I stood frozen in the grand hall, my heart pounding as my mate—Alpha Killian—ripped the crimson gown from my body, the one intended for his Luna, right in front of the entire pack. His silver eyes burned with rage over the torn dress, which I hadn’t even realized had been prepared for Serena—his first love.

The silk crumpled to the floor, leaving me bare amid gasps and stifled laughter. A chill raced over my skin, echoing the icy dread seizing my heart. Every pack member gawked at me—their Luna—stripped and shamed by their Alpha.

If I hadn’t caught the smug flicker in Serena’s eyes—his mistress—I might’ve tricked myself, just for a second, into thinking this was some twisted dream.

But it wasn’t. The pack’s whispers and stares—some dripping with scorn, others tinged with pity—made that clear.

My heart slammed against my ribs as my Alpha husband snarled, “You’re not my Luna anymore.”

The words ripped through me, a jagged wound in my chest.

But what cut deeper than the humiliation was the truth I’d just unearthed: he’d never stopped loving her.

...

My Alpha and mate humiliated me for wearing a dress that looked like one he bought for his first love.

I hadn’t known.

I hadn’t known when I pulled the gown over my body, when I stood in front of the mirror, running my hands over the delicate fabric. The deep crimson color shimmered under the candlelight, the soft silk hugging my frame perfectly. It had been left for me by a servant, folded neatly on my bed with a simple note: For the Luna.

I had thought it was a gift. A token of love from my mate.

I should have questioned it.

I should have noticed the uneasy looks the maids gave me when I stepped out of my chambers.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, conversation died. The few maids lingering near the staircase stared at me, their eyes darting between my face and the dress. One of them, a young girl named Mara, bit her lip, her fingers twisting the edge of her apron.

“You—” she hesitated, glancing at the others.

“Do I look bad?” I asked, smoothing my hands over my stomach.

Mara flinched, shaking her head quickly. “No, my lady. You look… beautiful.”

The other maids weren’t so quick to respond. Their silence felt like a heavy weight pressing against my chest.

Something was wrong.

I ignored the feeling. I had to. Tonight was important. The entire pack would be present, and as Luna, I had to stand beside my mate. No matter how distant he had been lately.

With my head high, I walked down the grand staircase, my gown trailing behind me.

---

The moment I stepped into the ceremony, I knew I had made a mistake.

The air changed. The light chatter faded into an unnatural silence. Dozens of eyes turned toward me, some wide with shock, others filled with something else—something cruel.

I felt the weight of their stares like a physical force, pressing into my skin, making my steps falter.

I swallowed hard, pushing forward. I had to find my mate.

My eyes scanned the grand hall, searching for him among the sea of faces. The chandeliers above cast a golden glow over the polished floors, the scent of wine and roasted meat filling the air. Warriors stood in clusters, their conversations hushed.

Then I saw him.

Alpha Killian.

My mate. My husband. My everything.

He stood near the center of the room, speaking with his Beta. His posture was rigid, his back straight, his shoulders squared. The moment his eyes landed on me, the expression on his face changed.

His body tensed, his lips parting slightly as his gaze swept over me. His brows pulled together, a flash of something unrecognizable flickering across his face—shock? No.

Anger.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

For a brief moment, I thought I had done something else wrong.

Then he stepped forward, pushing past his Beta.

The room seemed to hold its breath.

He stopped a few feet away, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. His silver eyes burned with fury.

“What the hell are you wearing?” His voice was low, controlled, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

Confusion twisted in my stomach. I looked down at myself, my fingers grazing the silky fabric. “It was left for me,” I murmured. “I thought you—”

Killian took another step forward. “Take it off.”

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

My breath caught. “What?”

His expression darkened. “Take. It. Off.”

Shame hit me like a slap to the face. I looked around, seeing the pack members watching with sick fascination. Some were whispering to each other, their eyes glinting with amusement.

Heat crawled up my neck. My hands trembled at my sides. “Killian,” I whispered, pleading.

“Do you even know what you’re wearing?” His voice was louder now, sharp enough to cut through the thick silence.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

His lips curled. “You’re wearing her dress.”

My blood ran cold.

Her.

I didn’t have to ask who he meant.

The first love.

The woman who had come before me. The woman he had once promised his future to.

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

“I—” My voice failed me. I shook my head. “I didn’t know.”

Killian didn’t care. His fury burned hotter. “Did you think this was funny?” he hissed, stepping closer. “Did you want to humiliate me in front of my pack?”

Humiliate him?

I blinked up at him, my breath shallow. Did he not see? Did he not realize that it was I who was being humiliated?

The pack was watching, judging, waiting for the Luna to crumble beneath the Alpha’s wrath.

I wrapped my arms around myself, my fingers clutching the fabric. “Please, Killian,” I whispered. “Not here. Not like this.”

His jaw clenched. His nostrils flared. But his rage was a living, breathing thing. He couldn’t contain it. He wouldn’t.

“You want to keep it?” His voice was mocking now, filled with venom. “Do you feel special wearing something that belonged to her?”

I flinched. “I didn’t know—”

“Then let me fix that.”

Before I could react, before I could even think, he reached out.

I gasped as his hands gripped the fabric at my shoulders—and ripped it down.

A choked sound escaped my lips as the gown slid from my body, pooling around my feet.

The world spun. The hall tilted.

I was standing there in nothing but my thin slip, my bare shoulders exposed to dozens of eyes.

The room erupted into chaos.

Laughter. Shock. Gasps.

Laughter and whispers filled the grand hall, wrapping around me like a suffocating fog. My skin burned, a heat so intense it crawled up my neck and into my skull.

I could hear the voices—harsh, amused, pitiful.

"Did you see that?"

"The Luna? Dressed like that?"

"Not Luna anymore, I’d bet."

"He stripped her, right in front of everyone. Goddess, how shameful."

I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t breathe.

The thin slip I wore did little to protect me from the biting cold of the room, from the weight of all those eyes pressing against my exposed skin. My arms wrapped around myself instinctively, but there was no hiding. No escape.

And then—warmth.

A heavy fabric draped over my shoulders. A scent of pine and steel.

I turned my head slowly, my body still locked in place.

The Gamma.

His eyes held something foreign. Something I wasn’t used to seeing. Not pity. Not amusement. Not cruelty.

Concern.

He stood beside me, his body stiff as if expecting a fight. His hands hesitated on my shoulders before dropping to his sides.

A murmur rippled through the crowd, sharp as a dagger.

"Gamma Damon?" Someone gasped. "What is he doing?"

"Helping her?" Another scoffed. "Why?"

I clutched the jacket tighter, swallowing hard. It was thick, made for a warrior, smelling of sweat and earth and something safe.

The moment felt frozen in time. But then, Killian moved.

His boots clicked against the polished floor as he stepped forward, his silver eyes burning with a fury so intense it could have set fire to the hall.

He was still angry. Still humiliated. But now, his rage had found a new target.

His gaze locked onto Damon, and for a split second, the air grew heavier. The tension was suffocating, pressing against my already bruised pride.

Damon held his ground.

For me.

But Killian didn’t speak. He simply clenched his jaw, his nostrils flaring as his hands curled into fists at his sides. His fury wasn’t for Damon alone.

No—I was still the center of his storm.

He turned back to me, his voice laced with quiet venom. "You are no longer my Luna."

The words cut deeper than his actions ever could.

My lips parted, but no sound came out.

I had thought the worst had already happened.

I was wrong.

Killian lifted his chin, his voice carrying across the hall. "From this moment forward, Sienna is stripped of her title. She is no longer recognized as the Luna of this pack."

The final blow.

A weight crushed my chest, stealing the last bit of air from my lungs.

He had taken everything.

The murmurs started again, louder this time. The whispers that had once been contained now spilled into full-fledged mockery.

I took a step back.

Then another.

The floor beneath me felt unsteady. My mind spun.

My body moved before my brain could fully process it.

One step.

Another.

Each slow movement carried a broken piece of me away from that hall, away from the burning humiliation, away from the man who had just shattered me completely.

I didn’t run.

I didn’t beg.

I walked. Slowly. Deliberately.

The Gamma didn’t stop me.

No one did.

I kept my head high, even as my heart fractured inside my chest.

---

I wasn’t sure where I was going.

The halls blurred as I moved, my legs carrying me forward on instinct. The heavy jacket draped over me was the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.

Why?

Why did he do this?

The question burned in my mind, a poisonous thought I couldn’t shake.

I had been careful. I had never given Killian a reason to hate me. I had done my duty. I had stood by his side, obeyed his rules, supported him as his mate, his Luna.

Yet, in the span of a few minutes, he had undone everything.

All because of a dress.

My hands gripped the jacket tighter.

No.

Not just a dress.

Her dress.

That realization made my breath hitch.

I slowed my steps, my body growing colder despite the warmth wrapped around me.

If this was just about the gown… if this was just about me accidentally wearing something that belonged to another woman…

Then why had his anger been so personal?

Why had he looked at me like I had betrayed him?

I felt the answer creeping up my throat like bile.

And then, I heard them.

Two she-wolves stood near the corner of the hallway, their voices hushed, but not enough to keep me from catching every word.

"Did you see how he reacted?" One of them whispered.

"Of course I did. Goddess, it was embarrassing. But honestly, are you surprised?"

"Not really." A soft laugh. "I mean, he never really got over her."

"Right? He tried, I think. But in the end, she still owns his heart."

The words struck me harder than any physical blow ever could.

He never got over her.

I clenched my hands, the fabric of the jacket twisting between my fingers.

It wasn’t just about the dress.

It was about her.

His first love.

The woman who wasn’t here. The woman who didn’t even need to be present to hold a grip on him.

Killian hadn’t just stripped me of my dignity tonight.

He had proven something I had been too blind to see before.

I was never truly his.

Because his heart never belonged to me.

I turned away from the voices, my chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven breaths.

The humiliation still burned. The betrayal still stung.

I barely remembered how I got back to my room.

One moment, I was standing in the hallway, my heart shattering with every whispered word.

The next, I was here—locked behind the heavy wooden door, my back pressed against it as my knees threatened to give out beneath me.

My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps.

The humiliation of the ceremony still burned my skin, but it was nothing compared to the deeper ache clawing at my chest.

Had he ever loved me?

The thought was like ice against my veins.

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing a trembling hand against my mouth.

I had been his mate. His Luna.

But had I ever really been his choice?

Had I been anything more than a replacement for the one he truly wanted?

The answer was suffocating.

And I hated that deep down, I already knew it.

---

I had always known something was missing.

There were moments—fleeting, small—that I had ignored.

Moments when his touch felt obligatory instead of eager.

Moments when his eyes would drift over me, not with adoration, but with something else.

Emptiness. Distance.

As if, in his mind, he was somewhere else.

With someone else.

I had convinced myself it was just stress. That Killian had too many burdens on his shoulders. That he simply struggled to express love the way others did.

But now…

Now, I saw it for what it was.

I was never the one he wanted.

A bitter laugh caught in my throat.

How had I been so blind?

Every touch, every glance, every night spent beside him—it had all been a lie.

He had never belonged to me.

His heart was still hers.

---

The room was suffocating.

I needed air.

The walls felt too close, pressing in, trapping me with thoughts I didn’t want to face.

My legs felt weak, but I forced them to move, dragging myself toward the window.

Cool night air brushed against my heated skin as I gripped the frame, my fingers digging into the wood.

I sucked in a breath, willing the nausea in my stomach to settle.

And then—I saw them.

Killian stood in the courtyard below, his back to me.

His stance was tense, his shoulders squared.

But he wasn’t alone.

She was there.

Even in the dim moonlight, I recognized her instantly.

Her hair, dark and silken, cascaded down her back in waves. She stood close—too close—her head tilted slightly as she gazed up at him.

Killian was speaking.

His voice was too soft for me to hear, but I saw the way he leaned in. The way his lips moved with quiet, urgent words meant only for her.

And then, he smiled.

Not a forced, public smile.

Not the cold, sharp expression he had worn when looking at me.

No—this was different.

This was real.

Something deep inside me twisted, sharp and unbearable.

He had never looked at me like that.

Not once.

I felt my grip tighten on the window frame, my nails biting into the wood.

A shuddering breath escaped my lips.

I had been a fool.

I had spent so long believing that if I just tried harder, if I just proved myself, Killian would see me.

That one day, he would love me the way a mate should.

But I was never meant to be his.

I pressed a hand to my chest, my fingers curling over the fabric of my dress.

The pain wasn’t sharp anymore.

It was dull. Heavy.

Like a weight settling inside me that would never leave.

I forced myself to look away from the scene below, stepping back from the window.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

He had taken enough from me already.