Chapter One

The Knowing That Broke Me

Rissa's Pov

There's a saying that when you find your fated mate, your soul sings and your heart continually leaps for joy. Mine went quiet the moment I opened the door.

I wished I never did.

The scent hit me hard that I couldn't ignore as I walked through the corridor of Josh's quarters— it was rose and musk.

Sweet.

Sultry.

So feminine.

But obviously it wasn't mine.

Then I drew closer to his room door and heard loud sounds. They were not just sounds but moans. The voice sounded quite familiar and really…vile.

I stood there frozen at every sound that passed through my ears. The gift of Knowing humming in my blood and it was undoubting. I just knew all that was happening even before I saw it. I always did even when I didn't want to. That was the curse that clung to my skin—Knowing. But I couldn't seem to get it off me even when I wanted to.

My heart cracked but I eventually stepped into the room. I didn't have a choice and couldn't pretend like I never heard.

Josh. My husband. My fated mate. The one I believe the Moon Goddess carved out my bones and soul. I believed he was the most perfect companion for me. But there he was with her—Teressa. My forsaken step-sister. The one who used to comfort me whenever I cried, who called me "half-blood" behind closed doors and “sister” when anyone watched. It just dawned on me that it was all a lie. She was initially the one causing my pains and still the one pretending to heal my wounds.

He was so firm right behind her in bed. Hands clutching her hips. His lips pressed to her shoulder with so much tenderness. His eyes—those eyes that I love—met mine at the exact moment his release tore through him.

The moment got me frozen even more than I was before.

I didn’t say a word. I didn't scream. I didn’t cry. I didn’t break the vase by the doorway like a dramatic Luna from some storybook would have. I just stood there and watched. I could feel my heart crumble piece by piece like dry parchment in the wind.

Teressa gasped in shock, as she immediately covered herself like modesty mattered now. Josh didn’t even flinch like he was caught. His expression was blank, and so unreadable.

“Rissa…” His voice held no guilt. Just pure irritation like I had ruined a private moment. A moment he wasn't ready to trade it for anything in the world, not even me.

I had a knowing rush down my mind again, it was really sharp and cruel.

He was going to reject me. The reality I feared the most was about to happen right before my eyes.

I immediately went away before the bile could rise and could become my reality. I rushed out of the room and out of the house, down the path, past pack members who offered polite nods and looked quite skeptical seeing that I had run out of the house that way, but they were unaware their Alpha had just shattered the Luna they barely respected.

The wind burned my eyes as I ran, Or maybe that was just the work of tears.

Why didn’t I see this part coming? I could feel the surge or regret and hurt pierce through my heart. How could I have this gift, this cursed Knowing, and still I could not stop this?

Just maybe it's because deep down, I really didn't want to know.

I felt it’s better not to Know sometimes, a voice inside me whispered. It hurts less that way.

I didn’t stop running until I reached the training grounds, which seemed to be empty at this hour. I collapsed by the old oak tree, the one Josh once carved our initials into the night of our mating ceremony. It was a beautiful piece of our memories together.

J + R = Forever.

Silly!

What a sick joke.

I hit it hard with so much pain in my heart.

Then I could hear some footsteps approach me and I didn't need my Knowing to identify them, I knew it was him. I always felt him before I saw him. His bond still burned in me, though he had just turned the fire to ice.

“Rissa,” Josh said.

I didn’t respond. I just couldn't, my heart was heavy.

Deep down I felt he wanted to apologise for what he had done. We have been coming along for so many years and I don't feel he would want to wash it down the drain for my half-blood sister.

“Rissa” he called my name again then he hesitated before he spoke.

“I’ve called a pack meeting,” he said, voice clipped, formal.

“For our own good.” He added as he looked away.

I finally turned to him, brushing a fallen leaf off my lap. I couldn't believe my ears, he was just about to reject me “So it’s true. Josh, You’re rejecting me.”

After all we have built over the years, and for the first time I felt like he would probably feel sorry for what he had done but my knowing was always right.

How stupid to think of such…

He didn’t deny it. His eyes said all the words he wasn't saying “You’re not… what I need anymore.”

I flinched like he’d slapped me. “You needed me enough to mark me. You mated me. You even married me.”

“That was all a mistake.”

He was just about to let three years go in three words.

“I reject you”

I rose to my feet, not trusting my legs. “You didn’t even care to tell me in private? You didn't even find it fit to tell me before you went ahead with my step sister. That's cruel!”

His jaw clenched and he really didn't care about how I looked. “You deserve to hear it with the pack present.”

“So they can witness my humiliation?” tears began rolling down my eyes.

He stood there quietly.

Fine.

Let them.

—

Not so long before I had spoken, the pack members gathered. The gathering was swift. Word traveled so fast in the Black Moon Pack. When the Alpha summons, no one dares to disobey.

Josh stood on the raised stone dais close to the oak tree, the ceremonial fire was immediately lit behind him casting flickering shadows across his too-handsome face. Teressa immediately stood close beside him in a crimson dress that clung like sin.

And there I was standing alone.

“Members of the Black Moon Pack,” Josh began, his voice firm and unwavering with emotions. “As your Alpha, I must act in the best interest of our future. I, Josh Black, hereby reject Rissa Colin as my mate and Luna.”

Everyone Gasped and began chattering, Whispers, Murmurs filled the place.

A ripple of shock. No one ever saw it coming.

I felt every eye on me.

Some were judging.

Some Pitying.

While some were just curious.

Of course I was the half-human Luna. Barely accepted by the packhouse. Barely tolerated by everyone. Now I had become the rejected one.

I stepped forward, with my heart pounding.

The crowd held their breath awaiting my response.

If I rejected his rejection, the bond would fight it. It could kill me even faster than poison. But if I accepted… I’d live. Broken, but alive.

Josh didn’t flinch. He didn’t beg. He didn’t care if I was hurting.

“I, Rissa Colin,” I said, my voice cracking but loud enough to be heard, “accept your rejection, Alpha.”

A shudder ran through me. The bond—once warm and buzzing in my chest—ripped from me like torn flesh. I just couldn't believe all that just happened, but I guess it was now my reality.

Pain lanced through my spine. I gasped, clutching my heart as my knees hit the cold stone.

It was done.

There was what was left of me.

A rejected mate.

A broken Luna.

A half-blood with nothing left.

Josh didn’t look at me. Not once as though I irritated him that much. Teressa smirked, like she’d won a prize. Maybe she had, obviously, my once fated mate.

I rose slowly, every bone screaming.

And I walked in shame and humiliation.

Past the shocked faces.

Past the whispers.

Past the man I loved and the half sister who betrayed me.

I didn’t cry.

That was the only good thing I could do for myself at the moment. Not cry.

I know I would burn those tears later—one by one—until there was nothing left of the girl who once believed in fate.

Tonight, I would drown her.

I just have to.

Tonight, I would forget I ever knew love.