I had a feeling that Andro hadn’t been honest with me these past few weeks. But I had set all my doubts aside because I thought our history was enough reassurance. Now, everything we had built through the years crashed down on me as I heard a female’s voice inside his room.

It wasn’t just any voice. It belonged to the young woman that my father took in and adopted despite my mother’s disapproval. I took a shuddering breath, my fiance’s pants and groans nailing me on the floor.

“You can’t resist me, Andro,” Stella said. “I’m your mate. You will want me no matter how much you deny it.”

“Shut up,” Andro snapped. “I promised Melissa that I’d marry her. I promised to reject my mate if it wasn’t her.”

Andro’s words caused a pang in my chest. It was clear that he had given in to his urges and the mate bond’s pull. In the end, his promise was nothing against the mate bond.

“But you need me. You need this,” Stella purred. “Do you even love her? Or do you just need her to get rid of your brother and take his place as alpha of the pack?”

“My feelings aren’t important,” he grunted out. “Her family has made great contributions to the pack, if they side with me, the others will accept me faster when I become the new Alpha.”

I was hoping he’d at least say he loves me because that was the truth I knew, one he made me believe. But he chose to protect his mate’s feelings at my expense.

“Everyone thinks Alpha Desmond had lost his mind along with his heart when his mate died. I think they’d all agree to have you as Alpha instead. You don’t need Melissa,” Stella insisted.

“Who do you think killed his mate? It was Melissa’s parents. They did it to help me and make their daughter Luna.”

My jaw fell at the revelation. The reason why our Alpha had gone mad was because of my parents? I supported Andro’s goal to usurp Alpha Desmond’s position because I also believed that Desmond was no longer fit for the role due to his cruelty. But was it all because of us?

“Besides, Melissa and I had been together since childhood. I can’t just throw her away,” Andro added.

“But you can’t reject me too. You’re a greedy man, Andro.”

It was making me sick. The obscene sounds they made within that room made my stomach turn. My weak heart pounded against my chest. The pack's healers told me that my heart had a problem they couldn't decipher, but I should avoid doing anything that would strain it. I had to walk away because I could feel my heart condition acting up.

However, while I took refuge in the kitchen of our manor, Stella suddenly walked in. A familiar bracelet dangles from her finger.

“I saw this outside of Andro’s room. It’s yours, isn’t it?” Stella tauntingly asked. “You heard us.”

Stella didn’t look ashamed or even afraid of the fact that I knew. “Yeah, I heard how shameless you are.”

“Ha!” she scoffed. “Shameless? He’s my mate.”

“And I am his betrothed. By choice, I am who he wants. The mate bond is the only thing pushing him to you, and I know… he’ll choose me,” I said although I doubted it. Did I even want him to choose me despite what I learned? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was I couldn’t let Andro go yet.

Deep down, I knew I couldn’t trust him anymore. But my heart was still too attached and held onto him like a lifeline.

“Do you wanna test that theory?” Stella asked as she took a step toward me.

Stella suddenly knocked a wine bottle and plates off the counter. I stared at her in shock and confusion. She plopped down on the floor, right into the mess, shards of glass digging into her skin.

“What are you doing!” I asked in panic as I tried to help her out.

“Help! Help me!” Her screams had taken me aback.

Andro came rushing in at the sound of Stella’s distress. He took one look at the scene and shot me an immediate glare. My lips parted at the realization of what Stella was doing.

“I didn’t do anything,” I said even though he hadn’t voiced his accusations yet.

However, Stella cried harder and wrapped her arms around Andro’s neck. “She knows I’m your mate. She said she’d kill me so she can have you back,” Stella said through her sobs.

“S-she’s lying!” I wanted to step forward and pull him away from her, but my chest suddenly felt tight.

“This isn’t right, Melissa,” Andro grounded out.

I crumpled to the floor, clutching my chest as the pain there exploded. My world spun, and I could barely breathe. But Andro didn’t come to my side. He chose to remain by Stella’s side despite knowing my heart condition. I was wrong, he wouldn’t choose me.

I woke up in a cell. They locked me up despite my condition. It didn’t matter that I was barely breathing. They all believed that I tried to kill Stella, so they treated me like a criminal.

I heard the guards talking about how rattled Stella was as she spoke about what happened. But I knew she was probably out there spouting lies. It also sounded like everyone already knew that Stella was Andro’s mate, so they all thought of that as my motive to kill her.

“It wasn’t even Stella’s fault she was bonded to Andro,” one of the guards said as they passed by. “But isn’t it surprising that Andro decided to throw his fiance into prison?”

“Not really. Even if they’ve been inseparable since childhood, you can’t fight off a mate bond,” the other one said. “I heard Andro hasn’t left Stella’s side.”

It was unfair. I hadn’t done anything wrong. While Stella was being cared for by Andro, I was suffocating in this cold cell. Everything inside was worn down, and the thin blanket couldn’t offer warmth. I felt like I was dying, and I’d be all alone.

How could they do this to me? Where were my parents? Not even a healer was sent to aid me. The pain in my chest started to worsen again. I grasped the blanket and peered around. There was no one to seek help from.

Am I gonna die here? Would my heart suddenly fail after all the distress?

“You look pathetic,” someone suddenly said.

I slowly moved my head to look at the door. It was someone I least expected to come.

“It suits you,” Alpha Desmond said, his voice laced with venom.

Alpha Desmond had always been stern and cold. But after his mate died, he’d been less forgiving–so much less. He’d look at everyone with disdain and irritation. Every time our eyes met, those things grew in intensity. It was as if he held a grudge against me.

“Alpha,” I muttered, my voice hoarse. I wanted to ask for help, but would this ruthless man really offer such a thing?

He looked at me with disgust, anger, and something I couldn’t quite figure out. He took another step forward, his huge frame blocking the light.

“You deserve this.” He hovered over my head as I lay motionless on the bed. “After you die. I’ll send your parents to you next. Then my brother.”

My eyes widened at what he said. Desmond knew about what my parents did! The reason why his gazes were sharper and colder whenever they met mine. Did he think I was a part of it?

“I… didn’t k-know,” I uttered. “I’m sorry,” I said as my voice broke into sobs.

I had witnessed the day he found his mate’s lifeless body. Desmond didn’t shed a tear, but he carried her with an expression that could only belong to a broken man. It turned him into a monster–we turned him into this heartless monster.

“I–I’m so sorry,” I repeated. I felt like I knew his pain, like I owned it too.

“Don’t lie to me,” he growled.

The tears were blurring my vision. I couldn’t see Desmond's face, but I felt his hand against my cheek. It wasn’t cruel… It was unexpectedly gentle, and then, something snapped.

The pain was temporarily gone. The tears no longer blocked my view, and I could clearly see him. Desmond’s eyes were wide, as were mine when I felt the mate bond snap into place.

The relief from pain didn’t last long, and it came back like a torrent that drowned all else. Every time I breathed, it would hurt so bad that I was almost glad to slip into oblivion. Even so, I felt his arms clutching me close, carrying my limp body.

“Don’t die.”

I wanted to open my eyes, but my eyelids were too heavy. Everything was. I didn’t have enough energy or mental capacity to process what had formed between us. I also didn’t think it mattered because I was dying–or so it felt like. I had been left too long in that cold cell, who knew? Maybe my heart’s condition had worsened during that time.

“You will not die. Not until I allow you,” Desmond’s voice echoed in my ears. “Not when you’ve placed this cursed bond on me."

How was it even possible that a mate bond would form between us? The moon Goddess rarely offered second chances, and in this case, it appeared like she was playing with us. How could she match me with someone my parents had wronged?

I awoke in a soft mattress this time after passing out in Desmond’s arms. I took a look around and realized that I was in his room. I knew from the insignias around the room.

A healer was also present. She held my hand and said, “This isn’t an illness. It’s poison. Something has been poisoning your heart slowly.”

“What?” I muttered. My heart had been a problem for five years now, I couldn’t even shift because of it. All I knew was the healers couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so they couldn’t fix it. “H-how do you know that? Why didn’t the other healers know that?”

“I’m not like the others,” she said. “I’m the healer in the Alpha’s manor. Of course, I’d be different. I’ve seen this case before. Someone had been poisoning you in small doses. It doesn’t kill you right away, but it weakens your heart until it fails.”

“You mean… This burden I carried for five years. The reason why I couldn’t shift! It was all orchestrated by someone?” I asked, grabbing her arm. I couldn’t think of anyone who had been poisoning me for the last five years.

My parents might not be the best, but they still saw me as their daughter. It couldn’t be Andro, right? He truly did love me–at least before Stella came into the picture. There was no reason for him to do that. Stella–perhaps, but she had only been with us for a year. Who could it be?

“C-can you fix it?” I asked. “What can we do?”

“The Alpha can help. He knows how to fix it,” she flatly said.

Alpha Desmond would know how to help me? Even though we were mates, he hated me for what my parents did to his first mate. How could he possibly agree to help me? If anything, he might reject me and I wouldn’t be able to survive it with this heart.

“I don’t think Alpha Desmond would help me,” I replied, looking away.

“Why won’t he? I know his reputation’s bad, but he decided to take you as his luna. I’m sure he’d want you at your best.”

“He what?” I asked, my confusion written all over my face.

“Ah, right. You don’t know yet. It hasn't been officially declared. Only the people in the Alpha's manor knows. We were asked to treat you as if you're already Luna," she explained. It meant my parents and Andro didn't know yet. I wonder how they'd react to that.

“Why would he,” I muttered under my breath. It didn’t make sense. I thought he wanted me dead along with my parents and Andro?

I had a feeling that I was just a pawn in his game–a pawn he stole from his enemies. That would be the only reason why he’d want me to be his Luna.

Unfortunately for them, I was done playing the role of a pawn.