Kyson said he loved me, but then he disappeared for 12 hours on my birthday. He was busy taking Jolie, a Delta warrior in his pack who had attempted suicide, to the hospital. I pleaded with him to stay, to not leave for another woman. He said he couldn’t make that promise. Later, when I was about to leave him for Bjorn, Kyson’s eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t hold his hand. That will drive me insane.” I smirked and shook my head, “I can’t make that promise.”

---

It was my birthday, and a light rain was falling outside the window. I cleaned the room, changed the flowers in the vase, put on a new dress, prepared an extravagant dinner, set the music, and looked toward the door, waiting for my mate, Kyson Roberts, the Alpha of the Silvercrest Pack, to come home. For ten years, ever since I was eighteen, Kyson had celebrated my birthday with me without fail. Even during crucial pack negotiations, he’d have Jolie, his Delta, reschedule to be with me.

But tonight, he didn’t come home. I couldn’t even reach him through the pack’s mind link. I started to feel anxious. Kyson had always assured me that celebrating my birthday together was a promise he’d never break. By eight in the evening, there was still no sign of him. Nervously, I decided to try contacting him through the human phone he insisted I keep for emergencies. Until this year, I could call him anytime. But as his responsibilities as Alpha grew, he got busier and asked me not to call before nine. “In case I’m in a meeting with the pack elders,” he’d say, after pulling me close, fingers entwined in my hair. I’d agreed.

My friends in the pack said Kyson’s behavior felt off and urged me to check on him, but I trusted him completely. I kept calling, but Kyson wouldn’t answer. I reheated the food, waited another thirty minutes, and called again. Still no answer. An hour later, I tried once more. Nothing.

Feeling increasingly anxious, I messaged him, “What’s going on? Are you okay? Should I call the pack’s warriors…” His response came instantly, “Don’t worry, I’m dealing with something. Don’t involve the pack.” It felt strange to me. He could answer a message right away but not take my call? I asked, “When will you be home? I’m waiting to have cake with you.” He didn’t reply.

My friends’ cautionary words echoed in my mind, “An Alpha can always make time for his mate unless he chooses not to.” I bit my lip. I’d always believed that whatever happened, Kyson wouldn’t deceive me. He knew he was the only family I had. I couldn’t bear a betrayal from him. I waited in the living room all night. He returned in the morning, after twelve hours.

He looked exhausted, didn’t offer an explanation, and just fell into bed. His clothes had a faint scent of blood and hospital disinfectant. I felt scared. He’d been so busy this past year that he no longer shared every detail with me. I worried he might be sick and hiding it. I wanted to ask him, but he was fast asleep. I decided to wash his clothes first.

As I emptied his pockets, a hospital admission slip fell out. It was for Jolie Montgomery, dated yesterday evening, from the trauma department. My heart sank. Jolie was Kyson’s Delta warrior. This year, even meeting him at the pack house required going through her. I recalled an occasion when Kyson and I had dinner plans, but a call from Jolie reminded him of a pack meeting, and he rushed back to the pack house. I didn’t feel strongly about Jolie, just that she seemed like a recent addition to the pack. I couldn’t imagine what kind of injury required him to stay at the hospital all night.

I sat in the living room, biting my lip, my mind blank. I tried to think rationally, hoping for the best, but unease gnawed at me. I remembered a past pack gathering; Kyson and I had planned to watch the pack run, and Jolie had accidentally joined us. As the run ended, Jolie looked at me and said, “Kalani, I envy your place by the Alpha’s side.”

Feeling restless, I scrolled through my phone aimlessly until a short video caught my eye. It showed a tall, muscular man—unmistakably an Alpha—rushing around an emergency room, paying bills, holding the hand of a girl being wheeled into the emergency room. His eyes were red, “Nina, you’ll be okay, I’m here.” The person who filmed it added in the comments, “Saw this at the ER. Couple had a fight, the girl got hurt, and the guy was crying. Seems they’re deeply in love, hope they make up soon…”

Kyson, the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, was all too aware of the impact his betrayal had on me. He knew the sting of being let down by those you trust the most, especially when you’ve built your world around them.

My father, once the Beta of the Crimson Fang Pack, claimed he loved me, but after my mother’s death, he remarried a Luna from another pack and had a new daughter, leaving me behind as if I were nothing more than a shadow of his past. My mother, before her passing, had always been distant, her love more words than actions. By the time I turned eighteen, their bond had shattered completely, and I was left to navigate life alone. Their divorce and my father’s new mate bond left me feeling orphaned, adrift in a world that no longer had a place for me.

That same year, Kyson made a promise, simple yet profound. On my eighteenth birthday, I sat on the edge of the pack’s training grounds, a small honey cake in my hands, its candles flickering weakly as tears rolled down my face. I wished silently for someone—anyone—to stay with me. Kyson, fresh from a sparring session with his warriors, walked by. His broad shoulders glistened with sweat, and his piercing gaze softened when he saw me crying. He approached, his presence commanding yet gentle, and said, "Kalani, I’ll spend every birthday with you from now on."

Back then, he was the embodiment of youthful strength and ambition, a bright spot in my otherwise dim life. He took me under his protection, and for ten years, he stayed by my side, his aura a constant shield against the loneliness that threatened to consume me.

During those years, we grew into our roles. I became an illustrator, my art a quiet rebellion against the expectations of an Omega. Kyson, however, rose swiftly through the ranks of his pack, his dominance and ambition undeniable. When he became Alpha, he asked me to quit my job and focus on our home. "Kalani," he said, his voice firm but tender, "I want us to bond. I want you to be my Luna, to focus on our pack and our future."

With my deep longing for a family, a need greater than most, I agreed. We moved into a house in the heart of the pack’s territory, and I settled into the role of Luna, though I often felt out of place among the stronger, more dominant wolves who surrounded Kyson. More than one pack member warned me that power could change a man, but I trusted Kyson implicitly. He was my anchor, my only connection to a world that had otherwise abandoned me. If he ever betrayed me, it would shatter me completely.

A sudden heaviness settled over me as I watched Kyson’s sleeping form, his chiseled features softened in rest, his long lashes casting shadows over his face. Even in sleep, his lips were drawn tight, as if something troubled him. What was he mourning? Was it Jolie, the Delta warrior who had become such a constant presence in his life, or was it the fact that he’d missed my birthday? I assumed it was the former. The thought made my chest tighten, and I turned away, my wolf whining softly in the back of my mind, a reminder of the bond that still tethered us together, even as it frayed at the edges.

I don’t smoke.

Kyson does.

I used to think about getting the Alpha to quit, but that morning, I found myself in the living room at dawn, glaring at the ridiculous spiced honey cake on the table, topped with two adorable little figures. I picked up a cigarette from the coffee table and lit it.

Smoking is awful. I barely took a puff before I was coughing my lungs out, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.

The sound of my coughing woke Kyson. He emerged from the bedroom, his broad frame filling the doorway, his pale face shadowed with exhaustion. His dark eyes narrowed at the cigarette butt on the coffee table. "Kalani, are you smoking?"

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Hair a mess, face ghostly—a picture of a woman on the edge. Maybe that's what I was becoming. An Omega, broken and discarded, clinging to the remnants of a bond that was unraveling.

Turning to the Alpha, I asked, "Where were you last night?"

"One of my pack members fell ill, and I took them to the hospital," he said, his voice flat, commanding, the way an Alpha’s should be. But it lacked the warmth it once held for me.

"Did it take all night? Don’t they have family or friends?"

Kyson was silent. His classic move when he didn’t want to lie but didn’t want to tell the truth either. The silence of an Alpha who knew his word was law, who knew I had no right to question him.

I pulled out my phone and opened a video. "This pack member?"

He glanced at the screen, his muscular frame tensing visibly. After a moment, he nodded. "Yes."

My mind went blank, a dull hum filling my head. Unsteady, I stumbled backward, hitting the wall.

Kyson reached out to steady me, his grip firm, but I pulled away. I looked at his long fingers—the same ones that once led me down the aisle, but last night, they held on tight to someone else. Someone who wasn’t his mate.

Tears slipped silently down my cheeks, landing on his hand.

"Alpha," I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, "when did it start?"

He stayed silent. Once again, that silence. The silence of an Alpha who didn’t owe me an explanation, who held all the power in our bond.

I looked up, searching his face, but he avoided my gaze. We stood there, frozen in the harsh bathroom light, the tension between us as thick as the Alpha’s aura.

It wasn't until I swayed again, nearly losing my balance, that Kyson moved to support me. "Nothing happened; you’re reading too much into it," he tried to assure me, his voice softer now, but still edged with authority.

Kyson had never lied to me before, so his attempt was awkward and unconvincing. An Alpha’s word was supposed to be absolute, but even he couldn’t mask the cracks in our bond.

I closed my eyes briefly. "Alpha, from day one, I told you I couldn't handle being deceived. You can hurt me, but don’t lie to me."

The tears wouldn’t stop falling as Kyson reached out to wipe them away, his fingers cold against my skin.

After a while, he nodded. "A year ago," he admitted, voice raspy. "A year ago, I felt something."

"I'm sorry, Kalani. I couldn’t control it."

His apology hung in the air, heavy and hollow. The Alpha, the man who was supposed to protect me, to cherish me, had betrayed the bond the Moon Goddess had forged between us. And now, in the dim light of our home, I felt the weight of his betrayal pressing down on me, crushing the last remnants of the love I had for him.