Luna's point of view.
By evening, I couldn't take it anymore.
I drove to Kade's apartment, my heart hammering against my ribs. His truck was in the parking lot, so I knew he was home. No more excuses. No more deflections.
We were going to talk about this.
I knocked, then used my key when he didn't answer right away. The apartment was dark except for the light from his bedroom. I found him there, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
"Kade."
"Are you losing interest in me?"
The words fall out before I can stop them. I watch his face crumple, watch something that looks like agony flash across his features.
"What do you mean? He asked.
"Did my mother send Beta Marcus or anyone to say something to you? To threaten you?"
"What? No." He looks genuinely confused now, thrown off by the accusation. "Why would she send Beta Marcus or anyone to say something to me?"
"Because you've been acting awkward since last night's dinner with my mom! I thought she must have threatened you to avoid me or something..."
"Luna, stop." He runs a hand through his hair, and I can see the war happening behind his eyes. "I'm just... dealing with pack stress. That's all."
It's such an obvious lie that it actually hurts. Pack stress. does he really think I can't tell the difference between normal stress and whatever this is?
"Pack stress," I repeat flatly.
"Yes."
I want to push. I wanted to demand the truth, shake it out of him if I have to. But something in his expression stops me—a kind of desperate pleading that makes my heart ache.
So I swallow the questions, nod slowly. "Okay. Pack stress."
But I don't buy it. Not for a second.
The tension between us is thick and heavy. I need to clear my head, and he needs space too. Maybe later—when we're both calmer, when our minds are clear—we can sort this out properly.
I walked back to my car with my mind lost in thoughts as if I was moving through water. I keep replaying his face—that tortured expression, the way he couldn't quite meet my eyes.
I'm losing him.
The thought is a knife between my ribs, sharp and unforgiving. After two years, after everything we've built together, I'm losing him and I don't even know why.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm not good enough, not interesting enough, not... enough. Maybe he's finally realized he can do better than a stupid Alpha's daughter.
My wolf snarls at the thought, rejecting it utterly. No. We are enough. We are MORE than enough.
But if that's true, then what's happening? What changed?
I drove aimlessly for a while, not ready to go home. Not ready to face Mother's knowing eyes or the empty silence of my room. The sun sets in streaks of orange and pink—beautiful, calm, and uncaring about how broken I felt inside.
Eventually, I end up at the overlook on the eastern edge of pack territory—the spot where i first told him I loved him. The memory feels both recent and ancient, like looking at my life through the wrong end of a telescope.
My phone buzzes. For one wild moment, my heart leaps—maybe it's him, maybe he's ready to talk, to explain... "
But it's just a notification from the pack message board. Someone's posted about the upcoming full moon celebration. The replies are already piling up, pack members discussing plans and traditions and... "
I scroll past a cluster of messages and stop upon a gossip message.
( Two years of dating and they still haven't sealed their bond. What a shame.
Think he'll ever actually mate with Luna?
Maybe he found his true mate and it's definitely not her. )
The words blur as tears prick my eyes. I shouldn't care what they think. Shouldn't care about pack gossip and speculation. But the humiliation still burns me in the chest.
Two years. They're right about that, at least. Two years and no mating mark, no formal bond. I'd told myself we were taking it slow, being careful, waiting for the right moment. But what if Kade was just... waiting? Hoping his true mate would appear so he wouldn't have to settle for me?
And here I was, being so stupid—thinking that meeting my mom would change the trajectory of our relationship.
No, my wolf growls. Not true. He loves us. I can feel it.
****
After a long while lost in my thoughts, I finally returned to the estate mansion. I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling of my childhood room—still filled with the remnants of the little girl I used to be.
I could lose him. The thought was unbearable, a physical ache in my chest that refuse to else.
But what if I didn't give him the choice?
The desperate idea slowly took root in my mind. What if I planned a surprise mating proposal? If Kade marked me, the bond would develop over time—I knew it. Not every mate bond was instant. Some grew gradually, strengthened by choice and commitment and time spent together.
We could make it work. We could build something real, something that would silence the gossip and quiet my mother's concerns and prove to everyone—including myself—that we were meant to be together.
I pulled out my phone, with my fingers trembling as I started researching. Mating proposal traditions. Romantic settings. The perfect words to say.
I could do this. I could save us.
But as I scrolled through images of happy couples completing their bonds, my wolf whimpered.
And a small, terrified voice in the back of my mind whispered: What if he says no?
I pushed the thought away violently. He wouldn't say no. He couldn't. We'd been together for two years. We loved each other.
This was just a rough patch. Every relationship had them.
Everything would be fine once we made it official.