Chapter 1

I couldn't believe it. I stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.

"Why?"

Vesper shook her head without a word, tears running down her face.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my hand. It was Sterling.

He stood up and shielded Vesper behind him with practiced ease.

A chill went through me.

I knew that move. It was the stance he always took when he faced an outsider.

He took a deep breath and ruffled Vesper's hair before he finally looked me in the eye.

"Livia, you're as sharp as ever.

"After I came back from that hunt, my wolf suddenly went berserk. Vesper was the one who calmed my wolf down.

"I didn't want to distract you during your retreat, so I blocked our bond."

Watching how easily they touched each other, I didn't need anyone to tell me how she'd calmed him.

Pain ripped through my heart. My wolf howled in fury, and my vision went black. I nearly fell.

Sterling reached out on instinct to steady me.

I braced myself on the wall and stepped back, out of his reach.

Vesper watched my face closely, sick with worry.

"Livia, did you drain your mental energy again? You promised me you wouldn't stay up all night studying..."

She held out a potion to restore my mental energy, its label bearing a little moon she'd drawn herself.

I tipped my head back and forced back my tears.

"No. You chose him, so I'm walking out of your lives."

I gave Sterling a long look and said each word slowly.

"Nine tomorrow morning at Moonlight Square. We'll break the bond and go our separate ways."

I turned and headed home.

The moonlight was gentle. It eased some of my wolf's pain.

At home, I tried to pull myself together while I packed.

The photo of Sterling and Vesper by the door. Their matching pajamas drying on the balcony...

I traced a handprint on the bathroom mirror with my fingertips.

I couldn't stop imagining the positions they'd been in together.

I inhaled slowly, then pulled a stack of letters from the safe.

To be ready to become Luna, I went to another pack every year for a month-long training retreat.

On previous retreats, Vesper, who loved sharing every little detail of her life, had written to me every three days.

But this time, I got exactly one letter, on the third day.

"Take care of yourself! Eat properly, sleep well... Oh, with Sterling's help, I got you a little surprise this time. Hehe. You're going to love it, Livia."

I was so worried that I trained day and night, hoping to finish early.

I never dreamed their "surprise" would be this big.

"Livia..."

I turned to see Vesper standing in the doorway.

The evening breeze stirred her hair. Sterling smoothed it back out of habit, with a tenderness that had once been mine alone.

She looked at the bags I'd just packed and held out her hand.

"This is the little surprise I got you...

"I'm sorry..."

In her palm lay a beautifully made sapphire bracelet.

Anyone could tell at a glance that it had cost a fortune.

I shot them a sidelong glance and took it from her.

Then I threw it in the trash along with the letters.

Betrayers and their gifts belonged in the trash.

Vesper's eyes filled.

Sterling rubbed his forehead, looking helpless.

"Livia, this isn't her fault. She was just trying to save me.

"Let's talk alone."

Then he bent and kissed Vesper on the forehead.

"Don't be scared. I've got this."

Vesper glanced at us both, hesitated, then turned and left.

Once the door closed, Sterling sat down cross-legged, the way he had countless times when we reviewed hunts together.

"Livia, no matter what, I'm the one who hurt you."

Without thinking, I touched the mate mark on my wrist.

It was the sign of two mates bonded under the Moon Goddess's eye.

The closer the mates were and the deeper their love, the clearer the mark became.

Once, I could make out every strand of fur on the two wolves in our mark.

Now all that was left were two blurry outlines.

Sterling looked at me with something in his eyes I couldn't read and spoke softly.

"Livia, I've only just realized that it's not the Moon Goddess who decides who's meant to be together. It's our hearts.

"You're always so domineering. You're nothing like Vesper. She's gentle, but being with you feels more like being with a fellow warrior than a mate."

I couldn't help laughing. Seven years together, and now he was telling me his heart no longer chose me. How absurd.

I gripped the handle of my suitcase and walked to the door.

"Sterling, I hope you still feel that way seven years from now."

Seven years ago, he'd held my hand tight and promised to make me happy and never betray me.

Seven years later, he'd even forgotten that today was our seventh anniversary.

I didn't really come back to myself until I was standing in the house our parents had left to us.

A sharp ache still throbbed in my chest, so I shut myself in the bedroom.

I lay awake until three in the morning, when I heard something at the front door and sat up, alert.

I opened my mouth to call for Sterling, then remembered I was in my own house.

The living room was dark. I turned on the light.

Vesper was tiptoeing in with a big box in her arms.

"I couldn't sleep, so I made you some new potions. These should last you a month."

She watched me carefully as she said it.

I looked down at the box. Besides the energy potions, there were healing potions and restorative tonics...

I'd drunk every one of them.

I remembered exactly how each of them tasted.

"You broke into my house in the middle of the night to give me these?

"I don't need them."

I ignored her, opened the fridge, and took out a cold drink.

She frowned the way she always did and reached for it.

"Livia, no matter what happens, you can't play games with your health.

"You're already exhausted, and now you're staying up late drinking something ice-cold? What if you get sick tomorrow?"

I dodged her, snatched the key out of her hand, and looked at her coldly.

"Vesper, don't come here anymore.

"You're not welcome in my house."

I showed her and her box of potions out the door.

I put the cold drink back in the fridge.

Outside, Vesper cried softly, and her footsteps faded away.

Moonlight spilled through the window, blurring before my tear-filled eyes.

I slid down to the floor, pressed a hand over my heart, and whispered.

"Why does it hurt so much..."