Late at night, a new post suddenly popped up on the Silvermoon Pack’s private forum. [I heard Sarah is back.] In less than a minute, the thread was flooded with dozens of replies. “Oh my god, she and Alpha Ethan… what happened back then was such a tragedy.” “If she hadn’t left to join the Ironclaw Pack, our pack would probably have an heir by now.” “Even after all these years, I still think they are the ultimate power couple.” Right then, Sarah, who had been inactive for years, finally replied. She only wrote one sentence. “Some people, once you miss them, you regret it for a lifetime.” The forum immediately exploded with ship emojis. Nobody seemed to care—or remember—that they already had a Luna. I slowly lowered my phone and looked at the man sleeping beside me. Alpha Ethan. The very man they were all mourning as “the regret of a lifetime” was currently fast asleep right next to me. The forum notifications kept lighting up my screen. [Sarah, are you staying for good this time?] Sarah replied almost instantly: [Yes. I’m not leaving again.] That single sentence set the entire forum on fire. “I still can’t believe Ethan ended up marrying a human…” “Ugh, don’t even get me started. That human Luna doesn’t even show up to pack gatherings. She’s barely a Luna.” “Now that Sarah is back, things will finally go back to how they should be. She’s the only one fit to stand beside Ethan.” “Oh my god, does this mean Sarah and Ethan might actually get back together?” Sarah didn’t confirm, but she didn’t deny it either. A few seconds later, she just posted a smiling emoji. [If it’s meant to be, we will find our way back to each other.] The comment section was instantly filled with flower and applause emojis. I quietly exited the forum and locked my phone. Beside me, Ethan was sleeping deeply. Seven years of marriage, and he had always been like this. Cold, controlled, and polite. He remembered every anniversary. He transferred money to my account on time. He even accompanied me to visit the orphanage. But he never loved me. I used to wonder why an Alpha like him would want to marry a human like me. I never got an answer, and I never dared to ask. Just as I was about to turn off the bedside lamp, his phone lit up. A new message popped up on his lock screen. [I’m back.] There was no contact name saved. But I recognized the sender immediately. It was Sarah. I turned my head to look at Ethan. His breathing was steady; he hadn’t woken up. His long fingers, however, were resting gently on my stomach, just like they did every night. The wedding band on his ring finger pressed cold against the back of my hand. The chill seeped straight into my chest, making it hard to breathe. My fingertips hovered over his phone. With just a simple passcode, I could know everything they were talking about. But a second later, I pulled my hand back. Ethan never hid his phone from me. Not because he loved me, but because he knew I would never pry. And because I knew that even if I found something, it wouldn’t change a single thing. I had heard stories about how he used to treat Sarah. Once, a young female werewolf in the pack had tried to flirt with him. Sarah had ignored him for an entire day. After training that evening, he had chased her across half the pack’s territory. He forced his phone into her hands, wearing a helpless, desperate smile. “Are you jealous?” “I already blocked her.” “If you don’t believe me, check my texts. Delete whoever you want.” Back then, Ethan only had eyes for one person. But now, he had locked all that passion away. When the sky was just turning gray, before the alarm could go off, Ethan woke up. Almost instinctively, he reached for his phone.
Usually, he would get up early for an hour of training. But not today. He just leaned against the headboard, staring down at his phone. The screen lit up, dimmed, and lit up again. It wasn’t until almost eight o’clock that he finally set the phone down and got up to change. I acted natural as I spoke up. “Are you going to the annual pack gala this year?” His hands paused on his cufflinks. “Yes.” We never had much to talk about. Despite sharing the same bed, I had to find out about his life from an online forum. Ethan hesitated for a moment. “Are you coming?” I shook my head. The pack gatherings had never been something I looked forward to. I was the Luna, yet I was always treated like an outsider. I knew what they called me behind my back. “The useless human.” They didn’t accept me. To werewolves, humans were fragile and troublesome. If I weren’t the Alpha’s mate, they wouldn’t even look at me. He didn’t press the issue. He just gave a faint nod. “Okay.” He probably didn’t want me there either. The moment the door closed, I picked up my phone. The Silvermoon Pack forum had already accumulated over two hundred new messages, all about Ethan and Sarah. The rebellious Alpha heir and his beautiful, elegant ex-girlfriend. The two of them together was always the ultimate gossip. Sarah finally posted: “Just woke up. See you all at the gala next week!” Dozens of users replied instantly. “Can’t wait to see you!” “Wait, does that mean you saw everything we chatted about last night? I thought you blocked the forum notifications.” “Team Sarah and Ethan forever!” Sarah replied with a cute waving cat emoji. “It’s fine. I actually found it… quite interesting.” That sentence was hard to read. But nobody pushed further. Instead, they shifted the topic back to the gala. [By the way, is Alpha Ethan actually coming?] [The Alpha has been so busy with pack business lately. He probably won’t have time for a party.] [Man, the guy who used to skip training just to climb over a wall for Sarah is now the mature, serious Alpha of Silvermoon.] The forum went quiet for a few seconds. Then, Sarah posted a single line. [He will be there.] Someone immediately asked. [How do you know?] It took her a few seconds to reply. [He promised me.]
“Luna Emily.” Ethan stood at the bedroom door, fastening his cuffs. “Don’t you have an appointment at nine?” I snapped my head toward the clock. 8:40 AM. I had barely slept last night, and I had actually forgotten to set my alarm. I threw my phone aside and scrambled out of bed. I had promised Grandma Eleanor I’d visit her at nine to help with her rose garden. I was a punctual person. I hated being late. Except for that one time, before I met Ethan. It had been pouring that day. I was standing at the bus stop, completely drenched. A sleek black car had pulled up in front of me. The window rolled down, revealing a handsome, youthful face. It was Ethan, though I didn’t know his identity back then. “Get in. The rain is too heavy,” he had said, his voice flat, not even looking at me. I hesitated, but eventually climbed in. The heater in the car was on, and it was incredibly warm. He didn’t talk to me. He just drove in silence. I gave him an address, and he simply nodded. I thought he was just a kind stranger giving me a lift. But when he dropped me off and I got out to thank him, I followed his gaze. Across the street, inside a cozy cafe, Sarah was sitting by the window, waving at him. He wasn’t trying to help me. He was just on his way to pick her up, and he had simply pitied the drowned rat on the curb. In the living room, I turned around. Ethan was sitting at the dining table, sipping his coffee. Suddenly, a reckless thought crossed my mind. “Ethan, I’m going to be late. Are you busy?” In our seven years of marriage, this was the first time I had ever asked him for a favor. If he just said, “I’ll drive you.” I think I would have been happy for a very long time. But he merely glanced at his watch. “I’ll have the driver take you.” I froze for a second. “Okay. Thanks.” “Thank you” and “Thanks” were the most common words in our marriage. Thank you for the gift. Thanks for grabbing my coat. We were as polite as roommates who had shared an apartment for years, not like mates, and certainly not like husband and wife. Thanks to the driver, I wasn’t late. Grandma Eleanor was already in the garden, wearing a sunhat and trimming the roses. We had met in a community garden years ago. The old lady loved flowers, but her family was always too busy to keep her company. I frequented that garden too. She always said that even the most beautiful flowers needed patient care. Gradually, we became close friends despite the age gap. Back then, I had no idea she was Ethan’s grandmother, let alone the former Elder Luna of the Silvermoon Pack. During our chats, she would only complain about her rebellious, stubborn grandson. Until the day Ethan came to pick her up. “Luna Emily,” Eleanor waved her shears in front of my face. “What’s wrong? You seem totally out of it today.” I had just accidentally snipped off a perfectly healthy bud. I snapped out of it and shook my head with a weak smile. She saw right through me. “Did you and Ethan have a fight?” I shook my head. We didn’t fight. We didn’t even have disagreements. “That boy is so emotionally stunted. I’ll give him a piece of my mind later.” Hearing the word “stunted” associated with Ethan was almost funny. Before he married me, he was the dream of every werewolf in the territory. He was rich, gorgeous, and a hopeless romantic. I had heard that he once filled the entire pack hall with white roses for the Winter Solstice festival, just because Sarah mentioned she liked white. On New Year’s Eve, he had skipped the pack summit just to set off fireworks outside her window because she was feeling down. Though I received white roses and watched fireworks later in our marriage, I knew they were just leftovers of the love he had once designed for Sarah. My mind was a mess. I had married him, but I had never seen the passionate side of Ethan. As the wind blew through the garden, a sudden realization hit me. It explained my strange behavior since last night. I was terrified. Eleanor set her shears down and looked at me. “Luna Emily, you have been married into this pack for seven years. Do you know what the pack members say about you? They say the Luna is just a pretty ornament. I’m not blaming you, sweetie. But you are the Luna. You have power, and you have responsibilities. You can learn to host the galas, look after the pups, or take your seat in the council room. You don’t need to be a werewolf to prove your worth. You just need to show them you are willing to try.”
I had always been good at waiting. When I was a kid, I waited for someone to adopt me. Later, I waited for the last bus after my part-time shifts. And then, I waited for a husband who never wanted to come home. By habit, I found myself waiting again. Waiting for Ethan and his first love to rekindle their flame. And then, waiting to be rejected. My previous waits were numbing and dull. But this time, I was scared. Sometimes, you just have to be brave once. So, for the first time, I went to Ethan’s office at the Packhouse. On the way there, I practiced my questions a thousand times. “Do you still love Sarah?” “When are you going to reject me?” But I was stopped right at the entrance. The guard gave me a polite but firm smile. “I’m sorry, ma’am. All visitors need to make an appointment a week in advance.” The guard clearly didn’t recognize me. It made sense; most of the guards were on duty elsewhere on our wedding day, and I rarely showed my face at the Packhouse. I wasn’t sure if Ethan wanted the guards to know I was his Luna. I had never visited him here before, so I didn’t push or state my identity. I dialed Ethan’s number. Just as the phone started ringing, I heard his familiar ringtone echoing from the end of the corridor. Ethan was walking at the front of a group. He glanced at his phone, his brow furrowing as if debating whether to answer. I quickly hung up. He didn’t seem to care. He slowed his pace, occasionally turning back to speak to someone behind him. As they walked past, just a few yards away, I finally saw the woman walking beside him. It was Sarah. Time had left no marks on her face. She looked just as pure and beautiful as she did in the photos on Ethan’s old social media posts from eight years ago. She quickened her steps to walk side-by-side with him. Her voice was bright and cheerful. “Oh? You haven’t changed your ringtone after all these years? It’s still my favorite song.” I had heard that back in his rebellious days, Ethan only listened to heavy rock. But Sarah liked soft, classical melodies. Ethan’s taste in music had changed entirely for her. I guess that was the mark love had left on him. Even now, the habit remained. Only after they walked away did the guard speak to me again. “Ma’am, as you can see, the Alpha is busy. If you need something, you can schedule an appointment with the secretary.” I forced a smile. “Thanks. No need.” I felt so exhausted. My eyes stung. I told myself that all I needed was to go home and sleep. But the forum notifications on my phone kept buzzing. “Guess who I just ran into at the Packhouse banquet hall? Ethan and Sarah!” “Oh my god, are they finally back together? The ship is finally sailing!” “@Sarah, spill the tea!” Sarah posted a picture in response. It showed a beautiful window view, a fancy dinner, and a man’s hand resting on the table. His face wasn’t in the frame, but I would recognize those strong, veiny forearms anywhere. She captioned it: “The food here is amazing. Highly recommend.” She didn’t give a direct answer, but the implication was crystal clear. I zoomed in on the photo. Ethan had beautiful hands with distinct knuckles. I had held that hand countless times. I was the one who had slipped the wedding band onto his finger. My eyes locked onto his left hand. His ring finger was bare. He had taken off his wedding ring.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “464066”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster
Leave a Reply