"No…"
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Soft.
Broken.
Barely more than a breath.
Felt like my world was falling apart...
But at the same time....
It didn't feel real.....
It couldn't be real.....
"You're joking," I said, forcing a laugh that sounded hollow, unfamiliar.....even to my own ears. "Ethan...stop...pls stop..."
But he didn't laugh.
Didn't even smile.
Instead, his fingers loosened from my arm....
Slowly....
Deliberately.....
Like touching me had become a mistake.
The warmth I had always associated with him disappeared the moment his hand dropped to his side.
"I'm not joking, Aria."
Something inside me cracked.
I could suddenly feel the sound of my blood moving in my veins.
The world around us didn't stop.....but it changed.
The laughter from moments ago had faded into murmurs.
Whispers.
Low voices that curled around me like smoke.
My body begin to tremble again.....
My heart was filled with fear.....
"Did he just...?"
"No way…"
"She finally got a wolf just to be rejected?"
Laugh of mockery filled the air...
I could feel their eyes.....
Every single one of them....
Watching.....
Waiting.....
My throat tightened.
"Why?" My voice trembled despite my effort to steady it.
"You said… you promised…"
Ethan.....
My voice feels too weak...
The memory hit me before he could answer.
"Even if you never awaken your wolf… I'll still choose you.... "
It kept replying in my head.....
His words.....
His voice.....
His promise....
"I know what I said!"
I flinched.
The sharpness in his tone sliced through the air, drawing even more attention.
More people turned.
More eyes locked onto us.
But he didn't lower his voice.
Didn't try to hide it.
Whichmade it more disappointing
"But things have changed."
Changed...
The word echoed in my mind, heavy and confusing.
Changed?
How?
When?
When did we change?
"You're weak."
This time, his voice dropped...but not enough.
Not enough to keep it between us.
"You just awakened your wolf. You have no control, no strength… nothing."
No strength?
No nothing?
Each word landed like a blow.
I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into the fabric of my dress as if holding onto something...anything....could keep me standing.
"I can learn…" I whispered.
I could....
I would.....I promise....
I just needed time.
"I need a Luna who is already strong."
The finality in his voice hit harder than everything else.
A Luna?.
The word settled heavily in my chest.
So it not me.
Never me.
I felt it then.
Not just the rejection of the bond.
But the rejection of everything I thought I meant to him.
"And you decided that just now?" I asked.
My voice sounded distant.
Like it didn't belong to me.
My chest tightened, each breath shallow, uneven.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
But that second was enough.
Enough to tell me the truth he hadn't said yet.
This wasn't sudden.
This wasn't a decision made in the moment.
"No," a new voice cut in smoothly.
My stomach dropped.
I didn't need to turn to know who it was.
Selene....
Her name alone felt like a warning.
She stepped forward with effortless confidence, the crowd parting for her without question.
Her movements were slow....
Graceful....
Intentional...
Like she knew every eye was on her.
And she welcomed it.
Her hand slipped into Ethan's.
Not hesitantly.
Not shyly.
Comfortably.
Like it had always belonged there.
My brain ask "what's going on here"
My chest tightened further.
Like I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to.
Something I had been blind to all along.
"We decided this a long time ago," Selene said, her voice smooth, almost amused.
Her lips curved into a small smile not warm, not kind.
Satisfied.
The kind of smile someone wears when they've already won.
The murmurs around us grew louder.
"I knew it…"
"Selene was always stronger…"
"She's perfect for Luna…"
I couldn't hear everything.
Not clearly.
But I didn't need to.
The meaning was obvious.
My gaze dropped to their joined hands.
His fingers were wrapped around hers.
Firm.
Certain.
The same way he used to hold mine.
A memory flashed...but this time painful.
His hand reaching for mine when I was scared.
When I felt alone.
When I needed someone.
And now.....
That hand belonged to someone else.
"Ethan…" I whispered.
My voice came out weaker than I intended.
He didn't look at me right away.
When he finally did, there was something in his eyes I couldn't recognize.
Not guilt.
Not regret.
Just distance.
Like I was already someone from his past.
Something he had already let go of.
The ground beneath me felt unsteady.
Not physically.
But like everything I had built my world on.
Every memory.
Every promise.
Every moment I believed mattered
Was collapsing.
Piece by piece.
And I was the only one still standing in it.
Alone.