Chapter 2

A mindlink buzzed against my mental barriers.

Unknown sender, but my chest tightened. I knew who it was.

Ethan.

His voice echoed in my head, cold and dismissive: "Heard you were in the woods tonight. Sorry if you overheard something. Victoria and I are serious. You should move on."

Not an apology. A dismissal.

My carefully constructed fantasy life shattered into a million pieces.

Move on.

Yes.

I slammed my mental barriers shut, blocking his mindlink completely.

Then I reached for Alex's connection too.

Blocked.

I stumbled back to my small room in the pack house, water dripping on the worn wooden floors.

My gaze fell on the velvet box on my dresser.

The silver dagger.

I picked it up. It felt cold against my palm, foreign somehow.

A symbol of a lie.

With sudden fierce determination, I hurled it into the trash bin, burying it under discarded sketches and coffee grounds.

I didn’t want it anymore.

Ethan sensed my wolf nearby and quietly moved away, but he didn't care.

Ethan thought my silent departure from the woods was some kind of strategy.

He thought I was being clever, playing hard to get after overhearing his words.

He really didn't get it.

He couldn't imagine how deeply I was hurt.

What irritated him more was that I'd nearly ruined his pre-ceremony mood with Victoria.

"See? Complete psycho," he muttered to his pack members after she'd gone.

"Good thing our Alpha has a plan," said Marcus, his Beta, always eager to agree with Ethan's words.

"Yeah, babe, let's just go through with the marking ceremony. That'll scare her off completely," Ethan said, trying to appear confident for Victoria's sake as she raised an eyebrow at him.

But Victoria seemed somewhat hesitant. "Darling, but everyone in the pack will object to you rejecting your true mate to mark me..."

"Can you invite Sylvia to publicly bless our mating ceremony? If your 'true mate' gives her blessing, no one in the pack will dare say I don't deserve to be Luna, or that the Moon Goddess will curse our union."

A few hours later, after their pack meeting ended, Alex found me.

I was curled up in my room, tear-stained and shivering despite the heater running full blast.

"Sylvia," he began, his voice hesitant, "Ethan told me you were in the woods tonight."

I didn't look at him.

"He's an asshole, Sylvia. What he said, his plan... it's awful."

"You didn't stop him," I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"I tried talking to him before, when he first mentioned the idea of 'scaring Sylvia away' with Victoria's pregnant. But he wouldn't listen."

He ran his hands through his already messy hair. "He's completely obsessed with Victoria."

I remembered Ethan in that clearing, the way he looked at Victoria, with an expression I'd never seen him give anyone.

The kind of look I'd always dreamed he'd give me.

"He's really with her, isn't he?" I asked, needing to hear it out loud to make it real.

Alex nodded slowly. "Yes, Sylvia. He's serious about her. Has been for a while now, very serious."

He was about to say something more, about how Ethan was an idiot, about how I deserved better.

But then my phone buzzed with a notification. I'd set Ethan's social media to special alerts—a pathetic habit I suddenly regretted.

Even Alex could hear the notification sound in the quiet room.

"Don't look at it, Sylvia," he warned, but I was already reaching for my phone.

Instagram. Ethan had posted something new.

The photo made my blood freeze. A woman's hand adorned with a massive diamond ring—clearly a Luna ring, with the traditional moonstone centerpiece surrounded by diamonds.

The caption read: "Victoria deserves nothing but the best. #mylunamate #forever"

The post was barely five minutes old. While Alex had been here trying to comfort me, Ethan had been somewhere else, celebrating with her.

Planning their future.

Making it Instagram official.

"Jesus," Alex muttered, seeing my face. "He's completely lost his mind."

Alex sighed heavily. "See? He's obsessed. I tried telling him you're not some kid with a crush, that you genuinely love him. But his buddies, Marcus and Leo, they just egg him on. 'She's still just a pup, what does she know about love, Ethan. Victoria's a real woman.'"

It was obvious. I was a problem. An inconvenience.

The next day, I walked to the my healing instructor’s office.

I steadily filled out the application for the European Royal Healing Academy.

My healing instructor had been encouraging me to apply for months. She said I had a rare gift, that I could be one of the most powerful healers of my generation if I trained properly.

I'd turned down the opportunity earlier this year because it would mean leaving the pack. Leaving Ethan and Alex.

Now, it felt like a life raft.

Europe. A new continent, a new life.

As far away from Ethan as I could possibly get.

The application asked for my reasons for wanting to study abroad. I stared at the blank space for a long moment.

Then I wrote: "To discover my true potential without the limitations of my current environment."

It was honest enough.

I sealed the envelope and walked it directly to the expedited processing office.

A few days later was Alex's 26th birthday.

There was a party at the pack house's main gathering hall.

I didn't want to go. The thought of seeing Ethan, seeing them together, made me physically sick.

But Alex pleaded with me. "Please, Sylvia. It's my birthday. Just for a little while."

So I went, trying to put on a brave face.

The hall was crowded and loud, packed with pack members trying too hard to look important.

Then I saw them.

Ethan, with Victoria on his arm.

She was beautiful in that sharp, polished way. Perfectly styled blonde hair, designer clothes that hugged every curve, and a smile that never quite reached her eyes.

But what struck me most was how... developed she was. Curves in all the right places, the kind of mature feminine figure that screamed "woman" while I still looked like I was playing dress-up.

They walked straight toward me. My stomach lurched.

"Sylvia!" Ethan's voice was a bit too cheerful. "So glad you could make it. I want you to meet someone."

He gestured to Victoria. "This is Victoria. My fiancée."

Fiancée. The word hit harder than I'd expected, even though I knew it was part of their plan.

Victoria extended a perfectly manicured hand. Her grip was firm and cold.

"Ethan's told me so much about you, sweetheart," she said, her voice dripping with condescension.

"Such a cute little crush you had on him. I heard the Moon Goddess even paired you as mates initially. But Ethan explained it was just a mistake. We're even considering having pups soon."

She patted her flat stomach meaningfully, then let her gaze drift over my body with obvious judgment.

"You're still so... petite. Like a little girl playing dress-up. I'm sure you'll find a nice second chance mate your own age when you fill out a bit more."

The insult was wrapped in false sweetness, but it cut deep. Standing next to her abundant curves, I felt like a child pretending to be an adult.

I forced a smile. "Congratulations to both of you. I wish you all the best."

My voice sounded strangely steady.