Chapter 13%
Ethan’s POVE
The first person I saw the moment I entered the hall with Farah was her. Ivy. And she wasn’t alone
She was with him. Alpha Vincent.
My wolf roared, a guttural sound of pure, unadulterated fury that clawed at my insides. Why are they together? The question, raw and unbidden, slammed into my mind. I couldn’t understand. My gaze narrowed, fixated on the sight that turned my blood to ice Vincent hand, possessively, intimately, resting on Ivy’s waist. Like she was his.
My wolf was rampaging, a beast unleashed within my chest, seething with a nameless emotion that felt dangerously close to madness One thing was crystal clear: I hated what I was seeing. Every instinct screamed, every muscle tensed.
The memory, sharp and unwelcome, sliced through the fog of my anger, The day Ivy disappeared, Alpha Vincent had made a quick, unannounced visit to Foreland Pack. I remembered it now, the subtle shift in the air, the guarded tension. He must have been the one. He chust have taken her. The thought didn’t just gnaw; it ripped at me. He had stolen her. My Luna, the woman I had just days ago convinced myself I didn’t want, now felt like a precious commodity snatched from my grasp.B
Farah’s scent, usually a sweet comfort, now felt cloying, irritating. She tried to get my attention, her fingers digging into my arm.
her voice a soft, inquiring murmur. I didn’t care. My eyes were glued to Ivy, like a hawk tracking its stolen prey. The way Alpha Vincent gazed at her,
his hand lingered on her–I wanted to let my woll out. I wanted to tear him limb from limb. I wanted to kill Vincent.
the
way
It should be me Ivy was smiling at! Her eyes, those beautiful, intelligent eyes, should be mine to stare into, mine to command, mine to lose myself in. The primal jealousy, fierce and suffocating, choked me.
Farah tugged at my arm again. “Alpha, darling, the music is lovely Shall we dance?}
I hissed, the sound escaping my lips before I could temper it “No. You should just rest at the side. You’re carrying my pup.” My voice was cold, clipped, devoid of the forced tendemess I usually offered her. Farah’s eyes widened, a flicker of hurt crossing her features, a silent shock at my abruptness. It was the first time she’d seen that raw, unmasked expression from me. I didn’t care. All that mattered was the raging storm inside rel
The waltz finally ended, the final notes a mocking echo in the hall. My legs moved on their own, carrying me forward, Towards her. I needed to talk to her. I needed to understand.
“Ivy,” I managed, my voice rough, as I reached them I extended my hand, my own unspoken command for a dance
towards them.
But Vincent, ever the possessive Alpha, intervened.. His wolf bristled, his grip on Ivy’s waist tightening. “She’s dancing with me,” he snarled, a low, dangerous rumble that promised violence.
My wolf roared in response. “She’s my-” The words caught in my throat. My Luna. The title felt like ash on my tongue. She wasn’t. Not
anymore.
The tension was a tangible thing, a suffocating blanket that pressed down on the entire ballroom. Two Alphas, standing shoulder to shoulder, radiating pure animosity. My hand tightened into a fist, itching to strike.
Then, Ivy moved. She pushed both of us away, a surprising burst of strength in her slender frame. Her eyes, usually so soft, flashed with a sudden, cold fury. She turned on her heel and walked out.
A wave of relief washed over me as the Alpha King himself approached Vincent, breaking the brewing confrontation. It gave me the opening I needed. I seized it, ignoring Farah’s questioning gaze, and went after Ivy.
I found her on the balcony, bathed in the soft glow of the moon, a delicate glass of wine clutched in her hand. She looked ethereal, breathtakingly beautiful in the emerald gown, her bare back a curve of pure grace. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Why had I been so blind to the sheer, undeniable beauty of the woman I had married? The realization was a sharp, painful twist in my gut
“Why did you leave?” The words spilled out, raw and desperate. I didn’t mean to sound accusatory, but the question had been tearing at me for weeks.
She turned slowly, her eyes meeting mine. They were calm, almost unnervingly so, devoid of the pain or anger I expected. “You have Farah, Ethan. And you’re expecting a baby” Her voice was steady, utterly devoid of emotion. “I don’t love you anymore.”
The words were a physical blow, colder and sharper than any slap. My wolf howled in denial. No. She was wrong. She had to be. “You’re wrong.” I spat, my voice tight with rage and disbelief. “You loved me for years! It’s impossible to unlove someone that fast! Vincent… he must have done something! He must have manipulated you, taken you away!”
Her gaze was deadpan, utterly dismissive. “Vincent was out of it,” she stated, her voice flat, unwavering. “He had nothing to do with my decision. You made that decision yourself, Ethan. Every single day of our marriage, you chose to hurt me. You chose to betray me. And I chose to leave.”
Her words were daggers, each one piercing through my fragile self–deception. She looked at me, truly looked at me, and I saw a flicker of the contempt I deserved. “I just realized how much of a jerk Alpha you are,” she continued, her voice gaining a steely edge. “I didn’t want to be with someone who hurts me constantly. And I’m not going back to you, no matter what‘
“You, you cheated with him!” I roared, the accusation a desperate attempt to shift the blame, to make her responsible for the gaping hole
12
Her words were daggers, each one piercing through my fragile self–deception. She looked at me, truly looked at me and I saw a Bicker the contempt I deserved. “I just realized how much of a jerk Alpha you are,” she continued, her voice gaining a steely edge. I didn be with someone who hurts me constantly. And I’m not going back to you, no matter what
“You… you cheated with him!” I roared, the accusation a desperate attempt to shift the blame, to make her responsible for the gaoit in my chest. My voice cracked with frustration.
Her hand shot out, a swift, powerful slap that cracked across my cheek, sharper than the one I’d given her. “Don’t you dare bima S something you did while we were married!” Her eyes blazed, a sudden, furious fire consuming the calm, “You are a cheater, Alpra disgrace Don’t you dare accuse me of your own vile actions!”
The raw fury in her voice, the truth in her words, struck me speechless. My cheek stung, but the pain was nothing compared to the gut-wrenching shame that consumed me.
“Don’t show your face to me again,” she snarled, her voice low and dangerous, “and don’t bother even breathing near me, because done with you.” She tried to pull her arm away, but I gripped it, my fingers clamped around her, a desperate need to hold on to the last tangible piece of her
“Let go, Alpha!” she commanded, her voice rising to a furious crescendo. “You let me go long ago! My fated mate doesn’t want anothe Alpha’s scent on mel
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Fated mate?” My voice was a choked whisper. Who? The question clawed at my throat, desperate and disbelieving. Who was Ivy’s fated mate? It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t be.
Her eyes, blazing with triumph and a raw, vindictive satisfaction, met mine. “My fated mate,” she stated, her voice clear and cutting, “was Alpha Vincent all along.
The world crumbled. The sound of shattered glass, not from a wedding picture, but from the very foundations of my existence, echoed in my ears. Vincent. Him. The man who had taken her, the man whose scent I’d dismissed, whose claim I’d scoffed at. He was her fated mate. The Moon Goddess, in her cruelest irony, had ripped away my placeholder Luna only to reveal she was meant for someone else.
Ethan’s POVY
