I sent the divorce papers to the Alpha Council by email. For the first time in months, I could breathe properly.

My mind went back to when I first met Marcus Stone.

I was seventeen. My wolf was new and wild. I couldn't control her yet. During pack training, I ran into a trap made of silver wire. The metal was about to cut into my skin when Marcus found me. He pulled me out just in time.

My wolf went crazy for him right away. We looked at each other for what felt like hours. Then I did something bold. I kissed him.

He didn't move for a second. Then he laughed quietly. "Little one, you don't know how to do that yet."

He put his hand on my neck and showed me how to kiss properly. My heart beat so fast I thought it might stop.

That kiss felt like it went on forever. I couldn't breathe. Even now, it seems like something I dreamed up.

I woke up with my face wet from tears.

Morning light came through my window. I lay there for a long time before I called my dad.

"Dad, I sent in the divorce papers." My voice sounded rough. "When the Council says yes, I'll come home to you and Mom."

"Did that Stone boy hurt you?" Dad's voice got loud and angry. "You come home right now. I'm a strong Alpha. I can keep my daughter safe."

"No," I said, looking outside. "I just don't love him anymore."

Really, Marcus didn't love me. And I would never love him again.

I didn't say that out loud. The words stayed stuck in my throat like broken glass.

After I hung up, someone sent me a friend request. I don't know why, but I said yes.

Right away, they sent me a video file.

The video showed Marcus in bed. The expensive shirt I made him by hand was ripped up. A button was missing. There were bite marks on his neck. His eyes were closed and he was saying a name. "Rose, don't leave me again."

After the video, a photo and long message came.

"Hi, I'm Rose. Marcus's real love. I left five years ago, but you can see he still wants me. He remembers everything I like. He breaks his own rules for me. He won't eat with you in front of other people, right? He told me he would only do that with one person in his whole life. Me."

"We look the same, don't we? You're just someone to fill my place. Marcus only kept you because you were pregnant. But I'm back now."

I read the whole message. My heart hurt so much I couldn't feel anything else.

I only wrote back: "What do you want?"

She didn't answer for a while. When she did:

"I want you to leave him. He loves me. He's going to wake up soon. I bet you one thing - if I ask him to, he'll spend all his time with me. He won't even call you."

I didn't write back.

Ten minutes later, Marcus texted me:

"Baby, there's fighting at the border. I have to patrol for a few days. Call my assistant if you need anything. Take care of yourself and our baby."

I looked at my phone and started laughing. Tears ran down my face while I laughed.

For seven days, Marcus didn't call or text me once.

But Rose never stopped sending messages.

"Serena, I know you like fireworks. Sorry you missed the special ones Marcus lit for me today."

"He wanted to fly me somewhere to see pretty lights, but I said no. So he got rid of the expensive plane. I guess you can't use it anymore."

"Marcus showed me how to catch white rabbits in the snow. We danced together on a frozen pond. He carried me when we jumped over rocks." The message kept going. "He took you to these same places when he was pretending to love you."

I stared at all her messages. I realized the fireworks, the plane, the trip - none of it was really for me.

The snow fields, the pond, the rocks - I never liked those places. I just pretended to be happy. These were all places Rose loved first.

"Serena, so what if you're his wife? The Alpha loves me, not you. His heart belongs to me."

"Sorry you have to stay home alone while you're pregnant. After your baby comes, at least you'll have something to keep you busy. Then you won't be so lonely."

I read every message she sent. I never answered back. But they made me more sure that leaving was right.

On the seventh night after Marcus left, I started packing my things.

The matching jewelry he gave me, the gifts from every holiday - everything that meant we were supposed to be together forever - I threw it all in the fire.

When Marcus came home, covered in dirt from traveling, half the house was empty.

He looked shocked. "Baby, what are you doing?"

I didn't look at him. "Nothing much. Just getting rid of old stuff."

Marcus didn't seem worried. "You shouldn't do work like that. The servants can do it. I'll get you more help tomorrow." He smiled and gave me a fancy bag. It had cookies from the bakery I liked.

I mentioned wanting them once. He remembered. Still being nice and caring. But it just made me sick.

"Baby." He put his arms around me. His big hand touched my stomach. "Have you been feeling sick? You have a doctor visit tomorrow. I'll come with you."

"No," I said, pulling away. "You don't need to anymore."

Marcus finally noticed something was wrong. "What do you mean I don't need to? Are you feeling bad?"

One of the servants said, "The Luna hasn't been eating much. She barely touched her food all week."

Marcus started taking off his tie. "What do you want to eat? I'll go buy food and cook for you. Please, eat something."

As he walked away, he told the servants, "Watch her carefully. Don't let her get hurt or fall down."

The servants whispered to each other. "The Alpha is so good to the Luna."

"When you look for a husband, find an older man who knows how to take care of you."

I listened to them talk. I almost wanted to laugh at how wrong they were.

I used to think I had found the perfect love story.

Now I knew it was all just a game where I was pretending to be someone else.

Marcus had just left when I heard the doorbell ring.

I opened the door and saw a woman with long black hair. She wore a blue dress with white flower pins and held a fancy box of sweets.

"Hi, I'm Rose. The one who's been texting you."

Four big men in guard uniforms stood behind Rose. These were Marcus's special guards. I only had two guards, but Rose had four. That told me everything about who mattered more to Marcus.

Rose smiled in a fake sweet way. "Marcus has been staying with me all week. He forgot something at my place, so I'm bringing it back. You won't be rude to a guest, right?"

She pushed past me and walked into my house without being invited. When she saw the white flower garden, she got excited. "My favorite white flowers! Marcus grew so many just for me!"

I looked at the red bumps on my arms from being allergic to these flowers. Then I went back inside.

I thought Marcus just liked these flowers. But really, he liked the girl who loved them.

By the front door, some small birds sat in the sun.

"Oh, they're still here!" Rose sounded happy. "I got these birds when I was young. I moved away and thought they died. Bella will be so excited to see them when I bring her next time." She looked at me. "Bella is my cat."

I remembered how Marcus fed these birds every single day. My chest hurt.

In the living room, Rose looked at the books on the shelf. "These are all books I love to read. I can't believe Marcus saved them for me for so long."

She looked around the room. "White couch, brown tables, gray chair - everything matches perfectly. Just like I told Marcus I wanted. Light colors that go together nicely. This looks exactly right."

No wonder Marcus picked all this furniture when we went shopping. I kept saying I didn't like it. He always said, "Try something new. You'll learn to like it." But I still hated all this light-colored furniture.

Walking behind her felt like stepping on broken glass.

This house I'd lived in for two years suddenly felt like it belonged to someone else.

In the bedroom, Rose touched the shirts and ties in the closet. "All of these are presents I gave him. He's taken such good care of them."

I remembered Marcus washing and hanging these clothes carefully every day. My throat felt tight.

So he never let me wash them - not because he was worried about me working too hard, but because these clothes were from Rose.

Marcus's voice came from downstairs. He walked in fast, looking upset.

Rose put on a sweet smile right away. "I made some cookies and came to share them. Serena was so nice to invite me in. She even asked me to stay for dinner."

Marcus looked less worried and said, "This is Rose. She's like my little sister. We grew up in the same neighborhood. She was living in another country and just came back, so you haven't met her yet. Rose, want some tea?"

"That sounds nice," Rose said.

I watched him go to the kitchen and make tea. He knew exactly how to make it, even making the tea look pretty with foam on top.

Rose smiled when she took the cup. "Your tea still tastes exactly how I like it. You remember after all this time."

All these years, Marcus never forgot Rose. Standing there, I felt like I didn't belong. I looked stupid and out of place.

Rose kept playing along with his lie. "Yes, Marcus always looked after me when we were kids. I was sick a lot and got hurt often. I spent lots of time in the hospital. Marcus was afraid my muscles would get weak, so he learned how to do special exercises from the pack doctor. He came to help me every day."

My nails dug into my hands. It hurt, but not as much as my heart.

After I got pregnant, Marcus did exercises with me every day. He was really good at it. I thought he learned it just for me and the baby. But it was all for Rose.

I tried to smile but couldn't. So I said I felt sick and went upstairs.

A little later, Rose knocked on my door and came in with a bowl of soup.

"Marcus said you haven't been eating much. He had the cook make chicken soup and asked me to bring it up." She smiled like she was being helpful. "Drink it while it's warm."

I took the bowl. The smell was strange and bitter.

"Oh, one more thing," Rose said suddenly. "You didn't pick the names David for a boy and Emma for a girl, did you? Those are names Marcus and I chose a long time ago."

My hand shook and I almost dropped the soup.

Those were exactly the names Marcus picked when I first got pregnant.

So even my baby would have been used to remember Rose?

I lifted the soup and drank it, but right away I knew something was wrong. There was silver dust in it - it burned my throat and made my wolf go crazy inside me. When I saw Rose's big smile, I knew she put something bad in the soup.

My stomach started hurting really bad. I fell on the floor and couldn't move or call for help. She wanted to kill my baby, but she didn't know my baby was already dead.

Then Rose picked up the rest of my soup and drank it all at once. She fell down next to me and started screaming.

The hair on my neck stood up. I felt danger coming, but before I could turn around -

Downstairs, Marcus heard the screaming and ran up fast.

When he saw us both on the floor, his eyes got really big. "Rose!" He ran to catch Rose when she almost fell, checking her all over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine," Rose said in a weak voice. "Quick, help Serena..."

Then Marcus looked at me lying in blood on the floor. But Rose suddenly "passed out" in his arms, crying, "There was silver dust in the soup. Someone tried to hurt both Serena and me. Marcus, please save us. What do we do?"

His voice was scared and worried as he picked up Rose and carried her outside. He didn't even look at me again.

I watched them leave as everything went dark.

When I woke up, bright white lights hurt my eyes.

The doctor was checking her while Marcus stood close by, looking serious.

"How is the baby?" he asked the doctor.

The doctor looked confused. "The baby? What baby, Luna…"

I quickly pushed the medicine tray off the bedside table.

The crash of pills and bottles hitting the floor made Marcus turn around fast. He forgot all about the doctor and rushed to my bed, looking scared and worried.

"Serena, you're awake? Are you in pain?"

I shook my head a little and looked past him at the doctor's nervous face.

Marcus relaxed then and turned back to the doctor. "Doctor, what were you saying before? I didn't hear you."

He felt like he missed something important.

The doctor was about to talk when I looked at him and shook my head just a tiny bit.

The doctor understood. He just sighed and said, "The patient needs to rest more," then left the room.

Now it was just Marcus and me in the hospital room.

Marcus looked worried and tried to touch my face. I turned my head away.

He seemed to get it and started saying sorry right away. "I'm sorry, Serena. This is my fault. It must have been people who hate me who put poison in the soup. They hurt you and Rose."

"Thank God you and the baby are safe. If something happened to you, I could never forgive myself. I promise this won't happen again. Please don't be mad at me, okay?"

I looked into his eyes. They looked really scared and sorry.

Right then, I felt like laughing at how fake everything was.

Everything he said sounded so nice, but what was real and what was lies?

"I'm tired."

I pulled my hand away and closed my eyes. I didn't want to play this stupid game anymore.

While I was in the hospital, Marcus stayed with me all the time.

He made food for me himself and fed me with a spoon. He came to every doctor visit and wrote down everything they said. If I moved even a little at night, he'd wake up and ask what I needed. He rubbed my back and arms to make me feel better.

But all of this just made me remember what Rose said before: "Yes, Marcus always looked after me when we were kids..."

Even the nurses said they never saw a husband take care of his wife so well.

But I stayed quiet and sad, looking out the window a lot.

Marcus thought it was because of being pregnant and tried even harder to take care of me.

On the day I left the hospital, Marcus had made big plans.

He had closed off his private hunting area so no one else would be there. His guards stayed far away so I could breathe the clean mountain air freely. In the afternoon, he walked with me through the whole forest. When I looked at pretty flowers for more than a few seconds, he secretly marked the spot. He said he'd move those flowers to my garden the next day. When it got dark, lights suddenly lit up the open area by the rocks. They spelled out "My Only Love" in the dark sky.

"Do you like it?" Marcus held my arm from behind.

I looked at all the lights in the sky and for a moment felt like I was back in the old days.

Back then, Marcus did things like this to make me happy. I felt like the luckiest person alive.

But when my hand moved to my empty stomach, all the good feelings went away.

"What's wrong?" Marcus felt me get tense and turned me around to look at him. "You've been sad lately. I'm really worried."

He held my face and rubbed it gently with his thumb. "Should we talk to a doctor about your feelings? Being sad when you're pregnant is normal. You don't have to handle it alone. You can tell me what's bothering you."

Looking into his honest-looking eyes, I suddenly asked, "If I tell you the truth about something, will you tell me the truth too?"

Marcus looked surprised for a second, then smiled. "Of course, baby. We're married. We should always be honest with each other."

I took a deep breath. "Then let me ask you something. I heard you have someone who really matters to you. A woman you've been close to for a long time."

I looked right into his eyes. "So why did you end up marrying me instead of her?"

Marcus's expression instantly froze.