Chapter 1

In the fourth year of being Liam's secret lover, he found his fated mate.

At the party, I heard his friend ask him:

"Liam, now that you've found your fated mate, what about Aria? Don't you have any feelings for her at all?"

Liam chuckled softly, his tone casual.

"Her? She's great as a bed partner."

"As for other feelings... none. After all, we're just too familiar with each other. There's no excitement left."

"But I'm planning to transfer her to the guard squad. Best to keep her far away from me, so Chloe doesn't get jealous."

So all along, he only saw me as a bed partner.

But when I truly left him and went to a new pack thousands of miles away.

He followed me, begging me to look back at him just once.

Aria POV

The 99th time I had sex with my childhood friend Liam, he was still incredibly wild.

The next morning, I was covered in kiss marks. Just moving slightly made my lower abdomen throb.

The intimate atmosphere still lingered in the room. Liam's slender hand wrapped around me as he said casually, "Tomorrow, dress formally and come with me to the 18th birthday celebration for those young pups."

Hearing this, I lifted my head in shock, my voice full of hope.

"Are you finally going to... make our relationship public?"

The pack held an annual celebration for members turning 18.

Because 18 was a very important day for werewolves.

Most of them would awaken their wolves on this day and find the mate the Moon Goddess had arranged for them.

Every year's celebration was hosted by the Alpha and Luna.

Or handed over to the Alpha's heir and his mate.

Liam raised an eyebrow and glanced at me sideways. "Make what public? My fated mate might be among them. I might not be able to take care of everyone, so I'm asking you to help me maintain order at the event."

Each word fell on my ears like thunder.

My heart nearly stopped beating. My entire mind went blank. "You still haven't given up searching for your fated mate? Then what am I to you?"

Liam had already gotten up to get dressed. He glanced at me lazily. "You? You're my partner in everything. We eat together, game together, train together, and we're also bed partners who satisfy each other's desires."

A chill spread through my body. The color slowly drained from my face. My lips trembled lightly.

Seeing my expression, the smile on Liam's face gradually faded. He slowly leaned closer to me. "Wait, Aria, you didn't think we've been mates all these years, did you?"

His playful tone pierced through my heart like a sharp blade.

I forced down the stinging sensation in my nose. My voice became broken and out of tune. "How, how could I? I'll go take a shower first."

I got up in a panic and walked unsteadily into the bathroom.

As soon as the door closed, I felt all my strength drain away. I collapsed to the floor.

Those words still echoed in my ears. I looked at the dense kiss marks Liam had left all over my body. Tears fell like rain.

We'd known each other for over twenty years and grew up together. We'd drunk from the same glass of milk and flipped through the same comic books.

Even at eighteen, because neither of us had found our fated mates, we drunkenly slept together.

Once led to a second time, and a third time...

At night our bodies were incredibly compatible. During the day, we did all the intimate things that only mates would do.

Holding hands while walking in the forest, kissing when the new year arrived and promising to stay together next year...

Even things that should have been handled by his mate had all been handled by me over the years.

I always thought we were together, just that we hadn't performed the official marking ceremony yet.

Now Liam was telling me we weren't mates?

So this was why he refused to mark me...

The pain made it impossible to breathe. I turned the water to maximum with trembling hands before I dared to cry out loud.

I don't know how long it was before my tears dried up and I finally pulled myself together enough to come out.

Liam had already changed clothes and was sitting on the sofa making a phone call.

"Set up a few more chairs in the dining room tomorrow. There are many young ladies and lads turning 18 this year. For the cake, get blackberry honey cake and prepare plenty of it. They'll love it. For flowers, get moonflowers and night glow grass. Send me pictures after you've decorated. Then prepare a dozen formal outfits for me to choose from when I get back."

He was making such detailed and careful arrangements for his potentially appearing fated mate.

Yet he didn't care about me right beside him.

The light in my eyes dimmed.

The heart pain that had just stopped for a moment surged up again. It hurt so much I couldn't hold my phone.

With a bang, Liam turned around at the sound and smiled. "Done showering? Then let's go home. Get ready... maybe that fated mate of yours who never showed up is among these guys too."

He picked up his jacket and got up to leave. Before walking out the door, he turned back to look at me once more.

His eyes carried a silver light, letting me know his wolf was in control of his body at this moment.

"Ari, I've always considered you my best friend. Don't show me that deathly expression in the future, or I'll think you've fallen in love with me. I know you inside and out, and with just one look you instantly know what I'm thinking. Don't you think living like that is too boring? If we actually got together, it would feel like life reached its end point right away."

The voice gradually faded with the footsteps but kept echoing in my heart.

I sat on the cold bed, then laughed and laughed until I cried.

So all these years, this was what Liam had been thinking.

I sat alone until late into the night before going downstairs to check out of the room.

It was pouring rain outside, but I walked through it as if I couldn't feel it, returning home in a daze.

Seeing me drenched like a drowned rat, my parents quickly brought dry towels, their voices full of concern. "It's raining so hard. Why didn't you use an umbrella?"

They were always like this, still treating me like a fragile little pup.

But in reality, I'd had my wolf for years and hadn't been sick in a long time.

I looked at my parents numbly, my eyes lifeless, my voice hoarse.

"I'm fine."

My father, William, the current Alpha's beta, rubbed my head.

"Tomorrow is the pack celebration. Get ready. Maybe your fated mate will appear at the celebration."

I hummed in response and returned to my bedroom, throwing away everything related to Liam.

The thick albums of photos I'd carefully preserved for over a decade, the various necklaces he'd given me, dresses, hand-carved statues...

All of it was now thrown into the trash.

"Aria, all these nice things, you don't want them anymore?"

My friend Davies, who had come to invite me out, asked in surprise.

Seeing the regret in Davies' eyes, I nodded lightly, my voice flat.

"I don't want them anymore."

Not just these things. This relationship, and Liam himself—I didn't want any of it anymore.