Chapter 2

Before dawn, I sent the final cancellation notice and went to the Moon Goddess’s altar alone.

The silver candles Adrian and I had chosen were still arranged around the dais. A priest was taking apart the ceremonial scroll that bore our names.

“Healer Bennett,” he asked gently, “do you want us to preserve the vows?”

I looked down at the promise inked across the parchment.

Two wolves. One soul. Until death.

“Burn it.”

The first corner had barely caught fire when a phone vibrated in my pocket.

Adrian had taken mine by mistake in his rush to leave, and his phone was still in my pocket. He returned for it before I could unlock the screen.

Serena’s name flashed as I held it out to him.

He answered and turned toward the door, but the vaulted stone chamber carried every word back to me.

“I know you love Evelyn,” Serena said. “Asking you to give me this ceremony must be breaking her heart. Maybe we should forget the whole thing.”

Adrian answered without hesitation.

“Of course I love Evelyn. Don’t mistake this for anything it isn’t, Serena. The ceremony is only so you won’t die with regrets.”

“Whether your treatment succeeds or you return to the Moon Goddess, the ceremony will end there. I will not mark you or form a mate bond with you. Evelyn is the only woman I want beside me for the rest of my life.”

Every word proved he loved me.

And somehow, that hurt far worse than if he had never loved me at all.

Love had not kept him from taking away the ceremony I had waited six years for. Nor had it kept him from giving my place as Luna to someone else without asking me first.

He loved me, and still believed the words “we have time” were enough to make me swallow any pain he caused.

Serena sighed through the phone. “There isn’t enough time to prepare everything. I don’t have a ceremonial gown, a vow scroll, or a silver crown.”

“Use Evelyn’s,” Adrian said.

He drew a slow breath, as though convincing himself it was only a gown and a crown.

“She has the kindest heart of anyone I know. She won’t begrudge a dying woman one final kindness.”

He ended the call and left again without looking back.

I stood before the altar as the priest removed the moon-white gown that had been made to my measurements. The silver-threaded E on the bodice was unpicked and replaced with an S.

It felt as though every stitch were being pulled through my skin.

Around noon, Adrian’s voice brushed the unmarked mind-link our wolves had shared for years.

[Serena can’t be left alone. I may not return to the packhouse for a few days. Take care of yourself.]

[As soon as she stabilizes, I’ll come for you.]

I did not ask when that would be.

I only answered through the link, [All right.]

For the next three days, I dealt with the wreckage of the ceremony on my own.

The Silvermoon crest had to be recarved. The priests had to seek the Moon Goddess’s blessing again. The Luna’s crown made for me was sent away to be resized for another woman.

Everyone who looked at me wore the same expression: pity edged with curiosity.

I did not cry.

Each night, I inspected the curse marks and recorded what they had taken.

[Day Two: I can no longer remember what Adrian was wearing the first time we met.]

[Day Three: I have forgotten the first words of his proposal.]

On the evening of the fourth day, I returned to the packhouse with a chest of healing scrolls and smelled unfamiliar roses outside my bedroom.

Adrian was helping Serena through the doorway.

He stopped when he saw me.

“Evelyn. You’re home.”

Serena wore my moon-white robe. The spirit stone Adrian had given me rested at her throat.

She leaned into his arm and offered me a frail smile.

“Healer Bennett. At last. Adrian spoke of you often while I was away. He told me he would give up his Alpha title for you.”

She touched the stone at her neck.

“Don’t worry. I’m only borrowing him for a few months. I won’t truly take him from you.”

Adrian frowned. “Serena, enough.”

Then he crossed the room and stopped in front of me, apology clouding his eyes.

“The master chamber gets the most moonlight. It’s the best place to stabilize her wolf. Would you mind using the east guest room for now?”

I stared at him.

He remembered every small thing I liked. He had once held me in this room and promised that no one else would ever share it with us.

And yet he was asking me to surrender it now.

I walked past him and opened the wardrobe. Most of my clothes had already been moved aside to make room for Serena’s.

“All right,” I said. “I’ll use the east guest room.”