Chapter 3: A Coward

Nathan

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I was twenty-two years old, with an arranged marriage and a pack to lead.

Born as the firstborn of the Volkovs, I had a clear destiny: to lead the Silverfang pack.

That alone would have been enough for anyone to handle. And yet, there was more. There was something that completely unsettled me, something that threw me off balance and sent me spiraling into endless thoughts every single time.

There was… her.

Anya had no idea, but since she had entered our lives six months ago, she had cracked the solid stone wall that was my determination to honor my parents’ legacy.

She alone, with her beauty and that cursed scent sweeter than vanilla and more lethal than any poison, had driven a burning thorn straight into my heart.

I stood beside my father at the main entrance of the mansion as the Silver delegation crossed through the wrought-iron gates. The wind carried the scent of the forest and another expensive fragrance I would recognize anywhere.

Mirella.

She stepped out of the car with perfect posture, blonde hair falling freely over her chest, a seductive smile on her lips. The future Luna of the Silverfang pack. My future wife.

The woman who would unite territories in a historic alliance. The woman who radiated power and class.

But not the woman my wolf recognized.

“Coward…” Zeke growled, making me release a long breath.

My wolf had been restless since dawn. No, not just since dawn. Since that night in the kitchen.

The memory struck like a heated blade, pulling me completely out of the present.

The sound of the peanut butter jar hitting the marble counter when I felt her scent behind me. That cursed fragrance that came straight from the wolf inside her and reached mine. That tempting scent I had been trying to ignore for months. Sweet, wild, perfectly mine.

I knew it was her before I even turned around. I always knew.

That was why I tried to stay away. Her scent made me lose control, igniting impossible fantasies inside me.

I tried to keep my distance. I tried to treat her badly. If she didn’t want me, it would be easier to resist. Part of me hoped it wasn’t mutual, even though I knew a bond like that could never be one-sided.

But when she asked why I treated her that way, when she said she just wanted to be good to me… damn it, it was too much. Something inside me snapped. I had to touch her. I had to kiss her. I needed her more than I needed air.

When she admitted she wanted me too, I lost all restraint. All my mind could think about was how badly I needed to consume her, to make her mine completely.

From that moment on, I acted on pure instinct, giving in to the temptation of having her every night. I shattered the headboard trying to hold back the urge to mark her and claim her forever.

My wolf had recognized the bond the very first time he saw her crossing the garden with Noah in her arms. The moon had been high, and Anya looked like a goddess under its pale light.

When my eyes landed on her, the world slowed. Her scent filled my lungs like the sweetest thing I had ever known. My wolf surged forward, growling inside me: “Mine.”

But I was already promised.

My union with Mirella was not just a marriage. It was peace between packs, expansion of our territory, the consolidation of the empire my parents had built over decades.

And I… I had always been the perfect heir. Too much of a coward to defy them. The perfect bargaining piece.

Until Anya.

“Nathan.” My father’s voice pulled me back to the present. The Volkovs and the Ivanovs were seated in the living room, talking like one big family.

I turned to him, feeling the warmth of Mirella pressed almost completely against my side. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless at her proximity. He didn’t want her. He didn’t recognize her.

He wanted another.

Another who was nearby. I could feel her in the house. Her scent lingered in the corridors, driving me to the edge of madness.

“Are you alright?” Mirella asked. “We want your opinion about the trip.”

I forced a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

“Anywhere will be good with you,” I said, giving exactly the answer everyone expected.

Mirella laughed, placing her hand over mine and sliding it along my thigh as if we were already an intimate couple instead of a political arrangement.

“Coward…” Zeke growled louder.

I tried to shut him out, but that was when everything fell apart. My mother stood up, laughing, calling for Noah.

And if Noah was there, then… I turned immediately.

I saw her.

Standing near the staircase, holding my little brother in her arms, her expression filled with something that looked like pure devastation.

My mother introduced Mirella, explaining who she was. My wolf lunged against my ribs, as if trying to tear free.

“Go to her. Take her in front of everyone.” He roared inside me.

But I didn’t.

I just looked away, as I always did. I cursed myself for it immediately.

She left the room, saying she needed to prepare Noah’s breakfast. But I knew she couldn’t stand seeing me with another woman.

I knew because I couldn’t stand it either.

Every time Mirella laughed, every time she touched my arm in a clear attempt to seduce me, my wolf growled in disapproval.

“Then it’s decided,” my mother, Patricia, said, excitement vibrating in her voice as she held Noah. “To celebrate the union of the packs, we will take a family trip. Two months in Italy, and then the ceremony will take place under the Goddess’s last full moon.”

“Noah too?” I asked before I could stop myself, hoping Anya would come with us.

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “It will be good for him. And for Anya as well. She will have time off during this period.”

Time off.

Two months without her. The thought settled in my mind like a growing dread. I searched for her again, but she was no longer in the room.

Mirella left at sunset with her family. Thank the Goddess, I didn’t have to kiss her. The moment the gates closed, I felt relief wash over me.

Night fell heavily over the mansion and I found Anya in the side garden, near the trees where Noah liked to play. She was looking at the moon, half-hidden behind gray clouds

I approached, unsure of what to say, but she didn’t give me time to think.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Nathan.” The pain and anger in her voice hurt more than any blow. “I was the one stupid enough.”

“Anya, please…” I said, stepping closer, like I was trying to approach a deer that could bolt at any second. “I didn’t tell you and tried to keep my distance because…”

Because you are mine. Because my wolf recognized you as my Luna from the moment I saw you. Because you make me want to destroy everything my family built.

I thought it, but the words never left my throat. Instead, I gave her silence.

“What, Nathan?” she snapped, turning to face me, tears shining in her eyes under the moonlight. “Because I’m just some fling? Because I’m too poor for the Volkov heir?”

“Don’t say that.” I murmur

“Then you say it!” she exploded, stepping closer. “What am I to you, Nathan?”

My Luna. My ruin. My fated mate. My most necessary mistake.

“It’s not like that,” I said. “Things are complicated.”

That was all I gave her.

The sound of the slap echoed in the night. I didn’t even try to stop it. The impact turned my face, but it didn’t hurt. What hurt was her expression: disappointment and anger mixed.

“You’re a coward, Nathan.” My wolf shrank back at her words, ears lowered, tail tucked.

I clenched my fists, shoulders dropping. Defeated.

“I would have chosen you,” she said, her voice breaking. “If I were in your place, I would have chosen you. I would have fought for you.”

That was when I realized the cruelest truth: I was the Alpha heir, stronger than anyone, faster, the most skilled warrior in the pack. I had everything. Except the courage to fight for the woman I loved.

I didn’t have the courage to face my father. To break the agreement. To burn the empire for true love.

I was a coward.

And I let her disappear into the darkness that night. I didn’t know it then, but even after time passed, even after years… That would be the last time I would ever see Anya.

That cruel night, where my cowardice condemned us, along with the memories of our week of intense passion that became all I had left of her.