Chapter 3

That night, William walked into my room.

When he pushed open the door, the light I had deliberately left on was still glowing.

I'd always had that habit. No matter where I was, I left a light on. I hoped it would guide him home to me.

In one corner sat all the things I had prepared for our pup, along with gifts and blessings from the other members of the pack.

This pup was supposed to be born carrying everyone's hopes.

Unfortunately, he never even lived to see the sun.

I'd left the emergency plans I organized for the pack on the desk.

My pup-ready journal was next to them.

Every page recorded the things I wanted to tell our pup and the things we would do together.

Fearing that something unexpected might happen one day, I'd even written one final note on the last page.

[William, no matter what happens, save our pup first.]

William picked it up, skimmed through it for a moment, and chuckled.

"You're only with pup, Annie. Your anxiety is getting worse."

Just as he was about to leave, his gaze landed on the clothes and supplies I'd prepared for our pup.

After hesitating for a moment, he retrieved his phone and sent me two messages.

[Annie, are you done with your tantrum?]

[For our pup's sake, I'm willing to forgive you. But when you come back, you have to apologize to Lucy.]

After sending the messages, he stared at his phone for a while.

There was no reply from me even after a long time.

William frowned.

In the past, I always replied to his messages almost immediately.

If I spent even a single day away from him, I couldn't help calling him. But this time, not only had I never called him, but I hadn't even replied to a single one of his messages.

Just as he was about to type another message, his phone rang.

It was my dad, Wilson.

After answering, William sighed. "Wilson, if Annie comes home, please tell her to stop causing trouble. The pack is in chaos because of the earthquake. There are matters that require her attention."

A hoarse voice came from the other end. "I haven't seen Annie. I was about to ask you where she is."

William answered calmly, "After the earthquake, she got jealous because I rescued Lucy first, so she's hiding somewhere to sulk."

Dad laughed in disbelief. "Annie is your Luna. Why did you save Lucy first?"

William frowned. "Lucy is physically weaker. Besides, she saved my life once. Why wouldn't I rescue her first?

"And ever since Annie became pregnant, she's become overly sensitive and suspicious. She's always hostile toward Lucy. Thankfully, Lucy is generous enough not to hold it against her."

Dad fell silent for a long time.

He then roared, "All you care about is Lucy! Do you even know Annie is already dead?"

William's expression darkened. "If you're helping Annie deceive me without considering the bigger picture, then I need to reconsider whether she's still fit to remain Luna."

Dad lost his temper. "She's dead! Why would she even need the position of Luna?

"I personally brought her body home today. I saw with my own eyes that even in her final moments, she was still trying to protect your pup.

"Not only did you choose not to save her, but even now, you still think she's lying to you. This is absurd."

Dad hung up.

William stood frozen and stared blankly at his phone for a long time.

After a while, Lucy walked over. Her eyes were red from crying. The moment she saw William, she threw herself into his arms. "Alpha, I dreamed about Luna again.

"In the dream, she said she was going to kill me. She was holding a pup covered in blood. It was terrifying."

William wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry. It was only a dream."

After he said that, his gaze drifted to the jewelry on my vanity.

Every single piece had been bought to make up for choosing Lucy over me.

Throughout all these years, I had never worn a single one of them. They all remained exactly where he'd left them.

There was a blue jacket next to the jewelry.

It was the one Lucy had been wearing the day she supposedly saved William during an earthquake.

William had secretly kept it all these years. From time to time, he would even retrieve it and look at it.

I never understood why he treasured that act of kindness so much.

Now I finally did. When someone's heart belonged to another person, they instinctively chose that person every time. Every excuse they gave afterward was only to justify their own choices.

William glanced at the jacket one last time. He then wrapped an arm around Lucy and left.

I remained standing alone in the room.

I smiled bitterly.

I wondered when William would realize that I truly wasn't coming back this time.