All Chapters of He Planned My Fake Death, Then Mourned Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Miles came to take me home. He'd once been my mate.A small dish of dark red berries sat on the carriage table. They were meant to settle my stomach.He still remembered that riding in a carriage always made me dizzy and sick.But that small kindness felt cruel now. I'd only come back to say goodbye, and he was helping send me away.I picked up a berry and put it in my mouth. It was sweet, not the tart kind I remembered.The kindness was fake. So was the thought behind it.The carriage still left my head spinning and my temples throbbing.It was just like the day he'd sent me away two years earlier. The same carriage. The same Miles. He'd put me in this very carriage and sent me off to the capital.Back then, I'd clung to his sleeve and begged him not to give me away.He pried my fingers off one by one. "Gwen, you have to go for the pack's sake. Once the Alpha loses interest in you, I'll bring you home."I believed that promise and waited two years.And now he'd finally come for me, on

At dawn, white flowers filled a side hall of the castle.My pack was allowed to come see me off one last time.My mother pressed a sachet embroidered with my new name into my hand, her eyes red. "Once you get to the south, don't send anything back. Your sister's marriage can't have a stain on it."Miles stood to one side, unable to meet my eyes.He cleared his throat, as if he could make the moment less painful. "I had sweet berries planted all around your new house in the south. They're your favorite."I paused while straightening the sleeve of my burial dress and looked up at him. "I like the sour ones."Miles froze, embarrassed. He'd even forgotten what I liked.Kyle never showed up.A guard whispered something in my father's ear. His expression changed. "Sera, our future Luna, scraped her forehead while trying on her crown, and the Alpha is furious."He says Gwen has always known how to behave, so there's no need to wait for him. Hurry up. We can't let this delay the coronation. We

I'd used my motion sickness, the stories about the dangerous southern lands, and even the crest my father had given me to "protect" me.The south really was wild, and I really did need to get rid of something poisonous.But it wasn't an animal.It was my body, which they'd worn down until it felt rotten through.My mother let out a short scream.With shaking hands, she tore open the sleeve of my burial dress. The sachet embroidered with "Lila" fell out, traces of grayish-white powder inside it."She planned this all along...""We drove her to her death!" Miles said."You've lost your mind! That's treason!"My father pointed at Miles and roared. "Close the coffin! Take her south now, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened!""To hell with the pack's honor!"Miles shoved my father aside, lifted my cold body from the coffin, and held me tight. "I'm taking her home!"In the grand hearth hall, Kyle stood at the top of the steps in a dark, finely patterned formal coat.He held the dazzl

My father's knees buckled, and he collapsed into the mud.I looked at my father's terrified, aging face and felt nothing at all.They loved me, but they loved the pack's honor and their own status more.I'd accepted that long ago. Today, Kyle had simply stripped away their last pretense for me.The sound of hurried footsteps broke the dead silence.Guards brought in Cora Finch, my most loyal maid. I'd once saved her life, and in that cold palace, we'd had only each other.When she saw my body, Cora threw herself over it and sobbed as if her heart would break.Don't cry, Cora. In that cold royal city, the hot soup you brought me was the only kindness that came without conditions.When Cora had cried herself out, she slowly stood and turned to face the Alpha, who stood above them all."Alpha."Cora's voice was hoarse but steady. "Before Gwen left, she told me something. She asked me not to tell you, but I have to now."Kyle looked up sharply. He stared at Cora, his eyes bloodshot, his vo

She bit her lip. In despair, she raised her hand and slowly took the silver leaf clip from her hair, the symbol of their fated bond.It was the keepsake Kyle had saved for her since he was a boy, the one she'd flaunted in front of me.Now she laid it beside my coffin, as if she were setting aside all her foolish pride.Then she turned away, devastated, climbed into her carriage, and left.I'd once envied her for having that special love and promise all to herself.Now the clip lay beside my coffin like a piece of unwanted trash.Kyle's love had come too late and was tearing him apart. Sera's pride had crumbled.In the face of death, it all seemed cheap and meaningless.After Sera left, the argument in the woods started again."She's a daughter of this pack. Even dead, she can be buried in the family plot as our daughter!" my father roared, his face red as he tried to salvage the family's pride."Bull! She's my mate. As her husband, I'll bury her in my own courtyard."Miles refused to b