"I don't care what that says! All I know is you've gone too far. Moon Goddess, you're carrying a pup, Selene! How could you be cruel to another she-wolf?"
Tears finally slipped down my cheeks, hot and silent. My whole body trembled, not from pain, but from sheer fury. My wolf trembled with me, pressing against the inside of my ribs, and I could feel her grief tangled so tightly with my own that I couldn't tell where mine ended and hers began.
Alaric saw me crying and for a moment, his expression softened. His tone shifted to something gentler.
"Alright… can you just apologize? I know I haven't been giving you attention these past few moon cycles. But I promise I'll make it up to you once the pup is born."
Then, without a trace of shame, he pushed me toward Ravenna.
She looked back at me, eyes glinting with smug triumph.
I looked hard at Alaric, wondering how the man who once swore he loved me could change so drastically the moment Ravenna came back. Had he forgotten every promise he made the day we stood before the Moon Goddess and sealed our bond? The place on my neck where his claiming mark still sat burned faintly, as though even it knew something was wrong.