Chapter 1I waited eight hours at our mating ceremony hall.
And my Alpha mate of ten years finally linked me.
"Sorry babe, there's an emergency."
I massaged my aching legs and told him I'm fine.
His mental voice carried exhaustion:
"Let's reschedule the ceremony. Next week okay? I'll explain everything to your father myself."
LIAR.
While I sat there like a fool, Ronan was on a private jet - twenty-five gifts in hand - racing across pack territories to his stepsister's arms.
The last gift? A surprise flight to see her.
A taunting mind-link from Dahlia Shepherd cut through my thoughts:
"Ronan only cares about ME. Still want to be his mate, Elaine Yates?"
I slammed my mind link shut. No more desperate questioning.
But you know what? I'm done being the backup Luna.
"Dad, I accept the alliance mating. I'll take Alpha Beckett Sherwood as my chosen mate."
...
"That's my strong she-wolf. When it comes to love, you have to know when to cut your losses."
I ended the link and prepared dinner as usual.
Ronan came home holding a bundle of moonbell flowers, my favorite.
"Made a special detour to get these for you. Don't be angry anymore."
Usually, I'd run over happily to take the flowers and melt into his arms, breathing in his familiar pine-and-ember scent.
This time I just kept eating, very calmly.
"Still angry? How about I bring you moonbells for a whole week?"
He shook the rain from his dark hair, looking at me with that roguish expression.
Handsome enough to make any she-wolf's wolf stir.
I lowered my eyes and cleared the dishes, walking into the bedroom.
"No need."
Ronan followed me in, his coaxing tone much more subdued.
"Come on, Elaine. I know I was wrong to miss the mating ceremony, but I apologized, didn't I? You know how demanding pack patrols are..."
I cut him off.
"Your absence had nothing to do with patrols. You went to celebrate Dahlia's birth moon."
He froze instantly, amber eyes flickering away.
"Elaine, you know that..."
I interrupted him calmly again. "Ronan, it's been too many times now."
On my birth moon, he accompanied Dahlia to watch the sacred meteor shower.
On our claiming anniversary, he took her to a candlelit dinner in the human town.
Five Lunar Feasts in a row, he lit up the Silverpine fireworks just for her.
The space between us grew colder than a winter run.
I took a steadying breath.
"Ronan, you knew she did it on purpose. But you still went."
"Eight full hours. I stood there at our mating ceremony like a rogue abandoned by her pack."
My eyes reddened despite myself. I didn't want to say more.
Ronan frowned and pulled a small leather pouch from his pocket.
"Elaine, it's all my fault. I specially picked out a token for you."
Inside the worn pouch was a thin silver chain.
A cheap trinket - the free gift that came with one of Dahlia's luxury purchases.
My temples throbbed. I held back the surge of my wolf's fury with sheer willpower.
All these years, no matter how deep my bond with Ronan grew, Dahlia Shepherd's shadow had always been wedged between us.
Ronan's birth pack was slaughtered when he was a pup.
Dahlia's parents took him in, raised him as their own, paid for his training.
The night we bonded ourselves to each other, he confessed everything to me.
He said he owed them a life debt, that he'd protect Dahlia for the rest of his days.
I didn't object.
But for Dahlia's sake, he abandoned me again and again, wounded me again and again.
And every time I tried to have a serious conversation with him about it?
He'd just laugh it off, saying Dahlia was just a pup who hadn't learned to distinguish pack loyalty from romantic love yet.
But what about him?
Did he even understand what a true mating bond meant?
Chapter 2
I closed the door, locking Ronan outside.
Early the next morning, a carefully prepared breakfast sat on the table with a warm note stuck to it.
[Babe, the patrol unit has a border mission today. Had to run out early.]
After breakfast, I packed up everything that belonged to me, boxed it all up, and moved back to my father's pack house.
Ronan came home just as I was wheeling out my suitcase.
He panicked, his brows drawn tight.
"Elaine, I already apologized. Why are you still making a scene?"
I loved Ronan very much.
Our second year of training, our entire class went on a wilderness endurance run.
We had the terrible luck of encountering both a rockslide and a rogue wildfire - started by a neighboring pack's careless border patrol.
I remember it clearly - so many pack warriors came that day.
But only Ronan pulled me back from death alone.
The way he risked his wolf protecting me in those flames - I still remember it.
Afterward, he suffered lung damage from smoke inhalation and spent an entire season in the healer's den recovering.
That was a debt I carried in my heart.
So when we began courting afterward, I tried to understand Ronan.
When he chose Dahlia Shepherd over me, I didn't argue much.
But this time was different.
I looked at him, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Ronan, I'm not making a scene. I've just given up."
Panic flashed in his amber eyes.
His knuckles whitened as he grabbed my suitcase.
"You're not leaving. Elaine, we're about to be mated. You can't be this selfish."
Rain began pattering against the windows outside.
I'm sentimental, but also painfully clear-headed.
I pulled out my phone and showed Ronan the mind-messages Dahlia had sent me.
"Do you really still think her feelings for you are just pack-sibling loyalty?"
Ronan frowned. "No matter what, you're not leaving."
"Elaine, I love you. My wolf is absolutely certain of it."
I couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Ronan had said those words to me many times before.
When I saw his pack-board post about giving Dahlia ninety-nine blood-roses, he was holding a single moonbell, telling me he loved me.
When I spent an entire night brewing him healing broth and delivered it to the patrol station, he kissed my forehead and said he loved me, then turned around to carefully feed the broth to Dahlia.
When I stayed up three nights carving his favorite wolf figurine as a promotion gift, he hugged me happily - then gave the figurine to Dahlia because she said she liked it.
He said he loved me, but gave all his tenderness to Dahlia.
As if to prove my point, his phone rang with that jarring ringtone.
"Alpha, Alpha, your princess is calling you!"
That was the ringtone Dahlia had set for herself on his phone.
I'd been jealous about it for ages.
Ronan had dismissed it lightly. "Come on, she's just a pup. Cut her some slack."
Dahlia was even a year older than me.
If she was a pup, then what was I?
Her sweet voice floated through the air.
"Ronan, has my soon-to-be sister-in-law calmed down? Bring her to the pack dining hall - I'll apologize to her in person!"
Ronan ended the call and turned to reassure me.
"Elaine, Dahlia's entering an arranged mating soon. She's realized her feelings for me weren't romantic. Come share a meal with us, okay?"
Seeing I remained unmoved, his clear voice softened.
"If you still want to leave after that, I'll release you from our courtship."
Chapter 3
Finally, I went to the pack dining hall with Ronan.
Dahlia looked like a little pack princess in her delicate pink dress, ordering a table full of dishes in one go.
Ronan was spinning like a top, serving both her and me.
Dahlia smiled, eyes squinting as she looked at me.
"Elaine, I heard you're ending your courtship with my brother?"
"The mating ceremony incident was my fault. Can't you just forgive him?"
Probably only Ronan thought those two light sentences counted as an apology.
I stared at her and forced a smile.
"Sure. I forgive him."
The next second, Dahlia's face darkened. She stood up and smashed her plate on the floor.
"Brother! She's not even angry! Why did you make me apologize to her?"
Ronan stood up with a pained expression, looking at me.
"Elaine, weren't you angry? How come you're not angry now?"
His tone seemed to blame me.
Of course. He always believed whatever Dahlia said.
Pack members passing by were all staring at us.
Soft string music played, easing the tension just slightly.
I picked up my bag and said flatly.
"I'm full. Going to the washroom."
Dahlia followed me, arrogantly blocking my way.
"How can you be so shameless? I've been sabotaging you for ten years, and you're still desperate to be mated to my brother?"
I washed my hands and replied calmly.
"I ended it with him. Whatever happens between you two is none of my concern anymore."
Dahlia slapped herself across the face, then tore at her own dress, speaking mysteriously.
"Since you put it that way, help me one last time."
She ran crying out of the washroom and threw herself into Ronan's arms.
"Ronan! She struck me! She said I ruined her mating ceremony and that I'll always be your little shadow!"
"I don't want her anymore! Please don't mate her, okay?"
Ronan looked at her reddened cheek, his amber eyes rimming with red, and said through gritted teeth.
"Elaine! First you want to return to your father's pack, now you're striking Dahlia? When did you become this shameless?"
I smiled without restraint.
Dahlia cowered in his arms, crying weakly.
As if afraid I'd reveal the truth, she urged Ronan to take her away.
Ronan looked at me with disappointment and left, shielding her with his body.
I stood there alone, enduring everyone's pointing and whispering.
This wasn't the first time Ronan had abandoned me.
Whenever Dahlia and I clashed, he always soothed her first, then me.
He always said the same thing.
"When we began courting, I told you - I owe her a life debt."
Yes, he owed her.
And because of that debt, I'd endured for so many years.
Actually, when I went to the washroom earlier, it wasn't just for a break - my wolf was genuinely clawing to strike Dahlia.
She'd claimed she wanted to apologize, but she was wearing the silver ring Ronan had given her.
Over these ten years, I'd hinted to Ronan many times that I wanted to be properly mated.
He never budged.
Instead, every year he gave Dahlia silver bands at her request.
He played those games with Dahlia while refusing to formally claim me.
On the way home, Ronan mind-linked me.
"Elaine, I helped soothe Dahlia to sleep. You must apologize to her for this."
I'd never severed a link from Ronan before.
This time, without hesitation, I slammed my link shut with a sharp snap.
