Chapter 3

Damon didn't turn around.

"Tell me later. Vanessa needs to rest."

He didn't ask what I wanted to say. He just walked out with her, and they were gone.

That night, I made our anniversary dinner.

White tablecloth. Silver candlesticks. Everything by hand — roasted lamb, mushroom bisque, all his favorites. A bottle of red wine.

The candles were lit. The room smelled warm.

When Damon came in, I went to him like I always did. Took his jacket.

"I made dinner. I have something good to tell you —"

"I still have pack business."

"Just eat a little —"

"I'm busy. Don't wait up."

He swapped jackets, didn't look at the table once, and walked back out. The door clicked shut.

The candles kept burning. I sat down in front of all that food and watched the wax drip onto the white tablecloth. Slow and quiet.

I poured myself a glass of wine. Didn't drink it.

Ten o'clock. Eleven. The food went cold.

At midnight, my phone lit up.

I thought it was Damon.

It wasn't. A friend request from an account I didn't know. The profile photo — Vanessa, smiling.

I opened her page.

Her latest post was from thirty minutes ago.

Dinner at a restaurant. Warm amber light. Wine and roasted meat on the table. And at the edge of the frame — a man's hand on the back of a chair.

I knew that hand.

Damon's. The bonding ring was gone. Just a pale mark where it used to be.

The caption: Home. A blue heart.

Blue. Like Vanessa's eyes. Not mine.

My eyes are gray. Like the sky during a lunar eclipse. Damon said that the first time he saw me — that they were the most special color he'd ever seen.

Special doesn't mean loved. I know that now.

Three years. Over a thousand nights. And the whole time, her photo was folded up inside his wallet.

The candle in front of me flickered once — and went out. The room went dark.

I turned my phone face-down. Closed my eyes.

My hand found my stomach. Still there. Still quiet. Still beating.

The Moon Goddess's words were still in my head. The future leader of the pack.

Whose child would that be?

I will protect you, little one. I will fight for everything you deserve.