The next morning came too quickly.
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping just outside the window and the weight of reality pressing down on my chest. The other side of the bed was empty—he was already gone. Typical. Kael never stayed after mating. He took what he needed and vanished like a shadow.
I slowly sat up, wincing as the dull ache between my legs reminded me again of how last night ended. My hand instinctively touched the mark on my neck. The skin was still sensitive. Still his.
Dragging myself out of bed, I walked to the mirror. My reflection looked pale and hollow-eyed. A stranger.
I was barely nineteen and already felt a hundred years old.
A knock came on the door, soft but insistent. I froze. It wouldn't be Kael—he never knocked. He barged in like he owned the world. But this knock held hesitation.
"Come in," I said, my voice raspy.
It was Mila, one of the omegas in the pack house. Her eyes lowered in submission, but I could tell she pitied me. Everyone did. They all saw the shift in Kael—the way he treated me. The way I was becoming a ghost of myself.
"The Alpha said to tell you there's a meeting at the training field. All Luna candidates and marked mates are expected to attend."
I blinked. Luna candidates?
"I thought I was already Luna," I whispered.
Mila shifted uncomfortably. "He… he hasn't made it official yet."
Of course.
Marked. Married. Owned.
But never truly his Luna.
After Mila left, I got dressed quietly. I didn't ask questions anymore—I already knew I wouldn't get answers.
As I walked out of the room and through the halls of the pack house, I couldn't stop the single thought pounding through my mind like a curse:
*He used me.*
And I let him.
---
I arrived at the training field with my heart pounding louder than my footsteps. The moment I stepped onto the grass, all eyes turned to me.
Some pitied.
Some whispered.
Some smirked.
They all knew.
Even though I wore his mark, I was never really chosen. Not like the others. Not like *her*.
Kael stood at the far end of the field, arms crossed, jaw sharp with tension. He was dressed in black, like always—his Alpha aura radiating power and cold authority. But it wasn't just his presence that made my skin prickle.
She was standing beside him.
Lilith.
The rumored Alpha-born from the Northern Ridge Pack. Tall. Confident. Her silver hair shimmered in the morning sun, and her smile was fixed only for him.
And Kael? He didn't even glance my way.
"Everyone, gather around," he said, voice commanding.
I moved toward the edge of the group, trying to disappear into the shadows of the other marked mates.
"I called this meeting because war is brewing," Kael began. "The humans are hunting again. And our alliance with the Northern Ridge will decide whether we survive."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
"To strengthen this alliance…" he paused, "I will be working closely with Alpha Alder's daughter, Lilith. We'll begin joint patrols, shared resources, and—"
"And what?" a brave voice asked from behind me.
Kael's gaze swept the crowd. Then it landed on me. Hard. Cold.
"She will be assisting me in pack matters. That's all for now."
Lies.
I could read the truth in his eyes. He was preparing to make her Luna. My title—*my life*—was hanging by a thread.
As the crowd began to disperse, I turned to leave, my fists clenched.
"Aria," Kael's voice stopped me.
I turned slowly, masking the tremble in my chest.
"Yes, Alpha?"
His jaw twitched. "We'll speak later."
"No need," I said, forcing a smile. "I already understand everything."
I walked away before he could say another word, my stomach twisting with both rage and something else I couldn't name.
Because even if I was marked, mated, and married…
He never loved me.
I stormed back into the pack house, my heart thudding violently in my chest. My legs moved on their own as I ascended the stairs to our shared room — no, *his* room — the one I'd been reduced to nothing more than a quiet shadow in.
I slammed the door shut behind me, feeling my body sag against it. Rage boiled beneath my skin, but underneath it, the pain was louder. The humiliation. The betrayal.
I reached for the dresser and pulled open the drawer where I kept my old journals, my letters to my mom I never dared to send. The ones where I had written:
"He's changing."
"He loves me, I know it."
"Maybe once I give him a child, things will be different."
How foolish I had been.
The door creaked open without warning.
Kael stood there, tall, composed, as if he hadn't just humiliated me in front of the pack.
"You walked away from me," he said, voice low.
"I did," I replied, meeting his eyes. "I didn't want to vomit on the training field."
His jaw tightened. "You're being dramatic."
I laughed bitterly. "No. *You* were dramatic when you paraded her around like a future Luna."
"She's important to the alliance."
"And I'm just the girl you used to hurt my father," I snapped, the words leaving me before I could stop them.
His eyes darkened. "I told you before. What's done is done."
"And what about what *I* want?" I stepped forward. "I gave up my humanity, Kael. I left my family. I became a wolf, *your mate*—and for what? To be a placeholder?"
He looked at me then, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. "You knew what this was."
A chill settled in my spine.
"Yes," I whispered. "But what you didn't know is… I'm not as weak as you think."
He stepped forward, towering over me now. "Is that a threat?"
"No." I smiled coldly. "It's a promise."
I walked past him and out the room, not caring where I was going.
But in my heart, I had already decided.
If he thought I was nothing more than a tool in his revenge…
Then I'd be the last one who ever underestimated me.
And when I was done, he'd know exactly what it felt like —
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