2

The VIP waiting area at the werewolf medical center felt heavy, like you couldn't breathe.

I forced myself to sit on one of the cold benches. Then Lily walked over. That Omega scent of hers, right then, it smelled like rotten honey.

"You must be Sophia, right? Alex's... uh, destined mate." Her eyes were still a little teary, looking all pitiful. "Thank you so much, really, for agreeing to this ritual."

"It's werewolf law," I said calmly, not looking at her.

Lily sat down across from me, making a show of dabbing her eyes. "You know, Alex is just so, so good to me."

I didn't say anything, just stared at the closed doors of the operating room way down the hall.

"He had a special perfume made just for me, with my pheromones. Hired the most famous perfumer on the whole continent. Said he wanted to use morning dew from the highest snowy peaks and the soul of moonflowers to make a scent that was totally unique in the world, just for me." Lily's voice was full of pride she wasn't even trying to hide. "The perfumer said it was the most romantic request he'd ever gotten. Just collecting the stuff and mixing it took him a whole three months."

That perfume. Alex had "given" me a bottle last year for my birthday. Just casually said it was "some little thing he picked up at an auction."

So, it was her leftovers.

"Oh, and," Lily seemed to be lost in a sweet memory, her face flushing happily, "I remember this one time, during my heat, I locked myself in my room and wouldn't see anyone. He stayed outside my door the entire night, didn't move an inch, just in case something happened to me."

My heart felt like an invisible hand had grabbed it and was squeezing, then tearing it apart.

That night. I remembered it crystal clear.

Two winters ago. Alex said he was going up north to deal with pack business, for at least three days. But then he showed up in my bedroom late that same night, smelling like the cold outside.

He didn't say anything, just silently, roughly, left mark after mark on my neck, like he wanted to swallow me whole.

And I was stupid enough to think he was finally starting to care about me, starting to need me.

Turns out, I was just a convenient replacement when he couldn't get what he wanted elsewhere.

"You look so pale. Are you feeling okay?" Lily asked, pretending to be concerned, but there was this little glint of triumph in her eyes.

"I'm fine." I forced a smile that felt worse than crying.

"Oh! Right!" Lily suddenly perked up, like she'd just remembered something, and excitedly pulled out her phone. "For the past three years, Alex has written me an email love letter every single day. Never missed one. He said it's his way of missing me. Look, here's this morning's."

She turned her phone screen to me. It clearly showed:

"My dearest Lily. Spring is almost here. When the snow melts, let's go see the cherry blossoms in the Moonlight Forest, okay? Forever loving you, Alex."

Sent: Today, 7:15 AM.

At that exact time, he’d been sitting across from me, drinking the oatmeal milk I’d made him, his expression as blank as always.

"A whole three years, you know. Hasn't missed a single day," Lily said, pulling her phone back, her eyes filling with touched tears. Her voice was dripping with irony. "He said that writing to me every day makes him feel like I'm still right there with him. Even though, because I was mad at him, I never replied to a single one."

It felt like a giant rock was crushing my chest. I could barely breathe. My vision started to go black around the edges.

His heart, from the very beginning, only ever had room for Lily.

"Look! Alex's post from yesterday!" Lily was still babbling, wiping her tears, then excitedly shoving her phone in my face again.

In the photo, Alex was holding Lily gently. They were hugging close under a sunset, Lily smiling like an angel, snuggled into his strong chest.

The caption read: [The Moon Goddess is my witness, you are my only one for life.]

Below it, there were dozens of comments from their mutual friends, all saying how perfect and in love they looked together.

She kept scrolling. "This was last month, when we went on vacation to Moonlight Lake. And this one, he was helping me pick out a dress. Oh, and this picture was taken when he personally put the Moon Festival crown on my head..."

In every single photo, Alex was smiling. A real, warm smile that came from deep inside.

So, he wasn't just naturally cold and never smiled. He just… never smiled at me.

"It's about time. I should go check on my mom," Lily said, standing up. She looked down at me, her eyes cold. "Sophia, honestly, I really admire how you've stuck it out these three years. If it were me, I could never stand sharing my Alpha with someone else, not even for a day."

I pulled out my own phone, my hands shaking, and opened Alex's social media page.

Besides yesterday's lovey-dovey photo with Lily, and some older, generic posts about pack business, I scrolled back through three whole years of his updates.

Not a single picture of me. Not one word mentioning me.

Three years of being "mates," and in his world, I was like an invisible ghost, like I never even existed.

My phone suddenly buzzed. Another new post notification.

It was from Alex. Just posted.

The photo was of his and Lily's hands, clasped together. Lily was wearing a huge moonstone ring on her finger. That ring used to be my mother's, something she left me. Three years ago, he took it, saying "Lily likes it."

The caption was short and final: "My Luna, my everything. Protecting you is my only mission in life."

The words blurred through my tears. But my heart, in the middle of all that pain, was getting clearer and clearer.

These past three years, everything I’d done for him, all the careful little things, all the times I’d swallowed my pride – it was all just one big, stupid joke.

From now on, I could only, and would only, love myself.