Chapter 3: The Betrayal Of A Lifetime

Thalia's POV

“That’s… that’s impossible.”

The words slipped out of my mouth before my brain could even attempt to censor them. In the silence of the courtyard, my voice echoed loudly, drawing the collective gaze of the pack.

I could feel the weight of their judgment, their confusion, their pity as whispers rippled through the crowd.

“Look at her… she doesn’t even have a wolf anymore.”

“Pathetic. She really thought she could stand beside an Alpha?”

“She’s embarrassing herself. How desperate can one girl be?”

“She gave up her wolf for him, and this is what she gets? Karma.”

“It’s impossible,” I whispered again, ignoring the whispers around me as my legs moved on autopilot, taking a few stumbling steps forward. My heel caught on a stone, but I didn't fall. I just stopped, clutching the fabric of my useless, beautiful dress, and stared up at the platform.

Eris stood there, her perfect smile intact with not a single flicker of guilt crossing her face, not even a shred of remorse.

My gaze flicked to the man beside her. “How could you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Adonis looked down at me with flat indifference. It was the exact look you give a piece of chewed gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe.

“Is anything the matter, Thalia?” he asked.

Oh, is something the matter? My mind screamed, Gee, I don't know, Adonis. Let me check my notes!

“How could you choose Eris over me?!” I demanded, the words tearing from my throat, loud enough to ring across the silent courtyard.

Adonis tilted his head, looking almost bored by my outburst. “And why couldn't I choose her over you? Eris is clearly a much more befitting Luna than you could ever dream of being.”

“You betrayed my love,” I cried out, “I gave up my entire world for you, Adonis. Everything. And this is how you repay me? What happened to being fated mates?!”

Adonis let out a mocking chuckle.

“Fated mates is a myth, Thalia,” he said, stepping closer to the edge of the pulpit to look down his nose at me. “It's a fairytale we tell children so they sleep at night, and you clearly don't understand how the real world works. You are incredibly naive.” He paused, his eyes narrowing with blatant disgust. “And worst of all… you're wolfless.”

The air in my lungs vanished, leaving me breathless.

“It’s YOUR fault I’m wolfless!” I screamed, pointing at him with a trembling finger. The injustice of it burned through my veins. I had fractured my own soul for him. I had sacrificed my wolf so his heart would keep beating.

He merely shrugged, turning his back on me to look at his new Luna. “I never asked you to save me. Just like I never asked you to love me.”

The tears I had been desperately fighting back poured freely down my face. I couldn't even breathe.

“Why?” I asked through sobs, my hands clutching at my chest as if I could physically hold my breaking heart together. He just stared at me with those beautiful eyes, unmoved by the ruin of the girl who had loved him.

But I couldn't stop.

Something in me was begging for an explanation that made sense: “What wrong did I do to deserve this?” I cried out, my voice cracking as I flicked my eyes to the woman beside him, the betrayal burning a hole through my heart. “And Eris… how could you? You are supposed to be my best friend.”

Adonis shook his head, twisting the knife deeper.

“You willingly gave up your wolf because you were desperate for my attention. You thought it would make you a martyr.” He sneered, gesturing toward me like I was a piece of trash, “I will never make a wolfless nobody my Luna!”

Desperate for his attention?

Yes, because nothing screams ‘pick me’ louder than undergoing soul-shredding black magic that leaves you permanently crippled. So obviously, I did it for the clout.

The crowd’s murmurs grew louder, feeding on his words.

“The Moon Goddess cursed me,” he continued, his voice dripping with mockery. “I never asked for your sacrifice, Thalia. And I refuse to be chained to you out of pity.”

Eris gracefully slid into Adonis’s lap as he took his seat on the grand Alpha throne at the center of the pulpit, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She looked down at me from her high perch, her beautiful features devoid of a single bit of the warmth she had shown me just hours before in my bedroom.

“It’s time to go, Thalia,” she said softly, almost sweetly.

Hearing her voice alone made my skin crawl as anger exploded in my veins. I didn't have a wolf, sure, but I still had nails to scratch her eyes out.

Without warning, I lunged toward the steps of the pulpit, my fingers curled into claws, fully intending to rip her smug face right off her skull.

I didn't even make it past the third step when Adonis' voice drifted through, “Get her out of my sight.”

Before I could react, two massive pack guards materialized out of nowhere. They held my arms, wrenching me backward so hard my neck snapped back. 

“Let me go!” I screamed, kicking and thrashing against their strength.

My heels dragged through the dirt, ripping the hem of my gown completely. I screamed until my throat hurt and my voice cracked. 

“I saved you! Adonis, I gave you everything! You wouldn’t be alive if not for me.”

But nobody was listening to the wolfless girl.

Through a blur of angry tears, I forced my head around to look back one last time as the distance grew. Adonis rose from his grand throne and took Eris by the hand, pulling her up with him, and lifted their joined hands high above their heads into the silver moonlight.

“Behold!” his voice boomed, “Your true Luna!”

The entire pack erupted into a deafening, joyful roar of approval, the sound of their cheers chasing me into the darkness as the iron gates finally slammed shut in my face, locking me out in the dark.