I rose slowly from the armchair, the frayed hem of my hoodie catching on the curve of my wrist as I smoothed it down, not because it was wrinkled, but because I needed the ritual—needed to feel in control of something, anything. My eyes found Alpha Damon’s across the room. The corners of my mouth lifted in a smile—not friendly, not forgiving. It was precise. Polished. Razor-sharp beneath the silk.
“Oh… The wedding…” I said, my voice calm, rich with purpose. “It’s the one you’re not invited to.”
At first, Alpha Damon let out a short, startled laugh, like he thought he’d misheard me, like the very idea of my banishing him from anything that used to be ours was some kind of elaborate joke.
Beta Malric followed with that low, patronizing chuckle he always used when he thought I was being dramatic, when he assumed I was biting off more than I could chew. “Nice one,” he muttered, shaking his head with a smirk. “You almost had us.”
I said nothing. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. I simply stood there, watching as their amusement echoed through the room like something infected.
Nina, still draped over my couch like a porcelain martyr from a tragic poem, tilted her head with delicate cruelty. Her smile, sly and sugary, twisted like the scent of spoiled fruit. “Oh, please. No one’s actually trying to steal Lyra,” she purred. “Have you seen how she dresses? Baggy hoodies, shapeless jeans—like she’s afraid of her own body. Like she’s hiding something under all that fabric.”
Alpha Damon snorted, amused by her pettiness, and nudged Malric with a smug grin. “She really does dress like she’s in hiding,” he said, without a hint of shame. “You should take notes from Nina, Lyra.”
They laughed again, faithless, soulless sounds that rang like insults carved into bone.
But I didn’t crumble. I didn’t lower my eyes like the way I used to before.
This time, I didn’t pity myself.
Instead, I smiled again. Just barely. Cold and unreadable.
“You’re right,” I murmured. “It’s a joke. It’s my cousin’s wedding.”
The laughter stopped.
“I meant it,” I continued, eyes unwavering. “You’re all invited… to that.”
Damon scratched his neck and avoided my gaze for the first time, suddenly aware of how close the air had gotten—how thin it felt.
“We’ll be busy,” he said, feigning regret. “Nina’s birthday trip. Switzerland. Doctors said she’s finally well enough to travel.”
Malric jumped to echo him. “It’s supposed to be good for her recovery. Clean mountain air. Wolf-friendly altitudes.”
Alpha Damon turned to look at Nina with something almost reverent in his expression. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she leaned into him like the Luna she believed she already was.
She looked at me again, her gaze glinting with victory.
I smiled.
But I didn’t say another word.
I walked away. Slowly. Deliberately. My footsteps carried the weight of every betrayal that had built this moment. I ascended the stairs without urgency, as though I were already beyond the reach of their small, stupid lies.
When I reached the top floor, I stepped into the room. It still smelled faintly of sage and something metallic—faint echoes of everything that happened here.
I closed the door without locking it, because I knew none of them would dare follow me now.
I laid down on the bed and pulled the old blanket over my legs, staring up at the ceiling, listening to their laughter drifting up from below, curling through the air like smoke from a fire I no longer feared.
Damon’s voice. Nina’s cough. Malric’s fussing. Their false harmony settled into the walls like mildew.
And still, I didn’t cry.
Instead, I closed my eyes and let the weight of exhaustion press into me like teeth sinking into flesh. I was almost asleep when the door creaked open.
I turned my face toward the wall, not bothering to look.
The scent hit first, warm milk laced with lavender. And underneath it, her.
“I brought you something,” Nina Frost said, her voice soft and syrupy. Too sweet. Sweet like poison.
I didn’t move.
She crossed the room, her footsteps silent on the rug, and hovered beside the bed like a shadow pretending to be human. “Why did you come back?” she asked after a moment, her tone more curious than cruel. “Was it some misguided attempt to reclaim what’s already mine?”
I rolled over slowly, pushing myself upright, letting the blanket fall from my shoulder. “Why are you still in my house?” I countered, my voice flat as iron.
Her smile didn’t falter, but her eyes sharpened. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving. Alpha Damon and Beta Malric are taking me to the healer later. I just thought I’d say goodbye before I go.”
I didn’t thank her.
She approached the nightstand and set the glass down, her fingers lingering on it just a little too long.
“Is it painful?” she asked suddenly. “Watching your mate care for me like I’m the one he was meant to protect all along?”
Still, I gave her nothing.
“I mean, why were you in the hospital anyway? Trying to get attention? Did it hurt when no one came?”
The rage beneath my ribs flared. My wolf shifted under my skin, clawing to the surface. I gritted my teeth and lay back down.
“I don’t care,” I whispered, and this time, it wasn’t a lie.
Silence followed, thick and tense. I thought she might leave.
But then came the sound—shattering glass.
I bolted upright.
Milk and blood stained the rug, and Nina was on the floor, sobbing, curled into herself like a broken doll. Her wrist bled freely, and the air filled with the metallic scent of fresh blood, enough to trigger the wolf in anyone nearby.
They came running.
Alpha Damon burst through the door like a soldier on instinct, eyes already wide with panic. He didn’t even glance at me. He dropped to his knees and swept her into his arms like she was his moon and stars and every forgotten promise in between.
“Nina!” he breathed, over and over, like the word alone could stop the bleeding.
Malric hovered behind them, his jaw tight, face pale.
I sat still on the edge of the bed, watching it all unfold.
Watching them choose her. Again.
She sobbed harder, milking the moment, her body cradled against his chest. Her eyes flicked up to mine, glassy, victorious.
And I smiled.
But not kindly.
The wolf inside me was no longer sleeping.
She was waiting.
