Abandoned for Another Mate

The antiseptic smell of the hospital clung to my clothes as I paced the waiting room, checking my phone for the hundredth time. Ryan was late. Again. My mother's time was running out, and all she wanted was to meet the man I'd loved for seven years, the future Alpha of Silver Moon Pack who had promised to make me his Luna someday.

I bit my lower lip nervously, a habit I couldn't shake. The doctors had given Mom days, maybe hours. The cancer had spread too far, too fast.

"Sarah?" A nurse poked her head through the doorway. "Your mother is asking for you... and your fiancé."

I nodded, swallowing hard. "He's on his way."

At least, I hoped he was. I'd been begging Ryan for weeks to visit, but there was always some excuse. Pack business. Training. Madison needed him for something.

Always Madison.

When my phone finally buzzed, I nearly dropped it in my haste to answer.

"I'm outside," Ryan's voice was flat, impatient. "Let's make this quick."

The winter air bit at my face as I hurried out to the parking lot. Ryan sat in his black SUV, engine still running, fingers drumming against the steering wheel. He didn't even get out to greet me.

"Thank you for coming," I said, sliding into the passenger seat. "It means everything to her... to me."

Ryan sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "I don't see why we need to rush into a mating ceremony just because your mother is dying. These things take preparation, Sarah."

The casual cruelty of his words stung, but I'd grown used to swallowing my pain. "It's just a small ceremony. Just so she can see it before..."

"Fine." He cut me off, pulling out of the parking lot. "But we're not announcing anything to the pack yet. Not until I've spoken with my father and the council."

Seven years. Seven years I'd been waiting for him to acknowledge me publicly. Seven years of being his secret, his shadow Luna.

"Of course," I whispered, staring out at the snowflakes beginning to fall. "Thank you for doing this."

We were halfway to the hospital when it happened. Ryan suddenly stiffened beside me, his eyes going distant in that way they did when someone was using the pack mind-link.

"Madison?" he said aloud, his voice instantly transforming from reluctant to concerned. "What's wrong?"

I watched his face drain of color.

"Where are you? How many?" His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as he pulled over to the shoulder of the interstate. "I'm coming. Hold on."

"What's happening?" I asked, dread pooling in my stomach.

"Rogues," Ryan snapped, already unbuckling his seatbelt. "They've attacked Madison near the eastern border. She's alone."

"But my mother—"

"This is pack business, Sarah." His eyes flashed with irritation. "Madison could die."

Before I could protest further, he was out of the car, stripping off his jacket. "Take the car to the hospital. I'll meet you there when I can."

"Ryan, please—" My voice broke. "We're already halfway there. Just ten more minutes—"

"She's my responsibility!" he snarled, his eyes flashing Alpha gold. "I can't ignore this."

I knew he wasn't talking about my mother.

Without another word, he disappeared into the tree line. Moments later, a large silver wolf emerged, powerful and beautiful, then bounded away through the snow.

Leaving me alone on the frozen interstate.

With no license.

I stared at the driver's seat, tears burning my eyes. I couldn't drive—Ryan knew that. I'd never needed to in the pack compound where everything was within walking distance.

The snow was falling harder now, the temperature dropping with the setting sun. I tried calling Ryan, but it went straight to voicemail. Of course it did. Wolves couldn't answer phones.

Three hours and two terrifying hitchhiking rides later, I stumbled through the hospital doors, my fingers and toes numb from cold, my heart racing with desperate hope.

But the nurse's face told me everything before she spoke a word.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Mitchell. Your mother passed about an hour ago."

The world tilted sideways.

"She kept asking for you," the nurse continued softly. "And for your young man. She held on as long as she could."

Something inside me shattered as I collapsed beside my mother's bed, taking her still-warm hand in mine. She looked peaceful, but her eyes were slightly open, as if she'd died still watching the door, still waiting.

Still hoping to see her daughter's happiness before she left this world.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I whispered, pressing my forehead to her hand. "I'm so sorry."

As grief crashed over me in waves, something else began to burn in my chest—something hot and unfamiliar.

Rage.

Somewhere deep inside me, I felt a stirring, like something long dormant was finally beginning to wake.