Chapter 1

It was one hour and thirty minutes before I was supposed to walk down the aisle with the man I've loved for years.

But here he was, in the hospital, carrying Brielle into the emergency room while his jacket was around her shoulders. He pressed his forehead gently against hers, whispering something I couldn't make out.

I stood at the far end, noticing how he looked at her like she was his whole world. His expression held a kind of panic I had never seen him direct at me.

Just then, I found the emcee running towards me, panting.

He leaned forward, his voice low even though he was trying to steady his breathing.

"Alpha Reed wants to postpone the mating ceremony again, Ms. Parker. Are you going to wait for him?"

I didn't answer right away. My eyes dropped to the invitation card in my hand.

Aria Parker and Alexander Reed.

This was the ninety-ninth time he was postponing for reasons that always seemed more important than us. Fifteen venues changed. Twelve flower revisions. Four cake revisions. The pack had started to notice.

Every single ceremony morning started with the same message from him.

"Something came up. Let's postpone."

I carefully slid the ring off my finger. It came off easier than I expected. It wasn't meant for me after all. I dropped it into the small box I'd packed that morning and handed it over to the emcee.

The tiny note was already inside. I'd written it the night before, when I finally decided I was done waiting.

'Alex, the mating ceremony is off. The ring is inside the box too. Throw out the invitations and inform the pack, your friends, and family.'

I handed it over to the emcee, who looked at me in confusion and pity.

"I'm done waiting."

The first time he postponed the mating ceremony, it was because of money. The Reed Group was bleeding capital. I remembered how his hands held mine in the dark, how he promised that once things were better he would give me the biggest ceremony the city packs had ever seen. Of course I believed him. I was stupidly in love.

The second time, it was his mother's heart. Lily, Alex's mother, couldn't handle too much stress, according to Alex. He said she had a heart condition, so he cancelled. When I tried complaining about it, he told me to be mature about it.

I cancelled everything, paid the penalties out of my own account, and smiled bitterly when pack members asked why the date kept shifting.

The third time, Brielle was finalizing her divorce overseas. He told me he needed to pick her up since this was the time she needed him the most. He went to the airport, picked her up, and didn't come home until five in the morning. The moment he stepped into our room, the air shifted with someone else's perfume. After that day, it has always been her. I saw it, but I blindly ignored it. I would constantly ask myself what was the worst that could happen.

I was always the woman who understands and never asks questions. I had to be reasonable, always. I would always want to stay quiet so I would look like the perfect future Luna for the Reeds and for Alex.

I did most of the ceremony preparations myself.

I sketched the Luna dress at four in the morning, five months ago, trying to get every detail perfect. It was the same design my mother had worn when my father claimed her. I was so happy back then.

He never cared who chose the musicians, the bakers, or the event planners. He just simply didn't care, and I kept giving excuses for him.

I had been invisible for a long time now. It was time I finally shone.

Lily walked in twenty minutes later, wearing an expensive white cashmere coat. She looked at me blankly. I bet she already heard the mating ceremony had been cancelled, again.

"I'm done. The ceremony is off." I said calmly, clearly unbothered about everything.

"Aria, enough! Brielle nearly died, so what? You're cancelling the mating ceremony because of that? Must you make a scene out of everything?" She looked at me, clearly irritated.

I met her eyes for the first time. Disgust washed over me. I can't believe I tried winning this woman's approval. Clearly her loyalty had always belonged to Brielle, just like her son's.

"Then when would be a good day for the ceremony, Mrs. Reed? After the one-hundred-and-fiftieth postponement?"

She didn't answer. She just lowered her head a bit. Exactly what I was expecting.

I was done being the perfect future Luna to their son. I was done being the submissive almost-mate. From this night forward, I was going to be Aria Parker.