Chapter 2

Selene's POV

"...She's my fated mate."

The words didn't just hang in the air.

They crashed down like a guillotine blade, severing the last thread of hope I had been clinging to.

Heavy.

Merciless.

Final.

I stared at Kieran, my vision blurring as I waited for the mask to slip. I waited for him to laugh, to throw his head back and tell me this was some cruel, twisted joke. I waited for him to pull me into his arms and swear that none of this was real, that the woman in our bed meant nothing, that I was the only one who mattered.

He didn't.

Instead, he held my gaze with that same quiet, stoic expression that had once made me feel safe, protected, loved. Now, it made me feel sick. It made my stomach churn with a nausea so deep I thought I might vomit.

"And she's the one who's going to be my Luna."

My fingers curled into fists so tight my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood I couldn't feel.

"No."

The word escaped before I could stop it, a pathetic, broken whisper.

"No."

I shook my head harder, my hair falling around my face like a curtain, hiding me from the nightmare unfolding in front of me.

"You don't mean that. You can't."

"I do."

His answer came too quickly.

Too easily.

As though he hadn't just ripped my heart out of my chest and crushed it under his boot.

As though destroying four years of my life was as casual as ordering coffee.

I turned my gaze to the woman sitting on our bed.

On the sheets we had bought together.

On the mattress where we had made love countless times.

She had wrapped the blanket around herself now, a pathetic attempt at modesty that fooled no one.

She made no attempt to hide her face, her identity, or her triumph.

Instead, she looked at me with something that almost resembled pity.

Her thighs were still slick with his cum, a visceral, undeniable testament to what I had just walked in on.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

Her voice was gentle, which somehow made it worse.

I laughed.

It was a broken, humorless sound that scraped against my throat.

"Sorry?"

I looked between the two of them, my vision swimming with tears I refused to let fall.

Not in front of them.

Never in front of them.

"You sleep with my fiancé in my bed," my voice cracked, the words jagged and painful, "...and you're sorry?"

Lyra lowered her eyes, feigning shame.

"I didn't know about you until this morning."

The air left my lungs.

I turned slowly, my entire world tilting on its axis, to look at Kieran.

"Is that true?"

His silence answered before his lips ever did.

The way he wouldn't meet my eyes, the way his jaw tightened—it was a confession louder than any scream.

"So she knew..." I whispered, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. "And you still brought her here. You brought her into our home, into our bed, knowing exactly what this would do to me."

"I didn't plan for this to happen," he muttered, shifting his weight.

"Oh, don't."

I raised a trembling hand, pointing a finger at him that shook with rage and devastation.

"Don't insult me by pretending this was an accident. Don't you dare try to make me believe this was some mistake."

"Kieran..."

Lyra reached for his arm, her touch light, possessive.

He didn't pull away.

He didn't flinch.

Instead, he covered her hand with his.

A simple gesture.

Small.

Natural.

But it felt like someone had driven a knife straight through my chest, twisting it slowly.

He used to hold my hand like that.

Without thinking.

Without hesitation.

As if letting go wasn't an option.

As if I was the only thing in the world that mattered.

Now, he held her like that.

I swallowed hard, the taste of bile rising in my throat.

"When?"

Neither of them answered.

The silence in the room was deafening, suffocating.

I forced the question out again, my voice rising, desperate for a lie, for anything other than the truth.

"When did you meet her?"

Kieran finally spoke, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.

"Three days ago."

Three days.

The number echoed in my mind, hollow and cruel.

Three days ago, he had kissed me goodbye before I left for work, promising to cook dinner.

Three days ago, he had called me during lunch just to ask if I'd eaten, his voice full of concern.

Three days ago, he had looked me in the eyes and told me he loved me.

And three days ago, he had met her.

I looked at him as though I had never seen him before.

Because I hadn't.

The man standing in front of me was a stranger.

A monster wearing the face of the man I loved.

"So it only took three days..." A tear slipped down my cheek, hot and shameful. "...to forget four years? To erase everything we built? Everything I believed in?"

Pain flashed across his face, fleeting and insincere.

"It isn't about forgetting."

"Then what is it about?" I screamed, my voice breaking. "What could possibly be more important than the vows you made to me? Than the life we planned?"

"My wolf chose her," he said, his voice hardening. "It's not something I can control. It's fate."

I stared at him, disbelief coursing through my veins.

"And what about you? What about Kieran? The man I know? The man who promised me forever?"

Silence.

The silence told me everything I needed to know.

Because it wasn't just his wolf.

He had chosen her too.

He was choosing her right now, by standing there, by not denying it, by protecting her while I stood here shattered.

"But Selene," his voice dropped, cold and mocking, the Alpha Wolf within him surfacing in his tone, "you actually thought I'd reject my fated mate for a human? Don't be stupid."

His words landed like a slap, the sting of them burning worse than any physical blow.

"Embarrass myself?" I repeated, my voice trembling. "Is that what you think this is? Is that what you think I am?"

"You knew this moment would come, Selene," he said, his eyes cold, devoid of any love I had ever known. "Fate cannot be denied. You should have known your place."

I opened my mouth to respond, to scream, to fight, but no words came out.

Only a throb, a deep, agonizing pain in my chest that felt like my heart was literally breaking inside me.

Slowly, with trembling hands that I couldn't control, I reached up to my finger.

I grasped the diamond ring, the symbol of a future that would never exist.

I slid it off.

It caught the light one last time, sparkling with a cruel brilliance, before I placed it on the dresser with a soft clink.

"I can't wear this anymore," I whispered, my voice hollow. "I won't."

Kieran looked down at the ring, his jaw tightening.

For a second, just a second, I thought I saw something flicker in his eyes.

Regret?

Panic?

"Selene..." he started, taking a step forward.

"No."

I stepped back, putting distance between us, distance I should have put years ago.

"You don't get to say my name like nothing has changed. You don't get to act like you're the victim here."

I looked at Lyra, really looked at her, seeing the triumph in her eyes, the satisfaction of a prize won.

"I hope he's everything you dreamed of," I said, my voice cold, dead. "I hope he's worth the destruction he caused. I hope he's worth the pain."

Then I looked back at Kieran, locking my eyes with his, forcing him to see the damage he had done.

"And I hope one day you remember what it cost you. I hope you remember the moment you chose power and fate over love, and I hope it haunts you every single day for the rest of your life."

I stepped away from him, turning my back on the man I had loved, the life I had planned, the future I had believed in.

"You don't get to say my name anymore."

Neither of them tried to stop me.

Neither of them called out.

Neither of them cared.

I turned and walked out of the bedroom, my legs feeling like they were made of lead, my soul feeling like it had been ripped out of my body.

One step.

Then another.

My legs felt numb.

The hallway I had walked through a few minutes ago, a place of safety and love, looked unfamiliar now.

It looked like a prison.

Like a tomb.

Every photograph hanging on the walls—our smiles, our happiness, our lies—felt like a mockery.

Every piece of furniture we had chosen together felt like evidence of a crime.

Every memory...

Every single memory...

Felt like it belonged to someone else.

To a different life.

To a different person.

I reached the bottom of the stairs without remembering how I had gotten there.

My body was moving on autopilot, driven by a need to escape, to survive.

The front door stood a few feet away.

Home.

I had called this place home for three years.

I had built a life here.

I had loved here.

Now it was nothing more than a house.

A shell.

A place where my heart had been destroyed.

My hand closed around the doorknob, the metal cold under my touch.

For just a second...

I paused.

I waited.

I waited for footsteps.

I waited for the sound of his voice.

I waited for Kieran to come running after me, to call my name, to tell me he had made a mistake, to tell me he loved me, to tell me he would choose me.

Nothing.

The silence behind me was louder than any words.

It was a silence of indifference.

A silence that confirmed everything I feared.

A sob rose in my throat, violent and painful, but I swallowed it down.

I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

I pulled the door open and walked out.

The evening air hit my face, cool against my burning skin, but it offered no relief.

No comfort.

I didn't know how long I walked.

Time had lost all meaning.

Past the garden where we had planted flowers.

Past the training grounds where he had taught me to fight.

Past the guards standing at the gates who lowered their heads when they saw me crying, who knew, who had probably known before I did.

I couldn't even bring myself to wonder what they were thinking.

I couldn't bring myself to care about their opinions, their pity, their judgment.

I just kept walking.

One foot in front of the other.

Mechanical.

Mindless.

Until I found myself standing beside my car.

I stared at my reflection in the driver's window.

Mascara stained my cheeks in dark, ugly streaks.

My eyes were swollen, red, hollow.

My face was pale, ghostly.

I barely recognized the woman staring back at me.

She looked broken.

Destroyed.

Dead inside.

I didn't remember walking that far.

I didn't remember moving my feet.

With shaking hands, I unlocked the door and slid into the driver's seat.

The familiar smell of my car, usually a source of comfort, now felt alien.

The moment the door clicked shut, sealing me in the darkness...

Everything inside me shattered.

A sob ripped through my chest, violent and uncontrollable.

I covered my mouth, trying to stifle the sound, but it didn't help.

It never would.

Another sob followed.

Then another.

Tears poured down my face, hot and endless, until I couldn't see through them anymore.

The world blurred into a mess of pain and darkness.

I folded over the steering wheel, my forehead resting against the cold leather, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably as grief consumed me.

The engagement ring was gone.

So was the future I had spent four years building.

The man I loved...

The man I trusted...

The man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with...

Had chosen someone else.

He had chosen her over me.

He had destroyed me without a second thought.

I cried until my throat burned.

Until my eyes ached so badly I could barely keep them open.

Until I had no tears left to give, until I was completely, utterly empty.

Somewhere between one broken sob and the next...

Exhaustion, heavy and dark, pulled me under.

And I let it.

A sharp beam of morning sunlight warmed my face, harsh and unforgiving.

I blinked slowly, my eyes crusted with dried tears, my body stiff and sore from sleeping in the car.

For a few seconds, I didn't know where I was.

I didn't know who I was.

Then the ache in my chest came rushing back, a tidal wave of memory and pain.

The bedroom.

Lyra.

Kieran.

The betrayal.

The end.

It hadn't been a nightmare.

It had all been real.

My eyes drifted to the dashboard clock.

7:18 a.m.

I had spent the entire night in my car.

Alone.

Broken.

I wiped the dried tears from my cheeks, the motion painful, and stared through the windshield at the house in the distance.

At the place that was no longer my home.

There was nothing left for me here.

Nothing.

No love.

No future.

No reason to stay.

With trembling fingers, I picked up my phone.

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold it.

There was only one person I wanted.

One person who had never broken a promise to me.

One person who had never failed me.

Dad.

The phone barely rang once before he answered.

"My little girl."

The moment I heard his voice, warm and loving and safe, I broke all over again.

The dam I had tried to build overnight crumbled instantly.

"Dad..." I struggled to get the words out, my voice a ragged whisper. "I..."

My throat tightened, choking me.

He didn't rush me.

He didn't ask what was wrong.

He simply waited, his silence a blanket of unconditional love.

Taking a shaky breath, I closed my eyes, tears streaming down my face again.

"Is the arranged marriage..." I swallowed hard, the words tasting like ash, "...still on?"

"Yes."

His answer came without hesitation.

No questions.

No confusion.

No judgment.

Just one word.

Another tear rolled down my cheek, cold and final.

"Then..." I tightened my grip on the phone, my knuckles white, my resolve hardening like steel. "...tell him I'll marry him."