# Saltwater Tears

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Everyone in the Lycan royal circle knew that Prince Antonio loved me like no other. When I was preparing for my final challenge to earn the right to lead my own sub-pack, he stood beside me through every brutal training session, and when I faced the final rogue attack that was meant to test my strength, he stepped in to take a lethal blow meant for me. That attack left his inner wolf grievously wounded, costing him decades of his fighting strength just to keep me alive.

To repay the debt I owed him, I turned down the early invitation to compete for the leadership right that year, putting my entire dream on hold to stay by his side while he recovered. I didn’t question a single moment of it, not when the mate bond hummed warm and constant between us, not when he told me I was his fated one, the only Luna he’d ever want by his side.

It wasn’t until Hezekiah Silva, the second son of the Lycan King, came to check on Antonio’s recovery one afternoon that the truth unraveled. He stood in the doorway of Antonio’s royal apartment, his broad shoulders tense with the weight of a secret he’d carried too long, and sighed. The royal aura he carried rolled off him in a quiet, heavy wave that made my wolf twitch with unease.

“You love her that much?” he asked, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “That you’d sacrifice everything, even a mate fated for you by the Moon Goddess, just to save a woman who looks like her?”

I froze where I was mixing healing herbs at the counter, my fingers going numb. When I turned, Antonio was sitting by the window, his dark gaze soft as he stared at a crumpled photo of Anna on his phone—Anna Perry, the Omega he’d protected since childhood, with her soft smile and that faint, sweet vanilla scent I’d once caught on his collar more times than I could count.

“Anna’s aura is too weak,” he said, not looking up, his voice gentle enough to make my chest ache. Her wolf never awakened before adulthood, so she’s stuck as an Omega. Once Cielo gives up her unique healing ability to strengthen her wolf, she’ll never be pushed around by other wolves in the pack again. She’ll be safe, and she’ll be my mate. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“She’ll be the one I mark as my Luna, in a formal mark ceremony before the whole kingdom.”

I knew exactly what that meant. My unique healing ability was tied to the coastal heritage of my pack, a gift that lets me transfer strength from my wolf to another’s—but it costs the giver everything. Once I transferred that strength to Anna, I’d lose my fighting power, my ability to shift, my very place as a Delta warrior of the Coastal Tide Pack. I’d be nothing more than a weak Omega, cast aside like a used tool once I’d served my purpose.

I didn’t yell. I didn’t beg. I just walked straight out of that royal apartment, my boots clicking steady on the marble floor, and went directly to the royal courtyard where Antonio would find me. When he followed, slow and confused, I stood straight, held my head high, and spoke the words that would cut the bond forever, just as the old laws demand.

“I, Cielo Gonzalez, Delta of the Coastal Tide Pack, reject you, Antonio Gonzalez, Lycan Prince, as my mate,” I said, my voice steady even as the mate bond burned like fire through every nerve in my body. My wolf whimpered, deep in the back of my mind, the pain of the severing bond so sharp it made my legs wobble, but I stood my ground.

I turned away before he could speak, and I went to the pack elders to formally register my entry into the leadership challenge. I had nothing left to lose, and nothing left to tie me to the Lycan royal court. No more secrets, no more lies, no more being a replacement for the woman he really loved. From that day on, I answered only to myself.

I sent the message through my phone to my parents, Alpha and Luna of the Coastal Tide Pack, “Alpha, Luna, I’ve decided that once the leadership challenge gates open in three days, I’ll compete to claim my right to lead my own sub-pack and return to coastal territory to take over.”

They texted back quickly, their reply confirming their full approval.

“Cielo, with your training and record, winning the challenge is well within your reach. We’ll meet you at the challenge grounds in three days to welcome you home!”

The chat thread closed, and I stood still on the forest path, my chest tight as I replayed Prince Antonio’s words from earlier over and over. The perfect, fated mate bond everyone had envied me for had been nothing but a lie, a calculated trap from the very start.

Before I knew it, my feet had carried me back to the cabin Prince had arranged for me after he’d taken that rogue’s lethal blow for me. He’d said he picked this remote, quiet spot on the edge of the royal pack territory so I could rest and recover properly after the attack. Back then, I’d wondered why he’d chosen a place so far from the main royal grounds, when there were dozens of perfectly good vacant cabins closer in. Now I knew. It was all for Anna Perry.

I pushed the cabin door open. Prince Antonio stood by the kitchen counter, his expression soft, almost tender, as he spoke into his phone.

“Anna, just wait a little longer. I’ve already accepted the fated bond with Cielo, and once the leadership challenge is over, I’ll get what we need. Her unique healing ability will make you strong enough to awaken your wolf fully, and then I’ll bring you home to the royal pack openly as my mate after the mark ceremony.”

The screen lit up with Anna’s smiling face in a text reply, and that bright glow burned like acid behind my eyes. Of course. This was why he kept his phone pressed to his chest even at night, why he whispered soft promises every evening that he loved me and couldn’t wait to mark me as his mate. I’d been a fool, thinking those words were for me. Every soft vow had always been meant for her.

He looked up when I stepped inside, the gentle, loving expression draining from his face instantly. He locked his phone and slipped it into the inner pocket of his jacket, his jaw tightening.

“Where have you been? I told you to stay here and rest. You’re still recovering from that rogue attack—what if something happened to you out there?”

If I hadn’t known the truth, I would have preened at the show of concern, warmed by how much he cared. Now I saw it clearly: the emotion in his eyes wasn’t worry for me. It was irritation. I remembered what Cassidy had told me: Anna needed a blood transfusion from my healing blood to fix her own permanently damaged wolf. He’d only needed me whole and calm, to get the perfect result for her. That was all.

I tilted my chin and gave him a cold, sharp smile. “Since when do I need your permission to leave a cabin that’s supposed to be mine?”

He stared at me, stunned by my tone, and a flush of anger crept up his neck.

“Cielo, you are more and more ungrateful! I only ask after your health, and you repay me with this attitude? No wonder the young warriors in the royal pack call you a cold, selfish monster. They were right about you.”

My throat burned, and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back the tears, staring straight at him. There was no mistaking it now—the disgust on his face was real. He knew everything I’d been through, the weight I carried, and he still threw those cruel words in my face like this.

I could still remember the first time those rumors started, years ago, right after we’d first marked our tentative mate bond. He’d roared at the young warriors who’d spread them, dragged three of the loudest to the training grounds for a public punishment, and said, in that sharp alpha tone that left no room for argument: “Cielo does what she does for reasons none of you understand. She is my fated mate, the woman I will claim. Anyone who speaks against her speaks against me. Come at her if you dare.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my voice steady, like his words didn’t cut me to the bone. “If you want to believe them, that’s your choice. I can’t stop you.”

He stared at me, his golden eyes dark with rage, for a long minute. When he spoke again, his voice was low and dangerous, the royal Lycan aura rolling off him in waves that pressed down on my shoulders. “Cielo, I can revoke our mate bond at any time. You’d better think long and hard about whether you’re going to apologize to me for this insubordination.”

I turned my face away, sat down on the couch calmly, and closed my eyes, saying nothing. I’d already made my choice.

He snarled, his claws extending as he bared his fangs, his voice ringing with fury as he turned to storm out. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You will regret this.”

I took a slow, shaking breath, and finally let the tears I’d been holding back fall. I didn’t need to wait for regret. I already knew what I had to do.

I, Cielo Gonzalez, Delta of the Coastal Tide Pack, reject you, Antonio Gonzalez, Lycan Prince of the Royal Pack, as my mate.

The searing burn of the broken bond tore through my chest the second the words echoed in my mind, and I bit down hard on my lip to muffle the cry that rose in my throat. My wolf whimpered, the pain sharp and soul-deep, but I didn’t take it back. Not now, not ever.