Chapter 2

Melanie's POV

It felt like someone plunged a dagger back into a wound that hadn't even started to heal. The pain was so sharp I couldn't make a sound.

Trista turned back to her beads. "Daddy said the order of these beads can't be wrong, or the blessing won't work!"

She cheerfully added, still oblivious to my distress, "Daddy even custom-ordered other gifts for Camille! Tomorrow—"

I cut her off, almost without thinking. "Trista... do you remember Mom's birthday?"

She looked up, her eyes vacant for a full two seconds. "Huh? What?"

Then she looked back down at the beads in her hands, saying impatiently, "Mom, don't bother me."

In that moment, my arms went limp, and I released her.

I stood there, silently watching her small back.

I waited a long time. She never looked up again.

Shannon walked up, her voice gentle but distant. "Luna Melanie, Alpha Archer said he's busy tonight and asked you to rest."

"I see." I turned away, a dull, aching throb in my chest, like my scent gland was being brutally ripped apart.

Why would my fated mate treat me like this?

Was our mating bond so meaningless to him?

I had flown nine hours to London just to celebrate my birthday with him, and he wasn't even planning on coming back.

I tried to connect with him through the Mind-Link, but the connection was cold and piercing, blocked by a heavy fog.

He rejected me.

Again.

Ever since we mated, he was always like this—cold, distant, and slightly annoyed.

I should have been used to it.

But tonight, I genuinely didn't have the energy to ask "why."

My mate and my daughter both cared more about Camille.

I felt like an outsider, and they looked like the sweet, perfect family.

Night slowly settled into silence. I went back to the cold bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, feeling overwhelmed by exhaustion and failure.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the curtains. My body ached all over.

The reflection in the mirror showed a pale face, with dark circles under my eyes like shadows from the night before.

I reached up and touched the scent gland on the back of my neck, feeling a slight sting.

An Alpha is supposed to refresh a Luna's mark monthly.

But the last time he marked me was a year ago.

I sighed and picked up my phone.

After a night had passed, the screen was still blank.

I hesitated for a long time but finally typed, "Got time for lunch? Let's eat together."

A few minutes later, he replied, "Just send me the address."

And that was it. No follow-up. No explanation. No apology.

He hadn't even remembered it was my birthday.

I stared at the icy message, my fingers trembling slightly.

I should have been numb by now, but a familiar surge of bitterness rose in my chest—like an unextinguished flame still scorching that tiny, unwilling-to-die hope deep inside me.

As I walked downstairs, I heard quiet voices from the living room.

Shannon's voice drifted into the air. "Are you feeling a little sad?"

"Daddy and I both promised to go to the Moonlight Forest with Camille," Trista's baby voice said. "It'll be so awkward if Mom suddenly shows up and tags along. Plus, Mom always uses her Luna aura to boss me around, and she was mean to Camille!"

I froze on the stairs. My heart was seized by an invisible force, a dull ache coming in waves.

Shannon gently reasoned with her. "Trista, Luna Melanie is your mother. Saying things like that will hurt her feelings, you know?"

"I know," Trista replied innocently, her voice completely certain. "But Daddy and I both like Camille more. Can't Camille be my mother?"

I heard the sound of my own breathing echoing in the quiet stairwell.

They kept talking, but my ears were ringing. I couldn't process anything else.

Trista was the child I raised in my arms.

I had rocked her to sleep countless times in the dead of night, patting her back, telling her, "Mommy is always here."

Last year, when Archer came to London to expand the market, she cried and begged to come along. I hated leaving her, but I agreed.

I thought she would have a more complete family here.

Now it was clear—there was never a place for me in this family.

I turned back to the bedroom, my eyes landing on the still-unopened gift box.

It was a moonstone necklace I brought from Los Angeles, representing my protection.

I had wanted to personally put it on Trista, but now, the gesture felt ridiculous.

I put it back in my suitcase. The click of the lock sounded like the sealing away of the last bit of warmth I had left.

I sat on the bed for a long time until the pain in my chest dulled into a void.

Finally, I grabbed my coat and walked out the door.

The streets were busy, the city still noisy, but everything felt distant.

Every step was like walking through a fog; the path beneath my feet was unclear.

I didn't know where to go. I just needed to leave—to leave the house that not belonged to me.

Time passed in a blur. My phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a text from Archer, "Emergency came up at noon. Lunch canceled."

I stared at the short line of text, silent for a long while.

In his mind, it seemed like everything was more important than me, his Luna.

He always canceled plans with me on a whim, never once considering my feelings.

Frost sighed in my consciousness. "He never cared about us."

Was I disappointed? Maybe I would have been before.

But now, I was just numb. I didn't feel anything at all.

I just felt lost. I rushed here, excited to be back, but both my mate and my daughter were treating me with icy indifference.

On a bizarre impulse, I drove through the unfamiliar city, and when I stopped, I realized I had somehow driven to the Moonlight Forest.

But as soon as I got close, the mating bond suddenly ripped with agonizing pain.