Bound to the Bar. Crowned as the Moon Dance Queen Chapter 03

Bound to the Bar. Crowned as the Moon Dance Queen Chapter 03

That night, I didn’t sleep a wink.

I thought about a lot of things.

I remembered when we were kids practicing gymnastics, he always said my wolf was too bulky, my form was off, I needed him to fix it.

I remembered when we were in middle school, he told everyone I was frumpy and had no style.

I remembered after Delia transferred in high school, he said Delia had the perfect body, she was born to do gymnastics.

So his disrespect had been there all along, obvious if I knew where to look.

I was just the one lying to myself.

That afternoon, I dragged myself to the pack administration office to file my transfer paperwork.

Moon Dance Academy only accepted the best dancers—it had been my dream once.

But to stay with Rhys, I’d trained competitive gymnastics with him since I was little.

He was the shining star, I was the quiet sidekick.

I’d drifted further and further away from my dream.

But after what happened the night before, it all clicked for me.

Here, I’d always just be Rhys’ plus one.

When anyone mentioned me, the first thing they thought was “Rhys’ future Luna.”

And now, I guessed that’d turn into “the joke they tied to the horizontal bar”.

Mrs. Iris looked surprised when she saw my application. “Maren, are you sure you want to transfer mid-semester?”

“I’m sure.”

“But your grades have always been excellent! Why would you transfer so suddenly?”

“The pack competition is starting soon, if you transfer now, all the work you put in before goes to waste, doesn’t it?”

I paused for a second. “Personal reasons.”

Mrs. Iris tried to talk me out of it a few more times, but saw I was set on leaving, so she stamped the form.

That same afternoon, all my paperwork was finalized.

“If you want, you can start classes there next Monday.”

“Thank you so much.”

I nodded.

When I was leaving, she called me back.

“Honey. New pack, new start, okay?

“Leave everything in the past. You deserve so much better.”

My eyes stung with tears again.

A stranger’s kindness hurt more than the cruelty from a wolf I’d known my whole life.

When I walked out of the office, the sun was so bright it almost blinded me.

I took a deep breath.

A new start was coming.

“Maren Ellery, you can do this. You definitely can.”

…

Friday morning, I grabbed my backpack and left home like any other day.

When I got to the academy, everything looked normal.

Except all the wolves kept staring at me weirdly. Whispering to each other, snickering.

“You saw the photos too, right? Crazy.”

“I heard Rhys went to her place yesterday looking for her, and she just straight up ignored him.”

“So ungrateful.”

I walked to my seat with a blank face.

They could say whatever they want. This was my last day here anyway.

Rhys was already sitting at his desk.

He turned around. “Still mad?”

He tried to sound like he was joking, but his eyes held that Alpha heir arrogance, like my hurt was just me throwing a tantrum.

“I got tickets for the Moon Festival. We’ll go after practice, yeah?

“Oh, I even got you that honey cake you like. You’ll stop being mad after you eat it, right?”

I ignored him and started packing up my things.

“Maren, you’re overreacting,” his voice turned impatient. “I already said I was sorry. What more do you want? It was just a joke a few days ago.”

Just then, Delia walked in.

“Good morning, Rhys,” her voice was sweet as honey. “Oh, Maren, how are you holding up? I’m so sorry about everything that happened…”

She bit her lip, looking the picture of innocence.

“I never actually thought they’d go that far. It was just supposed to be a joke…”

“It’s fine,” I cut her off.

I didn’t want to hear her fake apology.

I wasn’t gonna waste my last day here on her.

Rhys immediately jumped in like a guard dog.

“Delia already apologized. Stop making a big deal out of this. She didn’t mean any harm.

“You know how she is, she’s just sweet, she doesn’t think before she talks.”

Sweet?

I almost laughed out loud.

Delia Vane was the most manipulative she-wolf I’d ever met. All sugar on the surface, a total venomous snake underneath.

But Rhys ate every bit of it up.

I walked to the back of the classroom and sat in an empty seat.

I didn’t want to be near them, didn’t even want to smell their scents.

I sat in the back row with my backpack in my lap the whole day.

By last period, I’d packed everything up.

I wasn’t leaving a single thing behind.

I was leaving clean.

Rhys noticed. “Why’d you pack everything? Aren’t you coming tomorrow?”

He was joking, voice light, even smiling.

But he didn’t know he was right.

I looked at him one last time. This wolf I’d loved since I was a pup.

I wanted to ask him—did all those years we spent under the same moon mean anything at all to you?

I wanted to ask—did your wolf ever really care about mine?

I wanted to ask—if we could do this all over again, would you still treat me this way?

But I didn’t ask.

What was the point?

I already knew the answer.

The school bell rang.

I grabbed my bag and walked out without looking back.

Before I boarded the bus, texts from Rhys popped up one after another.

[Why’d you leave without waiting for me? Where are you?]

[Whatever, just meet me at the Moon Festival. I’ll wait for you]

I stared at the last line for a second, then turned my phone off completely.

You’d be waiting a long time, Rhys.

We’d never see each other again.