Chapter 2

I felt the last thread of my love for him finally snap.

I turned and walked away. I'd made it halfway down the hallway when I heard Derek's voice behind me.

"Venessa, what did you just say?"

My fingers tightened around the handle of my suitcase.

Now he asks.

My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and wounded. I didn't turn around.

I kept walking.

The taxi arrived twelve minutes later. I climbed into the back seat, gave the driver my parents' address in Pasadena, and pressed my forehead against the cold window.

The city continued moving around me as though nothing had happened, completely indifferent to the fact that my entire world had just collapsed.

My phone buzzed.

I looked down and saw Derek's name glowing on the screen. My heart lurched, stupid and traitorous.

Maybe he'd realized what he'd done.

I opened the message.

[I locked the door. Come back tomorrow.]

I stared at the words, waiting for something else to follow. No where are you or are you okay or please don't leave.

Just an order to come back tomorrow. Like I was a dog he'd shut outside. The bitterness I'd been holding back for seven years rose into my throat like bile.

And then the tears came.

They burst out of me in ugly, gasping sobs that shook my entire body as I pressed a hand over my mouth, desperately trying to muffle the sound, but it was no use.

I was breaking apart in the back of a stranger's taxi. My wolf howled inside me.

The driver's eyes met mine through the rearview mirror. His brows lifted slightly as recognition crossed his face.

"Future Luna?" he asked gently. "Are you okay?”

The title made my chest ache.

For years, I'd dreamed of hearing people call me that. I had imagined standing beside Derek during pack ceremonies, wearing the Luna's crown and sharing his throne. I'd imagined earning the respect of the pack and building a family with the Alpha I'd loved for seven years.

He immediately pulled over to the side of the road, put the car in park, and turned around in his seat.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said quietly. "Take your time."

Somehow, that kindness from a man I'd never met, a man who owed me absolutely nothing, broke me even more.

I don't know how long I cried.

Minutes, maybe longer.

My parents' house was dark when I arrived. I used my old key to let myself in, dragging my suitcase behind me.

I didn't make it to my bedroom.

The moment I reached the living room, exhaustion finally overwhelmed me. I collapsed onto the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling, unable to comprehend that tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding day.

Instead, I was sleeping on my parents' couch with my suitcase beside me.

At some point, exhaustion finally pulled me into a restless sleep.

Morning light crept through the curtains, waking me slowly. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs before my mother appeared in the doorway.

She was wearing her robe, tied loosely around her waist, and her hair was still in its nighttime braid.

The moment she saw me, her expression changed.

Confusion turned to concern.

"Venessa." She hurried over and sat beside me, taking both my hands in hers. "What happened?"

So I told her everything.

I told her about the lullaby, about the way Derek's voice had softened when he spoke to Lily, and about the tenderness in his voice that I had spent seven years wishing he would show me.

My mother's face darkened with every word. She had always been protective of me, but this was different.

She wasn't only my mother.

She had once been the Luna of our pack.

And she was furious that the man who was supposed to make her daughter his Luna had treated me this way.

She slammed her hand against the coffee table.

"This wedding is off! Absolutely off."

My father appeared in the hallway, drawn by the noise.

"What's going on?" he asked.

“Your daughter’s fiancé, the man who took over as Alpha after you stepped down,” my mother spat, “recorded a lullaby for his assistant. His assistant! And when Venessa confronted him, he told her to keep quiet because she was interrupting his phone call with another woman.”

My father's jaw tightened.

He looked at me, really looked at me, and I saw something break in his eyes.

"He did what?"

"He locked her out," my mother continued furiously. "Then he told her to come back tomorrow, as though she were some stray cat he could send away whenever he pleased."

My father slowly sat down in his armchair.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then his eyes settled on me.

"Venessa, is this true?"

I nodded.

My throat was too raw for words.

My father pulled out his phone. "I'm calling the Sinclair family."

"Dad..."

"No." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "No daughter of mine is going to marry a man who treats her as though she's invisible."

He paused, his expression softening as he looked at me.

"And certainly not a man I chose to lead an entire pack.”

The words reminded me of something I'd spent the past few hours trying not to think about.

My father had been the Alpha, and my mother had been his Luna before they stepped down.

Derek eventually took over as Alpha because my father believed he would marry me and become part of our family.

He trusted him enough to hand him the position, never imagining that the man he'd chosen to lead the pack would one day break his daughter's heart.

After breakfast, I called the wedding planner.

Her name was Margaret, and she'd been planning events for LA's elite for twenty years. She answered on the second ring.

"Venessa! Oh, I'm so glad you called. I was just about to reach out."

Something in her voice made my stomach clench. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing bad! Just some logistics. You see, Derek put his assistant in charge of everything about the wedding. If you need anything, you'll need to talk to Miss Matthew."

I went very still. "He put Lily in charge?"

"Yes! She's been wonderful, really. So organized. Oh, and the wedding dress just came in from overseas. Derek said you were busy, so he asked Miss Matthew to try it on instead."

The room tilted.

"He—what?"

"I'll send you the video, so you can check it out and see if you like it. If you don't, we can still tweak it."

The next moment, she sent me a video of Lily Matthew in the wedding dress.