Elowen's POV
My hands won't stop shaking.
I've been standing at the pack borders for two hours, waiting. The other pack members already left—they have duties, lives, things to do. But I stayed. Of course I stayed. Thaddeus has been gone for three years, and I've counted every single day.
One thousand and ninety-five days since I last kissed my mate goodbye.
"He'll be here soon, Luna," Marcus, one of our border guards, says kindly. He's probably tired of watching me pace, but he doesn't complain.
I force a smile. "I know. I just... I missed him so much."
That's the understatement of the century. The bed felt too big without him. The pack meetings felt wrong without his steady presence beside me. Even breakfast tasted bland because I couldn't share it with him. His letters kept me going—those monthly messages telling me he loved me, that he was coming home soon, that nothing would ever change between us.
Today, finally, he's coming home.
A howl echoes through the forest. My wolf perks up instantly, recognizing the sound. Thaddeus.
My heart nearly explodes with joy. I shift my weight from foot to foot, unable to stand still. Any second now, I'll see him. Any second now, everything will be perfect again.
The trees rustle. Wolves emerge from the forest—our pack members who went to escort him home. They're all grinning, tails wagging.
Then I see him.
Thaddeus steps out of the tree line in his human form, tall and strong, exactly as I remember. His dark hair is a bit longer, and there are new lines around his amber eyes, but he's still the most handsome man I've ever seen. My mate. My Alpha. My everything.
I start running toward him, tears already streaming down my face. "Thaddeus!"
But he doesn't run to me.
He doesn't even smile.
Instead, he steps aside, and another person emerges from the forest behind him.
A woman.
She's beautiful in a way that makes my stomach hurt—raven-black hair that falls in perfect waves, violet eyes that seem to glow, and a smile that doesn't quite reach those strange eyes. She's wearing traveling clothes, but somehow she makes them look elegant.
I stop running. My feet won't move anymore.
Thaddeus walks toward me, but the woman stays close to his side. Too close. Her hand brushes his arm, and he doesn't pull away.
"Elowen," Thaddeus says. His voice sounds different. Distant. "I'm home."
"Who is she?" The question tumbles out before I can stop it.
The woman's smile grows wider. Thaddeus takes a deep breath, and I notice his hand move to the small of her back. That's where he used to touch me. That's our thing.
"This is Vesper Nightshade," he says. Each word feels like a punch to my chest. "She's... Elowen, she's my fated mate. The bond activated at the summit two months ago."
The world tilts sideways.
Fated mate.
Those two words destroy everything. Seven years of love, of choosing each other every day, of building a life together—gone. Just like that.
"But... but you said your fated mate died," I whisper. My voice sounds small and broken. "You said the Moon Goddess made a mistake not binding us, but it didn't matter because you chose me."
"I thought she was dead," Thaddeus says, and he actually sounds sorry. But sorry doesn't fix this. Sorry doesn't change the fact that he brought another woman home. "The bond was dormant all these years. But when Vesper and I met at the summit... Elowen, it was like lightning. Everything inside me just knew. She's the one the Goddess intended for me."
Vesper steps forward, and her smile is so sweet it makes me want to throw up. "Luna Elowen, I've heard so much about you. Thaddeus spoke of you often. I hope we can be friends."
Friends. She wants to be friends with the woman whose mate she just stole.
"This doesn't change us," Thaddeus says quickly. He finally reaches out to touch me, but I step back. His hand falls. "You're still my Luna. My partner. Everything we built together—that's still real. Vesper is just... destiny. I can't reject a fated bond. You understand that, right? But I won't abandon you. We'll make this work."
Make it work.
He wants me to share him. To watch him love someone else. To smile and pretend my heart isn't shattering into a million pieces.
"Welcome home, Alpha," I hear myself say. The words taste like ash. "I'm sure you're tired from your journey. I'll have the guest rooms prepared—"
"Actually," Vesper interrupts, her voice like honey, "Thaddeus already told me I'll be staying in the Luna suite. It's only right, since I'm his fated mate. You understand."
The Luna suite. My room. Our room. Where Thaddeus and I spent seven years building our life together.
I look at Thaddeus, waiting for him to correct her. To tell her no, that's Elowen's room. To defend me, just once.
He doesn't.
"It's temporary," he says, but he won't meet my eyes. "Just until we figure out better arrangements. Elowen, you can take the guest quarters on the third floor. They're very comfortable."
Guest quarters.
After seven years as his Luna, his mate, his everything—I'm being sent to guest quarters.
"Of course, Alpha," I say. My voice doesn't even sound like mine anymore. "Whatever you think is best."
I turn and walk toward the pack house. I don't run. I don't cry. I don't let them see me break.
But inside, I'm screaming.
That night, I lie in a narrow guest bed that smells like strangers. The room is on the third floor, right below the Luna suite. Right below where Thaddeus is with her.
At first, there's just silence. I stare at the ceiling and try not to think about what's happening above me.
Then I hear it.
Laughter. Thaddeus's deep, warm laugh—the one I haven't heard in three years. The one I thought was saved just for me.
He's laughing with her.
More sounds drift down through the ceiling. Footsteps. Voices too soft to make out words. Then more laughter, lighter this time. Vesper's laugh.
I press my pillow over my ears, but it doesn't help. The sounds seep through anyway, each one a fresh wound.
My wolf whimpers inside me. She doesn't understand why our mate is with another female. Why he's not here, holding us, telling us he missed us.
A tear slides down my cheek. Then another. Then I'm crying so hard I can barely breathe, sobbing into my pillow so no one will hear.
This morning, I was Thaddeus Silvercrest's chosen mate, the Luna of Silvercrest Pack.
Tonight, I'm no one.
Through my tears, I notice something strange. My hands look pale in the moonlight—paler than usual. When I try to shift, to find comfort in my wolf form, nothing happens. My wolf feels far away, like she's behind a wall I can't break through.
But I'm too heartbroken to wonder why.
The laughter continues above me, and I close my eyes against the pain.
Nothing will ever be the same again.