Chapter 2
ELERA POV
"Evelyn…" I whispered, my voice barely audible, still clinging to some foolish hope that she would laugh and tell me this was all a cruel joke.
Instead, she smiled.
"Yes," she said, confidence ringing through every syllable. "He's always loved me. I'm the one who's truly worthy of standing beside him as Luna."
Her words struck harder than Aiden's rejection ever could. If he had broken my heart, Evelyn had shattered whatever pieces remained. I could never have imagined that the woman I loved like my own sister, the woman I had trusted with every secret, would be the one standing beside my fiancé on this altar. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I fought to breathe evenly.
"Aiden… Evelyn…" I forced a trembling smile onto my face. "If this is some kind of joke, please, stop. This has gone too far."
Neither of them smiled back. Neither of them denied it.
"Do we look like we're joking?" Evelyn asked coldly, stepping closer, her eyes bright with something that looked disturbingly like triumph. "Wake up, Elera. You mean nothing to Aiden. He has loved me from the very beginning. The only reason he couldn't reject you sooner was because your parents arranged this engagement before they died."
"You're the one who came between us," she continued, her voice sharpening with every word. "You're the third party who ruined our relationship."
My entire body went still. The accusation was so absurd I couldn't find words to answer it. Me, the third party? I had been betrothed to Aiden since childhood. Everyone in this pack knew it, had watched us grow up, promised to each other, and had celebrated the match for years. Yet Evelyn looked at me now as though I had stolen something that had always belonged to her.
"I've hated you for years, Elera," she spat, hatred burning openly in her eyes now, no longer hidden behind any mask. "You took everything that should have been mine."
For the first time since I had known her, I understood something terrible. The smiles she had always given me. The concern in her voice whenever I was hurting. The kindness she'd shown me since we were children. Had all of it been a lie? Had the sister I believed I had been performing a role this entire time?
I searched her face for even the smallest trace of the girl who used to laugh with me, who held my hand whenever the other pups mocked me for being born human, who I had trusted with my life without a second thought. But the woman standing before me now was a stranger wearing a familiar face.
"If you really loved him," I asked quietly, forcing my voice to stay steady, "why didn't you just tell me? I would have ended the engagement myself."
Aiden's jaw tightened. "Enough, Elera," he said coldly. "There is no point talking about the past. My decision has already been made.”
I meant every word. I had never wanted to force anyone into an unhappy life, least of all the two people I loved most.
Evelyn let out a mocking laugh, arms folding across her chest as she studied me with open contempt. "There you go again. Always pretending to be kind. Always playing the perfect, selfless woman. I don't want your pity, Elera. I don't want your charity." She stepped closer, until only inches separated us. "I took the man I love with my own hands. I didn't need your permission. I have always loved Aiden."
He reached for Evelyn's hand without hesitation, their fingers intertwining before the entire pack.
"And I chose her," Aiden said firmly. "She is the woman I want, Elera.”
Their confession rang out across the silent altar, and the pack members shifted uneasily around us, though no one dared interrupt.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. "When did it start?"
"The night of your parents' first death anniversary," she said, without a flicker of hesitation.
I remembered that night perfectly. The pack had been attacked by rogues without warning, and while others fled toward safety, I had stayed behind and fought until my body could barely hold itself upright. I had called for Aiden over and over into the dark, searching for him between blows, praying he would come. When I couldn't find him, I told myself he must have been defending another part of our land. He returned the next morning with an excuse, and because I loved him, I believed him without question.
I had nearly died protecting a home that didn't want me, while he lay somewhere else entirely.
A bitter laugh scraped its way out of me. "So you've been together all these years."
"Yes." Evelyn answered without a trace of shame, a satisfied smile curving her lips. "And not only have we been together." She rested a hand gently over her stomach, almost reverently. "I'm carrying Aiden's heir."
My knees nearly gave out beneath me, and my fingers trembled uncontrollably.
The words hit me like lightning splitting the sky. For a moment everything around me went silent, the whispers, the wind, even the sound of my own heartbeat swallowed whole.
Then, all at once, everything made sense. The distance. The lies. The nights Aiden claimed he was too busy to see me. The strange glances they used to exchange when they thought I wasn't looking. It had all been happening in front of me the entire time, and I had simply been too blind, too trusting, to see any of it.
"Wow," I murmured, a hollow laugh slipping free, disappointment where joy should have lived. "My fiancé and my best friend. How perfect."
Neither of them looked ashamed. Not even for a second.
"So every smile," I said quietly, "every kindness, every time you called me your sister, it was all a lie."
Evelyn didn't deny it. She only lifted her chin with pride.
I turned my gaze to Aiden. "So while I was risking my life for this pack, you were with another woman? When the rogues attacked, I fought until I was covered in my own blood. I nearly died protecting the Crescent Pack." I swept my eyes across the crowd surrounding the altar. "If it weren't for this powerless, wolfless human standing before you tonight, there would be no pack left for any of you to stand in."
Silence answered me. Not one person met my eyes. Aiden looked away for the briefest second before his expression hardened again.
"We all know what you sacrificed, Elera," Aiden finally said, his voice infuriatingly steady. "And we're grateful for it. But gratitude doesn't mean I have to marry you."
His words twisted like a second knife, deeper than the first.
I turned toward the elders. "So all of you accept her as Luna now, simply because she's carrying his child?" I didn't need them to answer. Their faces had already chosen her.
No one spoke. No one defended me.
They exchanged uneasy glances before one of them sighed. "We have no choice, Lady Elera. She carries the future Alpha's heir."
Another elder lowered his head before speaking, his voice softer, almost apologetic. “You were severely injured during the rogue attack. The healer confirmed that your body suffered serious injuries, and your condition is still very poor. It may be very difficult for you to become pregnant.” He pause, letting the words settle like a blade before adding, "You cannot expect an Alpha to leave his bloodline without an heir?”
“You love this pack, don't you, Elera?” the elder asked gently. “You have always been understanding.”
“Then bless their union... and stop clinging to Alpha Aiden. It's the least you can do for your future Alpha and Luna.”
He paused before delivering the final blow.
“And... for the sake of your late parents.”