Chapter Two

Marcello's POV

Earlier that day, my office had felt smaller with every passing minute. I sat behind my desk and stared at the photographs in my hands, unable to accept what I was seeing. My fingers were shaking, but my voice remained cold as I looked at the private investigator sitting across from me.

"Are you sure these pictures are real?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

The investigator nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Alpha. I checked them carefully. They have not been edited, and the pictures are real."

I stared at the photographs again before waving him away. "All right. Go."

The moment the door closed behind him, I slammed my fist against the desk. The wood cracked beneath my hand, but I barely noticed the pain. My wolf was howling inside me, desperate to get out, because the woman I loved had betrayed me. My mate, my Ludovica, had been seeing another man behind my back, and he was not even someone worthy of standing beside her. He was a low-ranking guard from my own pack.

I looked down at the pictures again, hoping that somehow I had misunderstood them, but the images were clear. Ludovica was standing in the garden with the guard, smiling at him while his hand rested on her waist. In another picture, they were standing so close that it looked as though they were about to kiss. Every time I looked at them, another wave of pain tore through me.

How could she do this to me after everything we had been through? I had stood by her when the entire pack called her the Barren Luna. I had defended her whenever the elders demanded that I take another mate, and I had refused to let anyone convince me that she was not enough for me. I had chosen her again and again, yet this was how she had repaid me.

For a moment, I felt as though I could burn the entire palace down.

I could not stay inside those walls. I stormed out of my office and headed toward the woods behind the palace, ripping off my shirt as I walked. The moment I reached a quiet part of the forest, I allowed the shift to take over. My bones cracked, fur pushed through my skin, and within seconds, my large black wolf was running through the trees.

I ran as hard and as fast as I could, letting the wind hit my face while the trees blurred around me. The cold air did nothing to calm the anger burning inside my chest. How could Ludovica do this to us? How could she betray our mating bond after everything we had shared? I had believed that our love was stronger than anything the pack could throw at us, but now I was beginning to wonder if I had been wrong.

The pain of betrayal felt like blood in my mouth.

After almost an hour, I finally forced myself to stop and shift back near the river. My chest was still rising and falling heavily, and sweat and dirt covered my body. I reached into a hollow in one of the trees where I kept spare clothes and quickly changed before making my way back toward the palace.

Manfredi, my Beta, was already waiting for me at the edge of the woods. The worried look on his face immediately told me that he knew something was wrong.

"What are you going to do now, Alpha?" he asked carefully.

"She will face the consequences of what she has done," I growled, my anger returning the moment I thought about the pictures.

Manfredi stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I still don't believe Ludovica would do something like that. She loves you, Marcello. Maybe you should investigate the matter properly before you make any decision."

"Save it," I snapped, cutting him off. "You heard the investigator. The pictures are real. She was meeting that guard behind my back."

Manfredi opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something else, but I did not wait for him. I pushed past him and walked straight toward the palace. My blood was still boiling, and every servant who saw my expression quickly lowered their head and moved out of my way.

Even before I reached our private quarters, I caught Ludovica's sweet scent. That scent used to calm me whenever I was angry, but now it only made the pain worse. She was inside, waiting for me as though nothing had happened.

I pushed the door open.

Ludovica turned toward me with the brightest smile I had seen on her face in weeks. She rushed toward me with her arms wide open, just as she always did whenever I came home. For one brief moment, my anger weakened. My heart almost softened when I saw her face, and some foolish part of me wanted to forget everything I had seen.

Then the pictures flashed through my mind again.

I remembered her smiling at that guard. I remembered his hand on her body, and the anger returned so quickly that I could barely control myself.

I pushed her away hard, and she stumbled backward with shock written across her face.

"Get away from me, you cheating whore!"

My voice came out cold and full of the anger that had been burning inside me since I saw those photographs. The smile disappeared from her face immediately, and she stared at me in disbelief, her hands still reaching toward me even though I had already stepped away.

"Marcello... what?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What did you just say?"

I stood there with my fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles turned white. She looked so innocent and hurt that for a moment, I almost believed her. Almost.

"Marcello," she said again as tears began to fill her eyes. "I don't understand."

I could not hold my anger inside any longer.

"Swear to me that you didn't cheat on me!" I shouted. "How could you do this after everything I have done for you? You cheated on me with a guard!"

She looked completely shocked. Her eyes widened as if she could not believe the accusation coming from my mouth.

"I swear by the Goddess that I didn't cheat on you," she said, her voice trembling. "How can you even think that about me?"

I gave a bitter laugh, although the sound felt painful even to my own ears.

"Don't lie to me, Ludovica. I have proof. Pictures. Clear pictures of you and that guard in the garden, smiling at each other and touching each other like I don't even exist. Do you think I'm blind?"

She took a small step toward me, her hands shaking as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Marcello, please listen to me. I don't know what pictures you're talking about. I have never touched that guard, and I would never do something like that to you. You are my mate. You are my husband. I love you."

Her words sounded sincere, and some part of me wanted desperately to believe her. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her that everything was fine, but the photographs were still burned into my mind. I had seen them with my own eyes, and I could not simply pretend they did not exist.

"Then explain why you were meeting him secretly!" I demanded. "Why were you in the garden with him when you knew I was going to be in meetings all day? Why did you allow him to put his hands on you?"

"I wasn't meeting anyone," she cried. "I went to the garden after seeing Doctor Vittoria, but I was alone. I swear it, Marcello. Please, you have to believe me."

The mention of the doctor made me pause for a moment. Confusion cut through my anger, and I stared at her.

"Doctor Vittoria?"

Why had Ludovica gone to the doctor? Was she sick? Had something happened to her? Questions rushed through my mind, but I forced them away. Whatever the reason was, I could not let myself forget what I had seen.

"I trusted you," I said, my voice becoming quieter but colder. "When the pack called you barren, when my own sister called you useless, I defended you every single time. I told them that you were my mate and that was enough for me. I stood between you and everyone who wanted to tear us apart, and this is how you repay me?"

I looked straight into her tear-filled eyes as the next words left my mouth.

"By spreading your legs for a guard?"

The moment I said it, I saw the words hit her. She flinched as if I had struck her, and one of her hands immediately moved to her stomach.

"Marcello... stop," she begged through her tears. "You're wrong. I'm not cheating on you. I could never do that."

"Enough!" I shouted, unable to listen to her anymore.

My wolf paced restlessly inside me, angry and wounded. A part of me wanted to pull her close and mark her again, as if doing so could remind me that she was still mine. Another part of me wanted to reject the bond completely and end the pain between us.

I turned away because I could no longer stand to look at her crying face. Seeing her tears was tearing me apart, but I was too angry to understand why.

"Stay away from me tonight, Ludovica. I can't even stand to look at you."

A soft gasp came from behind me, but I refused to turn around. I walked out of the room and slammed the door so hard that the walls seemed to shake.

My heart felt as though it were being torn in two.

As I stormed down the hallway, Manfredi appeared again with concern written across his face, but I did not stop. I needed air, and I needed space. More than anything, I needed to understand how the woman I loved more than anyone could have betrayed me so deeply.

Because if those pictures were real, then the bond I had believed would last forever was already broken.

And I did not know if it could ever be repaired.