The Enemy Alpha Wanted His Heartless Luna Chapter 03

I return to the house my mother leaves behind.

Looking at the familiar yard, I can almost see my younger self running around beneath the moonlight, laughing and playing without a care in the world.

When my mother is still alive, I’m never afraid of the Luna selection.

Whenever she tells me about the year she competes, her eyes light up.

“Your dad is such a thoughtful man.”

“He starts searching for moonstone ore six months in advance, all so he can personally craft a Moonstone blessing charm for me before the Luna selection.”

“One day, our Grace will find someone who loves her just as sincerely.”

I dig through the bottom drawer of the cabinet and find the Moonstone my father leaves behind.

If my mother were still alive, I’d gladly give her one of my three personal recommendation tokens. That would be better than wasting all three on them.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s Holden calling.

“Grace, are you still fighting with Brandon? He’s actually come over to stay at my place.”

Before I can answer, Brandon’s lazy voice drifts through the phone.

He’s far enough away that he sounds completely unconcerned.

“That’s just how she is. Whenever she throws a tantrum, she won’t even let me through the door.”

“She has no idea how much this means to someone who’s waited four years to finally have her dream come true.”

Then he lowers his voice and lets out a soft sigh.

“This is the least I can do for Leah.”

Holden covers the microphone and murmurs a response before bringing the phone back to his ear.

“Grace, Brandon says he’ll come pick you up before the procession starts tomorrow…”

“Goodbye.”

I hang up before he can finish.

Throwing a tantrum? Refusing to let him through the door?

He’s talking about the Grace he once treated like she was the most precious thing in the world.

But what good would throwing a tantrum do now?

He wouldn’t even bother knocking on my door a second time.

All I can do now is watch the show.

The following evening, the Mistwood Pack’s Luna’s Procession officially begins.

I’m just about to leave when Brandon sends me a message.

[I’m tied up here. Make your own way over.]

I don’t care.

Before the Luna selection, we attend the Alpha Ball in the North. Brandon promises to return to the pack with me, but he leaves early with Leah instead.

All he sends me is a message.

[Leah is worried the roads between territories will be packed before the selection, so we’re heading back as soon as we finish our business here. Get a ride yourself.]

I should have seen it coming back then.

His sudden enthusiasm for entering me in the Luna selection this year isn’t about helping me overcome my fears. He simply wants to use my recommendation tokens to make another woman’s dream come true.

And foolishly, I’ve always treated him as someone I can depend on.

I’ve always believed he’d choose me with the same wholehearted devotion my father shows my mother, offering me his love as something precious and making his choice without hesitation.

As soon as I arrive at the starting point of the procession, I spot Brandon and Leah standing beside the raised platform, checking the final details of the ceremony together.

Below the platform, a female elder is chatting with another woman.

“The new Luna and Alpha make such a perfect couple this year. They look like the Moon Goddess chose them for each other herself.”

Brandon catches sight of me out of the corner of his eye. His brow furrows.

“What took you so long?”

Leah smoothly jumps in with a smile.

“Grace, don’t forget to take some nice pictures of Brandon and me later!”

I don’t respond.

Brandon takes half a step toward me and lowers his voice.

“You can’t control what other people say. Let them talk. You don’t have to take it to heart.”

I look up at him and ask a question that suddenly comes to mind.

“Do you even understand what it means to be someone’s ceremonial escort?”

“Do you really not know what people are going to say about the two of you, or do you just not care that it might hurt me?”

He pauses, his expression darkening.

“Enough. If you want to make a scene, at least don’t do it here.”

“It’s just a ceremony. I asked you to come because I didn’t want you sitting at home overthinking things. Can you stop being so sensitive for once?”

Sensitive?

My mate is supposed to hold our bonding ceremony with me the very next day, yet he’s so consumed by guilt over another she-wolf that he’s determined to make it up to her with a ceremony that symbolizes a bond between partners.

And somehow, I’m the one who’s being too sensitive?

Leah calls out from behind us.

“Brandon, it’s time! They’re asking us to board the procession boats!”

Brandon turns and walks away.

…

The procession boats eventually reach the pack bridge.

Standing at the bow, Leah performs the final part of the ceremony.

She raises her hand and tosses a laurel token tied with a red ribbon toward the riverbank.

The crowd erupts into excitement, everyone scrambling toward the spot where the token is about to land.

The token spins twice in the air before a hand catches it effortlessly.

It’s Brandon.

He raises the token, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Cheers and teasing shouts immediately erupt from the riverbank.

“Oh my God! If that’s not fate, what is? The guy playing her ceremonial escort actually catches the final token of the Moon Goddess’s blessing!”

“Go after her! A Luna and her escort are a match made in heaven!”

Standing at the bow, Leah raises a hand to cover her face.

“Stop teasing me!” she protests, but her eyes keep drifting toward Brandon.

Brandon glances down at the laurel token in his hand and chuckles softly.

He doesn’t look back at her. Instead, he makes his way through the crowd and heads straight toward the laurel tree.

Toward me.

I stand perfectly still.

Just as he reaches me, the Blood Moon rises to its highest point in the sky.

My wolf lets out one final whimper.

The mate bond between us, already as fragile as a thread of silver, finally snaps.

There’s no pain. No ache.

The love I’ve carried deep in my heart for so long simply disappears.