“Enough!” Ethan yelled. “Sophia, you’ve changed! You never used to be like this!”
“How was I before?” I asked.
“You used to be gentle, kind, and always thought about the pack!” Ethan said, agitated. “You’d support me no matter what, help me, never let me down!”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “I really was like that before.”
Hope flickered in Ethan’s eyes. “So you’ll…”
“But that was because I loved you,” I said calmly. “I don’t anymore.”
He froze.
“Ethan, you’ve gotten one thing wrong all along.” I looked at him. “I was good to you, not because of duty, but because of love.”
“But we…
11
“We’re nothing,” I cut him off. “We broke the mate bond, and you have a new mate. We’re over.”
“That was fake!” Ethan said, desperate. “The mate ceremony with Vivian was fake! We only did it to calm the pack down…‘
“Fake?” I pulled out my phone. “Are these fake too?”
I showed him my social media page.
“You blocked me from all your social media accounts,” I said coolly. “But my friends could all see your lovey–dovey pictures with Vivian.”
“That was…
“Beach vacations, dinners on mountaintops, private yachts.” I kept scrolling. “And this one, you two kissing under the Eiffel Tower. The caption said, ‘ With my soulmate.“”
Ethan’s face was ghostly white.
“So,” I put my phone away, “what’s real, and what’s fake?”
Vivian chimed in, “Those pictures… we just wanted outsiders to think…”
“Wanted outsiders to think what?” I looked at her. “That you were in love? That you were true mates?”
“We are in love!” Vivian said loudly.
“Well, there you go.” I spread my hands. “Since you’re in love, since you’re mates, then live happily ever after. The pack’s problems? You two figure them out.”
1/2
Chapter 7
+25 Bonus
“Sophia…” Ethan’s voice was weak.
“I wish you both happiness,” I said, turning to leave. “Sincerely.”
“Wait!” Ethan called out one last time. “Can’t we… can’t we really start over? Just… part on good terms?”
I stopped but didn’t turn back.
–
“Ethan, we already parted on good terms.” My voice was calm. “You got everything you wanted a new mate, a new Luna, a new life. And I got what I wanted freedom.”
–
“But the pack…”
“The pack isn’t my responsibility anymore,” I said without looking back. “You chose Vivian, now you have to live with the consequences of that choice.”
–
I walked towards Sarah’s wedding, leaving Ethan and Vivian standing there.
After a few steps, I heard Ethan’s disappointed voice:
“Sophia, you never used to be like this.”
I answered silently in my head:
Lused to be good to you because I loved you. Now I don’t.
It’s that simple.
