Addison’s POV

The Windsor Pack had been my home for as long as I could remember. After my parents were killed in the blood-soaked war between packs, Alpha Gabriel and Luna Naomi Windsor took me in as their ward. Their son, Cole—my best friend, my promised mate, my future—grew up with me.

We were destined, or so I thought.

Our elders arranged our marriage when we were still children, and to my young heart it had never felt like an obligation. Cole and I loved each other. We were inseparable. He was my anchor when nightmares clawed me awake, the one who promised me a future where I would never be alone again. He was supposed to be mine, just as I was supposed to be his.

But fate… or perhaps the cruelty of the Moon Goddess… decided otherwise.

It happened one night in the woods. Rogues ambushed him, vicious and relentless. Cole had barely escaped with his life, bleeding and broken. And then—she appeared. Athena Rockwell. A poor omega girl no one had ever paid much attention to. She saved him.

From that day on, Cole swore a vow. A blood-debt, sealed by the moon. His parents declared we owed Athena everything because she had saved the life of the next Alpha. And Cole… Cole kept her by his side.

At first, I tried to understand. But little by little, everything that had once been mine slipped through my fingers.

When I hosted my birthday celebration, a grand gathering of high-ranking wolves, Athena stood before Cole with those pitiful eyes, whispering that she wanted the celebration to be hers too. And Cole, with a smile meant for me, handed her half of it. My birthday became hers.

When I longed for the rare moonstone archery set, she begged Cole for it instead. He gave it to her without hesitation.

And for the ninety-ninth time, what was meant to be mine became hers.

I swallowed my hurt every time. I kept silent, convincing myself that Cole would come back to me once his “debt” was repaid. But silence has a way of choking you, and disappointment piles until it crushes your ribs.

The breaking point came on the night he was supposed to sign our marriage certificate—the final step before my Luna ceremony. I had waited in my quarters, my heart thrumming with hope, my hands trembling with nerves. Instead of his presence, I heard whispers that he was at the packhouse… with Athena.

When I went there, I saw it with my own eyes. His gaze glittered as he watched her unwrap a gown—white and shining, a gown that could pass for a wedding dress. My chest caved in. My mate, my fiancé… looked at another woman the way he used to look at me.

That was the moment something inside me snapped.

I withdrew from the packhouse, from him, from everything. I gave him chance after chance, excuse after excuse, and all I received was betrayal disguised as loyalty to another.

So I picked up my phone and called him.

“I won’t be marrying you anymore, Alpha,” I said, my voice steady despite the ache in my chest.

He chuckled, dismissing me as if I were a sulking pup. “Addison, don’t behave this way. You know I need to repay her. Once it’s done, we’ll be fine. We’ll marry, and I’ll return to you.”

Return to me. How many times had I heard that promise? Enough to know it was empty.

Days later, Beta Lewis appeared at my quarters with a dress in his arms. Shiny beige silk.

“The Alpha asked me to give this to you,” he said awkwardly. “He thought it might… cheer you up.”

I stared at the dress. Beige. Of all colors, beige. Cole knew I despised it. He knew it washed me out, made me look like a ghost. The gesture wasn’t love—it was appeasement. A bandage slapped over a gaping wound.

I placed the dress on my table and ignored it. That night, when Cole once again failed to keep his promise beneath the full moon, I knew it was truly over.

No more waiting. No more clinging to broken vows.

I called my aunt, Miranda, a formidable woman from one of the capital’s most respected packs. She had pressed me for years to accept a marriage alliance. I had always refused, blinded by my loyalty to Cole. But now, my heart hollow and resolve steel, I said yes.

Her joy was immediate. “Finally, Addison. You’ll be cherished the way you deserve. Leave everything to me.”

When the call ended, I moved with purpose. I gathered every gift Cole had ever given me over the last fifteen years—love letters, dried flowers, trinkets, and the moonstone necklace I once thought he’d treasure forever. Each item carried a memory, and each memory felt like poison.

I placed them all into a box. It was time to return what was never truly mine.

The house we had built together stood on Windsor territory. It was supposed to be our marital home. My hand trembled only once as I entered the familiar passcode: the combination of our names. The lock clicked open.

The sound of footsteps followed. Cole appeared, handsome as ever, though the sight of him no longer made my heart flutter—it twisted with bitterness instead.

“Addison,” he said, relief softening his features. “So, you’ve forgiven me? After seeing the dress I sent?”

I looked at him, my face devoid of expression. “I didn’t come here to forgive you. I came to return everything.”

His brows furrowed. “Return… what?”

Before I could answer, light footsteps descended from the stairs. Athena. She padded down as if she owned the place, and without hesitation, she slipped her arms around Cole’s waist.

My eyes dropped to her wrist. The bracelet. My bracelet. The one I had bought with my own earnings, a matching pair meant to symbolize our bond. Cole wore his half. Hers… was mine.

A bitter laugh almost escaped me, but I swallowed it. So this was where my love had gone.

Cole stiffened, glancing at me, then at her. He tried to push her off, but she clung tighter, burrowing against him.

“Addison—” he began.

“I came to return everything you gave me.” My voice was calm, too calm. I set the box down.

His jaw tightened. Instead of accepting it, he snatched the box, and in a fit of anger, he flung it to the ground. Letters, trinkets, and memories scattered across the floor like ashes of a fire long burned out.

“Do you really need to do this now?” he demanded.

Do this now. As if my pain was an inconvenience. As if years of betrayal could be postponed for his comfort.

“I want to end the engagement,” I said.

His eyes widened, disbelief flashing before turning to fury. “Are you damn serious?”

“Yes.”

He sneered, stepping closer. “Fine. Then don’t expect me to crawl back. You’ll regret this.”

I met his glare with an empty stare. “I already regret staying this long.”

Out of spite, he shoved the broken box back into my arms. “If you coax me now, we’ll be fine again. Otherwise—trash these. They mean nothing to me.”

I let the pieces fall from my grasp, scattering again onto the floor. “Right. No need to keep these things.”

He smirked. “Why would I? Put them in the trash. And don’t you dare use them as an excuse to come crawling back to me.”

I looked at him one last time. The boy I had loved since childhood, the Alpha I had believed in, was gone. In his place stood a man shackled by his own arrogance, blind to the damage he had done.

Addison’s POV

The taste of bitterness clung to my tongue as I climbed the stairs, each step heavier than the last. Upstairs, in what was once supposed to be our home, I needed to gather the last of my belongings.

The house that carried my name alongside his. The house that was supposed to be filled with laughter, pups, and the bond of mates.

When I opened the bedroom door, the stench hit me before my eyes could take in the room.

My wolf recoiled instantly. The thick, pungent scent of musk and sweat, laced with the unmistakable trace of release. After sex. My heart stopped in my chest, then lurched painfully, as if claws raked it from the inside.

No.

I stepped further in, my eyes scanning. And there it was—carelessly discarded on the edge of the bed. A woman’s underwear.

I gripped the doorframe, my nails biting into the wood until it splintered. My wolf snarled, her hackles raised. So they made it that far.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Goddess, how cruel can you be? This was the room I had decorated, the sheets I had chosen, the space where I imagined Cole and I would begin our life as Luna and Alpha. Instead, it reeked of betrayal, desecrated by the omega who had slithered her way into his arms.

Downstairs, laughter floated up—his and hers, light and warm, as if mocking the storm raging in my chest. I bit my lip so hard I tasted iron. My wolf whimpered low, humiliated and aching.

I couldn’t stop the memories from flooding in.

From the very moment Athena entered his life, Cole had bent himself to her every whim. Always with the same excuse: gratitude, debt.

I remembered the dragon fruit. She had been craving it, whining about how rare it was. Cole turned to me, his fiancée, his supposed Luna-to-be, and asked me to fetch it.

“Addison,” he had said, tone commanding though his smile was soft, “Athena really wants dragon fruit. You can go to the market in the next town, right?”

It was a long ride, but I went. For him. For us. Because I thought helping her would ease the burden of his debt and bring him back to me sooner.

I came back exhausted, arms full of the fruit she begged for. Athena wrinkled her nose and pouted.

“It’s not fresh enough,” she said, tossing one aside. “I want it straight from the farm. Not from a market.”

My jaw clenched. I waited for Cole to scold her, to defend me. Instead, he chuckled.

“Alright. We’ll go to the farm.” He looked at me, expectant. “Come on, Addison. Let’s make the trip together.”

The drive there had been the bitterest I’d ever endured. I sat in the back seat, silent and seething, while Athena occupied the passenger side, giggling at his words, basking in his attention. I should have been the one seated there. I was his mate, his fiancée. But she sat where I belonged, as if already Luna.

And then fate decided to cut deeper. Rogues ambushed us on the forest road. Snarling, vicious, hungry for blood.

Cole’s first instinct wasn’t to shield me. It wasn’t to protect his fiancée, the woman who had stood by him since childhood. No. His arms wrapped around Athena, shielding her as if she were his most precious treasure.

I had been left to fend for myself.

My wolf fought savagely, claws tearing, fangs rending, while Cole roared for backup and Athena screamed in his arms. By the time reinforcements arrived, I was bleeding heavily, my body torn.

I spent a month in the infirmary, wrapped in bandages, my wolf straining to heal me. And not once—not once—did Cole come to see me.

Instead, Athena visited with her fake soft smiles. “Cole’s busy taking care of me,” she told me. “You understand, right?”

Understand? She had no visible wounds. A scratch on her arm, maybe. I bore deep gashes across my body. Yet Cole had chosen to tend to her.

That was the day something inside me withered. Even on the edge of death, I was not his priority.

The memory stung now more than ever as I stood in that room, staring at the evidence of what he and Athena had done on the bed meant for us.

My chest heaved. My vision blurred with tears, hot trails burning my cheeks. My wolf howled inside, raw and broken, but there was no point fighting anymore.

I bent down, grabbed my luggage, and stuffed my things inside with shaking hands. I didn’t want to breathe this air any longer. Every corner of the room screamed of betrayal. Every item reminded me of how foolish I had been to believe in promises.

I whispered to myself, a vow this time not for him, but for me. “I will never cross your path again, Alpha Cole Windsor. You’ve lost me for good.”

Addison’s POV

I had sworn to myself that I didn’t want to see Alpha Cole ever again. My heart had bled enough, and my wolf had howled in grief for nights until she was hoarse. But when Elder Naomi—the woman who had treated me like her own daughter—invited me to the Windsor Crescent Moon Gathering, how could I say no?

Naomi Windsor wasn’t just Cole’s mother. She had been a second mother to me ever since my parents died in the war. I couldn’t bring myself to reject her kindness.

So, days later, dressed in a long midnight-blue gown that matched the gathering’s theme, I stood at the entrance of the grand hall. The crescent moonlight streamed through tall windows, casting silver shadows across the polished floors. Wolves of high rank mingled in the glow of chandeliers, their voices weaving into a constant hum of gossip and laughter.

And then I saw them.

Cole and Athena. Even from across the hall, the sight pierced me like a dagger. They stood close—too close. Her hand brushed his arm as she leaned in, whispering something that made him smile. My stomach twisted. His smile. The one I used to believe belonged only to me.

My ears, sharper than any human’s, picked up the whispers before I even stepped inside.

“Look at them… Alpha Cole treats that omega as if she’s the real fiancée.”

“Poor Addison. She’s the one promised to him, the one meant to be Luna.”

“Gratitude can only excuse so much… he looks like a man in love.”

The words cut deeper than claws. I clenched my fists and drew a breath, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me, torn between lashing out and retreating.

I straightened my spine and walked into the hall. Immediately, every gaze shifted to me. Conversations stilled. The hum of gossip transformed into silence.

Even Cole’s eyes found me. For one fleeting moment, something flickered there—surprise, guilt, maybe even longing. He moved as if to approach me. But Athena, sly as ever, slipped her hand through his arm and stopped him with a soft smile.

I didn’t falter. I walked past them as if they were no more significant than shadows and took a seat at the far corner of the hall. My wolf whimpered, but I forced her into silence.

Cole hesitated, then allowed Athena to cling to him. He didn’t shake her off. He didn’t try again. That said more than words ever could.

The event unfolded, though for me it felt like time dragged its claws through my chest. Music played, goblets clinked, and yet the only thing I could hear was the constant hiss of gossip circling like vultures.

“Why hasn’t the Alpha claimed Addison yet?”

“She’s the rightful Luna.”

My head snapped up at that, and I realized they weren’t rumors anymore. Cole stood near the center of the hall, addressing a group of elders. His voice carried loud and clear.

“It was Addison’s choice to end things between us,” he said.

Gasps rippled through the room. Wolves turned, eyes darting between him and me.

My chest constricted. He didn’t even deny it. He announced it himself, casting me as the one who had abandoned him. My wolf whined low, confusion and betrayal twisting her insides.

The whispers grew sharper.

“The future Luna, walking away from her mate?”

“And the omega who saved the Alpha’s life. Two women, two fates.”

“One prayed to the Moon for his safety. The other bled for him.”

I wanted to scream that it wasn’t that simple. That I had prayed and bled and sacrificed more than they could ever know. But my words would be drowned out.

Amid the chaos, Elder Naomi’s voice rang sharp as a whip.

“Cole!” She stormed across the floor, eyes blazing. “Have you lost all sense? That girl you’re parading around is not your fiancée. Addison is. And you will treat her with the respect she deserves.”

The hall hushed. Elder Naomi’s fury was a force to behold, her aura radiating Alpha energy even though she was not the Alpha herself. Cole stiffened under her gaze, his jaw tightening.

But before the speculation could spiral further, I forced a smile. My lips trembled, but I held firm.

“There’s no need, Elder Naomi,” I said, my voice steady. “It’s true. We’re separated now. Alpha Cole owes me nothing.”

Murmurs erupted again, louder this time. My wolf whimpered, but I silenced her. I would not let anyone see me crumble.

The air in the hall grew suffocating. I needed escape. I slipped away to the balcony, where the night breeze kissed my skin and the crescent moon glowed overhead. I leaned on the railing, inhaling deeply, trying to calm the storm raging inside me.

But peace never lasts long when Athena is near.

Her footsteps were light, her perfume unmistakable. She joined me outside, a smirk tugging at her lips.

“You know,” she said sweetly, “it’s only a matter of time before Cole is mine completely. Elder Naomi can scold him all she wants, but she has no power over who he mates with.”

I said nothing, my grip on the railing tightening until my knuckles ached.

She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. “Naomi only sides with you because she pitied you. Because she was friends with your dead mother. But pity won’t keep Cole by your side. Nothing will.”

My wolf snarled inside me, hackles raised. I tried to breathe, tried to let it pass. But then Athena struck the killing blow.

“After all, you don’t really have a family anymore, do you? They all died like cowards.”

My vision went red.

The crack of my palm meeting her cheek echoed across the balcony. Athena staggered back, her eyes wide. For one glorious second, the satisfaction of silencing her venom burned through my chest.

Then she began to cry. Loud, pitiful wails like a child. She clutched her cheek dramatically, spinning toward the doorway where the crowd had gathered, drawn by the commotion.

“She hit me!” Athena sobbed. “I was only telling her not to be angry with Alpha Cole. She overreacted!”

Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd. Faces turned to me, some shocked, some condemning.

And then Cole arrived.

His eyes flicked from Athena’s tears to my hand, still trembling from the slap. His face darkened. He strode forward, grabbed my arm in a bruising grip, and hissed through clenched teeth.

“Apologize. Now.”

I stared at him, disbelief crashing over me like a tidal wave. This was the man who once defended me against every whisper, every accusation. The man who once knelt before me and swore he would always protect me. And now he looked at me like I was nothing but a nuisance.

“She mocked my parents,” I said, my voice shaking but loud enough for all to hear. “She mocked their deaths. I will never apologize for defending their honor.”

His eyes grew colder. His grip on my arm tightened. But I yanked free, my tears spilling at last.

Once, he would have believed me. Once, he would have torn the world apart to clear my name. But now… now I was lost to him.

I turned and walked away, the weight of every gaze burning into my back. My wolf howled inside, a sound of anguish and betrayal that echoed in my chest.

At the exit, I paused, desperate to leave, to escape this suffocating humiliation. But a hand caught mine—gentle, warm.

Elder Naomi.

“Please, child,” she whispered, her eyes soft with sorrow. “Stay a little longer. For me. Just one hour.”

My heart twisted. She was the only one who had never abandoned me, the only one who still treated me as family. I couldn’t deny her.

So I nodded silently, wiping my tears, and turned away from the doors. Instead of leaving, I walked deeper into the hall, searching for a quiet corner where I could breathe, where no one’s whispers could reach me.