POV Aria Valen

I had just returned home with a rush of excitement. In my hands was the birthday cake I had ordered a week ago from my favorite bakery. I could hardly wait for Lucian to come home so we could celebrate my birthday together.

My phone kept vibrating. I thought it was Lucian. But when I checked, there were several videos—each fairly long—sent to me from an unknown number. Without any suspicion, I pressed play.

The screen revealed the image of an ancient forest bathed in tonight’s full moonlight. Silver lanterns and undying blue torches hung everywhere. A restless unease rose within me. It all looked like the decoration of a sacred wedding. Surrounding the area were banquet tables made of old wood, decorated with lunar crystals and white wildflowers.

And sure enough, before long, a massive stone altar appeared at the center of a glowing runic circle—the place where mate-bonding ceremonies were held. There, I saw Lucian Draegor and Selina Dwain standing hand in hand, surrounded by their friends.

My eyes froze on the woman’s gown: a long silver dress embroidered with ancient runes, its trailing hem like the tail of a wolf, crowned with a lunar diadem upon her head. I knew those runes too well.

The pair exchanged a blood vow before the Moon Goddess, witnessed by family and colleagues, promising to spend their lives together.

My whole body shook violently. I tried to deny it, even as my eyes clearly caught sight of him—Lucian!

He wore a black suit adorned with white wolf fur at the shoulders. Lucian’s face was lit with joy. The ceremony began with the howl of the pack to summon Luna’s blessing, ending with Lucian’s claiming bite on Selina’s neck. The runes on the altar flared blue, Luna’s recognition of their bond.

Everyone in the video rejoiced. Everyone… except me.

Because Lucian was my boyfriend! The man I loved with all my heart, my soul, my honor, my very body.

Today was my birthday. We had promised to celebrate it intimately, just the two of us. He had told me he had a special gift prepared for me tonight. But instead, he was marrying another woman?

Lucian Draegor was the only son of the Draegor family, the Alpha who led the Crimson Pack from victory to victory. He hadn’t inherited the title of Alpha—it was earned through blood and sheer determination. He sacrificed much, including paralysis and near death at the hands of his father’s illegitimate son. Lucian had clawed his way to leadership, proving his worth step by step.

Four years ago, Lucian had been left paralyzed after a brutal battle with another Alpha. The cold-hearted Crimson Pack abandoned him, deeming him useless as an Alpha. And Selina, his girlfriend, left the country. She deserted Lucian, seeing no value in him anymore, and married another Alpha.

I had seen Lucian powerless, nearly slain by his father’s bastard son. He was dying—bleeding, broken, suffering.

On that freezing night, it was me who saved Lucian from the ambush, which nearly losing my life and my family heirloom in the process. For years, I cared for him in secret and sacrificed everything—until he finally regained the ability to walk. I did all for him just because he helped me once and I was fall in love with him at the first.

On the day he regained the Alpha position of his pack, he kissed me, promised to treat me well for the rest of our lives. Promised never to disappoint me. I believed him. Completely.

Just last week, I had finished sewing my wedding dress with my own hands, carefully embroidering runes into every stitch. Three exhausting months of planning and preparation.

And now, in the palm of my hand, on this phone screen, I was watching my hopes shatter. I saw my wedding dress—on Selina. The diamond ring Lucian had ordered for me—slipped onto Selina’s finger.

Through blurred vision clouded with unshed tears, I even spotted the pendant around Selina’s neck. My parents’ heirloom—the one Iost four years ago when I was seeking healer for Lucian.

Lucian had told me he found it, that he would give it to me for my birthday. Today. Yet now, how could it be around Selina’s neck?

My fingers clutched the edge of my phone, teeth chattering violently. In front of me sat the cake I had prepared for tonight’s birthday celebration.

Suddenly I realized—loving someone like Lucian was meaningless. Bastard! He secretly married his ex behind my back. Did he really think I would never find out?

It was nearly dawn when Lucian finally returned home. He found me sitting at the dining table, eyes swollen red. He could clearly see I hadn’t slept all night.

“Why didn’t you go to bed?”

That was all Lucian said when he saw me. No apology, not even the promised gift.

I ignored his question and spoke calmly, still staring at the melted candles and cake.

“Lucian, let’s end our bond. Tell Selina to return my parents’ heirloom she took—immediately.” I was certain Lucian understood what I meant.

“So, you’ve already seen the news about my wedding to Selina, and you’re feeling jealous, Aria?”

That was the moment I looked at Lucian with extraordinary anger and hatred for the first time.

His voice softened toward me. “Don’t be mad. I didn’t forget your birthday. I brought you your gift. Our bond can’t be broken. You’re my mate, darling.”

He placed a slim wine-red velvet jewelry box before me. Inside lay a stunning pink diamond necklace—far more expensive than my parents’ pendant. But it wasn’t what I wanted.

When I stayed silent, Lucian took the necklace, intending to place it around my neck.

I screamed louder than I ever thought possible. “I don’t want this necklace, bastard! I only want my parents’ heirloom back.”

I slapped the necklace from his hand, shouting stubbornly: “That pendant was left to me by my parents. How could you give it to Selina? I just want what’s mine!”

I was raging—completely losing control.

Lucian’s patience snapped as well. His perfectly sculpted face turned cold, hard as if carved from ice. His eyes bore into me with suffocating pressure.

“Selina loves that pendant,” Lucian hissed. “She’s in terrible pain. Tell me… how much longer do you think she’ll even live to wear it? Why would you fight with a dying woman over something like this? Aria… when did you become so selfish and heartless?”

Lucian’s words lashed me like blades. “You’re selfish, Aria! Cold-blooded. Would you fight a dying woman for a pendant?”

Selina… dying? What? My stomach turned. How could this man be so foolish, deceived by the very woman who once betrayed him? Even if she were dying—who was the selfish one here?

That pendant was special. There was a secret inside it I could never reveal to anyone—not even Lucian. Should I expose it now, so he’d finally understand how much it meant to me?

With fists clenched to contain my fury, I looked into Lucian’s eyes with unshakable resolve. I couldn’t stay silent anymore. My mouth opened—

“Lucian… the pendant—”

But his phone rang loudly, cutting me off. He didn’t look at me again as he answered.

“Selina, what’s wrong, darling?” Lucian’s voice trembled with panic. He immediately left me before I could even speak.

I kept staring at Lucian’s fading back as he walked away, thinking he might only be gone for a while. Then reality slapped me hard across the face.

At that moment, I grabbed my phone and called my foster mother, Margot Marlowe.

“Aria, you little brat! Even if you’ve been cast out, I still raised you—you owe me, and you must…”

She immediately screamed sharply at me. Her voice echoed through the phone, cold and distant—just like the world I had left behind four years ago with the Lunaris Pack.

I was still sitting frozen in the dining room. Hearing Margot’s voice brought back that familiar unease, but I forced myself to stay composed. Ever since the traumatic event four years ago, I knew I would never feel safe again around my foster family.

“I agree to marry that mad and cursed Alpha, Darian Veyrion, in place of your daughter.”