The Alpha’s expression, once softened with a hint of guilt, hardened into an icy mask of rage. His posture shifted defensively as he moved Hailey protectively behind him, his gaze sharpening. “What are you thinking? She’s your sister.”
Ignoring his rebuke, she directed her steely focus toward Hailey, her voice calm but laced with authority. “You may be my sister, but you will not disrespect my son.”
Hailey’s face fell, a tremor of hurt crossing her features. Turning to Albert, she pleaded, “Alpha, I don’t want to be a source of tension. If my sister refuses to see that Evan’s faking his illness, then I’ll let it go.”
The weight of her words lingered, but she stood her ground, her heart racing with an anger she could no longer contain. Turning to Albert, her voice was a low, unyielding demand. “Tell me, do you believe our son would feign something like this?”
Silence stretched painfully between them. Albert’s gaze drifted from hers, looking past her as though searching for answers in the empty room. He finally spoke, but his tone betrayed growing frustration. “Where is Evan? I don’t sense him anywhere.”
His doubt stung. How could he, a father, not feel the suffering of his own child? The years of Evan’s illness had etched themselves deep into her soul, and if she’d had the power, she would have summoned the best healers long ago. But as Luna, her reach was bound to the pack’s limits—and to Albert’s refusal to acknowledge her efforts.
If he’d ever come home, he would have seen the lengths she went to: the herbs littering the kitchen, the exhausted, pale figure of Evan lying listlessly in bed. Albert, however, never came.
The memory of Evan’s heartbreaking words echoed in her mind: he didn’t have much time left. His fragile voice, the weary acceptance in his gaze—it haunted her. She’d held out hope as long as she could, but the rapid decline in his health left little room for it. Evan had asked for just one thing: a birthday celebration with his family, a final memory of unity.
In desperation, she’d knelt before Albert, surrendering every last bit of her pride. She had clung to his pant leg, her voice breaking as she made a promise she’d never thought she’d utter. She’d told him she’d let him go, that she’d no longer hold him bound. His reaction had been a fleeting mixture of shock and—could it have been relief?
“Are you serious?” he’d asked, his voice wavering with a glimmer of hope.
“Yes,” she’d whispered, eyes closed, tears slipping down her cheeks as her heart broke.
Her love for Albert had been fierce, passionate, and all-consuming from the start. From the moment she’d first seen him, something in her heart had irrevocably shifted. She hadn’t known then that he was her fated mate, but it hadn’t mattered; her heart had already chosen him. Everyone could see her devotion, her unshakeable loyalty.
But in return, Albert’s feelings had soured to disdain. His coming-of-age ceremony had revealed her as his fated mate, a discovery he had met with resentment, wishing instead that he’d been paired with Hailey. She was who he had wanted, not her. And she had been left to face the reality of a mate who resented her very existence.
Why hadn’t she just let him go? She could have stepped aside, but instead, she’d held on, clinging to a shred of hope that one day he’d change his mind. Her persistence, however, only intensified his bitterness, especially as he watched Hailey depart for another pack after discovering her own fated mate.
But her parents had been adamant: accepting her fate was not optional. To reject her bond would bring disgrace, so she’d complied, even as Albert made it clear how little he wanted her. Their mateship ceremony had been a cold, quiet affair, devoid of joy or celebration. Albert had insisted that she deserved no more than that, leaving her to stand as Luna in name only.
When Hailey returned, widowed and alone, she realized the true futility of fighting for Albert’s heart. She could never compete with the bond they’d shared, however fleeting it might have been.
Remembering that painful moment, she’d again begged Albert, offering that she would leave him alone after he did what their son wanted. She hadn’t expected him to take her seriously, but perhaps he’d finally reached his limit. He’d agreed to her terms, just as long as she would leave him alone after.
But his indifference toward Evan remained a mystery she could not fathom. How could he break his word, ignore their son’s suffering, and dismiss his last birthday wish so easily? It was one thing to neglect her, to disregard her place in his life, but Evan was their child. How could he so coldly cast aside his own blood?
