I looked at him, the man I once loved so much. Now, all I saw in his eyes was suspicion and scheming.
“I was thinking,” I said calmly, “since our mate bond is ‘faulty,’ the best thing to do is to dissolve it completely.”
Ethan froze. “What?”
“I said, let’s go to the Elders’ Council and officially break our mate bond,” I repeated. “That way, you and Vivian can have your own mating ceremony without any holdups.”
Vivian’s face flashed with panic for a second, but excitement quickly took over. “Can… can we really do that?”
“Of course,” I smiled. “Since the Moon Goddess has blessed you with a new bond, we should honor her decision.”
Ethan opened his mouth to argue, but with Vivian looking at him expectantly, he just had to grit his teeth and nod. “If… if you insist.”
“I insist,” I said, without a moment’s hesitation.
I looked around at the other pack members. They all looked uncomfortable and awkward. Marcus wouldn’t meet my eye, Elder Grace was wringing her hands, and the others just stared at the floor.
So, they’d known all along.
They knew about Ethan and Vivian, knew this whole “lost connection” thing was a lie, but not one of them said a word to me.
They needed my healing skills, sure, but they didn’t give a damn about how I felt.
“Meeting’s over.” I turned and headed for the door. “I’ll go pack my things. I’ll be off pack lands as soon as I can.”
“Wait, Sophia,” Ethan rushed after me. “You don’t have to leave. We’re still packmates…”
I stopped and turned back to him.
“Ethan, your new Luna needs time to get used to her role. If I stick around, I’ll just be in her way.”
“But the pack still needs you as a healer…”
“Isn’t that the Luna’s job now?” I gestured to Vivian, who was already in the main chair, trying on the Luna scepter. “Or, what? Your true love doesn’t have the knack for it?”
Ethan’s face fell, but Vivian just smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll learn. Healing? How hard can it be?”
I nodded. “Good. Then there’s no problem.”
I pushed open the meeting room door, leaving them all in silence.
Walking down the hall, something occurred to me.
He didn’t know that the full moon ritual was only seven days away. And the Elders’ Council? They only recognized me as the official Luna.
