"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.

Fated mates.

Such a naive wish.

I watched him on his knees, scrambling for broken rocks. Pathetic. So pathetic it was almost funny.

For ten years, I stood by his side and he never gave me a second glance. Now he was getting sentimental over a few broken rocks?

"What... What is this?"

Gianna's shrill voice cut through the silence.

She had clearly seen the words on the stone, and her beautiful face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Aiden! Did Rhea carve this? Is she trying to curse our Mating?"

Aiden didn't speak.

He just kept staring at that stone.

"Throw it away!" Gianna shrieked, lunging for the stone. Her nails raked across the back of his hand. "Get rid of it! How can you do this to me, for her—"

"Shut up."

Aiden looked up.

The cold fury in his eyes silenced Gianna instantly.

He slowly stood, gathering the stones one by one and placing them carefully inside his suit jacket pocket.

He handled them as if they were precious jewels, as if he wasn't the one who had just banished me.

"I'm tired."

He turned and walked away, leaving his future mate and all his guests standing there in stunned silence.

...

Late that night, candles flickered in the dining room of the pack house.

Gianna was smart, I'll give her that. No more scenes. Instead, she slipped into a whisper of silk that passed for a nightgown and served him a steak dinner.

With a subtle flick of her silk slipper, she "accidentally" kicked the offensive wishing stone into the shadows.

"Aiden, try this," she said sweetly, cutting a piece of steak and holding it to his lips. "Don't think about unpleasant things. Rhea was probably just confused when she said she wanted to leave the pack... We still have each other, don't we?"

Aiden opened his mouth mechanically, his eyes unfocused.

He was still thinking about the stones.

He was thinking about why I had so many wishes, but had never told him a single one.

He was wondering why he never knew the strong, unshakeable warrior he saw had such a soft, vulnerable side.

"Oh, and I made dessert."

Gianna presented a small silver platter like she was revealing a grand prize.

On it were several perfectly golden-brown cookies. A sweet, familiar scent filled the air.

Maple cookies.

Aiden's vacant stare snapped into focus the moment he saw them.

It was his favorite flavor.

The only sweet thing that could ever make the stoic Alpha smile.

"I know you like them," Gianna said, her smile gentle and wifely. She handed one to him. "I learned how to make them just for you. I want you to know I'm willing to do anything for you."

Aiden took the cookie.

The familiar shape, the familiar color, even the slightly browned edges were exactly as he remembered.

His hand trembled slightly.

He took a bite.

The crisp texture exploded on his tongue, and the rich maple flavor filled his mouth.

But... something was missing.

The texture was right. The sweetness was there. But the soul of it... the soul was gone. It was an echo, a ghost on his tongue.

"What's wrong?" Gianna watched his face, her own expression tense. "Is it not good?"

Aiden put the cookie down. His gaze drifted past her, out the window into the dark night.

There was nothing out there but an empty void.

Just like his heart at that moment.

"It's nothing," he said flatly, his voice hollow with a strange exhaustion. "I was just remembering something."

Something.

I floated above the table, watching the ghost of a bite mark on the cookie. A phantom ache echoed through my soul.

Of course it was wrong.

That wasn't the taste of a princess. It was the taste of my burnt fingers and secret smiles.

How could a pampered princess like Gianna ever replicate that?

She'd probably just bribed one of my omegas for the recipe and had the pack chefs make them.

But even with a recipe, some things can't be stolen.

Like love.

He stared at the plate, but he wasn't seeing cookies. He was seeing a memory.

"Maybe..." he murmured, so low I could barely hear.

"Maybe it's her I miss."

"Miss who?"

The gentle mask on Gianna's face finally cracked.

She slammed her fork down with a clatter.

"Aiden, what is wrong with you tonight?"

She stood up, walked around the table, and slid onto his lap. She cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Look at me, Aiden. I'm your Gianna. The woman you swore to love for the rest of your life. Your chosen mate."

Her tears came on command, perfectly pitiful.

"The Mating Ceremony is almost here. I'm so excited for our life together."

She lowered her head, pressing a kiss to the column of his throat. Her hand slid under his shirt, seeking the warmth of his skin. A blatant, desperate seduction.

But Aiden grabbed her hand and pulled her off his lap. The movement was almost rough.

"Stop," he said, his voice quiet but laced with steel. "Not yet. Our first time should be sacred, under the full moon."

Gianna froze.

"Why?" Her voice trembled, her eyes filled with suspicion. "Is it really about the ceremony? Or is it because... you don't actually love me?"

Aiden sighed.

He seemed truly exhausted, too tired to even argue properly.

"Don't be ridiculous." He reached out to smooth her hair, his eyes glazing over as he drifted into a memory.

"Bella, do you know why I chose you? Why it had to be you?"

Gianna blinked. "Because... I'm the princess of the Creek Valley Pack?"

"No." Aiden shook his head. "It was because of the candy."

The candy?

My ghostly form jolted.

"That snowy night, after my first shift," Aiden's voice grew low and distant. "The Luna had poisoned me with wolfsbane, and I was left for dead in the manor's garden. I was burning up, so delirious I couldn't even see who you were."

"Just when I thought I was going to die, someone pushed a piece of candy into my mouth."

His eyes softened with a reverence I had never seen before—a look reserved only for the memory of his savior.

"It was a piece of candy. Lemon. So sour it made my eyes water, but it cut right through the fever. It saved me."

He looked at Gianna, his voice thick with emotion. "When I woke up, the only thing I had was a handkerchief with your family's crest on it. From that moment, I swore I would spend my life repaying the girl who saved me in the snow."

Gianna's expression froze.

It was a complex mask of guilt, panic, and then a flicker of triumphant relief.

But I felt the spirit blood in my veins turn to ice.

Eight years ago, on that snow-swept night, I had knelt at the old Alpha's door for three days, begging for the antidote.

My knees were numb with cold, my forehead was raw and bleeding from kowtowing.

The old Alpha still refused.

In despair, I went back to the mountainside and found Aiden, barely breathing.

I had no medicine. No water.

All I had was a single piece of candy a witch had given me out of pity.

I held him in the snow all night, forcing my own warmth into his freezing body, whispering his name like a prayer.

Only after the fever broke did I realize the witch's 'pity' had been a dose of the antidote.

As for the handkerchief...

Gianna had walked by, disgusted by the sight of us. She had dropped it after using it to cover her nose from the "stench of poverty" she claimed we had!

So that was it.

That was the truth behind his love for her.

It wasn't love. It wasn't destiny.

It was a lie. A decade-long lie built on a single, stolen piece of candy.

A silent scream tore through my soul. I wanted to claw at his face, to howl the truth until it made his ears bleed.

IT WAS ME! IT WAS ALWAYS ME!

But I couldn't.

I was a ghost.

"Aiden..." Gianna had clearly recovered.

Her eyes darted around for a split second—a flicker of panic—before they filled with manufactured tears. "Aiden," she breathed, her voice thick with emotion. "You remembered."

She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest to hide the cunning in her eyes.

"I just couldn't bear to see you suffering... I never thought you'd remember it for so long."

"Even without a fated mate bond, I love you, Gianna."

I started to laugh, a hollow, rattling sound only I could hear.

Oh, Aiden. You absolute fool. You gave your heart to a thief.