Chapter 2

Thea's POV

The next day was the Spring Hunt Festival.

I sat in a corner, lost in thought, when someone gently ran a hand through my hair.

"Still mad at me?" Cedric placed a beautiful bow beside me and winked. "Consider it an apology."

He shrugged and said, "Don't laugh at me. It's the first time I've ever picked out a bow for someone. Rowena gave me plenty of advice before I finally settled on this one for you."

I instinctively reached for the bow, but before I could say anything, Rowena called from nearby.

"Cedric, come here!"

Cedric immediately hurried over. He took the bow from Rowena, wrapped an arm around her, and corrected her stance.

Rowena glanced at me with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Thea. You know I've never been good with a bow. I had to ask Cedric for help."

I watched the two of them laughing together in the distance.

I was the one who had taught them both how to shoot.

Rowena had been my classmate at the academy. She'd been clever ever since we were pups. While I was struggling over the words in our textbooks, she'd already memorized everything by heart.

I thought I was stupid. In fact, I secretly cried over it more times than I could count, and Rowena even caught me doing it.

Back then, she comforted me, saying, "Everyone has something they're good at. You're always at the top of our combat classes. Come on, teach me!"

She pulled me off the ground and begged until I agreed to teach her archery.

And then, there was Cedric.

When we first met, he was nearly bitten in the throat by a wild beast that had gone berserk. I drew my bow and killed the beast before teaching him how to shoot.

Cedric said, "You know what, Thea? When you showed up in front of me that day, you were more beautiful than the moon."

And now, the two of them were sharing the same bow.

Cedric looked at Rowena. "You've put all your talent into learning how to manage the pack. You're nothing like Thea. She's wasted her brains learning all this useless stuff."

With that, they turned and walked away.

A pack member came over and stood beside me. "Rowena and Alpha Cedric really are perfect for each other. They look good together no matter what."

I tightened my grip around the bow and walked onto the hunting grounds.

Hunting was the traditional event of the Spring Hunt Festival. I shut out everything else and focused on finding targets. One by one, my arrows struck their marks, and the pile of game grew larger and larger.

Rowena called out with a laugh. "Don't finish the competition so quickly, Thea!"

She raised her bow and began shooting faster.

Then, a sudden scream rang out beside me, followed by the roar of a wild beast. The image of Cedric nearly being mauled when we first met flashed through my mind.

My body reacted before my brain could catch up. I turned toward the sound, only to be knocked to the ground by the beast, which was struggling madly as it clung to dear life.

I killed it in a panic.

Pain tore through my whole body. I instinctively looked toward Cedric.

He was carrying Rowena in his arms and running back toward the others, calling for a healer anxiously. He never looked at me. Not even once.

Mom took me home to treat my wounds. When I was applying ointment to my leg, Cedric pushed open the door. There was a cut across his face.

My heart clenched, and I instinctively said, "Your face—"

He frowned and cut me off. "Thea, when will you stop? Rowena considers you her best friend. How could you hurt her like that?"

I stared at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

He said with displeasure, "If you hadn't been so determined to prove yourself, would she have done something so reckless? Are you happy now that she's injured?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

So that was how he saw me.

I lowered my head and continued applying the ointment, but tears blurred my vision until I was smearing it everywhere.

I heard a soft sigh. Then, the bottle was taken from my hand.

Cedric wiped away my tears and carefully applied the ointment to my wounds. He wrapped them in fresh gauze, his movements gentle.

He said helplessly, "You got yourself hurt too. Was it worth it? I only missed out on the mating ceremony with you this once, and you threw such a huge tantrum. You even got Rowena hurt."

"It wasn't once. It was three years," I said, looking at him.

He didn't say anything else. After he was done bandaging my wounds, he left.

And so, I went back to packing.

Rowena came in carrying a drink in her hand. She stopped when she saw me.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

I replied, "Packing. I'm leaving."

The door was suddenly thrown open. Cedric strode inside with a dark expression.

He was carrying a beautifully packaged box of pastries from a trendy bakery. They were a limited-edition item that had to be reserved in advance.

He scolded, "Thea, there's a limit to how far you can take a tantrum!"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum." I took out my phone and showed him my plane ticket.

Cedric snatched my phone from my hand and slammed it against the floor. "Do you really think I won't get angry with you?"

The room fell silent.

I picked up my phone. "Cedric, we're done."

"Thea…" Cedric's voice was hoarse. "I know you said that in the heat of the moment. I'll pretend I never heard you say that. If you ever say something like this again..."

I looked at him, feeling strangely calm. "I'm serious. We're breaking up."

Rowena grabbed my hand. "Have you lost your mind? How could you joke about something like this? Cedric, Thea's just upset. Don't take it personally."

Cedric stormed out of the room.

Rowena pulled me down to sit beside her. "When did you become so unreasonable? Do you have any idea how much research Cedric did just to pick out the right bow for you? He's been working nonstop to prepare the perfect mating ceremony.

"He hasn't gotten a proper night's sleep in ages. Even during his breaks, he keeps talking about it."

I stared at Rowena.

She suddenly felt like a stranger. I couldn't remember how we'd ended up like this.

We used to tell each other everything. Now, every conversation seemed to end with both of us angry and unhappy.

She never openly provoked me, and she rarely criticized me outright. And yet, somehow, every conversation left me feeling both hurt and exhausted.

I cut her off. "You two look more like a couple than he and I ever did. I don't want a wolf who's more concerned about some other she-wolf."

Rowena froze, and tears immediately spilled from her eyes. "Thea! I'm your best friend. How could you think of me that way?"

My best friend, huh? The same best friend who always managed to find Cedric whenever he and I were supposed to complete our mating ceremony, telling him she needed his help with work. This had happened again and again.

I couldn't be bothered to say anything more. I just wanted her to leave my room.

She cried so hard that her body went limp, and she slumped to the floor.

Cedric appeared in the doorway. I didn't know how long he'd been standing there. He grabbed me and slammed me against the wall.

He snapped, "Thea, I was wrong about you. I can't believe you would jump to conclusions and think something was going on between Rowena and me."

The wounds I'd just had bandaged split open again. Blood slowly seeped through the gauze.

A flash of panic crossed Cedric's eyes. Still, he scooped Rowena into his arms and walked away without looking back.

I curled up on the floor and stayed there for a long time.

Mom came in with tears in her eyes and pulled me into her arms. "Thea, you need to face reality. You two don't even belong to the same world. He never truly saw you."

She was right.

I'd once thought Cedric was gentle, considerate, and endlessly patient with me. Only now did I understand the ugly truth.

It had never been love.

It had been nothing more than the condescending charity an Alpha offered to an Omega who had no status.