Chapter 2

The sidewalk outside the restaurant was packed with people holding up their phones.

At the center of the crowd stood Mira.

She wore a pale blue dress I recognized from Victor's favorite boutique and a smile so bright it seemed designed for cameras. Between her fingers glittered the champion's ring.

My ring.

The one Victor had won for me.

She turned it beneath the streetlights, laughing as if the world had just handed her a fairytale.

"Since you've given me this," she said, voice sweet enough to make strangers sigh, "you're my fiance now."

Victor Blackwood knelt before her.

On one knee.

Exactly as he had promised to kneel before me.

He looked up at her with a tenderness I had not seen in weeks.

"Then will you become my Luna?"

The crowd cheered.

Mira covered her mouth and nodded. Victor rose and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her forehead while people clapped and called blessings upon them.

For a moment, I heard nothing.

No applause. No laughter. No traffic. Only the sound of the bond inside me tearing, thread by thread.

A woman beside me wiped her eyes. "How romantic."

Another person explained the story to someone who had arrived late.

"The girl was livestreaming Texas Hold'em to raise money for her sick mother's treatment. She said whoever beat her could marry her, and whoever lost had to help with the medical bills."

"That Alpha lost?"

"Apparently. He wagered the ring at the end."

"The champion's ring? He must really love her."

I almost laughed.

Victor did not lose at Texas Hold'em.

Not to me. Not to pack elders. Not to professional gamblers he met overseas. With an Alpha's perception and his ruthless patience, he could read a twitch of a finger and know when someone was bluffing.

He had not lost.

He had chosen.

I stepped into the circle of light.

"Victor."

He turned. For the briefest second, guilt flashed across his face. Then Mira's fingers tightened around his sleeve, and his expression hardened.

"Selena," he said. "Don't make a scene."

A scene.

I looked from his face to Mira's hand. The ring looked wrong on her finger. Too heavy. Too bright. Like stolen sunlight.

"That ring was promised to me."

Mira lowered her eyes, but I saw satisfaction ripple over her face.

Victor stepped in front of her.

"Mira's mother is critically ill," he said. "Before she dies, she only wants to see her daughter settled with someone who can protect her."

I stared at him.

"So you proposed?"

"I had to give them peace of mind."

"With my ring?"

His mouth tightened. "Selena, you need to be generous. My future Luna cannot be petty over a piece of jewelry."

The crowd had gone quiet. People began whispering.

"Future Luna?"

"Isn't she Alpha's mate?"

"Then who is the girl with the ring?"

Heat crawled over my skin, but inside I was cold.

Victor reached for my hand as if to calm a difficult child. I pulled away.

His voice lowered. "Be kind. Be a good girl."

Those words made something in me die.

Mira leaned against him, delicate as a wounded bird. "Victor, don't fight with Miss Selena because of me. Maybe I should return the ring. I knew I never deserved anything this precious."

Her hand moved as if to take it off.

Victor caught her fingers.

"No," he said. "You keep it."

He looked back at me, impatient now. "I'll explain later."

Then he led her through the crowd and into his car.

He did not look back.

The whispers followed me like stones.

"She looks furious."

"Maybe the Moon Goddess changed her mind."

I stood on the sidewalk in the dress he had chosen, the private dining room behind me still filled with roses for a proposal that would never come.

Then Grandma's caregiver pushed through the crowd, crying.

"Miss Selena! Your grandmother saw the livestream. She coughed up blood!"

The humiliation vanished.

Only terror remained.

I ran.

By the time we reached the hospital, Grandma was unconscious. Doctors moved around her bed, speaking in urgent voices. I stood outside the glass door with blood roaring in my ears.

When the examination ended, the oldest doctor took me aside.

"Miss Moonstone," he said gently, "your grandmother's wolf spirit has begun to dissipate. She has been hiding the pain for some time."

"How long?"

He hesitated.

"Three days, perhaps less."

I grabbed the wall to steady myself.

"There must be medicine."

"There is a special stabilizing potion. It can ease the collapse temporarily. But the supply is limited."

"I'll pay anything."

His eyes filled with pity.

"I'll make inquiries. But you should also prepare yourself. At this stage, her strongest will is what keeps her alive."

I knew what that will was.

She wanted to see me married.

She wanted to see me safe.

That night, when Grandma woke briefly, she smiled at me as if nothing had happened.

"Did Victor come?"

I took her hand.

"Not yet."

"He will," she whispered. "He promised."

Her faith in him hurt more than my own broken heart.

After she fell asleep, I went to Victor's private villa.

Roses covered the entrance. Their fragrance was thick and expensive, smothering the night air.

Mira sat on the swing chair Victor had commissioned for me, wrapped in a moonlight-colored coat I had once admired through a boutique window. She moved her foot lazily, making the swing creak.

"Miss Selena," she said. "Why humiliate yourself?"

I walked past her.

She stepped in front of me.

"Victor has already proposed to me. Everyone saw it. What right do you have to come here?"

"I need to speak to him."

"About what? The ring? Or your wounded pride?"

I ignored her.

Her eyes sharpened.

"You know, for someone raised by an old woman, you have terrible manners. Didn't that old hag teach you when to stop clinging?"

The world narrowed to that one word.

Old hag.

I grabbed Mira by the hair and yanked her off the swing.

"Say one more word about my grandmother."

Mira screamed so beautifully it sounded rehearsed.

The door flew open.

Victor rushed out.

He saw Mira crying in my grip and shoved me away without hesitation.

I hit the gravel hard. Pain ripped across my palm as stones tore open my skin.

Victor pulled Mira into his arms.

"Selena Moonstone," he snarled. "Have you lost your mind?"