Chapter 3: Already Gone

Azerbel had imagined this moment a thousand times.

But never like this.

Never with Guerero sitting beside another woman.

Never with him unable to look her in the eyes.

And never...

with him choosing someone else.

"This is Ruby," Guerero said.

His voice was low.

Heavy.

"The woman I mentioned in my letter."

Azerbel's chest tightened.

What letter?

Her mind searched desperately.

Every letter he had ever sent.

Every word.

Every promise.

But she couldn't remember a single mention of Ruby.

Not one.

Guerero swallowed hard.

Then he forced himself to continue.

"I..."

He paused.

His hands tightened together.

As if the words themselves hurt.

"I will take her as my chosen mate."

Everything stopped.

The room.

The air.

Azerbel's heartbeat.

For a second, she forgot how to breathe.

Chosen mate?

The words hit her like a blow.

Sharp.

Crushing.

Pain exploded in her chest.

The world around her faded.

The room disappeared.

The people.

The voices.

Gone.

There was only Guerero.

And the impossible thing he had just said.

Azerbel sat frozen.

She waited for him.

Believed in him.

Loved him.

For an entire year.

And now...

he chose someone else.

Was she that easy to forget?

Did she mean so little to him?

He didn't even say her name.

Not once.

Luna Lorraine's grip tightened around her hand.

Trying to steady her.

Trying to keep her together.

But Azerbel already felt herself falling apart.

Breaking.

Cracking from the inside.

"What about me?"

Her voice came out weak.

Shaking.

The words barely sounded human.

Guerero flinched.

The movement was small.

But Azerbel saw it.

"What am I to you now?"

Tears blurred her vision.

She didn't wipe them away.

Not anymore.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Her throat burned.

But the questions kept coming.

Fast.

Messy.

Desperate.

"Who is she?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't I know?"

Her body trembled.

Her heartbeat raced painfully.

Nothing about this felt real.

How did it come to this?

How did a year of love end in a single sentence?

Guerero took a deep breath.

Slow.

Heavy.

Like even breathing had become difficult.

Then finally...

he looked at her.

Their eyes met.

And Azerbel's heart twisted.

Because this wasn't the Guerero she remembered.

The man sitting in front of her looked lost.

Like he hadn't slept in weeks.

Like he was drowning and didn't know how to save himself.

His eyes were filled with emotions she had never seen before.

Guilt.

Shame.

Fear.

And something else.

Something that looked dangerously close to regret.

It was almost as if he wanted her to understand.

As if he was begging for forgiveness...

without having the courage to ask for it.

But Azerbel couldn't understand.

Not this.

Never this.

"What is happening?" she whispered.

Then louder.

"What is happening?"

Her voice echoed through the study.

Broken.

Desperate.

Like she was begging for answers she wasn't ready to hear.

Guerero's hands clenched.

His knuckles turned white.

He opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Tried again.

Nothing came out.

He couldn't say it.

He couldn't face her.

The silence stretched painfully.

Until,

"You must be Azerbel."

Ruby spoke.

Her voice was calm.

Too calm.

Too controlled.

Azerbel slowly turned to her.

Ruby looked at her with quiet eyes.

There was no cruelty there.

No victory.

But there wasn't warmth either.

Only pity.

And somehow...

that hurt even more.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said softly.

"But things..."

She glanced at Guerero.

Then lowered her eyes.

"...didn't go the way we planned."

Azerbel's chest tightened.

We.

Not he.

We.

The word landed heavily inside her.

Ruby took a breath.

"Right now," she continued gently,

"Guerero has to take responsibility."

Azerbel frowned.

Responsibility?

The word echoed in Azerbel's mind.

Responsibility.

And suddenly...

for the first time that night...

she was terrified to learn what Ruby meant.

The word landed hard.

Cold.

Heavy.

Everything inside Azerbel went still.

Because deep down...

a terrible feeling was already taking shape.

Something was very, very wrong.

The room seemed to tilt.

The faces around her blurred.

Every second stretched painfully.

"What kind of responsibility...?" Azerbel asked.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Luna Lorraine tightened her grip on her hand.

Like she was trying to hold Azerbel together before she shattered.

But Azerbel was already breaking apart.

Piece by piece.

Guerero pressed his lips together.

Tight.

His jaw clenched.

Still...

he wouldn't look at her.

Not now.

Not even now.

And suddenly Azerbel understood.

He wasn't going to answer.

Not because he didn't know how.

Because he didn't have the courage.

So Ruby answered for him.

"I'm pregnant with the Alpha's first child."

The words sliced through the room.

Calm.

Clear.

Final.

Ruby's voice didn't shake.

She looked prepared.

Like she had rehearsed this moment a hundred times.

"I'm sorry you found out this way," she continued softly.

"But it's the truth."

Everything inside Azerbel shattered.

Pregnant?

The word echoed endlessly in her mind.

Her ears rang.

Her chest ached.

His child?

No.

No.

That couldn't be right.

Azerbel couldn't breathe.

The air disappeared from her lungs.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too hot.

Too crowded.

Her gaze slowly dropped.

To Ruby's stomach.

Flat.

Barely showing.

Still early.

And somehow...

that realization hurt even more.

Because it meant,

Azerbel stopped herself.

No.

She couldn't think it.

But her heart already had.

He had been with Ruby...

while writing to her.

Those letters.

The ones she read over and over.

The ones she slept beside.

The ones she kissed when she missed him too much.

I miss you.

I love you.

I can't wait to come home.

Azerbel closed her eyes.

The memories burned.

Had he been lying then?

Or was he lying now?

Which version of Guerero was real?

The man who promised forever?

Or the man sitting beside another woman carrying his child?

Her chest burned.

How could he do this?

How could he make her believe in something so beautiful...

while destroying it in secret?

Azerbel felt her world cracking apart.

Not all at once.

But slowly.

Cruelly.

Like glass breaking beneath her feet.

Still...

she refused to cry.

Not here.

Not in front of them.

Not in front of him.

"How long?" she asked.

Her voice was low.

Shaking.

But there was something sharp beneath it now.

Something wounded.

"How long have you known?"

She looked at Alpha Dave.

Then Luna Lorraine.

Lorraine was crying quietly now.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

She looked at Azerbel with so much sorrow...

that Azerbel almost looked away.

Because suddenly...

she wasn't only losing Guerero.

She was losing the family she thought she had.

No one answered.

The silence twisted painfully inside her.

Until,

"Two months."

Alpha Dave finally spoke.

His voice was heavy.

Filled with guilt.

Two months.

The words echoed inside Azerbel's mind.

Two months.

They knew.

Luna Lorraine knew.

Alpha Dave knew.

Guerero knew.

Everyone knew.

Everyone...

except her.

Azerbel slowly turned toward Guerero.

For the first time that night...

the pain in her chest was no longer the worst part.

t was the realization that while Azerbel spent two months waiting for Guerero to come home...

the people she loved had spent those same two months hiding the truth from her.

They let her wait.

Let her hope.

Let her dream.

Let her believe...

she was still his.

Something inside Azerbel snapped.

She pulled her hand away from Luna Lorraine.

Hard.

Lorraine gasped softly.

But Azerbel was already on her feet.

Her chest felt too tight.

Too heavy.

Like she was drowning in front of everyone.

She couldn't stay there.

Not another second.

She turned and walked out.

Fast.

The tears she fought all night finally blurred her vision.

She wiped them away angrily.

She would not cry.

Not because of him.

Not anymore.

"Azerbel!"

Guerero's voice echoed behind her.

Loud.

Urgent.

Footsteps followed.

Then,

A hand grabbed her arm.

He turned her around.

Forced her to face him.

The moment Azerbel saw him, something inside her twisted.

Because he looked desperate.

Not sorry.

Not heartbroken.

Desperate.

"Don't be like this," Guerero said quickly.

"We can talk about this."

Talk?

Azerbel stared at him.

Then she laughed.

A bitter, broken laugh.

"What is there to talk about?!"

Her voice cracked.

"You got another woman pregnant!"

The words echoed through the empty hallway.

Guerero flinched.

Azerbel's hands trembled.

She wanted to hit him.

Wanted to scream.

Wanted to ask him why she wasn't enough.

But she was too angry to ask.

Too hurt to beg.

"It was a mistake!" Guerero shot back.

His voice rose for the first time.

"You weren't there!"

The words struck her.

"I was lonely!"

And suddenly...

everything went quiet.

Azerbel just stared at him.

The pain didn't come all at once.

It spread slowly.

Ugly.

Poisonous.

So...

that was his reason.

Lonely.

A year.

She waited for him for a year.

Prayed for him.

Kept every letter.

Loved him from afar.

And his answer was,

I was lonely.

A bitter smile appeared on Azerbel's face.

It didn't reach her eyes.

"Do you want me to go to war next time?" she asked quietly.

"So you won't feel lonely?"

Guerero froze.

Azerbel took a shaky breath.

"Is that what you expect from me?"

Her voice trembled.

Not from weakness.

From heartbreak.

From disbelief.

From finally seeing the truth.

She looked at him.

Really looked at him.

The man in front of her had Guerero's face.

Guerero's voice.

Guerero's eyes.

But somehow...

he didn't feel like her mate anymore.

He felt like a stranger.

Someone she didn't understand.

Someone she couldn't trust.

Someone who chose comfort...

while she chose faith.

Azerbel pressed a hand against her chest.

The mate bond was still there.

She could feel it.

But for the first time in her life...

she wished she couldn't.

Because the man she loved was standing right in front of her.

And somehow...

losing him now hurt far more

than spending a year afraid he might die.