Chapter 4

I had expected Theodore to take Erin to the Northern Forest, but the moment I came downstairs, I ran straight into them.

Erin stood in front of a mirror wearing a white ceremonial gown, surrounded by several staff members adjusting the skirt while a photographer set up his equipment nearby.

Theodore stood off to the side, listening as one of the staff explained the schedule.

“Alpha, would you and Erin like to take a few photos together as a keepsake?”

He refused almost immediately. “No need.”

After answering, however, his gaze instinctively shifted toward me standing not far away.

I hid my bag behind my back and said nothing.

Erin gently tugged at his sleeve.

“It's fine. We don't have to take any. I just thought I might never get another chance like this.”

She lowered her eyes, disappointment showing on her face.

After a brief silence, Theodore finally relented. “Just one.”

The photographer raised the camera again, and I stood nearby watching the two of them pose side by side.

Theodore made no intimate gestures toward her and merely followed the photographer's directions, occasionally lowering his head to listen when Erin spoke to him.

During a break in the shoot, he walked over to me.

“Don't read too much into it. It's only a photo to remember the occasion.”

His hand rose to straighten my collar with the same easy familiarity he had shown countless times before.

“What do you want for dinner tonight? Once we're done here, I'll spend the evening with you.”

I looked at him without answering.

He still remembered what I liked. He knew what to say to reassure me, and he seemed certain that whatever he did, I would still be there waiting for him.

“How wonderful.”

Theodore's mother came over, interrupting my thoughts as she placed the Luna's crown on Erin's head, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

“We've always felt that we owed you so much. You were the one who should have become the next Luna of our pack.”

Tears shimmered in the corners of Theodore's father's eyes as well.

“If Ethan hadn't died, or if you had been the one betrothed to Theodore back then, things would have been so much better.”

The noise around us swallowed the careless words almost as soon as he spoke them, but suddenly, I understood that perhaps those words reflected what they had truly believed all along.

Time had worn away whatever those old ties and promises had once meant to them.

No longer willing to dwell on the past, I turned and headed toward the exit of the banquet hall.

“Bella, where are you going?”

Theodore followed me out and stopped me at the doorway.

I paused and answered calmly, “I'm going out for some air.”

His gaze shifted toward the room behind us before returning to me, as though he had finally noticed that something about my reaction was different.

For once, he tried to explain himself again.

“Don't misunderstand this. I only wanted to give Erin something she missed out on. I'm not actually trying to be with her.”

I remained silent as he stepped closer.

“You're the only one I intend to take as my mate. That has never changed, and it never will.”

He sounded just as certain as he had in all those letters.

Yet no matter how many promises he made, whenever someone else wanted something from me, he would still be the one asking me to give in.

I was always expected to be understanding, always expected to become the perfect Luna he wanted me to be, but who had ever cared about how I felt?

When I still gave him no answer, Theodore reached for my hand.

“Once the ceremony is over, I'll take you to the Northern Forest.”

I looked at him and nodded mechanically.

Only then did the tension finally leave his face.

He lowered his head and kissed my forehead before turning back toward the house, but after taking a step, he glanced over his shoulder once more.

“Bella, wait for me.”

I gave him no answer.

At that moment, my phone screen lit up with a message from the driver telling me the car had arrived.

I picked up my bag and walked through the gates.

This time, I wouldn't be waiting when he came back.