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

(Marisel’s POV)

Trevian sharply turned the steering wheel, but the collision could not be avoided.

The violent impact made the entire carriage shake brutally, and the protection spells burst open instantly.

My head slammed hard against the seat, and dizziness flooded my mind.

Instinctively, I wanted to check if Trevian was safe. But he did not spare me even a single glance. All of his attention was focused on Frista. He even wrapped his body around hers, protecting her tightly in his arms.

“Frista, answer me. Are you alright?”

His voice trembled with panic I had never heard before. Blood ran down from his forehead, yet he did not even bother wiping it away.

In his embrace, Frista whimpered weakly, trembling like an injured bird.

“Trevian, my hand hurts… my head hurts too…”

In the front seats, they looked like the tragic lovers from an old tale. And I, the one injured the most, was forgotten in the back.

Without the protection of the spell barrier, the force of the crash threw me violently against the carriage door before slamming me back again.

My head crashed into the glass window, shattering it into countless sparkling pieces.

The wound on my back tore open further, and warm blood quickly soaked through my clothes.

Only then did Trevian finally glance toward the backseat. Hesitation flickered briefly in his eyes.

But in the next moment, he turned back toward Frista again.

In the distance, emergency sirens echoed closer and closer. Nearby wolves rushed forward, pulling at the damaged carriage doors and shouting for help.

“Save Frista first!”

Trevian’s urgent voice cut through the chaos as though he had completely forgotten that I was still trapped inside, bleeding heavily and barely conscious.

My vision slowly blurred as crimson filled every corner of my sight.

I struggled to cry for help. I wanted him to remember me.

Just once.

I wanted the man I once saved winters ago to save me in return.

But Trevian carefully carried Frista out of the carriage, softly comforting her the entire time.

He never looked back. Not once. Not even for a single moment of hesitation.

The numbness from blood loss slowly spread through my body.

As darkness swallowed me whole, one final bitter thought rose inside my mind.

When he proposed to me beneath the Moon Goddess, he promised he would never allow me to be hurt again.

Yet he could not keep that promise for even one winter.

***

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying in a healer’s ward.

“You are finally awake!”

The healer sounded excited and relieved.

“If you had not woken up soon, Alpha Silverthorne was prepared to purchase this entire healing hall for you!”

Her eyes were filled with envy.

“You are so fortunate to have a mate who loves you this much. He even ordered people to redecorate your room so you would feel more comfortable. Every day, he brings fresh flowers too. Never the same kind twice.”

I slowly turned my head. On the bedside table sat a vase filled with blooming crabapple flowers. The very flower I hated the most.

“Really?”

A cold smile curved across my lips.

“He loves me that much?”

Without noticing anything strange, the healer excitedly took out her crystal communicator crystal and showed me a video that had already spread throughout Moonbook.

“Of course. Look at this. It proves how deeply he cares for you. He even risked his own life to pull you out from the wreckage.”

The shaky recording, taken by a bystander during the accident, showed Trevian carefully carrying someone out from the passenger seat.

He held her gently and protectively in his arms. Although her face was hidden, her slender figure was unmistakable.

The comments beneath the video overflowed with admiration. Everyone praised Trevian as a devoted mate.

“A loyal mate.”

“A man who treasured his Luna more than his own life.”

Yet the woman he rescued so carefully… was not me.

While the entire kingdom envied the love I supposedly possessed, I had been abandoned inside that carriage, left bleeding and dying alone.

A bitter laugh escaped from my throat.

“Yes… he truly loves me.”

The healer’s smile stiffened awkwardly.

She quickly excused herself before hurrying out of the room.

A few moments later, Trevian entered carrying another fresh bouquet of flowers.