Chapter 3

After packing my belongings, I took one last stroll through Red Stone pack.

The streets buzzed with excitement over the Alpha's upcoming mating ceremony. The entire pack was immersed in a festive celebration. I walked aimlessly like an outsider, until I unconsciously found myself at the central square.

My steps stopped abruptly.

Before my eyes, the center of the square bloomed with massive spreads of fiery red petals. Under the carefully arranged string lights, they blazed magnificently in the night like burning flames, so brilliant they hurt to look at.

Cosmos flowers.

The exact vision I had described to him countless times - my dream of what our bonding ceremony should look like.

My chest felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer. Dull pain instantly swept through my entire body. I could barely stay standing.

In this barren, desolate land of Red Stone pack, keeping even an ordinary flower alive was nearly impossible, let alone these delicate cosmos that required careful nurturing and specific soil conditions. It had once been my impossible dream.

"Aria, don't worry," Damon's voice from memory echoed with the passion and determination unique to youth, as if sounding right in my ear.

"No matter what it costs, I'll make it happen! I'll make sure the entire Red Stone pack sees our ceremony covered in the most vibrant cosmos flowers! My love for you will be like them - eternal, never extinguished!"

He had actually done it. Just not for me.

I shook my head, cutting off the memories, and looked up to see Damon and Serena walking in this direction.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

I trembled, my eyes rimming red.

"Beautiful." Serena immediately clutched Damon's hand like a cheerful little bird, practically melting against his side.

Her face showed undisguised triumph and happiness. "Damon! It's absolutely gorgeous! I never imagined you would really... go to such lengths for me! This must have been so difficult, right?"

She gazed up at him adoringly, completely satisfied, as if she were the most beloved princess in the world.

This should have been my flower sea. This should have been the promise fulfilled for me.

If what he said was true - that the bonding was just to break the curse, an unavoidable "responsibility" and "sacrifice" - then what did this expensive, lovingly crafted cosmos garden represent? These meticulously planned ceremony details? These romantic gestures that went far beyond mere "life-saving" into pure courtship?

Damon approached with a deeply furrowed brow, his voice urgent with worry.

"Aria, it really is you."

"It's so late. Why are you out here alone? You didn't even bring a Gamma guard. What if you encountered danger?"

Seeing his anxious expression, my eyes held no warmth whatsoever.

"Alpha, how I am seems to have nothing to do with you."

"You're about to become mates with my sister. Isn't it inappropriate for you to still show such concern for me?"

Damon's face went rigid.

He looked at me with darkened eyes, seemingly wounded by my words.

Serena intimately linked her arm through his, hiding smugness in her eyes as she laughed sweetly.

"Sister, Damon and I are about to hold our mating ceremony and become true mates. He loves me so much, and love extends to caring about those connected to me. Isn't his concern for you only natural?"

"Don't you think these cosmos flowers are beautiful? I remember you love them too. Damon spent a fortune having them air-shipped from Asia specifically for our mating ceremony. What do you think?"

My expression remained flat as I smiled lightly.

"Beautiful."

"The Alpha put a lot of thought into this for you."

Damon looked down with shifty eyes, perhaps remembering I had lost my memory, then raised his head to look at me.

"This is all what I should do. If you like them too, I'll have someone send you some."

I looked at him calmly.

"No need. There's no relationship between us. What would it mean for you to send me flowers? If other wolves found out, they'd say inappropriate things."

In the night, Damon's face went paper-white. He stared at me blankly, unable to utter another word.

I turned around.

"I won't disturb you two any longer. I'm leaving."

Before I finished speaking, a violent explosion suddenly thundered through the square.