Chapter Two: The Truth I never saw coming 

I lay on my bed restlessly, staring at the wooden ceiling as if the answers to my torment were carved into its lines. My chest rose and fell unevenly, every breath dragging the ache deeper into my bones. Sleep refused to come. Peace had abandoned me the moment Kael spoke those dreadful words.

“I, Alpha Kael of the Moonfall Pack, reject you Aria Star as my mate.”

Those words echoed like a curse, replaying again and again until the tears refused to stop. How could he? After years of love, of whispered promises beneath the moonlight, of dreams of me standing proudly at his side as his Luna. He had shattered it all.

“We were supposed to be his choice,” Karina, my wolf, growled bitterly inside my mind. Her voice was sharp, wounded, and furious. “Fated or not, he swore he would choose us.”

“I know,” I whispered back, curling my arms around myself. “He swore he’d never let me go.”

But even as I remembered his rejection, something about his eyes lingered. They weren’t cruel. They weren’t filled with disgust. They were… tormented. As though rejecting me tore him apart. He had been hiding something. And I needed to know what.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood. Karina stirred uneasily in the back of my mind, pacing like a caged predator.

“This is dangerous, Aria. If he truly betrayed us, you won’t like what you’ll find.”

“I have to know,” I murmured aloud, brushing my tears away. “I won’t let this end without answers.”

---

By the time I reached Kael’s house, the night was deep and cold, the moonlight washing the pack grounds in a silver glow. My fist slammed against the heavy oak door, my knocks echoing louder than my heartbeat. I didn’t stop until it creaked open.

But it wasn’t Kael.

A man I had never seen before stood in the doorway. His eyes scanned me knowingly, as though he had been expecting me all along.

“Where’s Kael?” I demanded.

He didn’t answer. He only stepped aside and gestured silently for me to enter. A chill prickled down my spine, but I brushed past him, storming into the familiar sitting room.

And then I froze.

Kael wasn’t alone.

My heart lurched into my throat at the sight of him sitting on the couch with… her. Elena. My sister. Their arms were linked casually, their bodies leaning close as they spoke in low tones. And then, before my mind could even process it, Kael leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Elena giggled.

The sound splintered something inside me.

I stumbled forward, my voice breaking. “Elena!”

They both snapped toward me, faces pale with shock.

“Ar… Aria,” Elena stammered, her lips trembling.

“You never told me you were coming,” Kael said quickly, rising to his feet. His voice was guilty, rushed like he had been caught in a crime.

I couldn’t breathe. My gaze darted between them, and my chest burned as though my wolf was clawing me apart from the inside.

“So this is it,” I whispered hoarsely. “This is why you rejected me? Because you’ve been hiding something with my sister?”

Tears blurred my vision. Kael stepped closer, hands outstretched.

“Aria, please listen.”

“No!” My voice cracked. “You looked me in the eyes and promised me a future. You swore that even if we weren’t fated, you would choose me. And now...” I choked on the words, falling to my knees as sobs racked my body. “Now you do this?”

Kael knelt quickly, desperation in his face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice raw. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but I can’t fight it anymore. Your sister… Elena… she’s my fated mate.”

His words were a tidal wave, slamming into me, pulling me under until I could barely breathe. Elena looked away, silent, guilt flickering across her face.

“Our sister?” Karina snarled in my mind. “The only blood we have left… and she took him from us.”

My tears dripped hot onto the floor. “So all those years meant nothing? You left me because fate dangled her in front of you?”

Kael’s face twisted in anguish. “It’s not about choosing, Aria. Fated bonds… they’re unbreakable. You know this. I..”

“Stop!” I slapped him, the sound echoing sharply. His head snapped to the side, his jaw clenching.

“You don’t get to tell me about unbreakable bonds,” I spat, my voice trembling. “We had one too. A bond of love. One you swore was enough.”

“Aria, please!”

“I said stop!” My hand shook as I wiped my tears, glaring at both of them. Elena finally spoke, her voice soft, trembling.

“I’m sorry, sister. I didn’t mean for this to happen. If you want… I could step aside. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Her words were a blade twisting in my chest. She said it softly, pitifully, but she had already chosen. The glow in her eyes told me she had accepted him the moment their bond clicked.

“You can’t step aside,” I whispered bitterly. “You’ve already taken him. And he’ll never let you go, not when the Moon Goddess has tied your souls together.”

Kael reached for me again, but I jerked away.

“Don’t,” I hissed, my body trembling with rage and grief. “Don’t touch me. Don’t even look at me. You’ve broken me enough.”

I turned toward the door, each step heavier than the last. My heart was bleeding, my soul screaming, Karina’s growls echoing in the back of my mind.

Behind me, Kael called out, his voice cracking. “Aria, wait!”

I stopped at the door but didn’t turn around. My tears blurred the silver glow of the moon outside.

“Goodbye, Kael. Don’t ever come after me again.”

And with that, I stepped into the night, my chest hollow, my wolf restless, my world shattered.

But even as I walked away, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this betrayal was only the beginning.