Chapter 3

As I said my goodbyes to my packmates, Darren's message popped up.

[Bring me a coffee.]

He was a total coffee snob, and I was the only one who ever got it just right.

I stood there, frozen, then finally, I went to make it.

Darren and I still had unfinished business.

However, at the room's doorway, there was Betty, smirking like she knew something I did not.

"I half expected you to show up. Would've been more fun," she taunts, then licks her puffy lips.

I looked down, keeping my cool. "Why should I even bother going in?"

Betty was taken aback by my calmness, but she quickly stepped up and grabbed my collar with a fierce grip.

"What's with the act? You think playing it cool is gonna make Darren fall head over heels for you again?"

She ran her hand across my face with a mocking touch.

"Let's get one thing straight. It was my call that got Darren to mark you. The whole 'too inconvenient to have a Luna crowning' thing? What a joke."

Betty whispered in my ear, "The truth is that I'm the only one who's cut out to be Darren's Luna."

Darren burst into the room, looking all kinds of frantic as he exclaimed, "That's enough, Betty!"

However, Betty did not even sweat it.

She threw herself into Darren's arms, playing the victim. "I'm not wrong, am I? You said it yourself. She's just a nanny to you. If it wasn't for my little joke back then, you wouldn't have even thought about tying the knot with her!"

Darren froze, his eyes darting between us, lost for words.

My head was spinning, and the wolf inside me was crying out in pain.

Betty's words were like arrows, each one piercing my heart.

I was the one who chased after Darren. I was the one who flirted first, begged him to mark me, dreamed of him crowning me as his Luna.

The mess I was in? I asked for it.

When Darren marked me, I thought it meant he loved me.

It turned out that it was all just playing along with Betty's cruel joke.

I set down his coffee in front of him.

"Here's your coffee."

Darren looked at me, a storm of emotions in his eyes. He opened his mouth, maybe to explain, but I was not having it.

Later that night, as I was about to hit the hay, my phone lit up.

It was Darren.

"Don't sweat what Betty said earlier, okay?"

I replied calmly, "Got it."

Darren paused, clearly caught off guard. Then, he found his words again.

"The eighteenth of next month is a day blessed by the Moon Goddess. That's the day for our big ceremony."

There was an unusual softness in his voice, something I had not heard from him before.

Before I could even respond, a sultry moan crackled through the phone.

It was Betty.

They were together, even as he talked to me.

A dull ache spread through the wolf inside me. With the pain, tears started to spill over.

"Maybe you should come home tomorrow. We—"

I could not finish my sentence. Betty's voice cut in again.

"Darren... Go faster, don't stop!"

Darren caught his breath, a long pause followed before he spoke to me.

"Claire, when I get back, we'll throw you the most amazing crowning ceremony. We'll cover the place with roses, your favorites."

His voice was a whisper, breathy and distant. For a second, I could not tell who he was really talking to.

A wave of grief crashed over me.

My Alpha, talking about our Luna crowning ceremony for the first time, was with another woman.

All my devotion felt like a cruel joke.

Tears mixed with my breath, coming faster and sharper.

Suddenly, I felt a painful connection with the voice on the other end.

The pain surged again, and I crumpled to the floor. I curled up tight. It was the only way to ease the ache.

"Why does it still hurt after the contract's been terminated?" I whispered to myself.

"My wolf, please stop hurting… I can't bear to hurt over him any longer..."

Darren was clueless about the ache in my heart. He let out a long, contented sigh before he hit me with the question again.

"Claire, are you really giving me the silent treatment? I'll ask you one more time, are you cool with what we've planned? You'd better say yes."

There was a hint of a threat in Darren's voice.

As he spoke, a wave of pain washed over me. However, at that moment, my mind was crystal clear.

I did not care for roses, and my feelings for Darren had wilted.

I mustered the strength to sit up and said into the phone, each word deliberate and clear.

"Darren, did you forget? Roses make me sneeze."