The Proof

Serenity POV

I didn't sleep much that night. My mind kept going back to the little paper Sienna had pushed into my apron.

Tristan is getting engaged to Emily. I read the words so many times that they started looking unreal.

Tristan couldn't be getting engaged.

Not after everything he had promised me.

Not after all the years I had spent believing that one day I would become his Luna.

I turned on my bed and stared at the wall.

Maybe Sienna was lying. She hated me, and she had always found a way to make me feel small. Maybe she wanted me to believe her, go there, and embarrass myself. But then why would she give me an address? Why would she tell me to go and see for myself?

I picked up the paper again. The address was still there.

My fingers moved over the words as if touching them would somehow make them disappear.

I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe that Tristan was still the boy who used to sit beside me when we were children. The boy who told me not to worry because one day he would make me his Luna.

I closed my eyes and remembered his voice. “When I become the next Alpha, I won't think twice about making you my Luna.” I had held onto those words for years.

Even when Sienna mocked my body.

Even when people in the pack called me defective because I couldn't shift. Even when Alpha Gideon and Erica treated me like I was only useful when there was work to be done, I still had Tristan.

Or at least, I thought I did.

I wiped the tears from my face and sat up.

“I need to know the truth,” I whispered. I couldn't leave for Frost Pack carrying this question in my heart. If Tristan was really getting engaged to Emily, then I needed to see it myself. I needed to hear him say it. Maybe then I would finally stop hoping for something that wasn't going to happen.

***

The next morning, I woke up before everyone else. I barely slept, and my eyes felt heavy from crying, but I didn't care. I got dressed in a simple pink dress and slipped the piece of paper into my pocket. I was supposed to leave for Frost Pack that morning, but I couldn't go yet.

Not until I knew what was happening with Tristan.

I walked quietly through the house.

The servants were already moving around, preparing things for my journey, but nobody paid attention to me.

For once, being ignored worked in my favour. I made my way to the garage and found one of the smaller cars parked there.

I stood beside it for a moment. I knew I could get into trouble if Gideon found out where I had gone or that I used his car, but I didn't care. They were already sending me away to a man I had never met because they believed I was useless to them. The least I could do was find out if the person I loved had betrayed me before I left.

I got into the car and started the engine. My hands were shaking in panic as I drove away from Blackwood Pack. I kept checking the address Sienna had given me, making sure I hadn't taken the wrong road.

The farther I drove, the more nervous I became.

***

The place was in one of the nicer parts of the city. Large houses stood behind tall gates, and expensive cars were parked along the streets. I slowed down when I reached the address and looked at the house in front of me. My heart began beating faster.

This was it.

I parked a little distance away and switched off the engine. I stayed inside the car for a few minutes, staring at the house.

I could still turn around now. I could drive back to Blackwood, pack my things, and go to Frost Pack without knowing anything.

But what if Sienna was telling the truth?

I finally stepped out of the car and walked toward the house. I didn't know what I was expecting to find. Maybe Tristan would be there alone. Maybe Emily wouldn't even be there. Maybe I would discover that Sienna had lied just to hurt me.

Then I noticed one of the windows on the side of the house was slightly open.

I heard voices, and I stopped walking.

One of those voices belonged to Tristan.

My heart sank.

I moved closer to the window and stayed behind the wall so nobody inside could see me. I could hear them clearly now.

“Emily, you look beautiful.” My heart felt heavy as I froze completely in shock. That was Tristan's voice.

I slowly moved toward the window and looked inside.

My heart broke before I even understood what I was seeing.

Tristan was sitting with Emily. She looked beautiful in a fitted red dress, her dark hair falling perfectly around her shoulders.

Tristan was looking at her with a smile I had never seen him give me.

Emily reached for a glass of wine and handed it to him.

“You're sure this is what you want?” she asked.

Tristan took the glass from her. “Of course. Why wouldn't I be?” My chest tightened.

I wanted to leave, confront them, or do something, but I couldn't move.

Emily moved closer to him. “And what about Serenity?”

My whole body went cold. Tristan sighed.

“That wolfless fat pig? I bet she will be fine. Father is handing her to the mad king of Frost Pack, so you have nothing to be worried about.”

I stared at him through the window. ‘She will be fine.’ That was all I was to him?

After all those years, after all those promises, I was now but a fat pig to him?

Emily gave a small smile. “You really don't feel anything for her anymore?”

Tristan laughed softly. “I was a child when I made those promises. Things have changed.” He scoffed. “All I felt then was pity, but now I really know my place is by your side, Emily.”

I felt the tears filling my eyes. That bastard had promised me. He had looked into my eyes and told me I would be his Luna.

And now he was sitting with another woman, romancing her and talking about their future like it had been nothing more than a childish dream.

I covered my mouth so they wouldn't hear me sob like a baby.

Emily moved closer to him again. “Then you won't have a problem with me becoming your mate?”

“Never.” He reached for her soft palms and kissed them bit by bit until his lips reached her chest area.

That single word finished me off. ‘Tristan and I might not have the bond yet, but he made me believe I was his mate. He hasn't once even looked at me with so much passion as he does with Emily.’

I stepped a few inches away from the window.

I didn't wait to hear anything else. I turned around and walked back toward the car as quickly as I could without running. Tears rolled down my face, but I didn't bother wiping them anymore.

I had come here looking for proof that someone I had been having a hide-and-seek relationship with was actually getting engaged for an alliance.

Now I had the proof.

Tristan was choosing Emily. He had chosen her long before I even knew there was someone else.

I got into the car and sat behind the steering wheel. My hands rested on it, but I couldn't bring myself to start the engine.

I looked at myself in the rearview mirror. My eyes were swollen, my full cheeks were wet, and for the first time, I didn't feel angry at myself for crying.

“Why wasn't I enough?” I whispered. There was no answer.

Maybe I had never been enough for him. Maybe my body had always been the reason he would eventually leave me.

I wiped my face and took a deep breath. “No more.”

I started the engine.

I wasn't going back to Blackwood Pack to beg Tristan for an explanation. I wasn't going to ask him why he chose Emily. I wasn't going to give Sienna the satisfaction of seeing me break.

If they wanted to send me to Frost Pack, then I would go.

But this time, I wasn't going because they ordered me to.

I was going because I needed to get away from all of them.

I looked at the road ahead and tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

“Goodbye, Tristan.” Then I drove toward Frost Pack.