The maid's voice shook. "Rheal… she can't stand strong smells, and the air in these apartments is stale. She suffered from terrible nightmares. I'd hear her calling out names… I just wanted to wash the smell of stale blood from her things before she returned…"

The color drained from Aiden's face.

This was the room he had assigned her. She never said a word about any of it.

He had no idea she was tormented every night. What names? Whose names?

"What names?" his voice was low and dangerous.

"Marcus, Vincent, and... and Kane..." The omega's voice grew quieter. "She also says 'I'm sorry,' over and over..."

I saw Aiden's hands begin to shake.

Marcus—the political rival he'd ordered me to assassinate three years ago.

Vincent—the pack traitor who threatened his position two years ago.

Kane—the former Beta who tried to overthrow him last year.

They were all obstacles he had personally ordered me to remove. Wolves I had personally killed.

He never knew about my nightmares.

He never knew the weight of the sins I carried for him.

"What else do you know?" Aiden advanced on the omega, his eyes flashing.

The omega was terrified. "I... I don't know anything else... I just wash her clothes and brew her calming tonic..."

She scrambled to get away, but her feet got tangled in a pile of clothes.

Clink.

Something small fell to the floor.

A wolf fang necklace, gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Aiden's eyes went wide.

It was the token he gave me when he secured his claim as Alpha.

Made from a fang he lost during his first shift, carved with the Silver Moon sigil.

It was supposed to represent his trust... his promise.

He knelt, his hand trembling as he reached for it.

The fang was still smooth, as if it held the last of my warmth.

"This is mine," Aiden snarled, his voice dangerously low. "Where did you get it? Did you steal it from her?!"

He lunged forward, grabbing the omega by her collar and yanking her up. His eyes were feral.

"No! No!" the omega sobbed, hysterical. "Rhea gave it to me! She... she said she didn't need it anymore..."

Aiden went rigid, his grip slackening as if the strength had been stolen from his body.

The omega crumpled to the floor, crying into her hands.

"She gave it to me the night she left... said it was a keepsake... I was going to give it back when she returned... I didn't steal it... She said she didn't need it anymore."

Didn't need it anymore.

The words were a blade twisting in his gut.

I watched his face drain of all color, a bitter storm brewing inside me.

I had worn that necklace for ten years.

I never took it off, not even to sleep or bathe.

It was the only thing he had ever given me.

The proof, I had thought, of his love.

But before I left on this last mission, I finally understood.

It was never a promise. It was a collar. A mark of ownership for his most loyal pet.

The Red Fang Pack had started countless border wars with us, and rumors said their Alpha was in league with a witch, all to absorb other packs.

They took Gianna to bait Aiden, and to eliminate his greatest threat: me.

Since I was about to die for him—for the woman he loved—the necklace was meaningless.

He wouldn't need his obedient pet anymore.

Aiden's hand shook as he picked up the necklace, clenching it in his fist.

"She... she really said that?" he rasped.

The omega nodded. "She also said... from now on, she was going to do what she wanted... and never live for anyone else again..."

Aiden staggered backward.

He stared at the fang in his hand, a hurricane gathering in his eyes.

Didn't need it?

The woman who would crawl back to him no matter how broken she was, the woman who treasured his slightest praise, had casually given his only gift to a maid?

It could only mean one thing.

A clean break.

Even if she came back alive, she had no intention of ever coming back to him.

No wonder she had someone spread the news of her death.

"Fine," Aiden laughed, a horrifying sound, twisted with the raw fury of betrayal. "Just fine."

He squeezed the fang so hard its sharp tip pierced his palm, and blood dripped between his fingers.

"Rhea," he snarled, his voice a guttural growl. "How dare you."

Aiden stormed out of the room, the necklace still clutched in his bleeding fist.

My soul was dragged along behind him. I watched, helpless, as he staggered into the room and swept everything off his desk in a single, violent motion.

"Doesn't need it?!" he repeated, his voice a low, guttural snarl. "DOESN'T NEED IT?!"

He raised his arm and hurled the blood-stained wolf tooth against the wall.

CRACK.

It shattered, the pieces scattering across the floor.

"I'll give you what you want," Aiden roared, his eyes shot with crazed, bloodshot veins.

The crash brought guards running, with Elder Elias right behind them.

"Alpha!"

The door flew open. Elias stared at the wreckage, his face instantly pale. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"She betrayed me!" Aiden jabbed a finger at the broken fragments. He rounded on the Elder, his voice a raw scream. "She threw away my necklace! She's leaving me! The traitor!"

"How can you say that?!" Tears streamed down the old wolf's face. "Rhea would never betray you! Ten years ago, when you were just a bastard son, who was by your side? When this council refused to acknowledge your blood, who found the proof?!"

Aiden froze for a second.

"When Kane tried to assassinate you, who charged into his war party alone to shield you?!" Elias pressed on. "When Vincent conspired with our enemies, who went into the Shadow Mire and brought you back the traitor's heart?!"

I saw a flicker of doubt in Aiden's eyes.

Those bloody nights. The endless killing.

How many had I killed for his safety? How many sins were on my soul for his throne?

"She has eighty-seven scars on her body!" Elias shrieked, his voice breaking. "Every single one of them was for you! She has PTSD so severe she needs a draught just to close her eyes at night! And she never once complained!"

A flash of pain crossed Aiden's face.

But the rage of being abandoned burned hotter. It twisted into a furious snarl. "Enough! Whatever she did, she's the one who chose to throw me away!"

Aiden lunged for his desk, snatched a pen and paper, and began writing furiously, right in front of the horrified Elder.

"What are you doing?" Elias gasped. "Alpha, don't be rash!"

Aiden stopped.

He lifted his blood-red eyes and read the words aloud, each one a hammer blow.

"Effective immediately, Rhea is exiled for desertion and betrayal of the pack. Her name will be struck from the records. She will be denied all honors. And upon her death… she will be barred from the Tomb of Heroes."

Elias collapsed to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. "No… you cannot do this…"

Aiden signed his name with a vicious slash of the pen and slammed the decree onto the desk.

"From this day forward," his voice was ice, "Rhea and I are done."

---

The full moon had not yet arrived, but the pack's wishing pool was already adorned with flowers, lanterns, and champagne.

The altar was ready.

Everyone was waiting to celebrate their Alpha's Mating Ceremony.

Aiden and Gianna stood before the statue of the Moon Goddess, hand in hand.

They were rehearsing for the ceremony.

The crowd applauded. All except for the members of my unit who had been on the mission with me.

I stood in the crowd, a ghost at their rehearsal. And I remembered his promise, whispered in the dark when we had nothing but each other. I’ll make you happy, Rhea. Forever.

Now, I was just a ghost, forced to watch him pledge his life to another woman.

Aiden lifted Gianna into his arms and made a wish before the Goddess.

He closed his eyes, his voice ringing with false conviction. "Before the Goddess, I bind myself to you. Forever."

"I accept," Gianna cooed, standing on her toes to kiss Aiden's lips.

Aiden closed his eyes and kissed her back.

But I saw it clearly. A tiny, almost imperceptible frown creased his brow.

I was standing right between them, a ridiculous third wheel.

I closed my eyes, unable to watch anymore.

I couldn't imagine the pain I would feel on the actual night of the ceremony.

"Pup."

An ancient voice whispered beside me.

I opened my eyes to see the Witch of the Moon Temple standing before me.

She could see me?

"A spirit bound by such attachment becomes a restless thing," the Witch said, her eyes seeing right through me. "Let go, pup. He has chosen another."

"I can't," my voice was choked with a sob. "I've loved him for ten years."

"To love what you cannot have, to cling to what is gone... it will only deny you peace for eternity," the Witch said, reaching a withered hand toward me. "The Moon Goddess will guide you."

"The Moon Goddess?" A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "If she's real, why? Why let me love a man who would never love me? Why make me die for his happiness, only to haunt it as a ghost?"

The Witch didn't answer.

Suddenly, a wild gust of wind tore across the pool, as if summoned by an unseen force.

The stacks of wishing stones on the altar tumbled and scattered.

Guests cried out in alarm.

Gianna clung to Aiden's arm. "What's happening? The weather was perfect..."

Aiden frowned, looking around.

The wishing stones had rolled across the ground, some of them cracking into pieces.

He bent down and picked one up.

He knew that jagged, determined handwriting instantly.

May Aiden be safe.

Aiden froze. It was mine.

He picked up another:

May Aiden be healthy and never know pain.

And another:

May Aiden achieve his dreams and become the strongest Alpha.

Aiden's hands started to tremble.

He dropped to his knees, clawing at the scattered stones like a man possessed.

May Aiden never be looked down on again.

May Aiden find his true love.

May Aiden be happy, even if he forgets me.

Every single stone held a wish I had made for him.

We grew up together.

When his identity as the old Alpha's bastard was revealed, the pack's Luna was forced to take him in, but she was always wary of his power. She even tried to kill him once with silver poison.

Every year, on the full moon, I would come here and wish for Aiden's health, for his success.

He never knew.

"Aiden?" Gianna noticed he was acting strangely. "What's wrong with you?"

Aiden didn't answer. He kept searching the ground as if hunting for treasure.

The pack members watched, confused.

"What's the Alpha doing?"

"Is he... picking up rocks?"

"Picking up rocks on his rehearsal night. How strange..."

Aiden heard none of it.

He found the last one. It was the largest wishing stone of all.

The carving on this one was faint, the edges worn smooth as if by a thousand silent tears.

He held it close to his face.

Under the moonlight, the words burned into his eyes:

Moon Goddess, bind my soul to Aiden's. Let us be fated mates.

Aiden went rigid, the air knocked from his lungs.