Chapter 2

I hung up, took pictures of everything in the storage room, and listed it on an underground market site.

In under half an hour, a bounty hunter had bought the brand-new grill.

By the time Liam arrived, the storage room was half empty.

He stood in the doorway and stared at me like he couldn't believe it. "You'd rather sell it to hunters than lend it to us?"

"Yep." I taped up the last shipping box and looked at him. "Hunters pay in gold. All you guys ever do is take."

Just then, my phone buzzed.

Frank, my landlord, texted, "Your lease is up next month. Still planning to renew for two more years?"

The apartment sat right on the line between the human side of town and werewolf territory, close to where Caleb ran pack business.

I'd been waiting for him to move in. For three years, I'd spent an hour and a half traveling between the forest and the city every day.

I typed back two words, "Not renewing."

Then I started sorting through everything in the apartment.

Caleb's shirts took up half my closet. His razor was in the bathroom, his combat boots were crammed into my shoe rack, and even my study was full of his blades.

He always said we couldn't live together until he'd officially marked me.

But little by little, his scent had taken over my space. And me? I'd never truly been part of his inner circle.

That was when Chloe sent me a photo.

It showed a large bedroom that had just been furnished.

The bed was made with the charcoal silk sheets Caleb and I had picked out together. On the nightstand sat the moonstone lamp I'd bought him.

Her message read, "Aria, you have such good taste. Caleb said the rogues trashed my apartment, so I should stay at the Alpha house for now. You don't mind, right?"

I stared at the moonstone lamp for a few seconds. I'd chosen it for Caleb's house myself.

He'd said we'd move in after the Full Moon Festival. Once everything was ready, we'd make it official with a marking ceremony before the Moon Goddess.

Now another woman was living in the house meant for his Luna.

I didn't answer Chloe. I called Caleb instead.

It was loud on his end. It sounded like pack warriors were moving heavy wooden furniture.

"Babe, have you finally come around? You're the pack's future Luna. You're supposed to look out for pack members who need help."

I cut him off.

"Why is Chloe living in the Alpha house?"

"The wards on her apartment broke. I can't let her sleep on the street, where she could be attacked at any moment, can I?"

"You promised. That's supposed to be our home after the marking ceremony."

Caleb sighed, sounding impatient.

"It's just for a few days. Stop calling it 'our home' every other sentence. You're acting like I've already marked you."

Liam's careless laugh came over the line. "Seriously. You're not even mated yet, and you're already marking your territory."

Ethan chimed in from nearby. "Aria, you've got a safe apartment of your own. Chloe really has nowhere to go right now. Can't you tell what actually matters here?"

I held the phone while they all piled on. My mind went back to the day we toured the house a year ago.

Caleb had pulled me along to measure the bedroom, his dark eyes bright with plans for our future. He said we'd put two moonstone lamps beside the bed: one for him to read pack files by, and one for me to read by.

Now the other lamp was probably sitting next to Chloe's bed.

I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "How long is she staying? A week? A month?"

"We'll see once her place is fixed."

Caleb lost patience. "Why do you need every little detail? Nothing's going to happen between me and her. If you can't trust me, why are we even talking about bonding?"

I let out a cold laugh. It was always the same. Instead of answering my question, he blamed me and threatened to call off the marking.

In their eyes, there were endless reasons I wasn't gracious enough or good enough to be Luna.

If I fell that far short in his eyes, I was done with this relationship.

"Then let's call it off."

Caleb was quiet for two seconds. Then he let out a low scoff.

"Here we go again. Yesterday you threw a tantrum and kicked everyone out, and today you're threatening to call off our marking ceremony. Call me when you've calmed down. I don't have time for your drama right now."

He hung up first. He was probably sure I'd regret it before long.

My phone buzzed again. It was a confidential message from Magnus, the Alpha King of the North. "The post of commander of the Royal Guard is still yours if you want it. I'll ask one last time. Can you report for duty in three days?"

Six months ago, Magnus had asked me to go north and command an elite Royal Guard unit. It was a senior position, and it came with territory of my own.

I'd turned him down. Caleb had said our marking ceremony was coming up soon, and he wanted me by his side.

I'd worried he'd feel guilty, so I never told him I'd turned it down for him. Now there was no reason to tell him.

I didn't hesitate this time. I replied, "Yes."

I confirmed my route north. Then I took every photo of us off the bookshelf and threw them into the fireplace, one by one, until nothing was left but ash.

A notification from the group chat popped up on my phone.

Chloe had posted a picture of a table piled with grilled meat. Caleb, Ethan, and Liam grinned as they raised their glasses.

Her caption read, "Thank you to my three big brothers for being my safe haven."

Caleb tagged me in the group chat. "Okay, that's enough. We're all coming to your place for dinner tomorrow night so we can talk face to face. Chloe wants your honey-glazed grilled fish, so remember to go fishing in the river valley first."

I pulled up my itinerary for the North.

In three days, I'd be gone.