment he saw me, his hand quickly left Frista’s waist. Almost like a guilty man, he rubbed between his brows before walking toward me.

“Why did you suddenly return here? This district is dangerous and filled with rogue wolves. Why did you come alone without guards?”

The concern in his voice sounded the same as before.

But after seeing him hold Frista so closely, every bit of care from him only made me sick. The hand that once always reached for me now stopped awkwardly in the air.

“I simply wanted to come back. What about you?”

My calm question instantly stopped the lecture he had been about to give me.

He parted his lips, but before he could speak, Frista interrupted sweetly.

“I only recently returned to the kingdom. I asked Alpha Trevian to accompany me around the territory. You are not jealous over something this small, are you?”

Seven winters had passed.

I had become the Luna of the mighty Silverthorne Pack. Yet the way Frista looked at me remained exactly the same. Full of contempt and arrogance.

Because of her powerful family, she always believed she had the right to take what belonged to others.

“Marisel, why are you silent?”

Pouting, she tugged lightly on Trevian’s sleeve.

“Please explain it to her for me. I was young and foolish before, and I already apologized. Tell Marisel not to stay angry with me anymore…”

Her fake and delicate voice made my hands shake violently.

Finally, I could not hold back anymore.

“Are you done speaking?”

Seeing that she finally got a reaction from me, Frista instantly burst into tears and buried herself against Trevian’s chest.

“I already admitted I was immature back then. Besides, many things were done by my friends, not me alone. Why do you still hate me so much?”

Pain filled Trevian’s eyes as he gently wiped away her tears.

“Marisel, enough. Don’t go too far.”

The anger burning inside me was instantly crushed by his sharp words.

Even though I had already decided to leave him, why did my heart still hurt this much?

Why… when he knew better than anyone how deeply I hated her, would he still ask me to forgive her and pretend the past never happened?

Back during our final winter at the Royal Moon Academy, Frista targeted me simply because the boy she liked spoke a few extra words to me.

Every morning, disgusting things covered my desk.

Dead rats. Bloody pads. Even used condoms. The assignments I handed in would mysteriously disappear.

Rumors spread throughout the academy that I sold my body outside the school grounds. Male students from other classes approached me shamelessly, asking how much one night with me cost.

After classes ended, Frista’s followers would drag me into the girls’ washroom by my hair. They took humiliating crystal photos of me. They burned off my eyebrows with fire magic. They pressed lit cigarettes against my skin as though I were an ashtray.

The smell of burning flesh mixed together with their cruel laughter. Scars were left across my back forever.

When Trevian first saw those scars, the man who never cried even after having both legs broken trembled while kissing every wound.

His hot tears fell against my back and burned straight into my heart. He whispered softly, “Marisel… give me a little more time. I will make every person who hurt you pay the price.”

And he truly fulfilled that promise.

The powerful and feared Trevian took revenge for me against everyone involved.

Everyone, except one person.

The only one who escaped punishment was Frista, who conveniently left the kingdom to study overseas.

And at the final step, Trevian lost himself because he fell in love with the very woman who once destroyed me.

My silence lasted too long, and he mistook it for dissatisfaction.

His eyes stayed on me for several seconds. The harsh words he wanted to say softened in the end into only one sentence.

“Get into the carriage.”

Frista wiped away her fake tears and smiled sweetly. “I knew Marisel was kind. She will definitely forgive me.”

She reached her hand toward me. Her nails were painted the same blood red color I remembered too clearly.

Instinctively, I stepped backward.

But like the poisonous snake she had always been, her fingers suddenly dug hard into the flesh at my waist.

I gasped and immediately shoved her away.

Taking the opportunity, Frista deliberately stumbled backward.

And in Trevian’s eyes, the scene became something completely different.

Not her cruelty, but my petty revenge.