“I will never let her hurt,” he vowed, kissing her soft forehead.
Lies. All of it.
My hands sank into the cold earth. Memories refused to leave me.
The Moon Festival.
Brexon had reserved the entire sacred glade. No other wolves. No elders. No guards. Just us.
Nyra squealed. “All this… for me, Daddy?”
He scooped her up, spinning her. “All for you, my moonbeam.”
She pressed her tiny hands to his cheeks. “And for Mommy too?”
His grin turned playful, almost smug. “Of course it is.”
When the spelllit fireworks burst across the night sky, he slipped his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me into his warmth.
“This is worth every battle I fought,” he whispered against my ear, voice rough with emotion, “A world just for you. For her. For us.”
A sharp, bitter sound tore from my throat—half laugh, half broken breath.
Lies.
Once, he had fought for us. But when the moment truly mattered—when Nyra needed him most—he turned his back. He walked away. Leaving both her and me. And now I was left kneeling at our pup’s grave, while he was probably tangled in Lyssa’s embrace.
The betrayal burned hotter than wildfire, but I could not cry. Because a piece of me had already died.
And it would never return.
That was all it took for Alpha Brexon to forget. To pretend our pup never walked this earth.
The Silvermoon Howlers’s Moon Hall blazed with silver lanternlight, the entire territory pulsing with celebration. Wolves from allied packs filled the ballroom, their auras swirling—dominant alphas, high-ranked betas, and nobles from the northern kingdoms.
Laughter rang out, wine flowed, and above the stage hung a massive welcoming lunar banner for Lyssa and Orrin.
My claws extended before I even realized it. Nyra had only returned to the Moon Goddess fourteen days ago. Fourteen. And here he was, throwing a damned welcome feast as if nothing had been taken from us. As if my pup hadn’t just been laid beneath sacred moonstone.
I pushed past the sentries guarding the entrance. Their growls rose in protest, but I ignored them. My boots struck the marble floor like thunder as I stormed through the crowd, my vision narrowing on the stage.
On them.