Chapter 3

With everyone watching, Grayson slipped an arm around Bianca's shoulders without a second thought.

He gazed down at her with a doting smile. "She is. My Luna is breathtaking."

No one knew how to react.

The room went painfully silent.

Then Grayson mind-linked me.

"Bianca just said the wrong thing. I was saving her pride. You didn't expect me to let her stand there and embarrass herself, did you?"

Except Bianca wasn't the one being humiliated. I was.

Every person in that room turned to stare at me like I was the punchline of some joke.

Fine. I played along.

"That's right. Bianca is the one having the mating ceremony with Grayson, not me."

I'd given Grayson exactly what he wanted, but instead of looking satisfied, something complicated crossed his face.

"Bianca was only trying it first for you. Everything we did was for your own good."

For my own good?

I'd heard those words so many times they meant nothing to me anymore.

They slept together for my own good.

She sat at the head table while I was pushed off to the side for my own good.

She always came first, and I got whatever she didn't want. Was that for my own good too?

Bianca was the first woman to wear a wedding dress for Grayson.

She was the first woman to exchange vows with him before the statue of the Moon Goddess.

And she was the first woman he took to bed.

Was all of that supposed to be for me?

I couldn't understand it.

They had grown up together.

Somehow, that had become their excuse for everything.

It was ridiculous.

I blinked back the tears burning in my eyes.

Then a slender hand came down on my shoulder.

"Camille, I meant well. You just don't understand."

Bianca lowered her eyes, looking miserable.

"A mating ceremony is serious. I didn't want Grayson walking into it completely unprepared, so I practiced everything with him first. But I never thought..."

She trailed off, then shook her head. "Never mind. Since it bothers you..."

She turned toward the door.

"I'll just go. I don't want to be the reason you two break up."

Grayson immediately grabbed her arm.

"No. You did nothing wrong. I know you meant well. Some people just don't appreciate it."

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

"You saw it yourself, Camille. She's willing to leave for your sake. How far are you going to push her? Do you want to push her to her death?"

He didn't ask me a single question. He just decided I was to blame.

Once, that would have made me furious. I would've fought him on it.

We'd spent entire weekends arguing because I kept demanding that he choose between Bianca and me.

Every time, he'd back down, apologize, and promise it would never happen again. Sometimes, he'd even swear an oath.

Then Bianca would need him, and every promise he'd made to me would disappear like it had never existed.

Once. Twice. Every time.

I was tired. I didn't have the energy to fight anymore.