I Won’t Fight For A Sixth Place Anymore

The day before my bonding ceremony, I went back to the old Silverpine territory with my fiancé, Ethan, and our four childhood friends. Fifteen years ago, the six of us had buried six letters under the old oak. Each one answered the same question. "When you grow up, who do you want by your side forever?" Ethan opened his first. One name. Claire. Lily, Noah, and Kate held theirs up next. Claire. Claire. Claire. Claire laughed, then unfolded her own. Ethan. Everyone cheered. Ethan's ears went red as he looked at her, with a softness I had never seen in his eyes. And tomorrow, this was the man who would stand before the Moon Goddess's altar and swear his mate vows to me. No one asked about mine. In my nine-year-old handwriting, it said: "I want the six of us to stay together forever. Nobody leaves anybody behind." That night, we sat by the lake, the city lights glowing on the far shore. Ethan had brought a big thermos of hot hazelnut cocoa. Claire's favorite. He poured it out like he had done it a hundred times. Claire's cup first, filled to the brim. Then Lily's, Noah's, Kate's, and his own. When he got to me, the thermos was empty. The five of them sat shoulder to shoulder, laughing over their steaming cups. I sat at the edge with nothing in my hands. Halfway through, Ethan finally noticed. He held out his own cup, with a cold mouthful left at the bottom. "Here. Don't sit there looking like somebody kicked you." Later, I found out the five of them had a private group chat called "Moonlight Pact." It was eight years old. No one had ever thought to invite me. If there was no room for me in their world, why keep holding on to a childish promise? As for tomorrow's bonding ceremony, I didn't see any reason to go through with it.