Moon Festival in town. His enthusiasm seemed genuine, almost desperate.
The human world burst with color and life compared to our stark territory in the frozen north. Street vendors called out their wares while children darted between stalls trailing sparklers.
Despite everything, I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement. The festival’s energy was infectious.
If not for Damien, I would never have chosen to live in such an isolated, desolate place…
But now, none of that mattered. In two weeks, I’d be free.
Damien kept me pressed close as we walked through the crowded festival, his hand constantly reaching to adjust my moonstone necklace – his mating gift. Each touch felt like a brand on my skin.
A young wolf pup with bright eyes bounced up to us, clutching a basket of flowers.
“Alpha King!” She bobbed in an awkward curtsy. “Moonlight flowers for your mate? They only bloom during full moons – they mean eternal love!”
The flowers glowed with a soft silver light, beautiful and rare.
I tensed, about to refuse, but Damien was already picking through them with a pleased smile.
He examined each bloom carefully, finally announcing, “I’ll take them all. How could I resist such a perfect symbol?”
“Wait.” The word escaped before I could stop it.
I forced myself out of my daze, reaching to stop his hand.
Damien turned to me, eyes warm with confusion. “What’s wrong, love? You’ve always loved Moonlight flowers.”
My voice came out stiff. “I don’t like them anymore.”
His face went rigid, pupils contracting as his expression turned unnatural. Something like fear flickered in his eyes.
He forced a smile, but his voice was strained. “But Sierra… they’ve been your favorite since we met. Why suddenly…”
My heart clenched with familiar pain.
I remembered how he’d once spent months cultivating an entire garden of Moonlight flowers outside our quarters, nurturing them through the harsh winter just to make me smile.
Now he picked these same flowers for Emily, secretly delivering them to her cabin in the woods.
The question burned in my throat: When you give Emily these flowers, do you remember your promises to me? Do you feel any guilt at all?
Before I could speak, a new guard I’d never seen approached Damien from behind. Something about their scent made me freeze.
The guard was slight for a male, features delicate despite attempts to appear masculine. But under the artificial musk, I caught a familiar floral scent.
Emily. She’d disguised herself as a male guard, but couldn’t mask her true scent from another wolf.
“Alpha, urgent news from the southern border,” she said, deepening her voice. “Your immediate attention is required.”
Damien’s power flared briefly before he recognized her. His expression flickered between anger and something else.
My breath caught painfully. Of course he knew who she was.
Even disguised, her beauty shone through – that ethereal quality that had captivated my mate.
Damien shifted, placing himself between us as if to shield her from my view.
“Sierra, enjoy the festival while I handle this…” His guilty eyes couldn’t quite meet mine.
I lowered my gaze, hands clenched behind my back. “Fine. I can manage alone.”
