Before the wedding, Alpha Kendrick stood before me, his jaw tight, his eyes shadowed with a storm of hesitation and hope.
“Can you give me a month?” he asked, his voice low, almost pleading.
“A month for what?” I shot back, my tone sharper than I intended, though my heart already braced for the answer.
He exhaled deeply, ignoring the edge in my voice. “A month to try rekindling my relationship with Elena Manwaring. She’s my fated mate, and… this might be the Moon Goddess’s blessing.”
Ah, fated mate. I should’ve guessed.
Kendrick and I were never fated mates. I was his convenient choice, never his destined one.
“So, if it doesn’t work out, then what? Another month?” I tilted my head, forcing a faint smile that practically screamed, Go ahead. Rip my heart out.
“If it doesn’t work,” he said, his gaze steady, “I’ll come back to you. I’ll marry you and leave her behind–forever.”
“Forever” I echoed, the word tasting bitter on my tongue.
Zara, my wolf, growled faintly in the back of my mind. Let me claw him. Just once.
But I didn’t argue. Instead, I gave him the faintest of smiles and replied, “Go ahead. Give it a try. Life’s too short for regrets, right?”
Relief washed over his face, so palpable it made my chest tighten. That night, he drove off, lighter and freer than I’d seen him in years.
And me? I quietly packed my belongings.
I called home. “Mom,” I said, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me, “the wedding’s off. I’m coming home to help with the Moon Eclipse Pack.”
My mother didn’t even feign surprise. If anything, she sounded downright gleeful.
“Finally! Your father and I always said that man wasn’t reliable. Ten years, and he still couldn’t commit!” she scoffed.
“Honestly, sweetheart, we thought you’d lost your mind.”
I let her rant, offering a few hums here and there.
