Chapter 2

The Coming-of-Age Ceremony at eighteen is supposed to be the most magical day of a werewolf’s life.

You get your first shift, and if the Moon Goddess doesn’t have you on her blacklist, you meet your fated mate.

But I did not meet my fated mate.

What I did meet was pain—raw, bone-snapping, muscle-twisting, shift-into-a-giant-ball-of-fur kind of pain that made me see stars. Nyra, my wolf, howled through the entire process . We both barely survived it.

But even that agony wasn’t the worst part of the night.

No. That honor goes to the moment I saw Alpha Scott—the wolf I’d secretly loved since puberty hit me like a silver truck—lock eyes with Julie. And then… boom. The mate bond snapped into place like a cruel cosmic joke.

Everyone around us cheered like it was a fairy tale.

Me? I stood under a sycamore tree, trying not to heartbreak.

I had begged the Moon Goddess every full moon for years—burned herbs, left offerings, even fasted once . I prayed she’d make Alpha Scott mine. But I guess she had other plans.

And that plan was Julie. Beautiful. Talented. Of course she got him.

Years passed. The golden couple eventually crumbled . I didn’t celebrate, but Nyra may have done a little internal cartwheel.

When I saw Alpha Scott again, he was no longer the proud, polished Alpha who used to walk through the pack like he glowed in the dark. He looked… wrecked.

He was hurting. And I—I was the one who showed up at just the right time.

I comforted him. I listened to him vent. I believed in him when even the Council doubted him. I helped him rebuild—brick by brick, battle by battle.

Seven years. That’s how long I stayed.

And then one day, he looked at me and said, “Eva, I want to marry you.”

I blinked. “Are you drunk ？or do you need to borrow money from me?”

He cut me off. “I don’t know when it started, but my eyes have been on you. Since then, I can’t move them away anymore.”

At that moment, I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my chest—it thrilled me even more than winning the lottery.

He didn’t know it, but his scent, his presence, his dumb smirk—it had already claimed me long ago. I had spent so long trailing behind him like his silent shadow. And finally, my secret love had grown sprouted and bloomed into something real.

I thought I’d finally been chosen.

I really, really thought so.

But then Julie came back and tore it all down.

When the last ray of sunset glow dissipated on the horizon, I finally decided to leave.

I had just zipped my suitcase when I heard the door click open. Alpha Scott stood there,looking exhausted.

“Eva,” he said, his voice rough, “that wedding doesn’t count.”

I looked at him. Silent.

He stepped closer. “Julie has ALS. She wants to be a bride once.”

I wasn’t sure if the ache in his eyes was for her or for how I was looking at him.

Probably for her.

“She’s dying…” he added, like that made this mess any better.

“She asked me to finish the ceremony with her,” he continued. “I couldn’t say no.”

“Couldn’t,” I repeated. “Or didn’t want to?”

His mouth opened but nothing came out. Typical.

I inhaled sharply. “When did she come back? Was it the day we went to pick out the ring?”

Of course it was. That day, he got a call and suddenly turned into a distracted, moping. I chalked it up to work. Maybe a dispute with the Bloodfangs. Maybe the taxes were bad. I cooked his favorite roasted elk, tried to cheer him up.

All the while, he was grieving her return—and I was just background noise.

“Were you with her during your ‘business trip’?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

Alpha Scott never lied. He didn’t have to. But for her? He made an exception.

I could barely recognize the man standing in front of me.

Same eyes.

Same face.

But something had changed. Something I couldn’t reach anymore.

I let out a soft, dry laugh—bitter and hollow.

“Alpha Scott,” I said quietly, “just let it go.”

"I, Eva Valdez, reject you, Scott Hansen, as my mate."

He didn’t move.

Didn’t say a word.

But as I grabbed my suitcase and turned to leave, his hand shot out, gripping my wrist tight.

His hold was firm—his voice even firmer.

“Eva, don’t go.”

I looked down at his hand, then up into his eyes.

With a gentle but unshakable force, I pulled myself free.

“It’s too late, Alpha,” I said. “You already let me go.”