Chapter 2
Trenton Gonzales held me close, his body trembling, though whether it was from sorrow for me or excitement for Francesca Rice to become his Luna, I couldn’t tell.
“Edith, don’t worry,” he whispered, his voice low and urgent. “Francesca and I are only putting on a show. My heart will always belong to you. We’ll be together forever.”
I didn’t move.
Forever was too far away, Trenton. I didn’t want to love you for even another moment.
When I finally had that gift ready, I would leave this place for good.
When I woke again, I wasn’t in the familiar comfort of my room but in a dim, musty storage shed. The air was thick with dust and dampness, and I coughed violently, feeling my wounds begin to bleed.
I called out for help, but it was a long time before a pack member finally appeared, her expression sour.
“What are you shouting for?” she snapped.
“Where am I? Why was I brought here?” My throat was dry and scratchy. “I’m bleeding. Please, fetch me a healer.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re just a rejected mate now. If you die, they’ll wrap you in a sheet and toss you out. What use do you have for a healer?”
“Alpha had us clear out the storage shed for you,” she continued with a sneer. “You’re nothing but a lowly Omega now. How could you possibly stay in the main house? That’s where our new Luna will live.”
She laughed cruelly. “Tonight is Alpha and Luna’s marking ceremony. They’ve already called for water five or six times. Alpha has given strict orders—no one is to disturb them for the next three days. Don’t think you can play sick to lure him back.”
My heart felt like it was being devoured by a thousand ants.
The pack member, seeing my silence, snorted and left.
“Still acting like you’re the Luna, the daughter of a high-ranking family?” Her mocking voice carried back to me. “The scandals you’ve caused are all over the pack. The Larsons even held a special ceremony to remove your name from the family register.”
The room was as cold as an ice cave, but their scornful words chilled me even more.
I curled up under the thin, icy blanket, coughing relentlessly, blood trickling down my throat.
The door creaked open, and my loyal Omega, Makenna Bishop, was shoved inside. Her face was bruised, and her eyes filled with tears the moment she saw me.
“Miss Edith, I’m useless. I couldn’t even find you a healer or charcoal.”
She knelt by my bed, weeping. “They said it’s Alpha’s marking celebration, and no one is allowed to bring bad news or sickness. They’ve locked us in this remote place, forbidding anyone from coming near. Miss Edith, what are we going to do?”
Between coughs, I pointed to the pile of dusty, forgotten items in the corner.
“Burn those.”
In the depths of winter, without warmth, we would freeze to death even if the wounds didn’t kill us.
Makenna began to bring the items over one by one, her face filled with shock and sorrow.
“Miss Edith… these…”
Each item was painfully familiar—swords I had gifted him, shoes and clothes I had sewn with my own hands. All of them were here, covered in dust, faded with time, just like our love.
I felt a pang of realization. No wonder I had never seen him carry any of my gifts over the years.
He had always said, “Edith, the things you give me are so precious. I dare not use them. I’ve kept them all safe.”
Now, they were nothing but discarded trash in this storage shed.
I laughed bitterly. “How am I any different from these things?”
I whispered, “Burn them all.”
One by one, we threw them into the fire. The last item was a small portrait Trenton had drawn of me during my Coming of Age ceremony. He had carried it with him day and night, but now it was crumpled into a ball, indistinguishable from any other piece of waste paper.
On it, he had written, “May I grow old with Edith, side by side.”
I snatched the portrait and tossed it into the flames.
“What a lie!” I spat. “Growing old together? It was all a lie!”
The firelight illuminated my pale face, and Makenna finally broke down, crying.
“Miss Edith, they say Alpha favors Francesca because she saved him when he was poisoned by a rogue. That’s why he’s so devoted to her.”
“Miss Edith, it was you who saved him! You even lost your unborn child for him! If we tell Alpha the truth, he’ll surely take you back.”
Makenna’s voice was frantic. “Even Beta Ezrah was deceived! They say Francesca took a blow meant for him, and that’s why he adores her. But it was you who shielded him!”
“Miss Edith, hold on. If I can just find a way to get out and tell Alpha and Beta the truth, they’ll—”
She stopped when she saw the bitter smile on my face.
“Is that all it is?” I asked softly. “Even if it wasn’t me who saved them, even if it was Francesca, does that justify how they’ve treated me?”
“How can he repay her by destroying my honor, taking away my ability to bear children, and reducing me to this half-dead state?”
“What does our twenty years of love mean then?”
Makenna paled, unable to speak.
The only dowry my brother had given me when I mated was also thrown in here with me.
For the first time, I opened the chest. Inside were nothing but rags and scraps—not a single decent item.
This was the carefully prepared gift from my brother.
Tears fell onto the tattered fabric, and I threw it all into the fire.
“Does repaying a debt give my brother the right to let Trenton destroy me, to cast me into the dirt, to banish me from the family? What does the promise he made to protect me all my life mean now? What do the years I spent fighting by his side mean?”
I laughed and cried at the same time. “What does all the love I gave them mean?”
Makenna murmured, “Such a flimsy lie. Why couldn’t they see through it?”
“Because they just needed an excuse—a reason to hurt me without guilt, a reason to favor someone else without shame.”
“They bet that I loved them too much to leave. If a jade stone doesn’t shatter when dropped, they’ll drop it again and again.”
“They’ll say, ‘Look, it was an accident. Look, it’s strong.’”
“But I’m not jade. I feel pain.” My voice broke. “Why should I be the stone they drop into the dirt over and over?”
The flames roared, mirroring the hatred in my heart.
I whispered, “I don’t want to waste the rest of my life on two people who aren’t worth it.”