Chapter 2

I held Maeve tightly against my chest, her tiny body growing colder with every passing moment as her breathing became little more than fragile whispers.

"Please, Evander." My voice cracked beneath the weight of my desperation. "She needs you. Our daughter needs her father."

His jaw tightened.

His gaze lingered on Maeve before drifting toward the little boy standing beside Celestine.

Alaric.

His son.

Through our mate bond, I felt every emotion crashing through him—shock, guilt, disbelief, and unbearable anguish. They tangled together until I could no longer tell where his pain ended and mine began.

Then he looked at me.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia."

The words struck harder than the sharpest blade.

"No..." I shook my head violently, clutching Maeve even closer. "No... you don't mean that."

But I saw the answer in his eyes before he spoke again.

He turned to the High Healer.

"Perform the Blood-Binding Rite."

"For whom, my Alpha?" she asked quietly.

Evander closed his eyes for the briefest moment.

"Save Alaric."

A broken cry escaped my lips.

"Evander..."

He never looked back.

The healers hurried to prepare the sacred circle around the Moonstone while the warriors standing inside the sanctuary lowered their heads in silence. None of them dared question their Alpha's command, though every pair of eyes betrayed the horror of witnessing the choice he had made.

Not his daughter.

Not the pup blessed to him by the Moon Goddess.

I pressed my forehead against Maeve's.

"I'm here, little one," I whispered as tears soaked her silver hair. "Mama is here."

Her tiny hand rested in mine.

Then, slowly...

...her fingers loosened.

The warmth left our bond.

The thread connecting our souls dissolved into nothing.

A scream tore from my throat.

I barely realized the healers were pulling Maeve from my arms until I was fighting against them with every ounce of strength I had.

"No!" I sobbed. "Don't take my daughter away from me!"

No one listened.

Not even Evander.

He remained where he stood, one hand resting protectively on Alaric's shoulder while everything I had ever loved crumbled around me.

At that moment, I made a silent vow beneath the Moon Goddess.

I would never forgive him.

Not in this lifetime.

Not in the next.

**

Maeve's Moon Return was held three nights later.

Only our closest pack members attended as the elders returned her little body to the earth beneath the Moon Tree, where the spirits of our ancestors were said to watch over every fallen wolf.

A gentle rain fell from the heavens, soaking my mourning robes until they clung to my skin, but I felt nothing.

I stood beside my daughter's grave, watching the tiny white coffin disappear beneath the waiting earth.

There were no tears left.

Hatred had swallowed them all.

Evander stood several paces away, surrounded by his Beta and the pack warriors. Since the night Maeve died, he had not spoken to me once.

Perhaps he knew there were no words capable of mending what he had destroyed.

The High Elder offered prayers to the Moon Goddess, asking Her to guide Maeve's young spirit across the Silver Path.

I heard none of them.

Then Evander suddenly stiffened.

His eyes clouded for an instant before he turned away.

A mindlink.

He listened in silence before striding away from the grave without another glance.

I already knew who had called him.

Celestine.

Even today...

Even while our daughter was being laid to rest...

She summoned him, and he answered.

A bitter laugh rose in my throat before dying there.

Alpha Evander left his own daughter's Moon Return because Celestine had reached out to him through the mindlink.

I should have begged him to stay.

I should have demanded that he mourn the child we had created beneath the Moon Goddess' blessing.

Instead...

I watched him disappear into the rain.

As the first handful of earth covered Maeve's coffin, I swore before the Moon Goddess that I would never forgive him.

Because Celestine had stolen everything from me.

She had abandoned Evander years ago and chosen another mate instead.

Only after that mate died did she return to our pack.

Not merely for Evander.

For everything that belonged to me.

My place.

My family.

My future.

And Evander...

My mate...

Had opened the gates for her.

**

I remained beside Maeve's grave until the moon stood high above the forest.

The cemetery was silent except for the wind whispering through the ancient trees.

My body ached from the cold, yet I could not bring myself to leave.

Only my memories kept me company.

They came one after another, refusing to grant me peace.

I remembered the day rogue wolves kidnapped me.

Their ropes burned against my wrists while they laughed, certain they could use the Alpha's mate against him.

Then the forest exploded with furious howls.

Evander came alone.

His wolf tore through the rogues without mercy, silver eyes blazing with enough rage to make even seasoned warriors tremble. When the last rogue fell, he shifted back into his human form and rushed to me.

His hands shook as he cupped my face.

"Did they hurt you?"

I could only shake my head.

He pulled me against his chest so tightly I thought my ribs would break.

"I would burn every pack in these lands before I let anyone take you from me."

A sob caught painfully in my throat.

He had meant those words once.

Another memory followed.

Evander lay inside the Healing Sanctuary after taking a poisoned blade meant for me. His side was wrapped in healing herbs, yet he smiled the moment I entered.

"I've waited long enough," he murmured.

He reached beneath his pillow and withdrew a small velvet pouch. Nestled inside rested a moonstone ring blessed by the High Elder.

"Evander..."

"Become my Luna."

"You've barely survived."

He laughed softly.

"Then don't make a dying Alpha wait."

I laughed through my tears.

"You're impossible."

"Say yes," he whispered. "Before the Moon Goddess and every ancestor who came before us... you'll always be my home."

My knees gave way beside Maeve's grave.

Then came the memory of her birth.

Evander had paced outside the birthing den like a caged wolf.

When the healer finally placed Maeve in his arms, his entire face softened.

"Our little moon."

He kissed her forehead with trembling lips.

"I swear before the Moon Goddess that no harm will ever come to you."

My fingers dug into the damp earth.

A promise.

Broken.

The final memory was the Moon Festival.

Evander had reserved the entire sacred valley for our family after Maeve begged to see the floating lanterns.

She laughed as he lifted her onto his shoulders.

"Is all of this for me, Daddy?"

He smiled.

"For my little princess."

She pointed at me.

"And Mama?"

He reached for my hand.

"For Mama too."

That night, beneath thousands of floating lanterns, he wrapped his arms around me and whispered against my hair,

"This is everything I ever fought for. You. Our daughter. Our family."

I closed my eyes.

How cruel those words sounded now.

Once, he would have sacrificed the world for us.

But when the Moon Goddess tested his heart...

He chose another child.

Now I stood alone before my daughter's grave while my mate was undoubtedly at Celestine's side.

No tears came.

Because the woman who had loved Evander with all her heart had been buried beside Maeve.

All that remained was her empty shell.