Chapter 3

By the time I finished everything, rain had soaked through the hem of my dress.

As I lowered my phone, it rang——Mom.

“Sybil,” she said, her voice gentle, familiar.

“I prepared some warming herbs and newborn supplies and brought them over. The house was empty—where are you and Gavin?”

There was a pause, then a quiet sigh.

“You’re so close to your due date. You shouldn’t be out this late, especially in the rain.”

“This is the nesting period. Your body needs calm, not movement.”

Her concern was soft, practical— the kind that came from pack instinct, not panic.

That was what broke me.

The sound of her voice pushed straight through the walls I had been holding up.

The ache inside me swelled, sudden and uncontrollable, like something alive trying to claw its way out of my chest.

I pressed my lips together, forcing the emotion back down.

Holding it in hurt so badly my hands began to shake.

“I’m fine, Mom,” I said, light—too light.

“We just stepped out for dinner.”

“I’m being careful. Gavin’s with me.”

The lie tasted bitter the moment it left my mouth.

I knew if I said anything more, my voice would give me away.

“It’s raining,” I added quickly.

“Please drive slowly. Message me when you get home.”

I ended the call before she could say anything else.

For a long moment, I stood there, breathing shallowly, rain sliding down my hair and shoulders.

I wasn’t just heartbroken.

I was caught between two truths— the mate who had betrayed me, and the mother who still believed I was being protected.

That contrast hurt more than either one alone.

I ended the call in a hurry and drew in a deep breath.

I tried to hold myself together— But in the end, I still cried, right there in the rain.

I stood alone in the crowded hospital plaza, clutching my heavy, aching belly as it pulled downward— And cried until it felt like I had emptied every tear I would ever have.

Gavin didn’t come home that night.

Only a message arrived.

“Sybil, I’ll be working late tonight. I’ll stay at the office.”

“It’s getting colder—don’t sleep with the windows open.”

“Forever yours. Your husband.”

I stared at the screen for a long time.

My chest tightened slowly, as if something invisible were pressing down on my heart, inch by inch.

He was still lying to me—So easily. So carefully.

I wondered how long this had been going on— how many nights, how many excuses, how many messages just like this.

I pressed my palm against my belly, breathing shallowly, afraid that if I breathed too hard, something inside me would break.

Once, I would have read these words and smiled.

Once, I would have believed every single one.

I used to think I was the luckiest woman alive—Not because I was special— but because I had been chosen.

I was born without a wolf.

No heightened senses. No instinctive bond. No moment when the Moon Goddess whispered a destined name into my soul.

In our world, that mattered.

I had always believed I was less.

It was Gavin who refused that truth—He pursued me relentlessly, shamelessly.

He told me that the first time he saw me, something inside him had recognized me.

“I don’t need the Moon to tell me,” he said.

“If fate exists, then you are mine.”

He said I was his destined mate—even if the world disagreed.

And I believed him—I believed that love could be chosen.

That devotion could overcome bloodlines and instincts.

Now, those words replayed in my mind like a cruel joke.

I didn’t reply to his message.

Not because I felt nothing—but because there was too much.

Too much grief.

Too much disbelief.

Too much love that had nowhere left to go.

What hurt the most wasn’t that he had another woman—It was that he was still pretending to be mine.

Not long after, my senior sent me the drafted bond dissolution agreement—I printed it out and signed my name.

As I packed my things to move back to my mother’s place, an unfamiliar number called.

Lena.

We met at a small lounge just outside the pack district—a place wolves favored, where moon-lamps burned low and the air always carried the faint scent of herbs and wine.

She was already there when I arrived.

Lena sat with her back straight, shoulders relaxed, as if the world bent easily around her.

A supply satchel from the pack market rested by her chair—fresh meat supplements, nutrient vials, things meant for pregnant she-wolves. She made no effort to hide it.

Barely three months along, and she glowed.

Her boots were soft leather, fitted for travel through territory rather than comfort, and her posture radiated confidence—young, fertile, triumphant.

One hand rested lazily near her flat stomach, fingers brushing it now and then, as if reminding the room of what she carried.

When she looked up at me, her lips curved—not into a smile, but something sharper.

Satisfaction—The kind that comes from knowing she had taken something precious—and believing she had won.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said.

“You never replied to my messages.”

I smiled faintly.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m not the one doing something shameful.”

“I’m Gavin’s lawful mate. Everything about me can stand in the sunlight.”

“Some people—no matter how well they pretend—are still meant to stay in the dark.”

Her face hardened.

“You—”

I didn’t wait for her to finish. “I came to say one thing.”

I looked at her calmly. “He’s yours now.”

That was all.

I placed cash beneath the coffee cup and slowly rose, one hand supporting my belly.

“What do you mean by that?” she snapped, grabbing my wrist.

“It means,” I said quietly, “I don’t want him anymore.”

“You want him—take him.”

Her eyes flared.

“Stop pretending you’re above this!” she hissed.

“Do you really think giving up makes you noble?”

“Don’t fool yourself. Just because you’re carrying his pup doesn’t mean you can hold onto the Luna position.”

“He doesn’t love you,” she spat. “If he did, would he be with me?”

I said nothing. I gently pulled my hand free and turned to leave.

That was when her composure finally shattered.

“Coward!” she screamed. “Running away like this—what a joke!”

She shoved me hard—The force sent me stumbling backward.

When I hit the ground, a tearing pain ripped through my abdomen— sharp, violent, unbearable.

My body seized.

Warmth spilled between my legs.

Too much.

Fear crashed into me all at once—I screamed.

“Please—”

“Someone help me.”

“Save my pup.”