Chapter 2: Crown of Sorrow

Rose

“After all you’ve done, how am I supposed to understand you?” I shook my head.

A few days ago, Rhiannon mentioned that the Alpha of the neighboring pack had brought home his fated mate. His Luna, despite the ache it must have caused, accepted it.

I don’t know if I have that kind of strength. Perhaps we should wait until after the Ball to bring this up. But I need to know his heart and his intentions first.

“Will you want to reject me because of this?”

The crease on his forehead deepens. “How can you even ask me that, Rose? I will never reject you.”

I hold onto the fact that he still loves me. He made a mistake because of the true mate bond, which is irresistible. I can forgive him. We can overcome this together.

“Listen, Rose, you’re the best Luna this pack has ever had. Who am I to deny my wolves from receiving a blessing like you?” I let him hold my hands, lowering my head, because I don’t want him to see my smile. “This pack needs you. I need you.” He drops his voice to a cracked whisper, “But then... I... I also need her.”

My smile immediately fades like a fleeting shadow.

Pain drills its way into my chest in a triple fold. I drop my hands from him, almost staggering two steps back. 

What the hell is he saying?

“My wolf needs its fated mate, Rose. I can’t live without her any longer, or else, I will be in so much pain.”

I tilt my head, sparing a sad shrug. “Jacob, you have me to dull your pain.” Please.

A sob tumbles out of me when he shakes his head. My face reddens, the veins in my neck straining from the hurt burning through my chest.

“It’s not the same and you know it.” Jacob runs a hand through his brown hair. “I know I promised you I would reject my fated mate when the time came, but for my sake, let her stay with our pack.”

A long minute passes, and I nod. I don’t want him to suffer, because if he does, I will, too. 

But his betrayal is like a heavy weight on my heart, crushing it. My lungs burn. Our four years of marriage feel meaningless now. 

He just implied that he’d been suffering without his fated mate, even when I thought everything was bliss. 

I exhale shakily, a knife twisting in my heart when it hits me. Jacob didn’t love me. I was never good enough for that. Only good enough to fuck. 

“We should return now. It’s our duty as Alpha and Luna to open the floor for the last ritual,” I say in a monotone voice, turning back up the path I came.

I use the napkin Rhi gave me to wipe my tears. The farther I draw away from our spot, the deeper the hole in my chest. 

Jacob and I walk inside the ballroom together and the crowd pauses, silent at first, but when we get to the middle of the aisle, their cheers ring about the room.

“May your love be eternal, Alpha and Luna!” they chorus, tearing me apart even more.

Rhi spares a bright smile as soon as we approach our thrones, and I barely return it. The wolves who’ve found their fated mates are at the front of the line, looking so in love. 

I hold my stomach when I lock eyes with the beautiful woman my husband brought into our pack. 

“Shall we?” Jacob says, jerking my attention back to the moment.

I nod, taking his outstretched hand. We are about to open the dance floor for the night, which is the last ritual. All newly mated wolves must share a dance. 

But this is far from what I need right now. His touch no longer fills me with desire. Just anger, resentment, and sorrow.

He just had his hands on another woman; now he’s holding me and looking at me in that way that makes my knees weak. 

“You haven’t forgiven me.”

I clench my jaw. “You haven’t stopped staring at her for a second.”

“Rose,” he says sadly, spinning me around at the close of the dance, and my eyes burn with tears. “I don’t like this side of you.” 

We bow.

“Me neither.” I sigh heavily. “Jacob, I have something important to tell you.” 

“What’s wrong? Is it about your health again?” His brows furrow in concern as he holds my arm. 

Anyone with eyes will think this man is madly in love with me from just watching, but that’s how good of a liar he is. He’s convincing even me... again.

“No, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you that I’m—”

“Jacob?”

He turns to find his fated mate behind him, and she stands on her tiptoes, whispering something in his ear. I can’t grasp what she said because I no longer have super normal hearing. 

But my husband adjusts himself in his pants shamelessly.

“Uhm, let’s talk later,” he quickly tells me, and my cheeks flush in embarrassment.

“No, wait—” I’m cut short by a heavy sound above me. 

I look up and find the largest chandelier in the ballroom dangling from its screws. It falls immediately, and I scream. 

But as I try to jump away, Jacob shoves me towards it, protecting Zaneta. 

My heart races as I land on my stomach, barely avoiding the light. 

I had wrapped my arms around myself to protect my baby, but it still hurt. A few glass shards bruise my face. 

Rhi rushes to my side, helping me sit up. I wince from the pain burning in my belly. And it worsens when I see Jacob is with her.

His mate looks shaken up by the incident, and he’s hugging her, checking her body for wounds, and planting kisses all over her face from worry. 

“What the fuck?” Rhi mutters next to me, and I screw my eyes shut, gulping. 

Everyone in the crowd is staring at me. 

My husband is worried about someone other than his Luna. Why? They are asking.

Jacob registers with his surroundings. He puts the woman behind his back protectively and blocks eyes from her. 

Fists clenched at his side, he announces, “This is Zaneta. My fated mate.”

The crowd gasps, Rhi included. 

I get on my feet, weak even in my soul. I’m tired of it all. My life is razing to dust right in my face, wasting away everything I’ve built in the past four years. I can’t accept this. 

“Jacob, she has to leave.” I step closer to him, my voice cold with authority as I point at her. “I am your Luna! Keep your promise to me and reject this woman, so peace can reign.”

“I can’t.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Please, Jacob! We will find a good pack for her, where she can settle. Our wolves look up to us and the family we’ve built. We are disappointing them with this drama—”

“Zaneta is carrying my child, Rose! There’s no universe where I’ll choose someone else over her.”

My lips quiver, and I frown, the open wound in my heart spreading. A tear stains my cheek.

Zaneta starts fumbling with her hands. “I’m—I’m sorry for trying to—to come in between the both of you, Luna Rose. You’re right. I’m only a problem to this pack,” she says, sniffling and staring at her feet. 

She wants to kneel before me, but Jacob grabs her arm and hauls her to his side. Rage masks his face instantly. I take a step back, shocked by the sudden hatred in his eyes. 

Jacob summons his guards through a mindlink. “Listen, everyone. I believe the moon goddess made us to be with only our fated mates. What happened between us was a mistake, Rose,” his voice is as cold as steel.

“If you can’t stand the sight of my Zaneta, then you don’t deserve to be the Luna of this pack.”