Love Was Not Enough

“Anana”

Elia screamed with tears welling in her eyes, thick and hot, blurring her vision, turning the world into a watery haze. Her clothes drenched in blood and tears. She couldn't bear seeing her Luna in that despicable state.

“Anana, l can't bear seeing you hurt every day”

Tears rolling down as she tend to the fresh skin cut on Anana’s thighs exposing torn muscles and tissues with blood surging up instantly, warm and thick, bubbling out in slow relentless pulses.

Anana barely conscious gave a subtle smile, “Things we do for love”

Elia snapped with anger clearly evident in her eyes, “He doesn't even care what it does to you, why stay?”

“He promised me, it wouldn't happen again” Anana muttered with the last strength she had.

No matter how much Elia had tried to convince Anana to run. Anana kept making excuses believing that the initial love that bonded her to her husband still existed.

Elia finished dressing her wound, stood to leave but couldn't bring herself to leave the once cheerful woman that's now a shadow of herself alone.

Anana was fast asleep. She lay curled on her side as if trying to protect herself even in sleep. Stray strands of hair clung to her damp forehead and dark smudges shadowed her eyes, proof of the restless nights she's had.

Seeing that Anana was finally sound asleep. She left the room to resume her maid duties.

…

The moonlight draped softly over the Crescent Moon Pack that night, casting silver glows across the landscape and bathing the Alpha’s mansion in serenity. For anyone watching from afar, it looked like a fairytale, like love lived and breathed behind those walls.

And once, that had been true.

Once, this place had been her home. Her safe haven. Her dream come true.

Luna Anana smiled faintly as she traced the delicate embroidery of her wedding dress hanging in the corner of the wardrobe. She hadn’t worn it in months. But she could still remember that day like it was yesterday.

The day she married Alpha Kade.

He had looked at her like she was his whole world. His strong, steady hands trembled as he placed the ring on her finger. She was the wolfless daughter of a low-ranking family that migrated into the Crescent Moon Pack seeking protection but he had loved her. Chosen her. Crowned her as his Luna even though they were never fated mates.

For five beautiful years, they were happy.

“I don’t care if you can’t shift,” he used to whisper. “You’re more powerful than any wolf I’ve ever known.”

“I've grown to love you regardless of these things”

They built a life. They dreamed of children. Anana tried everything, herbs, rituals, medicine but her womb remained untouched by life. And then came the visit to the old traditionalist, deep in the snowy woods of the North.

“She is cursed,” the woman had said with milky eyes. “Her womb is sealed until her true mate breaks it.”

Those words echoed louder with each passing day.

Anana had cried in Kade’s arms the entire way home. He had held her and whispered promises, kissed her forehead and told her love would be enough.

But love wasn’t enough.

Because the day he met Mira, his true, fated mate, everything shattered.

It happened during the annual Summit of Alphas, hosted by the Riverfang Pack. She had only gone to support him. A well polished woman with beautiful blonde hair stepped in, all gaze averted to her. Even Alpha Kade. Mira had simply been a guest. No one expected the electric moment, the growl Kade couldn’t suppress, the way his wolf surged toward hers, the undeniable, unshakable truth that Mira was his mate.

Anana’s breath caught even now thinking about it. She had stood there, watching the bond spark between them. Watching her husband’s eyes change and how he abandoned her that night with the excuse he wanted to know Mira more.

And from that moment, he was no longer just hers.

Kade tried, at first. Tried to resist. “You’re my Luna,” he’d say. “You’re my choice.”

But the bond called to him with the kind of pull Anana could never match.

She wasn't his mate, this was boldly inscribed whenever she saw them together.

Then came the first time he gave in.

And Anana bled.

She woke up screaming that night, her back searing with pain. Her skin ripped open in thick gashes. Elia, her faithful handmaid and best friend, had nearly fainted at the sight. They called the healer, but nothing worked. The pain passed only when Kade returned, reeking of Mira’s scent, guilt thick in his eyes.

“The bond is punishing me,” she had whispered in horror. “Or maybe… it’s punishing you through me.”

They both wept.

He promised it wouldn’t happen again.

But it did.

Night after night, Anana’s skin tore. New scars bloomed like fire across her chest, her arms, her thighs. Deep, jagged marks that pulsed with raw agony. She bled into the sheets, cried into her pillow, screamed until her voice broke.

And each morning, Kade would kneel by her bed, his hands trembling, his eyes filled with tears, whispering, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

But then night would fall again.

And he’d go to Mira.

…

Now, Anana stood by the mirror in her chambers, her once-glowing skin a canvas of pain. She peeled back the soft silk of her sleeve. Her upper arm was raw with a fresh wound, an angry red slash that curved like a sickle with an obvious swell.

Movements became more difficult as it pulses with every heartbeat, a cruel reminder that the body has been breached.

Last night had been the worst so far. She’d passed out from the blood loss.

Elia entered the room quietly, holding a tray with hot water and clean cloths.

“Thanks for yesterday”, Anana said, holding her hands nervously.

Knowing well how much Elia had been through because of her.

“Another one,” She said softly, voice hoarse. Pointing to the fresh wound on her upper arm.

Elia didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. She had seen Anana at her highest and now, she was watching her crumble.

“Let’s clean it,” she said gently, sitting beside her. “Deep breath.”

The cloth pressed against the wound. Anana gasped. Her body jerked, then stilled.

Elia worked quickly. She’d become an expert at treating these wounds, even if her hands shook every time.

“Do you want me to summon the healer?”

“No,” Anana whispered. “He can’t fix what love broke.”

Tears rolled down Elia’s cheeks. “Why do you stay? Why do you let him hurt you like this?”

Anana looked toward the window. “Because once, he loved me enough to make me forget I was wolfless. Once, he looked at me like I was everything. And I… I want to believe that girl still exists. The one who was loved so deeply by her Alpha.”

Elia pressed the cloth harder, trying to stop the bleeding. “And now?”

“Now,” Anana said slowly, “I’m just his broken promise.”

…

Later that day, Kade came.

Knowing what he did, came with his excuses and lies.

She heard his footsteps before he knocked. She was sitting by the fireplace, wrapped in thick layers to hide the scars.

The door creaked open.

He looked tired, guilty and lost.

“Anana,” he said softly.

She looked up at him. Her heart still fluttered at the sight of him, even now. That was the cruelest part of love, it didn’t die just because it hurt.

“You’re here,” she murmured.

“I needed to see you.” He walked in and knelt beside her. “Last night…”

“I know,” she said. “I felt it.”

He closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I…she…Mira, she was crying. She said the bond is making her sick. I thought if I just…just once…”

“Once?” Anana let out a hollow laugh. “You said that last time. And the time before. And you keep saying it”.

“I hate myself for hurting you.”

“Then stop doing it.”

His eyes met hers, red-rimmed with regret. “I don’t know how. The bond… it’s killing me.”

“And what do you think it’s doing to me?” she whispered, voice breaking.

Kade reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away.

“I still love you.”

Anana swallowed. “But you don’t choose me anymore.”

Silence hung between them, heavy, Final.

He didn’t argue.

And maybe that was the loudest answer of all.

…

That night, as Anana lay in bed, the pain returned, sharper, deeper, as if the bond itself had grown claws and it was punishing her for a crime she didn't know she committed. She screamed into her pillow as blood soaked through the linens. The scar slashed across her stomach this time, jagged like lightning.

She passed out before dawn.

Elia found her unconscious, pale,

soaked in blood.

But even as she cleaned and bandaged her again, Anana didn’t cry.

She couldn't.

She had no tears left to cry.

Only scars that didn't seem to fade away anytime.