I push through my Gamma warrior training ahead of schedule just to get back to the pack sooner. All I want is to stand beside my Alpha, Kyle Faucher, and finally complete our mate-bonding ceremony.

But when I step into our house, scarred and feeling hopeful, I see 100 old boarding passes to the Darkmoon pack littering the floor.

That pack is only a mile from my training grounds. Kyle's been that close for two years, and still, he never came.

I sprint to the place where we were supposed to have our mate-bonding ceremony, clinging to the desperate hope that there's an explanation. But the moment I burst through the doors, I stopped cold.

Kyle is down on one knee, dressed in a tailored suit, his eyes locked on someone with a softness I've never seen in him before.

Standing across from him, smiling through her tears, is my stepsister, Vivian Blackwell.

"Vivian, I haven't completed the mate-bonding ceremony with Serene. Say the word, and I'll reject her and mark you right now."

At that moment, the world goes still, and I even forgot how to breathe.

So this is what he's been doing while I was gone, chasing the woman he never let go of. Meanwhile, I spent those two years giving everything I had, trying to become someone worthy of standing by his side.

I don't ask why or shed a tear. I just turn around and walk away.

If she's what he wants, then so be it. The mate-bonding ceremony I dreamed of will be theirs instead.

But the second I'm gone, he loses it and sends every warrior looking for me.

I push through my Gamma warrior training ahead of schedule just to get back to the pack sooner. All I want is to stand beside my Alpha, Kyle Faucher, and finally complete our mate-bonding ceremony.

But when I step into our house, scarred and feeling hopeful, I see 100 old boarding passes to the Darkmoon pack littering the floor.

That pack is only a mile from my training grounds. Kyle's been that close for two years, and still, he never came.

I sprint to the place where we were supposed to have our mate-bonding ceremony, clinging to the desperate hope that there's an explanation. But the moment I burst through the doors, I stopped cold.

Kyle is down on one knee, dressed in a tailored suit, his eyes locked on someone with a softness I've never seen in him before.

Standing across from him, smiling through her tears, is my stepsister, Vivian Blackwell.

"Vivian, I haven't completed the mate-bonding ceremony with Serene. Say the word, and I'll reject her and mark you right now."

At that moment, the world goes still, and I even forgot how to breathe.

So this is what he's been doing while I was gone, chasing the woman he never let go of. Meanwhile, I spent those two years giving everything I had, trying to become someone worthy of standing by his side.

I don't ask why or shed a tear. I just turn around and walk away.

If she's what he wants, then so be it. The mate-bonding ceremony I dreamed of will be theirs instead.

But the second I'm gone, he loses it and sends every warrior looking for me.

...

The place meant for my mate-bonding ceremony with Kyle was draped in roses, glowing with soft golden light. The scene looked warm and romantic.

Kyle was down on one knee, just like I'd pictured a thousand times. But the woman who was standing in front of him and crying into her hands wasn't me.

"Vivian, will you be my mate?" Kyle asks.

He slipped the diamond ring onto her finger, and they wrapped each other in a tight embrace.

My wolf let out an agonized howl, and my mind went blank. Before I knew it, my fingers were tracing the engagement ring Kyle had sent me.

I never told him the ring didn't fit. I'd just threaded it on a chain and kept it close to my heart.

Now the delicate chain broke without a sound, and the ring slipped from my chest, disappearing into the shadows. Just like our engagement—shattered in all but name.

A ring that never fit wasn't worth chasing, and a man who was never mine wasn't worth holding on to.

"Kyle, I want our mate-bonding ceremony to happen on the original date," Vivian said.

"Why? I don't want to wait that long."

"Because I want you to reject her at her own ceremony in front of everyone, and then claim me instead. Let the whole pack see who your wolf really chose!"

I froze mid-step. My wolf trembled, desperate to know just how far Kyle would go to hurt me for her.

Kyle's voice was laced with amusement. "You little devil. Guess I'll need to pack running shoes, then. After I reject her in front of everyone, we'll disappear and finish the marking somewhere private."

"Serene loves you so much. You'd really do that to her?" Vivian asked.

The air went still for a heartbeat.

Kyle dropped his gaze, and his fingers slowly brushed over the ring on her hand. Perhaps he was weighing his answer, or maybe he was avoiding it. That tender smile of his flickered and dimmed for just a moment.

But the hesitation passed as quickly as it came. He looked up at Vivian, his gaze sharpening as his voice slipped back into its usual arrogance.

"She's the mate the Moon Goddess chose for me, not the one I would've picked. Honestly, every time my wolf lost control around her and acted like some lovesick fool, it made my skin crawl.

"I felt like I was being possessed. It was suffocating and maddening. Besides, she's too proud to speak up. She won't question me, and she won't get in our way."

The moment Kyle finished speaking, Vivian let out a triumphant laugh. The sound sliced deeper than silver through my flesh.

My wolf howled and thrashed inside me, wild and unhinged, acting like she might tear me apart from the inside out. But it was my heart that felt shattered instead.

I once believed our fated mate bond was the Moon Goddess' greatest gift.

Even miles away in Gamma Training Grounds, Kyle's emotions rippled across my skin. Even when he never showed up, I still saw him in my dreams and caught his scent lingering in the air.

I believed that love was at its purest when our souls tangled and our breaths became one. But he called it "being possessed".

I forced myself to turn away, stumbling into the shadows before Kyle and Vivian could see me.

By the time I made it home, whatever strength I had left gave out. I collapsed in a heap. My hands were shaking as I wiped the blood from my scraped knees. Then, I grabbed my phone and called my mentor.

"Elder Alan, I'm in. Put me on Gamma Tactical R&D Unit," I said.

"Serene? I thought you were heading back for your mate-bonding ceremony," Elder Alan said, clearly caught off guard.

"It's canceled. From now on, I'm dedicating myself to combat and research," I replied, my voice leaving no room for argument.

He picked up on the shift instantly.

"Alright. I'll get your name submitted right away. Staying busy will help. And listen, don't take this the wrong way, but for the past two years, it was always you flying out to see Kyle.

"He never came to you. That kind of love isn't balanced. Since you've made your choice, don't look back."

If I hadn't seen that stack of old boarding passes with my own eyes, I would've argued like I always did. But this time, I just listened in silence.

At the end of every month, when Kyle ghosted me with some excuse about pack duties, he was actually flying halfway across the world to see Vivian.

And like a fool, I pushed myself to the edge, enduring flights of ten-plus hours just to get back to him sooner. Then I saw those boarding passes—all of them headed to her—and every sacrifice I'd made felt like a sick joke.

On the way to the place where we were supposed to have our mate-bonding ceremony, I kept telling myself maybe he'd gone to the Darkmoon pack for family reasons.

But after what I saw today, I finally understood why he never came to see me, even when we were just a mile apart.

He knew Vivian was the worst part of my childhood. He knew how much this mate-bonding ceremony meant to me.

He knew that public rejection was the most brutal humiliation for a fated mate. And still, he said yes to her.

I sank into the tub, the warm water finally stilling the tremors in my body.

Then Kyle's call came through, his voice light and cheerful.

"Serene, where are you? I'm already at the park. We were supposed to meet here!"

I said nothing.

Kyle's tone sharpened on the other end of the line. "Serene? What's wrong? Are you upset? Just tell me where you are. I'll come right now!"

He still read me like a book. As an Alpha, he could read my emotions without trying, and he always knew exactly how to make me feel safe.

"I'm home. I don't really feel like going to the park today," I said.

There was a beat of silence before his voice dropped to a gentle murmur. "Okay. I'm coming home."

Kyle didn't ask why I'd blown him off.

I knew he didn't let it slide out of love. It was because the one he truly loved had already agreed to be his mate. I was just a prop, something arranged to please his darling.

When Kyle walked in, I had just stepped out of the shower. The moment I saw Vivian behind him, I had to hold back a scream.

"Kyle, why did you bring her here?" I asked.

He just couldn't wait to drag Vivian here and shove her in my face.

Kyle gently took my hand. "Serene, I know there's been some misunderstanding between you and Vivian. She heard you were back and insisted on coming to apologize."

I shot him a look. I was sick of him making excuses for her.

Vivian's eyes burned with jealousy as she watched Kyle touch me. Still, she stepped forward with a mask of false remorse.

"Serene, I think it's time you let go of those silly little pranks I played before. We should move on. I'm apologizing, so can you forgive me?"

My voice shook as I met Kyle's eyes. "So you think I should forgive her?"

Vivian and her mother almost killed my wolf when they jabbed me with those silver-laced needles back when I was just a pup.

They even laughed as they tossed the last thing I had from Mom—a photo album—into the fire and watched it burn to ash.

I never asked why he always treated Vivian like she mattered more, as that would've only made me look even weaker.

Kyle's expression darkened instantly. He fixed his gaze on me, disappointment and accusation simmering in his eyes.

"Vivian already told me everything, Serene. Yeah, she owned up to pulling some pranks when you were pups, but did you really have to go that far to get back at her?"

I just stood there, stunned. When I didn't respond, he took it as confirmation of Vivian's story.

"Vivian was in tears telling me you attacked her with silver powder. Serene, did you seriously try to ruin her over some old grudge you should've buried years ago?"

"When did I ever attack her with silver powder?" I blurted, utterly baffled.

Kyle shook his head in disappointment. "She didn't even hold it against you after you did something that vicious. She actually tried to understand you and came to apologize first. But you?

"You just wouldn't let it go and clung to those petty little grudges from the past. Serene, how can you be so small-minded?"

To him, the abuse that almost destroyed me was just petty nonsense, while a blatant lie that was fabricated out of thin air became irrefutable proof of my cruelty.

I held onto my last shred of dignity, refusing to forgive Vivian. And for that, he cast me as the villain.

He'd been the one to carry me from that suffocating, pitch-black basement all those years ago. He'd taken me to the healer himself.

He knew better than anyone how deep their torment had scarred me, and now he was eating up every lie Vivian fed him, acting like I'd made it all up.

Kyle reached for my hand, trying to force one of those hollow, peace-making handshakes. I slapped it away, barely holding back the snarl rising in my throat.

"Kyle, who the hell are you to ask me to forgive her?" I snapped.

They abused me behind Dad's back, fed him lies until he believed I was a monster, and turned him against me. In the end, they couldn't even bother to show up at his funeral.

And now Vivian was pulling the same shit on the person I loved most. From the looks of it, she was about to get away with it again.

Kyle looked down at his hand, already flushing where I'd smacked it. For the first time, he didn't bother hiding his disdain.

"Serene, I'm only doing this for your own good. You're all alone now, with no family to back you up. Vivian is your only sister.

"Why cling to the past and torture yourself? We've got to move forward, don't we?"

His words sounded sincere, but impatience simmered beneath his calm facade.

The very gentleness he'd once used to comfort me now twisted into a blade, driving straight into me. My heart splintered, the pain unbearable.

Fake tears streamed down Vivian's cheeks, her eyes blazing with familiar triumph and defiance.

"I don't expect your forgiveness, Serene. But I'll keep atoning until my sincerity finally heals the wounds I've caused," she said pitifully.

I clung to the doorframe, trying to hold back the trembling rage and sorrow building inside me.

Kyle's face was a mask of impatience.

"Serene, can't you be reasonable for once? What happened to the compassion you're meant to have as the future Luna?" he chided.

Was this man defending the woman who had ruined me truly the same Kyle who had once shielded me from every harm?

Had my memories twisted things? Or had all that "protection" just been a delusion I'd clung to all along?

Agony consumed me as I stressed out each word. "Unless Vivian dies right in front of me, I will never forgive her. Never."

Kyle's temple pulsed with a throbbing vein. The air grew thick with his Alpha's oppressive presence, suffocating the room.

"Serene, we've only been apart for two years. How did you get so vicious? You won't forgive Vivian? Fine. Then at least apologize to her.

"I won't have the whole pack whispering behind your back, mocking their future Luna as some petty, bitter woman! Your mother chose to end her own life! If she hadn't, your father wouldn't have remarried.

"Stop blaming Vivian and her mother for everything. And if you're as weak as your mother was, then you deserve to be haunted by your past!"

The word "haunted" cut through the air like a curse, venom dripping from his voice.

I caught the flicker of disgust on Kyle's face. The man who once promised to protect me forever had finally grown tired of me.

All my pain and scars had become nothing but weapons in his hands, wielded to tear me apart. He'd pulled me from the abyss once, only to shove me right back in.

For Vivian's sake, he said I deserved to be haunted and even demanded I apologize to her.

I trembled, my fingers slipping from the doorframe as I reeled back. Kyle caught me just in time, only to notice my swollen and bleeding knees.

He dropped down in an instant, and the tension in his voice slipped through without him catching it. "How did you get hurt so badly?"

After a pause, his voice grew gentler, but the commanding tone stayed strong. "Forget it. If you won't apologize, I'll do it for you. But watch your attitude."

I yanked my hand back, my face draining of color as I pointed toward the door.

"I don't want to see either of you… Get out!" I shouted.

Kyle knew how fragile I was, so he tried to pull me into his arms and steady me.

Vivian's tears traced down her cheeks as she bowed her head. "Serene, I'll go. Just stop tearing yourself apart over me."

She was about to run, but she spun around too fast. Her body crashed into the doorframe with a sickening thud, sending her stumbling sideways.

Kyle let go of me instantly and lunged to catch Vivian, but they both tumbled outside, crashing to the ground. Her head hit the doorframe, blood blooming fast as it seeped from the wound.

He scrambled up, gathering her into his arms as he rushed out.

"Vivian, does it hurt? I'm taking you to the hospital!"

And just like that, they were gone.

Silence wrapped around me like a shroud, and my soul felt like it was falling into an endless pit.

I spent ten years with Kyle, and we ended up as strangers.

I pulled out my phone and booked a flight for the day our mate-bonding ceremony was scheduled. Seven days was all I needed to cut every last tie to my past.

Kyle was right. I had to move forward.

Ten years of love and pain had scarred me to the bone. Now, I'd rip it all away, flesh and soul, even if it bled me dry and even if the marks remained.

The old me was dead. From now on, I'd live for no one but myself.