The scent of damp earth and pine lingered in the night air as I stood outside the Lunar Court, my fists clenched at my sides. The verdict was not guilty, and my best friend, Jennie, walked away free.
“She was with me that night,” Joey, my fiancé, had said to the Elders.
My heart pounded in my chest as I turned to him. “Joey, you know that’s not true.”
He refused to meet my gaze. “Jennie couldn’t have bitten your mother. She wasn’t there.”
A lie. A betrayal.
But I had no proof. No witnesses. And so, the court ruled that my mother had been attacked by a rogue—not by Jennie, not by someone I had once called my sister.
As I watched Jennie lower her head in fake remorse, I knew Joey had chosen his side. And it wasn’t mine.
Days passed, and I pushed forward with my wedding preparations, trying to bury my grief beneath satin and lace. Jennie was no longer in my bridal party—I had ensured that. But the hole she had left in my heart was impossible to ignore.
I arrived at the wedding boutique, ready to try on my dress, but hushed voices caught my attention as I stepped inside.
“You really think Kelly won’t find out?” Cameron’s voice carried through the air.
“She won’t if you shut the fuck up,” Joey hissed.
I took a step back, pressing myself against the wall. My wolf bristled beneath my skin, warning me that something was wrong.
Cameron scoffed. “You were with Jennie that night, Joey. You weren’t just covering for her but binding yourselves as mates.”
The floor beneath me seemed to shift. My fingers trembled as I clutched the fabric of my sweater.
Jennie. Joey. Bound as mates.
Why would they do that on the day my mother was bitten? Are they accomplices?
I turned and walked out of the boutique, unable to breathe. My vision blurred as I stumbled through the streets, past the shops, past the pack members who barely spared me a glance.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. Joey’s name flashed on the screen again and again. I turned my phone off.
He didn’t deserve to find me.
The sun had long since set by the time I wandered through the town's quiet streets. I didn’t know where I was going—only that I couldn’t return.
“Kelly?”
I froze.
Cameron stood a few feet away, watching me cautiously. “We were waiting for you earlier. What happened?”
I exhaled slowly, and my body felt stiff. “You already know.”
His jaw tightened. “Joey—”
“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t defend him.”
“I wasn’t going to.” He sighed, stepping closer. “But you need to talk to him.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Why? So he can spin more lies? So he can tell me how none of this is what it looks like?”
Cameron hesitated. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
I shook my head. “But it did.”
The weight of everything pressed down on me—the loss, the humiliation, the betrayal. The entire pack would know. The whole pack would laugh at me. Pity me.
Joey had bound himself to Jennie, yet he hadn’t even canceled our mating ceremony. Knowing what he had done, he had been willing to go through with it.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
Cameron sighed. “Because it wasn’t my place.”
I turned to face him fully, my hands trembling at my sides. “But it was your choice. You could have respected me enough to tell me the truth.”
A bitter laugh escaped Cameron. “You think?” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Listen, I get why you’re angry, but you must face this.”
“I don’t need to do anything,” I bit back. “Joey made his choice.”
Cameron exhaled, his gaze dark. “Yeah, and you’re making yours.”
I turned away, gripping my stomach as nausea rolled through me. I wanted to scream, to break something, to let my wolf take over and tear through the lies that surrounded me.
But I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore. I was fighting for my child.
Cameron hesitated before placing a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you decide, I’ll back you up.”
I glanced at him, searching his face for any sign of deception. But there was none. For the first time, I felt a flicker of something close to relief.
“I need time,” I murmured.
Cameron nodded. “Take all you need. Just don’t disappear.”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I turned and walked away, feeling the weight of the night settle on my shoulders.
But before I could think of what to do, my body felt heavy and collapsed to the ground. That was the only thing I remember before I closed my eyes.
