Chapter 2

Ruby’s POV

I didn't think. I just pushed the door open, the heavy wood swinging back until it hit the wall with a sharp thud.

The sound cut through the room, and both of them froze. Ethan turned his head first, his dark eyes narrowing slightly when they landed on me. He didn't let go of Vivian right away, his hands lingering on her waist for a second before he finally stepped back.

"Ruby?" Ethan asked, his voice sounding more annoyed than shocked. "What are you doing here?"

I stared at him, my hand gripping my IV pole so hard my knuckles turned white. My voice shook, but I couldn't stop the hurt from bleeding out. "I called you. I called you so many times, Ethan. You never answered."

Before Ethan could even open his mouth, Vivian let out a small, breathless gasp. She shrank back against the side of the hospital bed, her eyes wide and pooling with dramatic tears.

"Oh my god, Ruby," Vivian whimpered, her hands flying to my mouth. "I am so, so sorry. It was an accident, I swear. The light changed so fast, and by the time I slammed on my brakes, it was too late. I accidentally hit your car. Please tell me you're okay."

My stomach turned. She was doing it again. The innocent, helpless act she always played whenever she wanted to look like the victim.

"It wasn't her fault, Ruby," Ethan said immediately, his tone sharp and defensive. He stepped slightly in front of Vivian, shielding her from me. "She didn't do it on purpose. It was a bad intersection."

A cold, heavy weight dropped directly into my chest.

He didn't ask how I was doing. He didn't ask why I was wandering around a hospital corridor in a thin gown, dragging a medical pole behind me. He didn't know about the baby, but he knew about the crash, and his very first instinct wasn't to check on his wife. It was to defend the girl who hit me.

He hadn't come to this hospital for me. He didn't even know I was here. He came because he heard Vivian had been in an accident, and he rushed to her side without a single second thought.

Vivian glanced between the two of us, a fragile, trembling smile on her lips. "Ethan, really, you should go check on Ruby. Look at her. Go make sure she's taken care of."

Ethan didn't move an inch. He didn't even turn his head to properly look at me.

"She has the pack doctors if she needs something," Ethan said coldly, his eyes staying fixed on Vivian. "You're the one who was complaining about feeling dizzy on the way over. You need to let the doctor examine you again. I want to make sure you're entirely fine."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tear this place apart.

I looked at Vivian. She had a tiny, barely noticeable scrape on her forearm, completely clean and already treated. That was it. Then I looked down at myself. I had a thick white bandage wrapped tightly around my forehead. My arms and legs were covered in ugly, purple bruises and scrapes from the impact. My dress was torn, stained with dirt and dried blood from the car seat. I was falling apart at the seams, and my own husband was worried about a scratch on another woman.

Three years ago, Vivian was the one dating Ethan. They were the perfect couple, or so everyone thought. But everything flipped upside down the moment Ethan and I crossed paths at the pack gala, and the universe decided to speak. He was my fated mate.

His family was furious when they found out he was trying to ignore the bond. The old Alpha, his grandfather, gave him a brutal ultimatum: marry Ruby, or lose every single ounce of your inheritance rights to the pack. On top of that, the elders threatened to exile Vivian entirely for trying to stand between a fated true match. To save Vivian from being thrown out into the wild, and to keep his title, Ethan married me.

He was distant from day one. Our marriage was quiet, lonely, and cold. But I was naive. I genuinely believed that with enough time, the mate bond would do its magic. I thought he would eventually forget about her and see me. After all, the Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes. Plus, right after the wedding, Vivian packed her bags and completely disappeared from our lives. Or, at least, that's what I thought.

Looking at them right now, the ugly truth slapped me right across the face. He never cut contact with her. Not for a single day.

A doctor walked into the room a second later, breaking the suffocating silence. "Miss Vivian, the secondary exam room is ready for your scans."

Vivian nodded weakly, letting the doctor guide her out of the room. As she passed me, she gave me a look that was supposed to be apologetic, but I saw the faint, triumphant gleam in her eyes.

Once the door clicked shut behind them, I took a deep breath, trying to force my racing heart to calm down. I swallowed the lump of bile in my throat. I refused to believe he would entirely betray me. We were mates. There was a sacred bond connecting our souls. He couldn't just throw that away, right?

"Ethan," I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I stepped further into the room. "I have something really important to tell you."

I needed to tell him about the baby. I needed to tell him that I had been pregnant, and that the accident took our child away before we even got the chance to know them.

Ethan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He didn't look at me with warmth. He looked at me like I was an inconvenience. "I have something to say too, Ruby."

I closed my eyes for a brief second, feeling the exhaustion deep in my bones. "You go first then."

Ethan stood up straight, squaring his broad shoulders. The informal, casual boy I used to see hints of was gone. He looked exactly like the Alpha now—hard, unyielding, and completely detached.

"I want a divorce," he said.

The words cut through the air like a knife. I froze, my entire body going completely numb. The room felt like it was spinning, the walls closing in on me.

"What?" I breathed, my voice cracking. "Why?"

"You know why, Ruby," Ethan said, his tone entirely level, without a single hint of remorse. "Before our marriage, I loved Vivian. She was my girl. When the pack found out you were my mate, my grandfather forced my hand. He threatened everything I worked for. I married you to protect her, and to take my rightful place. But Vivian has always been the only woman I truly loved."

He took a step closer, though it didn't feel like he was moving toward me to comfort me. It felt like an interrogation.

"Now that my grandfather has passed and I am officially the Alpha, I don't have to play by those rules anymore," he continued, his face like stone. "I want to end this marriage. I am going to give Vivian the title she deserves. She is the Luna I actually want by my side."

It felt like someone had poured a bucket of freezing ice straight over my head. My chest tightened so much I could barely get any oxygen into my lungs.

"But I'm your mate," I choked out, the tears finally breaking free and spilling down my cheeks. "I gave you everything, Ethan. Three years of my life. I loved you with every single part of me. I thought we were building something. I thought we had fallen in love. Haven't you developed any feelings for me over these three years? Not even a little bit?"

"No," Ethan replied instantly. The word was short, sharp, and definitive. "All I can say is that the Moon Goddess made a mistake when she paired us together. We aren't compatible, Ruby. I'll give you whatever you want—money, a house, property outside the pack lands. Anything you ask for, if you just agree to the divorce without making a scene."

A bitter, hysterical laugh bubbled up in my throat, mixing with my tears. The pain in my stomach flared up, a harsh reminder of what I had just been through on that cold operating table.

"Do you even know what happened to me today?" I screamed, the sound tearing out of my chest, broken. "I lost our baby in that accident, Ethan! I was pregnant. We could have had a child. Your child. Your heir."

Ethan went completely still. His eyes widened slightly, the first break in his perfect, icy composure. He stared at me, his jaw clenching as the words sunk in. The silence stretched between us, lasting so long I thought he might not answer at all.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, but it was the most brutal thing he had ever said to me.

"Maybe it's for the best," Ethan murmured, looking away from me. "At least the child won't have to grow up in a broken home."

The sadness inside me snapped, turning into a hot, blazing fury that consumed every single ounce of my grief.

"I agree," I spat, my voice dripping with venom as I glared at him. "At least my child won't have a father who didn't even love them before they were born."

I didn't wait for him to respond. I didn't want to see his face for another second. I turned around, ignoring the pain in my body, and stormed out of the room.