Chapter 3

Skylar's POV.

“What the hell.” I screamed. Sometimes, the memories hit me when I least expect them. Like a punch to the chest, reminding me of everything I tried so hard to forget. Liam. Him standing there, caught red-handed with that girl the way her smug smile didn’t even falter when I appeared.

It was supposed to be a quiet night, just a small gathering at the Crescent pack’s compound. I didn’t want to go, but my parents insisted. They said it was important for pack unity, for my future. I barely knew anyone there except Liam, and even then, I wasn’t sure if I really knew him at all.

That night, I wandered through the hallways, looking for him, wanting to find the boy I thought I loved. Instead, I found him pressed against some girl, her arms wrapped around him like she belonged there. And she did. They belonged together—at least, that’s what the sight told me.

I froze, my heart pounding so loud I was sure they could hear it. Liam looked up, saw me, and instead of shame, there was amusement in his eyes.

“Oh, Skylar,” he said, voice dripping with mock sympathy. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

I didn’t say a word. I turned and left, feeling like I was made of glass shattering into a thousand pieces.

That moment wasn’t the first time Liam’s words cut deeper than any betrayal. He was good at making me feel small, less than, like I was never enough. Whenever I tried to stand up for myself, he’d remind me, subtly or not, how I paled in comparison to the girls he used to date or the ones he was still interested in.

“You should be grateful,” he once said during an argument. “Not every girl gets a chance to be with someone like me.”

His voice was cold, but what stung the most was how easy it was for him to dismiss my feelings, my worth.

I remember the nights I lay awake, replaying his words, wondering if I was really that useless.

But I wasn’t just hurt by Liam. I was crushed by the fact that the people who were supposed to love me the ones who raised me expected me to swallow it all. To forget that I was being hurt, humiliated.

“Skylar,” my mother said one evening, after I’d refused to eat dinner, “you need to focus on what’s important. Liam is the future. Your role is to support him.”

I looked up, eyes burning with unshed tears. “But he doesn’t respect me.”

She shook her head, voice sharp. “Respect isn’t what holds packs together. Power is.”

Power. That word echoed in my mind, a constant reminder that my feelings didn’t matter.

Elena, as if sensing my weakness, didn’t miss a chance to remind me I was failing. “Maybe if you were more like the others, Liam wouldn’t look elsewhere,” she sneered once, laughing when my face flushed.

I wanted to scream at her, to tell her she didn’t understand how lonely I felt. But I just swallowed my anger and walked away.

Mila tried to be my anchor, but even her words sometimes felt hollow. “You deserve better, Sky,” she said, hugging me after one particularly brutal fight with Liam.

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that love didn’t have to hurt this much.

But the truth was, Liam controlled more than just my heart. He had my future wrapped around his finger, tied to alliances and politics I barely understood.

I was trapped.

And the night I caught him with that girl? It was the night I finally broke.

What pains me the most is the conversation I had with Liam that day.

Liam’s footsteps pounded down the hall, fast and sure, closing the distance between us. His expression was a mix of frustration and something desperate, maybe even hurt? No, his pride was what was hurt for sure. “Skylar, wait. Just chill, okay? You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

I crossed my arms, eyes narrowing. “Blowing it out of proportion? Liam, I saw you. I saw you with her.”

He ran a hand through his dark hair, biting his lip. “You don’t understand. I wasn’t ”

“Then what? Explain it.” My voice cracked, raw with disbelief. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you were having sex with some girl while you were supposed to be with me. And did you see her smirk?”

His jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened. “Skylar, I’ve never been with anyone but you. Not like that. I never gave in.”

I blinked, stunned. “You never gave in? You don’t even know how it feels. I’ve never been with anyone ever. I was going to wait for you.”

His eyes softened for a moment, like he wanted to reach out and hold me close. “I know. I want that too. But you have to trust me.”

Trust. The word felt hollow coming from him. “How can I? When I see you with her? What am I supposed to believe?”

Liam shook his head, stepping closer. “It wasn’t what you think. She was just... there. Nothing happened.”

“Nothing?” I repeated, voice rising. “You don’t just accidentally end up in bed with someone. Not with you. You think I'm dumb.”

He reached for my hand, but I pulled away, the sting of betrayal burning fresh. “I was going to be yours. All of me. But you made it clear I wasn’t enough.”

His face fell. “That’s not true, Skylar. I never stopped wanting you.”

But the words felt empty, drowned beneath the ache in my chest. I wanted to believe him. God, how I wanted to. But right now, all I could feel was the cold crack of broken promise

s.

But I knew fully well deep down this was as much as I could take.