The Morning After

Eliana's POV

The sun rose through the curtains like it had no idea what happened last night.

I hadn't slept. Not for a moment. My eyes were swollen from crying, my throat raw from swallowing screams I couldn't let out. The mating portrait on the mantle stared down at me—two smiling wolves, so hopeful, so naive. I should have burned it hours ago. Instead I just lay there, curled on my side of the bed, staring at the empty space where Jakel should have been.

He never came to our chambers.

I knew where he was. I knew who he was with. The thought carved itself into my chest like a blade, over and over, until I couldn't feel anything else. I pressed my palm against the mattress. Cold. He hadn't been here. Not even for a moment.

When the first light touched the floor, I forced myself to stand. My legs were stiff. My body ached from lying in the same position for hours. I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. A stranger stared back. Dark circles under her eyes. Hair tangled and dull. Lips pressed into a thin line that didn't know how to smile anymore. She looked like someone who had been drowning. She had been. But no one had noticed. No one had pulled her out.

I showered. I dressed. I didn't bother with makeup. What was the point?

---

The pack house was quieter than usual.

A few wolves nodded at me as I passed, but no one spoke. No one asked if I was okay. They all knew about last night. They had all watched me get pushed into that pool. They had all laughed while I struggled to keep my head above water. And not one of them had helped.

I made my way to the dining hall, though I wasn't hungry. I just needed to see if he was there. If he would look at me. If he would finally apologize.

He wasn't.

The dining hall was mostly empty—just a few early risers picking at their breakfast. Lila, the young omega who had always been kind to me, looked up from her plate. Her eyes widened when she saw me. She set down her fork. Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

"Luna," she whispered. "Are you alright?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. What could I say? That I had spent the night crying? That my mate had chosen another woman over me? That I had finally reached a breaking point I couldn't come back from?

"I heard about last night," she continued, her voice low. She glanced around the hall, then back at me. "I'm so sorry. It wasn't right. None of it was right."

Her words hit me harder than I expected. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"Have you seen Jakel?" I finally managed.

Lila's expression flickered. Something passed through her eyes—pity, maybe. Or hesitation. She looked down at her plate. Then back at me. "He... he left early this morning. With Kaylee. They went to Silver Lake."

Silver Lake. Kaylee's favorite place. The place she had been talking about for weeks. The place Jakel had promised to take her for her moonweek celebration.

"When did they leave?"

"Before dawn."

Before dawn. While I was lying in our bed, crying, he was packing for a trip with her. While I was staring at the ceiling and wondering how my life had fallen apart, he was laughing with the woman who had made it her mission to destroy me.

I thanked Lila and walked out of the dining hall. My feet carried me back to our chambers—our empty chambers—and I stood in the middle of the room, trying to breathe. The silence pressed against my ears. The mating portrait seemed to mock me from the wall.

His jacket was draped over the chair by the window.

The one he had wrapped around Kaylee last night.

I picked it up. The fabric was still faintly damp from the pool. It smelled of chlorine and something else—that cloying floral scent Kaylee always wore, like roses left too long in water. I should have thrown it across the room. I should have burned it. Instead, I reached into the pocket.

His phone.

He must have forgotten it in his rush to leave. Or maybe he didn't care. Maybe he knew I would never look. Maybe he thought I was too weak to ever question him. His loss.

I shouldn't have.

But my fingers were already moving, swiping across the screen. His passcode was still our bonding date. A bitter irony that made my stomach turn. I opened his messages. There was a group chat at the top. I had never seen it before.

The Original Crew (12 members)

My heart stopped. I opened it.

---

Kaylee: Just arrived at Silver Lake! The cabin is perfect. Jakel really outdid himself this time.

Alex: Alpha always takes care of his favorites.

Kaylee: He's giving me the whole east cabin for my moonweek celebration. Don't tell the Luna tho... she gets so territorial lol.

Marcus (border patrol): She's not even a real Luna. Just some omega who got lucky.

Kaylee: Don't be mean, Marc. She tried her best. It's not her fault she's not one of us.

Alex: The Original Crew forever. Outsiders not welcome.

Kaylee: Not welcome at all. Remember when she tried to join us for the full moon run? Cringe.

Marcus: I still can't believe Jakel actually mated her. Talk about settling.

Kaylee: He was lonely. I was away visiting my grandmother. Things happen. But he knows where his heart is.

Alex: Speaking of which... when are you finally going to make an honest wolf of our Alpha?

Kaylee: Patience, boys. Patience.

Marcus: The Luna is so clueless. She actually thinks he loves her.

Kaylee: She's not clueless. She's just... hopeful. It's kind of sad actually.

Alex: Not sad. Pathetic.

Kaylee: Don't be cruel, Alex. Some wolves are just born to be placeholders.

---

I scrolled down. The messages went on for months. Years. Mocking me. Laughing at me. Calling me an outsider, a placeholder, a joke. And then I found it. A private message between Jakel and Kaylee, dated three nights ago.

---

Jakel: I wish things were different.

Kaylee: I know. Me too.

Jakel: If you hadn't left...

Kaylee: Don't. We can't change the past. You have your Luna. I'm just your sister. Remember?

Jakel: You're more than that and you know it.

Kaylee: Then why won't you mark her?

Jakel: Because...

Kaylee: Because what?

Jakel: Because I'm still waiting for you.

---

The phone slipped from my fingers. It clattered to the floor, the screen still glowing with those words that had just shattered what remained of my heart.

Because I'm still waiting for you.

Everything made sense now. The delayed marking. The way he always defended her. The way he looked at her like she hung the moon and stars. I had been a placeholder. A convenient Luna to fill the space while he waited for his real love. And now, on the morning after my humiliation, he was with her. At Silver Lake. In the cabin he was giving her.

I stared at the phone on the floor. The screen still glowed, those words burning into my eyes. I didn't pick it up. I didn't cry. I just stood there, my hands hanging at my sides, my breath slow and even. The room felt far away. The portrait on the wall felt far away. Everything felt far away except the cold spreading through my chest, quiet and final.

Then I picked up the phone and screenshotted everything. Every message. Every cruel joke. Every confession. I saved them all. I sent them to myself. I deleted the evidence from his phone. Let him wonder. Let him panic. Let him realize too late what he lost.

Then I called my brother.

"Change of plans," I said, my voice steady despite the tears streaming down my face. "I need everything on Silver Lake. The east cabin. Who owns it. Who has access."

"Eliana? What's going on?"

"I'm done being a placeholder, Marcus. It's time to show them exactly who they're dealing with."

I hung up and stared at the mating portrait one last time. Two smiling wolves. So hopeful. So naive. I had been that wolf once. I had believed in him. I had sacrificed everything for him. And he had given me nothing but pain. I turned away from the portrait. I didn't look back.

---

I packed a small bag—just the essentials. Clothes. Money. The screenshots on my phone. I left the mating portrait on the bed. Let him find it when he returns. Let him wonder where I went.

At the door, I paused. Lila was standing in the hallway, her eyes wide.

"Luna? Where are you going?"

I looked at her—this kind girl who had been the only one to ask if I was okay.

"Somewhere I'm wanted," I said softly. "Somewhere I matter."

"Will you come back?"

I smiled. "One day. But not as the same wolf."

I walked out of the pack house and into the morning sun. Behind me, the Rhinewood Pack continued as if nothing had changed. Ahead of me, Project Crescent was waiting. And so was my brother.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR