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VENUS

“Mine!” A powerful growl roars through the halls of the packhouse. It comes from Bronze, the man I love. My body trembles, but it’s not with the excitement of hearing him claim his mate. It’s from fear. Because I’m not the one who he is claiming.

Today is my twentieth birthday, and Bronze threw a surprise party to celebrate it in his pack. I felt like the luckiest person on earth because he spared no efforts to make this birthday special for me. I should have been worried instead. 

Bronze is the Alpha of the Silver Fang pack and I had recently moved in with him. We have been friends since high school and dated when I was fifteen. Bronze was seventeen, and he proposed to me. 

We were the power couple in school since both of us come from powerful packs. I’m the daughter of two Alphas who have special powers blessed by the Goddess, so that makes me a special Alpha rank, too. People are envious of our relationship because it’s almost perfect.

Just like other couples, we fight, but have a mutual understanding and respect for each other. There is no problem we can’t solve together. 

It’s the fact that Bronze loves and understands me so well that sometimes I doubt if I’m worthy to have him. There’s plenty of women who have a crush on him and I was one of them. I know what those women feel towards him and what they can do for him. One of them was the daughter of an Alpha who was even willing to join the pack warrior training to get noticed by him. 

All of them who want him are beautiful and have deep feelings for him. It’s not like I don’t find myself beautiful, but when you know there are other capable women fighting for his love, you get a little insecure. But Bronze made it clear that he only wanted me. 

Unlike those pretty girls, my features are rather odd. Especially my hair. I don’t have raven black, brown or blonde hair. I have dark blue hair. Bronze says he loves my rare hair color and calls me Blue. I love that because growing up with a rare hair color, I always felt like the odd one out. 

It has been a year since he took over the position of the Alpha and then proposed to me to move in with him and become his Luna. I had no doubts that he meant to build a family with me, so I moved into the Silver Fang pack. Though another advantage of me coming here is the special annual training camp. 

I have wanted to be a part of this camp for a very long time because I want to be strong. Bronze arranged everything for me so that I can attend the camp and also be his Luna.

Everyone believed that we will be together, get married and rule the pack. I did too until now. 

Since the time I entered the party, Bronze had been acting weird. He looked distant and kept looking everywhere as if he was searching for something. I wanted to believe that he was stressed, since he wanted to make sure I liked what he had planned for me. 

It turns out that a 5’2 blonde woman is the source of his stress. I gather my strength to follow his gaze and look at her. She is beautiful, her blonde hair styled in curls that perfectly goes with the short, lace red dress that hugs her curves and matches her red lips. 

I had seen her before. Since the moment she entered the party, her beauty had caught the attention of several unmated males. It didn’t bother me, but now her beauty makes me feel pale in comparison.

I look at Bronze, who is staring at her with pure desire in his eyes. As if she has put him in some kind of trance. 

My body feels frozen. What should I do? 

It’s clear that she is Bronze’s mate and I have no chance against her. 

I gather my strength to move closer to him and hold his arm. But he does not spare me a glance. As if I’m not here. Only she is. 

Bronze’s best friend Simon approaches him and whispers in his ear, “Alpha Bronze, you’re going to propose to Venus to get engaged. Snap out of it.” 

Bronze blinks a few times and slowly turns his head towards me. Our eyes meet, but I don’t see the spark in his eyes. The one he had when he looked at me. 

“Yes,” he mutters and pulls out the ring box from his pocket. He is going to propose to me tonight to get engaged to him. That’s the major surprise, and I was excited since I knew it. 

He won’t change his mind, right? He won’t accept his mate. He promised me that he will only have me, mate or not. Also, he does not want a relationship with his fated mate because of his past. 

I knew a day like this would come when Bronze would find his mate. But I can’t believe it had to be my birthday. The timing can’t be worse and it scares me. 

He won’t accept her. I keep telling myself that. 

The woman walks towards us, her eyes flashing. She bares her canines at me and snarls. 

Simon lifts his arm to stop her. “The Alpha won’t stop the engagement. Step back,” he says in a warning tone. The girl stares at me with a look of rage . 

I clench my jaw. I know she feels possessive of her mate, but he belongs to me. I’m the one who had been beside him for so many years. 

I look at my boyfriend and my heart drops when I see him stare back at her with an earnest look in his eyes. 

“Bronze,” I call him and lift my hand, gesturing to him to put the ring on my finger.

He pulls out the beautiful diamond ring he specially made for me and takes my hand. But he does not slide the ring on my finger. My heart thumps in my chest as I look up at him. He looks conflicted and his hand is shaking. I can feel it.

The girl walks away from the scene as if she can’t take it. I’m waiting for Bronze to propose, but he’s stiff as a board.  

My heart breaks. 

“Bronze?” I take his name, feeling my voice shake. 

He drops my hand and sighs. “I need some air.” Saying that, he walks out of the packhouse. As soon as he exits, the party hall is abuzz with whispers. 

I stand still in my place, frozen. Tears stream down my eyes. I snatch Simon’s drink and down it in a single gulp. I don’t drink, but today I need this to forget everything. 

“Venus, are you okay?” Simon asks me in concern. 

The sound of the crowd makes me feel suffocated, so I walk out of the room, not paying any heed to Simon’s calls. 

I step outside, breathing in the fresh air. I look at the forest ahead and wish that I could go for a run. Despite being twenty, I don’t have a wolf yet. The reason being that I’m a celestial wolf—a wolf blessed with magical powers gifted by the Goddess. My mother is one, and she told me that a celestial wolf shifts late. 

I reach a far corner in the garden and my lungs feel tight. I struggle to breathe. Aside from not shifting, I have a physical weakness that stems from my childhood.

I sit on the bench and take a few minutes to calm down. Then I touch my neck, feeling his mark on my skin. How can Bronze do this to me? After so much we had gone through together, he decided to humiliate me in front of a woman he just met? 

I hang my head low and cry. A part of me just can’t accept what happened. I wish this to be a bad dream, but the cold air biting my skin reminds me that it’s very real. 

What’s next? Bronze hasn’t accepted her, but he didn’t reject her either. 

So what does that make our relationship? 

I look up at the sky and stare at the full moon. Bronze won’t betray me. 

I know I sound delusional, but he was the one who stood by my side in my hardest moments. If he hadn’t loved me, he would have never made those efforts. I’ll have to give him some time to process this mate situation and then we’ll be back together. 

I wipe my tears and head back to the packhouse, feeling hopeful. 

When I enter the living room, everybody has left and Simon is sitting with his friends, drinking. His gaze shifts towards me and he smiles. “Venus, you’re back.” 

I don’t return his smile and approach him. “Where’s Bronze?” 

Simon jerks his head toward the stairs. “Probably in his room.” 

I glance at the stairs and am about to head toward the staircase when he stops me. “Venus, wait.” His hand wraps around my arm as he gently turns me toward him. His expression is serious. “You’re like a sister to me, so I need to tell you this. I think… it might be better if you end things with him.” 

My lips part in shock at his words, and I blink in disbelief. 

“He’s got his mate now, so it’ll be pointless for you to be with him,” Simon says in a gentle tone, but his words are like a stab to the heart. I can’t believe he’s the same guy who tried to manage the situation earlier. 

I don’t say a word and head upstairs. Simon’s words echo in my head and I feel my gut tighten with anxiety. 

I reach Bronze’s room at the end of the hallway and push the door open without knocking. We’ve been sleeping together, so it’s practically my room too. He’s sitting at the edge of the bed, his head hanging low, hands clasped tightly together.

He senses me and looks up. 

“Are you done partying with your mate?” I ask. 

Bronze scoffs. “What are you talking about? Nothing of that sort happened.” His voice is low, like he’s tired. 

How is he so calm about this while a storm is raging inside me? I clench my fist. “Did you make out with her?” I dare to ask, the words slipping out of my mouth before I can think. 

Bronze’s brows lift as if he’s shocked. It’s the first proper reaction he gave me in a while. “What the fuck, Venus? No, of course not.” He sits straight and his eyes harden as he looks at me. “How can you accuse me of cheating on you?” 

I know he’s not lying. Since I have his mark, I am connected to him physically and will know when he has touched another woman. 

“Then why didn’t you propose to me?” I ask, my voice shaking a little as that’s what has been bothering me the most. 

His eyes soften at my question, and he looks away. “The mate bond is stronger than I expected. It was messing with my head.” 

“So you decided to leave me like that?” I spat. 

He whirls his head at me. “Then what do you expect me to do, huh? Put the ring on her? You have no idea how hard it was to fight that connection I felt!” He growls at me and I flinch. Bronze never raised his voice at me before, no matter how angry he was. 

 He realizes what he did and sighs. “Leaving the scene was the only way I had Venus.” 

I stare at the floor. I understand him. But it still hurts. No matter what he says, I still feel abandoned. He didn’t come to look for me afterwards and assure me that we’d be fine. Maybe I’m being selfish, but I’m the one who’s at the stake of losing everything. 

“But you didn’t come to me either, Bronze. I was hurt too,” I say, my voice breaking. “The least you could have done was tell me what you are feeling.” 

“Seriously, Venus?” Bronze takes my name in a stern tone and I look up. His eyes show that he’s disappointed in me. “When did you become so immature? I thought you’d understand me, but you don’t. All you care about right now is you.” 

His words snap something inside me, and I lash out. “I’m immature? You literally refused to get engaged with me because now your mate is here. Don’t you see it? I’m scared because I might lose you to that girl. I—” 

“Leave.” Bronze says suddenly and I stop. 

Silence follows as I stare at him in disbelief. Did he just tell me to leave? 

“Bronze,” I take his name, hoping he’d realize what he said. 

“Venus, I’m serious. Just leave for now. I can’t do this with you right now. I’m tired of everything.” 

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I don’t know what to say. He’s tired when I’m the one who’s been left behind. 

Feeling defeated, I mutter, “Alright,” Then I step out of the room in silence. I can feel my chest tighten with fear. Because I can sense that things between Bronze and me aren’t going to be the same anymore.