1: Unspoken Promises

MoonFang Pack

Elara Moonstone

I stood by the window side watching as the sun began to deep down its horizon, casting a glow over the land. I couldn't help as I listened to the rhythmic sound of the pack's bustling activities, everyone was busy in their daily life, businesses were closing, children playing, and the occasional barking of those that had shifted into their wolf form.

There was a calm in the air, an energy that seemed to lift everything it touched. But none of it mattered. My heart was heavy, even though how calm everywhere was, I couldn’t help but walk around my room hoping that I would hear news about Rowan soon.

Just as I was about to be consumed with my thoughts, the door to my chambers creaked open, and I glanced up from where I stood at the window, Maera, one of the servants who had been with me since I was a child, stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with excitement.

I lifted my brow at her as I must have missed her knock and that was why she had stepped into the room before she was permitted to do so.

"Luna," she said breathlessly, her voice filled with a mix of joy and urgency. "He's back. The alpha is back from his mission."

My heart jolted in my chest. Rowan. My husband, though not in name yet, but in every other sense of the word. The man I had grown up with. The man I had loved for as long as I could remember. The man who had promised me, time and time again, that no matter what, we would be together who had made my heart stop beating due to fear of not knowing what had happened to him was back.

I didn't even stop to think. The smile spread across my face before I could help it. The worries and heaviness that had closed me lifted and was replaced by warmth.

"Rowan..." I whispered under my breath.

I didn't wait for Maera to say another word. I rushed past her, my feet barely touching the ground as I made my way through the halls. I had been so worried for days now, as soon as I noticed him, I stopped running, he stood tall, and strong, his dark hair falling in messy waves over his forehead.

My steps faltered as I approached the front steps,

I noticed his strong hands resting on the shoulders of another woman. She clung to him like a second skin, her fingers interwoven with his, her eyes were solely on him, a look of admiration... No. Not admiration. It was affection. It was love.

My heart froze, and the smile that had lit up my face died instantly.

"Rowan?" I called out, my voice trembling. He looked up at me, those bright eyes of his meeting mine. His smile was warm, I looked at the woman and back at him. Why was another woman holding him that way?

"Elara," he greeted, his tone more formal than I had ever heard it.

I couldn't take my eyes off the woman standing beside him, she was a very beautiful woman with a graceful posture which made her look like the very definition of perfect. She was everything I was not.

"Who is she?" My voice quivered to my dismay. My stomach twisted, nausea creeping down on me with each passing second.

Rowan glanced at her and then he cleared his throat and took a step toward me. "This is Lyra," he said. "My mate."

I felt as though the ground beneath me had suddenly cracked open, and I was falling into the darkness. His mate? He found his mate?

I felt lightheaded and I barely held my stance, I took a step back, my mind struggling to process the words that just came out of his mouth.

"You... found your mate?" I whispered, my voice cracking, the words barely escaping my lips.

Rowan nodded slowly, his eyes not meeting mine. "I didn't plan for this to happen, Elara. It was during the mission... I didn't know. But she's my mate. I can't ignore that."

My breath caught in my throat. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. "But... Rowan," I started, my voice rising, desperation creeping in. "You promised me. You promised that even though we're not mated, we'd still be together. You promised you wouldn't find someone else. You swore to me that we would rule the pack together."

Rowan's eyes softened, but the guilt I had expected to see wasn't there. Instead, he looks uncomfortable with the confrontation. He ran a hand through his hair, then glanced down at Lyra before looking back at me.

"I know, Elara. I remember the promise I made to you. But I can't ignore what the bond means. I can't turn my back on my mate. I was only silly to say those things... you wouldn't understand what it means because you never experienced such a bond before."

I felt a stab of pain shoot through my chest, his words sinking deep into my bones. How could he say that? The fact that I will never get a mate, was I cursed?

Tears burned in my eyes, but I fought them back. I wasn't going to cry. Not in front of them. Not in front of someone who makes me look like a joke!

I forced my voice to remain steady as I spoke, though it was a struggle. "So, what? This is it? You're just going to leave me? Leave everything we have built behind?"

Rowan took a step closer, his hand outstretched, but I stepped back, shaking my head, I didn't want his comfort at this point.

"No, Elara," he said softly, 

"I'm not leaving you. But Lyra... she's staying. You're going to have to accept that."

"Accept it?" I whispered, barely able to breathe. "How can you ask me to accept this, Rowan? How can you ask me to accept her? You...you were my best friend. You were the one person I trusted above everyone else. We had a life together. We had a future."

"I didn't ask for this. But I can't ignore the bond, Elara. And she...she needs me. I need to be with her. I owe her that, just as I owe you something, too."

Without another word, with shaky hands and barely standing I walked towards my room, as soon as I stepped inside I slammed the door, hoping it could shield me from this devastation that threatened to consume me.

I slumped on the floor, trying to stop the tears but I couldn’t, quiet at first, then a trickle and full-blown tears as I cried my eyes out, trying to ease myself from the pain that had consumed me.

I wrapped my hands all over my legs, curling into a ball.  The memories of everything we went through rushed over me. All the sacrifices I had made, all the times I had put my trust in him, in us. The moments we shared, the promises we whispered, gave this pack to him so that we could stay together forever.

I couldn't help it as I kept thinking about the words he had spoken to me. "I don't care who my mate is Elara, all I know is I want to be with you and even if I find her right now, I will reject her just to be with you for the rest of my life."

What a pathetic liar he was!