Chapter 3

The next day, Adrian hurried back to the villa still covered in the coldness from last night, and he found me standing there with no expression at all.

He was feeling somewhat uneasy. Maybe he felt the faint tremor in our mate bond. He pretended to casually undo a few buttons on his shirt.

"Selena, didn't I tell you not to wait for me?" He opened his arms, clearly expecting me to step into his embrace, but I turned and avoided him.

My emotions had become deathly still, and even Adrian seemed weighed down by that silence. I was standing right in front of him, but he could feel a distance that he couldn't explain, as if I was slowly fading from his territory.

"Selena, I know I've neglected you these past few days," His voice carried a hint of rare guilt. "The day after tomorrow is your birthday. I promise I'll cancel all the Elders' Council meetings that day and spend it with you, alright?"

I forced out a faint smile. That smile on my extremely pale face looked so much more depressing. "Sure."

Adrian seemed to have let out a sigh of relief at my response.

-

On my birthday, he looked unusually eager, as if that alone could erase all his previous absences.

He kept talking about the Pack's future as he drove us to our destination, trying to stir up the sense of duty he thought I should have as his Luna. He took me to a top private restaurant on a cliff, the one that overlooked the entire forest.

However, just as the main course arrived, his phone began to buzz.

He glanced at the screen, and his brows furrowed at once. The softness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by tension and urgency. Then he said, "Selena, I need to take this call. It's an emergency from the Pack."

I nodded quietly, though a bad feeling had already risen in my chest.

Sure enough, Adrian came back not long after, guilt written all over his face.

"I'm really sorry, Selena... Something happened to Evelyn. Rogues attacked her home's vicinity. As the Alpha, I have to lead a team there right away..."

"Sure," I answered calmly before he could come up with more excuses.

Adrian froze. All the apologies and explanations he had prepared were now useless, leaving him looking almost foolish.

"The pack's safety is important. As Alpha, protecting the pack is your duty. I understand," I said, my voice was so calm it almost held no emotions at all.

Hearing that, Adrian finally let out a relieved smile on his face. He immediately rushed out the door, leaving the coldness behind him.

"Selena, don't worry. When I get back, I'll make it up to you with a huge celebration. You'll be the entire pack's envy!" His voice disappeared into the distance with the sounds of tires screeching and grinding over rocks.

There would be no next time, Adrian.

I quietly cut into the birthday cake by myself.

I was a half-blood orphan who had lost both parents. In the werewolf society where hierarchy was strictly maintained, I was once the one at the bottom of the totem pole.

The first warmth I had ever known in my life came from Adrian when we were young. Back then, he had smiled at me and said, "Poor little half-blood. Why are you hiding in a cave crying by yourself on the night of the full moon? Now that you've met me, I'll stay with you through every full moon and every birthday from now on. You'll never be alone again."

From that moment on, I had given him all my loyalty and love. I treated him as the only ray of light in my dark life. But in the end, he had still chosen Evelyn and abandoned me.

My tears fell onto the expensive chocolate cake. I took a bite. It tasted bitter, with a saltiness that reminded me of rusted iron. It was not sweet at all.

Adrian, you lied to me.

I was still alone at the end of it all.