Amazon’s office was near the pack’s private healing center, where I had been undergoing treatment. When I arrived, it was late afternoon, but the building was eerily quiet, with no one at the reception desk. The elevator took me to the top floor, directly to the Beta’s office.

The usual stark, utilitarian decor of the pack’s headquarters had been transformed with pastel balloons and flower petals. Strings of multicolored fairy lights hung everywhere. Pack members gathered, cheering, with Amazon and Vienna at the center, both smiling. Vienna wore a pink, Victorian-style dress topped with a hat shaped like a birthday cake, beaming with joy. They looked so perfect together, like a fairy-tale prince and princess from the Lycan Kingdom.

Vienna glanced up and noticed me, then looked at Amazon, her expression one of surprise. I stepped inside, breaking the celebratory atmosphere like an uninvited guest.

“Happy birthday, Vienna,” I said, my voice steady despite the tightness in my chest. Then I turned to Amazon. “Why didn’t you tell me it was Vienna’s birthday? I didn’t bring a gift.”

Before Amazon could respond, Vienna spoke up, her voice sweet and light, as she pulled out a pink scarf adorned with little teddy bears from behind her back.

“No need, Luna,” she said, her smile widening. “The Beta already gave me the best birthday present.”

I looked at the scarf, which was identical to the one around my neck, except for the color.

A chill swept over me, and I gazed at Amazon, a sense of melancholy settling in my chest. But Amazon merely gave Vienna a resigned smile.

“Don’t be upset, Mikayla,” he said, his tone dismissive. “Vienna saw your scarf last time and found out that I had knitted it, so she begged me for a long time.”

“I figured her birthday was coming up, so I made it for her.”

Vienna looked at me with wide, innocent eyes, the scarf clutched in her hands.

“Luna, you won’t be angry, right? I just thought this scarf suited me so well.” She wrapped the scarf around her neck, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Amazon.

Suppressing the nausea swirling in my stomach, I forced a smile. “Why would I be angry?”

I yanked the scarf from my neck, the fabric leaving a faint red mark, and casually walked over to Amazon. Carefully, I draped the scarf around his neck.

I then smiled at him, my voice soft but laced with bitterness. “See? You both wearing it together looks just right.”

Amazon frowned, his expression disapproving, and removed the scarf, handing it back to me.

“Mikayla, don’t make a scene. It’s Vienna’s birthday.”

I didn’t reach out to take it. It wasn’t special anymore, just like me.

With a steady gaze, I looked at Amazon, my voice calm but final. “I’m not making a scene, Beta. Congratulations to you both for a lifetime of happiness together.”

Without waiting for his response, I turned and left.

Funny, even though the first snowfall had stopped, I felt colder than ever. My wolf whimpered softly in the back of my mind, a quiet echo of the pain I refused to let surface. The scarf around my neck had once been a symbol of our mate bond, a promise of forever. Now, it felt like nothing more than a frayed piece of fabric, as fragile and fleeting as the happiness we had once shared.

When Amazon returned to our den that evening, he brought me a necklace. It was the latest design from a high-end brand, expensive and elegant, but not my style. There was a lingering scent of spiced honey cake clinging to him, sickly-sweet and unfamiliar.

"Don't be upset, my Luna," he said, his voice soft but insistent. "I've only ever thought of Vienna as a sister."

Amazon had grown up in the pack’s orphanage, and Vienna’s mother had been its caretaker. They’d been inseparable until Vienna’s father took her abroad when she was fifteen. Now, she was back, a Delta in the Blue Moon Pack, and Amazon’s childhood bond with her seemed to have only deepened.

"Mikayla, you’re my mate," he said, pulling me into a hug from behind. His warm chest pressed against my back, his alpha aura wrapping around me like a blanket. "You’re the one I’m bound to. Please, believe me, won’t you?"

So many times, I had believed him without hesitation. But now, I paused. The weight of his words felt hollow, as if the mate bond between us had been stretched thin, frayed by secrets and silences.

I took the necklace from him and went to wash up, saying nothing. When I returned, I found Amazon lounging on the couch, looking at ease as he chatted on the phone.

"You women just get each other, Vienna," he said, his voice light and amused. "The Luna really didn’t get upset."

"Yeah, Mikayla is amazing in every way," he continued, "just a bit prone to jealousy. Go easy on her."

I stood frozen, listening to their conversation. My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms until they went pale. When had things between us changed like this? When had our relationship become a game of deception, where my feelings were dismissed as mere jealousy?

I didn’t know the answer. I glanced at the necklace resting on the vanity, its silver chain gleaming under the soft light of the den. Without a second thought, I walked over and tossed it into the trash.

That night, my stomach ached, the pain sharp and unrelenting. I lay in bed, trying to stifle my groans as Amazon’s steady breathing filled the room. From the corner of my eye, I saw something gleaming in the darkness. The necklace lay in the trash, its faint silver light mocking me, just like my silent tears.

My wolf stirred within me, a low growl of pain and betrayal echoing in the depths of my mind. *He doesn’t see it,* she whispered, her voice heavy with sorrow. *He doesn’t see what he’s doing to you.*

I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall. The mate bond between us, once a source of strength and unity, now felt like a chain, binding me to a man who no longer saw me as his equal. And in the silence of the night, I wondered how much longer I could bear it.

I drifted into a hazy dream, returning to the year I turned eighteen. Back then, I was the perfect good girl, the pride of my parents, the Blue Moon Pack’s respected elders, and the pack’s young wolves. I was the future Luna, groomed to lead with grace and strength. Meanwhile, Amazon Morrison was a promising warrior but reckless and often at odds with the pack’s rules. Our lives seemed destined to run parallel without crossing—until fate thought otherwise.

That summer, I stumbled upon Amazon in the woods near our territory after a training session. He was caught up in a fight with rogues, his muscular frame battered and bloodied. He sat against a tree, his white T-shirt stained crimson around his abdomen. Hearing my footsteps, he looked up at me, his striking features barely visible beneath the bruises. I offered to help him up, but he growled at me, his alpha tone sharp and commanding, telling me tersely to leave him alone. Ignoring his words, his pale face from the blood loss compelled me. Determined, I helped him to his feet, supporting his towering, muscular frame step by step to the pack’s healing center.

I watched as the healer tended to his wounds, my presence lingering even after the worst of it was over. Sitting on the edge of the healer’s cot, he watched me with those piercing eyes, a tear-shaped mole at the corner shimmering slightly. He introduced himself slowly, his voice rough but steady, "Amazon Morrison."

I nodded, acknowledging him. As I turned to leave, his impatient voice stopped me. "What’s your name, Luna?"

"Mikayla Morrison," I replied, though the title felt strange coming from him. It was the first time he’d addressed me as Luna, but it wouldn’t be the last.

That was our first encounter.

Later, on a day when rogues cornered me in the woods after a training session, Amazon came to my rescue. His wolf form was massive, towering over the rogues with an aura that made them cower. With a relaxed air, he shifted back to human form and returned the favor I’d done for him, his deep voice carrying a hint of gratitude. For the next few days, he lingered near the training grounds, his presence a silent but unmistakable shield. He made sure the rogues—and everyone else—remembered that I was under his protection, untouchable by anyone else.

From then on, we gradually became closer. I’d occasionally bring him food during his patrols, like sandwiches and spiced honey cake, and he’d often walk me back to the pack house. When my parents, the elders of the pack, found out, they insisted I stop spending time with him. They warned me that Amazon’s recklessness and his bond with Vienna, a Delta in the pack, would only bring trouble. But for Amazon, I disobeyed them for the first time—like I would countless times afterward.

Even then, I could feel the tension between us and the pack’s expectations. Amazon’s closeness to Vienna was already a whispered topic among the pack, but I ignored it, just as I ignored the way my wolf stirred uneasily whenever she was near. I was too young, too naive, to see the cracks forming in the life I thought I was building.