Addison’s POV
The Windsor Pack had been my home for as long as I could remember. After my parents were killed in the blood-soaked war between packs, Alpha Gabriel and Luna Naomi Windsor took me in as their ward. Their son, Cole—my best friend, my promised mate, my future—grew up with me.
We were destined, or so I thought.
Our elders arranged our marriage when we were still children, and to my young heart it had never felt like an obligation. Cole and I loved each other. We were inseparable. He was my anchor when nightmares clawed me awake, the one who promised me a future where I would never be alone again. He was supposed to be mine, just as I was supposed to be his.
But fate… or perhaps the cruelty of the Moon Goddess… decided otherwise.
It happened one night in the woods. Rogues ambushed him, vicious and relentless. Cole had barely escaped with his life, bleeding and broken. And then—she appeared. Athena Rockwell. A poor omega girl no one had ever paid much attention to. She saved him.
From that day on, Cole swore a vow. A blood-debt, sealed by the moon. His parents declared we owed Athena everything because she had saved the life of the next Alpha. And Cole… Cole kept her by his side.
At first, I tried to understand. But little by little, everything that had once been mine slipped through my fingers.
When I hosted my birthday celebration, a grand gathering of high-ranking wolves, Athena stood before Cole with those pitiful eyes, whispering that she wanted the celebration to be hers too. And Cole, with a smile meant for me, handed her half of it. My birthday became hers.
When I longed for the rare moonstone archery set, she begged Cole for it instead. He gave it to her without hesitation.
And for the ninety-ninth time, what was meant to be mine became hers.
I swallowed my hurt every time. I kept silent, convincing myself that Cole would come back to me once his “debt” was repaid. But silence has a way of choking you, and disappointment piles until it crushes your ribs.
The breaking point came on the night he was supposed to sign our marriage certificate—the final step before my Luna ceremony. I had waited in my quarters, my heart thrumming with hope, my hands trembling with nerves. Instead of his presence, I heard whispers that he was at the packhouse… with Athena.
When I went there, I saw it with my own eyes. His gaze glittered as he watched her unwrap a gown—white and shining, a gown that could pass for a wedding dress. My chest caved in. My mate, my fiancé… looked at another woman the way he used to look at me.
That was the moment something inside me snapped.
I withdrew from the packhouse, from him, from everything. I gave him chance after chance, excuse after excuse, and all I received was betrayal disguised as loyalty to another.
So I picked up my phone and called him.
“I won’t be marrying you anymore, Alpha,” I said, my voice steady despite the ache in my chest.
He chuckled, dismissing me as if I were a sulking pup. “Addison, don’t behave this way. You know I need to repay her. Once it’s done, we’ll be fine. We’ll marry, and I’ll return to you.”
Return to me. How many times had I heard that promise? Enough to know it was empty.
Days later, Beta Lewis appeared at my quarters with a dress in his arms. Shiny beige silk.
“The Alpha asked me to give this to you,” he said awkwardly. “He thought it might… cheer you up.”
I stared at the dress. Beige. Of all colors, beige. Cole knew I despised it. He knew it washed me out, made me look like a ghost. The gesture wasn’t love—it was appeasement. A bandage slapped over a gaping wound.
I placed the dress on my table and ignored it. That night, when Cole once again failed to keep his promise beneath the full moon, I knew it was truly over.
No more waiting. No more clinging to broken vows.
I called my aunt, Miranda, a formidable woman from one of the capital’s most respected packs. She had pressed me for years to accept a marriage alliance. I had always refused, blinded by my loyalty to Cole. But now, my heart hollow and resolve steel, I said yes.
Her joy was immediate. “Finally, Addison. You’ll be cherished the way you deserve. Leave everything to me.”
When the call ended, I moved with purpose. I gathered every gift Cole had ever given me over the last fifteen years—love letters, dried flowers, trinkets, and the moonstone necklace I once thought he’d treasure forever. Each item carried a memory, and each memory felt like poison.
I placed them all into a box. It was time to return what was never truly mine.
The house we had built together stood on Windsor territory. It was supposed to be our marital home. My hand trembled only once as I entered the familiar passcode: the combination of our names. The lock clicked open.
The sound of footsteps followed. Cole appeared, handsome as ever, though the sight of him no longer made my heart flutter—it twisted with bitterness instead.
“Addison,” he said, relief softening his features. “So, you’ve forgiven me? After seeing the dress I sent?”
I looked at him, my face devoid of expression. “I didn’t come here to forgive you. I came to return everything.”
His brows furrowed. “Return… what?”
Before I could answer, light footsteps descended from the stairs. Athena. She padded down as if she owned the place, and without hesitation, she slipped her arms around Cole’s waist.
My eyes dropped to her wrist. The bracelet. My bracelet. The one I had bought with my own earnings, a matching pair meant to symbolize our bond. Cole wore his half. Hers… was mine.
A bitter laugh almost escaped me, but I swallowed it. So this was where my love had gone.
Cole stiffened, glancing at me, then at her. He tried to push her off, but she clung tighter, burrowing against him.
“Addison—” he began.
“I came to return everything you gave me.” My voice was calm, too calm. I set the box down.
His jaw tightened. Instead of accepting it, he snatched the box, and in a fit of anger, he flung it to the ground. Letters, trinkets, and memories scattered across the floor like ashes of a fire long burned out.
“Do you really need to do this now?” he demanded.
Do this now. As if my pain was an inconvenience. As if years of betrayal could be postponed for his comfort.
“I want to end the engagement,” I said.
His eyes widened, disbelief flashing before turning to fury. “Are you damn serious?”
“Yes.”
He sneered, stepping closer. “Fine. Then don’t expect me to crawl back. You’ll regret this.”
I met his glare with an empty stare. “I already regret staying this long.”
Out of spite, he shoved the broken box back into my arms. “If you coax me now, we’ll be fine again. Otherwise—trash these. They mean nothing to me.”
I let the pieces fall from my grasp, scattering again onto the floor. “Right. No need to keep these things.”
He smirked. “Why would I? Put them in the trash. And don’t you dare use them as an excuse to come crawling back to me.”
I looked at him one last time. The boy I had loved since childhood, the Alpha I had believed in, was gone. In his place stood a man shackled by his own arrogance, blind to the damage he had done.
