Everywhere I went, I could feel their eyes on me. Hear their whispers.
“The Luna.”
“The one Alpha keeps cheating on.”
“How pitiful.”
“I heard she cried all night.”
A bitter smile tugged at my lips. They weren’t wrong. I had cried.
“Stephanie.”
I turned to see Elder Elisse approaching me once again. There was something different in her expression this time. Something heavier.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
I studied her for a moment. The former Luna. A woman who had once held the same position I did now.
Did she feel this way too, once upon a time? Or was this pain uniquely mine?
“I want to leave,” I said quietly.
Her eyes widened.
“Leave… the pack?”
I nodded.
“I can’t stay here anymore.” My voice remained calm, but inside, everything felt like it was falling apart. “I accepted the Luna position because I thought he would love me forever.”
I let out a soft, humorless laugh.
“How foolish of me.”
“Stephanie—”
“For your granddaughter,” I continued, my voice trembling slightly now, “please help me.”
Her gaze softened instantly.
“I’ll go crazy if I stay here any longer,” I admitted. “I don’t want my child to grow up watching this. I don’t want her to think this is what love looks like.”