I’ve always been upfront.

When I found flirty messages between Christian, my mate and the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, and a girl I didn’t recognize on his phone, I didn’t stew over it. I handed the phone to him and demanded an explanation.

After a long pause, he admitted, "She’s someone I rescued during a rogue attack—a Delta from the Shadow Fang Pack. She’s been struggling with depression. I’ve developed some feelings for her. But Violeta, we’ve been through so much together, from our first meeting as pups to this stage in life. I promise to keep my distance from her now."

Christian’s sincere eyes met mine, and despite the hurt, I chose to forgive him, allowing the marking ceremony to proceed as planned.

On the day of the ceremony, however, his Beta, Kannon, suddenly burst into the grand hall: "Alpha, Emersyn found out about the marking ceremony and is threatening to jump!"

The ceremonial pendant slipped from my fingers and landed on the floor as Christian dashed out like a bolt of lightning.

Through my tears, I shouted after him, "Christian, if you walk out that door today, it’s over between us!"

He hesitated briefly but then left without looking back.

Ultimately, he broke his promise.

The ceremony descended into chaos, with guests’ whispers piercing my ears. Our parents rushed to us, bewildered by the turn of events.

Kannon stood nearby, his face red with embarrassment. "Luna Violeta... Emersyn has depression. She attempted to jump before, and the Alpha saved her. She’s very reliant on him. Only he can calm her down... It’s a life-or-death situation, and he had no choice. Please don’t blame him..."

Kannon had served as Christian’s Beta for three years, always polite and friendly, calling me "sister-Luna" with a smile. But now, he couldn’t even meet my gaze.

I wondered how many secrets he had helped Christian keep from me, and what connections he had with this girl named Emersyn. The pain spread through my chest, deepening the sting of Christian’s betrayal.

My parents clutched my hands, anxious. "What’s going on? He’s supposed to be here for the marking ceremony. Who’s calling him away for an emergency now?"

Christian’s parents dialed his number with worry, muttering, "Violeta, don’t worry. I’ll have him back right now. He’ll face my anger if he doesn’t return!"

The pendant lay on the carpet, kicked aside, just like my shattered heart.

I stood there, the train of my ceremonial gown dragging on the ground, like a wilting cloud after a storm. The dreams of the marking ceremony I’d cherished seemed futile compared to this chaos.

The Alpha abandoned his Luna in a hall full of blessings for another woman.

Five hours and 108 calls later, Christian didn’t pick up. I watched my phone screen dim and brighten, until it faded completely into darkness.

Moonlight streamed through the grand hall’s stained glass, casting patterns on the floor, chilling my empty neck where the pendant should have rested.

Guests eventually trickled away, leaving behind a mess of ceremonial flowers and half-eaten meals. Suddenly, the room spun, dizziness overwhelming me, with my mother’s panicked cries echoing as the last thing I heard.

When I woke up, the smell of antiseptic surrounded me. The pack healer was adjusting my IV, and seeing me awake, she gently said, "You’re not alone now. You need to take care of yourself."

I stared at the ceiling as silent tears slid into my hair. From the moment I received Christian’s first mind-link message at seventeen on our pack’s training grounds, to his surprise visit after a 20-hour journey during our first official pack meeting, and the day he became the Alpha, declaring with tears in his eyes, "I’ll protect our pack and always keep you safe"—those seven years flashed through my mind like a fast-forwarding movie.

I looked at my parents and Christian’s parents, unable to hide their concern, with tears brimming in my eyes. How do I tell them that this seven-year journey of love has reached its end?

By seven in the evening, Alpha Christian, missing for six hours, finally showed up at the healing center. He looked pale, a hint of guilt reflected in his piercing amber eyes, which usually carried the weight of his Alpha authority. His broad shoulders, usually squared with confidence, now slumped slightly, as if burdened by an invisible force.

“Luna Violeta, I’m sorry,” he rasped, his deep voice strained, the Alpha tone momentarily absent. “Emersyn… I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I had to try and help.”

I swallowed the bitterness rising within me, my hand instinctively resting on my still-flat abdomen where our six-week-old pup grew. “There are plenty of warriors and healers in the pack. Why did it have to be you, Alpha?”

“She picked today to threaten to leap off the cliffs, insisting only I could save her. What was going through her mind?” I continued, feeling a swell of hurt that even my wolf whimpered softly in the back of my consciousness. “Christian, I’m not oblivious.”

He fell silent for a long moment, his large, calloused hand gripping mine, though his touch felt cold despite his natural warmth. “Luna Violeta, in seven years, I’ve never asked anything of you. Just this once, I’m pleading with you not to spread this around. Don’t let it hurt Emersyn’s reputation. I’m worried she can’t handle it.”

His sincere gaze, usually so commanding, now gripped my heart with a suffocating ache. This wasn’t a request he should make of me; he should be apologizing, not protecting her.

A person’s instinct doesn’t mislead. He hadn’t considered the embarrassment he caused by leaving me stranded at the marking ceremony. He hadn’t been concerned about my ending up in the healing center. All his thoughts were on Emersyn.

Tears fell like scattered pearls onto the white sheets, dotting them with dark spots. It took all my strength to whisper one word: “Okay.”

He relaxed visibly, his shoulders rising slightly as if a weight had been lifted. Then he added, “When Emersyn found out about the ceremony, she became destabilized. Let’s postpone it.”

“I need to be with her for treatment for now. Once she improves… maybe three months, just three months, and we can proceed, alright?” he suggested, his voice filled with caution, as if tiptoeing around a fragile truth.

I had waited seven years; surely three months shouldn’t matter. Yet observing his concern for someone else made even those three months feel unbearable.

The tiny life within me seemed to sense my turmoil and shifted slightly, a quiet reminder of the bond we once shared. I rested my hand on my abdomen, nurturing our pup—ours, yet distanced from him now.

Slowly, I withdrew my hand, my voice as calm and placid as a still pond. “Christian…”

“I may not have the best memory, but I recall when you handed me a love letter in the pack schoolyard at seventeen, so nervous you stumbled over your own feet.”

“I remember when you first held my hand, your palm sweaty, and you didn’t let go for three blocks.”

“I remember our Alpha ceremony day, when you promised to take care of me forever, vowed to make me the happiest Luna.”

“All these years, you remembered I don’t eat onions or garlic, that I sip herbal tea during my cycles, all my little quirks… I always believed I mattered most to you.”

I met his gaze, tears suddenly streaming down: “But today, I don’t feel your love…”

Memories from the past seven years flooded my mind, and Christian’s eyes grew red. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and a tear slipped down, a rare crack in his Alpha facade.

“But Luna Violeta, Emersyn needs me right now.”

The phrase “needs me” crushed my last glimmer of hope. Looking at him, I suddenly laughed through my tears: “Then go to her.”

He looked taken aback, as if not expecting those words. But in the end, he didn’t say anything and walked out of the healing center, his broad frame disappearing into the dimly lit hallway, leaving me alone with the shattered remnants of our bond.