Melissa’s POV
The sky wept the day my mother was buried.
The rain fell steady and cold, soaking through my thin black dress, plastering my hair to my face. The forest that once sang with our laughter was silent now, only the sound of shovels and thunder filling the air.
Her grave was small, humble, just a mound of earth beneath the old cedar tree where she used to sit and brew herbs. I knelt before it, my hands trembling as I placed her favorite wildflowers over the fresh soil. My wolf whimpered softly inside me, grieving with me.
“Sleep well, Mama,” I whispered. “I’ll be fine.”
But that was a lie. Because I wasn’t fine. Because the man I had loved more than anything in this world didn’t even come to her funeral.
Cyrus didn’t come. Not the Alpha I risked everything for. Not the man I once called my future, who promised me the moon and stars beneath our little bungalow roof.
The pack members said he was “busy.” But deep down, I knew the truth. He wasn’t busy. He just didn’t care.
When the rain finally stopped and everyone else had gone, I stayed behind until the sun began to set.
I didn’t know then how deep betrayal could cut—until that night.
I went back to the Redmoon Packhouse because a part of me still hoped he’d explain. That there was a reason. That maybe, just maybe, he’d still hold me and say he was sorry.
Our room, the one Cyrus and I used to share, was at the end of the east wing. I climbed the stairs quietly, each step heavier than the last. The closer I got, the stronger his scent became—fresh pine and smoke, the scent that used to calm me, that used to mean home.
But that night, it smelled like betrayal.
The door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open slowly, careful not to make a sound. The moonlight streamed in through the open window, casting soft silver light across the bed.
And there they were. Cyrus and Alicia.
Under the same sheets I once slept in. In the same bed where we used to whisper dreams.
Her body arched beneath him, her moans filling the room like the sound of everything I had lost. Cyrus’s voice—deep, raw—murmured words I couldn’t bear to hear.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. My heart stopped. My legs went weak. I pressed a hand to my mouth to stop myself from screaming. My wolf howled inside me, broken and enraged, begging to tear the room apart, to shred them both.
I turned to leave, but then Alicia spoke.
“Cyrus,” she whispered, her voice trembling between breaths. “What if… what if Melissa finds out I was the one who—”
Cyrus groaned softly, brushing her hair from her face. “Shh. Don’t say it.”
“But… what if she finds out that I accidentally killed her mother?”
The room spun. My breath caught in my throat.
Cyrus’s answer came low and firm. “Don’t worry. She won’t know. I’ll make sure of that.”
My heart stopped beating. My knees buckled, and I gripped the doorframe for support.
Accidentally killed her mother.
The words echoed in my skull, sharper than any blade.
I bit my lip until I tasted blood, fighting back the sob that clawed its way up my throat. Every nerve in my body burned. I wanted to storm in, to scream, to make him see what he had done—but I couldn’t.
Because in that moment, I realized the truth.
The man I loved had not only abandoned me. He had protected my mother’s killer.
And worse—he had helped hide it.
The next few weeks passed in a blur. Elder Francine’s birthday banquet came like a cruel reminder that I was still trapped in their world. I should have left after my mother’s death, but I couldn’t—not yet. Not when I still needed to know how deep their lies ran.
The banquet hall glittered with gold and laughter. Wolves dressed in silk and velvet filled the room, raising their glasses in toast to the woman who had taken everything from me. I stood among them, my plain black dress marking me as the outcast I’d always been.
“Melissa!” one of the pack females called out, waving her hand as if summoning a servant. “Be a dear and fetch more wine for our table, will you?”
I froze. Her tone was sweet, but her eyes glinted with malice.
Before I could respond, another one chimed in, smirking. “Oh, and bring some of those tarts too. Quickly now, omega.”
Laughter followed. I felt the burn of humiliation rise in my chest. My wolf growled faintly, but I forced her down. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
And then I saw him.
Cyrus stood across the room, dressed in a dark suit, his arm around Alicia’s waist. She wore silver silk that clung to her like a second skin, a smug smile on her lips.
Our eyes met for a brief second. His gaze faltered, just for a heartbeat, but he didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just looked away.
That was when I knew he wasn’t my Cyrus anymore. That the man I had saved, loved, and bled for was gone.
I walked toward the buffet table, my hands steady even though my heart was in pieces. Every laugh, every insult from the pack members became fuel for the fire burning inside me.
I lifted my gaze once more, and my eyes met Cyrus’s from across the room.
He didn’t know it yet, but the moment he let me walk away that night… was the moment he created his own downfall.
