A Goodbye Five Years Too Late

After finding out I was going to leave Andrew Selwyn, Selena Jones was shocked.

"But you've been with him for five years! Just because you wanted to be with him, you cut ties with your family and even joined another pack. Now that you're finally going to become his mate, you…"

Her voice broke. "What on earth did he do to you to make you leave him right away?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "He's made way too many charming promises, and I bought them all. But in the end, he was the one who went back on his word."

Yet, Selena seemed relieved. "Good on you for leaving him. He's just an irresponsible scumbag.

"Honestly, you have no idea how popular you are. That idiot has no idea how amazing you are! I bet he'll definitely regret it after you leave him."

I clenched my fists and wondered if he would ever regret this decision.

All these years, I never doubted his love.

He'd been working hard all along just to be worthy of me, and we'd agreed to hold our bonding ceremony five years later.

He rose from being an ordinary pack warrior to becoming the Beta of our pack. The first thing he did after earning that title was propose to me.

To gain my parents' blessing, he crossed the dangerous Wild Nest time and again, making the long journey to their ancient pack to ask for forgiveness.

I always believed that he loved me deeply. Even when his first love, Lucy Grimm, returned, I never once doubted it.

A month ago, Andrew was officially appointed Beta. On that exact day, he announced at the ceremony that we would have our bonding ceremony a month later.

I thought he'd finally let Lucy go.

To reassure me, he paid even more attention to me after Lucy rejoined the pack.

During my wedding dress fitting, he'd kneel to help me put on my shoes and post pictures of me on Instagram, gushing over how stunning I was. He'd also spend a fortune at an auction to buy the pair of rings I liked. This even went viral on Wolfnet.

He'd planned a grand proposal, getting down on one knee under the full moon and asking me to be his mate.

That night, he whispered many sweet things into my ear.

He said he'd personally invite my parents. Even if they cursed or hit him, he'd beg them to come and witness our ceremony.

He also said we'd have a bunch of pups, that he'd plant moonflowers in our yard just for me, and that he'd cook for me every day and make sure I was healthy and well-fed.

I fell asleep in his arms. But when I woke up in the middle of the night, he was gone.

For some reason, panic crept over me.

When I finally found him in the living room, he was quietly flipping through an old photo album. I recognized that album—it was filled with photos of him and Lucy.

They had grown up together and were once childhood sweethearts, sharing a deep bond.

But I never let it bother me. After all, Andrew had been nothing but wonderful to me for the past five years.

And yet now, I couldn't lie to myself anymore. The man I'd been with for five years still seemed to be clinging to his first love.

Tears rolled down my cheeks. Those five years suddenly felt like a cruel joke.

So it turned out he'd never truly forgotten about Lucy.

I went back to my room, and he didn't return to bed the entire night.

When Andrew showed up the next day, he brought me a pair of sapphire earrings. Why did he suddenly give me a gift?

I looked at him in confusion, but he avoided my gaze.

"Evie," he said, his voice low. "There's something I need to tell you. Thank you for staying by my side all these years. I thought I'd be with you forever, but…"

My blood ran cold. I already knew what he was going to say.

"When Lucy came back, I became confused," he continued. "I kept thinking about her… I hate this. This isn't even fair to you.

"Evie, can you give me a week? I'd like to pursue Lucy again. I don't want to have any regrets. Besides, I don't want to mark you when my heart is obviously somewhere else.

"I swear if I can't get back together with her, I'll move on completely. I'll only stay loyal to you from then on."

Andrew seemed sincere, as if he was letting me make a choice. But I knew I had none. If I refused, it meant that I was fine with him thinking about Lucy all the time in the future.

Forcing back my tears, I flashed a warm smile at him. "You know how much I love you. Why would I stop you from pursuing happiness? If you actually got back together with Lucy, I'd definitely give you my blessing."

Perhaps I'd appeared overly empathetic. He suddenly pulled me into his arms and gave me a twirl.

"Evie, thank you so much for understanding and supporting me."

I walked him out and smiled at him. "I hope everything goes well for you."