I died the day I became a Luna.
What was meant to be the sacred binding of two wolves, the sealing of our bond before the eyes of the pack and the moon, turned instead into my humiliation. My mate abandoned me in front of them all, leaving me to stand alone while laughter and whispers cut into me sharper than any claw.
When a rogue lunged from the shadows, its teeth gleaming with bloodlust, I did what instinct demanded. I called to my mate my Alpha, my chosen one, the wolf meant to protect me. But his voice came across the bond like a blade dipped in ice. "Just die already. Then Serena won't have to deal with you anymore."
The world swam red as my blood sank into the snow. Overhead, the sky bloomed with fire bursts of light meant to honor our union. But those fireworks weren't for me. They were his gift to another she-wolf. My sister.
I thought my death would free them. That by falling, I'd no longer stand in their way. But later, when my bones were carved into beads he carried against his chest, touched in restless obsession, his mind shattered. The bond he thought he could sever had carved itself too deeply into him.
My howl faltered as my vision dimmed, but I clung to the tether between us, forcing one last cry.
Through the broken strands of our bond came his voice, tangled with another's scent. "Isabel, are you done with this trouble? I gave you a grand mating. Now I'm with Serena. What more do you want?"
The rogue's paw pressed into my chest as my lifeblood spilled fast. He lingered above me with cruel amusement, knowing I would not last long. My limbs trembled, but still I refused to bow to death.
The white gown I wore woven to honor the moon goddess was ruined, heavy with dirt and blood. I scraped together my last breath and forced it out: "Caleb, save me."
His answer was a growl of disgust. "Enough. Aren't you tired of this act? I'm sick of it."
"I'm not pretending. He's going to kill me "
"You feigned weakness before. Now this? Do you want Serena dead too? She's your blood. And you're Luna now. Isn't that enough?"
The cold pressing into me wasn't from the snow. It was from his betrayal. His contempt burned hotter than the claws tearing into me. The bond frayed, ripping me apart from the inside.
With what little air I had left, I whispered: "Serena lives, while I… die."
"Good. Die then. Maybe she'll finally be free of you."
Before the thread snapped, another voice soft and sweet brushed against him. "Caleb, the fireworks are starting."
Then silence. Only the howl of the winter wind. The phone slipped from my blood-stained hand, sinking into the icy river. The splash stung my eyes with tears that turned to fire on my cheeks.
Snow swirled down, but the night was split open by blinding light. Sparks rained across the sky in a storm of fire, dazzling and deafening. Six months of his planning six moons of preparing not to honor me, but to claim another as his heart.
A pack wolf sent me a vision Caleb holding Serena beneath the blaze of light, his hand curled around her waist, his lips curved in a rare smile. A smile he had never once given me.
I wanted to howl, but only silence left me as darkness took hold.
They say death leads to another life. All I wished for was never to cross his path again.
But fate is merciless.
When my eyes opened, I stood beneath a sky heavy with stars. And there they were Caleb and Serena in each other's arms.
"Caleb. Serena. No!"
I reached for them, but my hand passed through, nothing but mist. My form was translucent, thin as smoke. I was no longer flesh and blood. I was a spirit tethered to the place of my ruin.
They kissed, hunger raw between them, and the pain in me was worse than claws raking bone. He had sworn to me once that Serena was only his sister in spirit. That I was the only wolf his heart craved.
A firework cut through the night sky, and suddenly Caleb tore away from her, guilt flashing in his eyes.
"Serena, we can't."
Her face glowed red in the firelight, lips trembling from his kiss. She bit down, her voice breaking. "I didn't mean to. I just… couldn't stop myself."
Caleb's hand brushed over her hair, soft and soothing. "It's alright, I'm not angry with you. I'll reach out."
I watched as he pulled a small device from his pocket and called across the bond that should have been mine alone.
The sound of his voice, meant for me, struck like claws in my chest. More than twenty years of devotion, and yet I was nothing. My existence came as an afterthought, a shadow behind his new passion with Serena.
The ringing echoed three long howls unanswered.
I had always answered within three rings, my instincts bound to his. But corpses do not answer calls, and my body lay cold and broken by the river.
His brow furrowed, and I felt the shift of his unease. "Serena, I'll check Isabel's last scent trail."
Now he remembered me? Only when guilt tugged at his instincts. Before I died, I had left him my location. If he came now, he would not find his Luna only a body cooling in the snow. And I feared what the rogue might do to my remains if left unguarded.
Serena's small hand curled around his wrist, her voice honey-sweet. "Caleb, stay with me. Please."
He hesitated. "But Isabel…"
She leaned closer, eyes wide, feigning innocence. "Isabel's always been dramatic. Remember when she cried of illness, and you abandoned your hunt, only to find her well? Or when she said a stranger followed her, and nothing came of it? That's Isabel spoiled, playing tricks. Who would dare touch the Sanders' heiress?"
Her poison worked. His doubts dulled. He rubbed at his brow, weary. "I wish Isabel were as understanding as you."
Bitterness tore through me. He used to say I didn't need to be sensible, that love was my freedom, my right to be reckless. Yet now he held up her submission as virtue.
He didn't come to find me. He carried Serena instead into the den that should have been mine.
I blocked the doorway, howling, clawing at the air to keep her from entering. But she slipped through me, laughing softly, as if even in death I was powerless to stop her.
Moments later she emerged from the bathing chamber clad in the nightgown I had chosen for him, meant for our first night as mates.
Caleb's eyes darkened with hunger. I recognized that look knew the way his breath shifted when desire stirred in him. My chest ached with fury and grief.
"Serena, those belong to Isabel," he muttered, voice tight.
"I know," she whispered, looping her arms around his neck. "Caleb, you don't love her anymore. You love me, don't you?"
"Serena, enough." His voice hardened, a warning growl.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, making her appear weak, wounded. "After tonight, you'll be my brother-in-law. I'm not asking for much just one night. One night to be yours."
"I'll give you anything but this!" he snapped, shoving her back.
Her temper flared, a spoiled pup denied her prey. "Fine then! If you won't have me, I'll find another. A drifter, a servant, even a mangy rogue under the bridge!"
"Stop this madness!"
"If you don't grant me this, then I "
His restraint snapped. He pulled her close and silenced her with his mouth.
I screamed, my howl raw and tearing the night, but no one heard me.
Caleb the mate I had loved for more than a decade took my sister in the place meant for me.
He gave her everything I had once claimed, his hunger, his strength, his fury.
By dawn's light, she lay draped against him, her skin marked with his bond, her lips curved in a shy smile.
His chest rose and fell heavily, and regret clouded his gaze. "Serena, about last night…"
I sneered through my tears. Regret after betrayal meant nothing.
"Don't worry," she purred. "I won't tell Isabel. You're my brother-in-law now. I'll leave soon, study abroad, vanish from your world."
But Caleb's brow furrowed. "Who told you to leave? You "
The shrill cry of the phone cut him off.
He answered, his face shifting as a stern voice carried through. "Alpha Bolton, a wedding gown was recovered this morning at Silver Shore. Identified as your mate's. Come to the station. You are needed for the investigation."