chapter 6

Bella knew those hands way too well.

Five hours ago, those same hands had been sitting on the edge of her bed, carefully pulling the blanket up over her.

And last month, those hands had slipped a bonding ring onto her finger. Ryan had cupped her face in front of the entire Pack and kissed her, saying, "This for the Shadow Pack's future Luna."

Thinking about how close they'd been back then made her stomach turn.

In the video, Lina smiled like she'd won the lottery. She grabbed that hand and leaned through the open car window to kiss him.

Bella remembered how Ryan used to touch her—always with restraint, always holding back. But with Lina, he didn't hesitate for even a second.

In the video, Lina smiled smugly and leaned in to kiss the owner of that hand.

The wet, intimate sounds of their kissing got captured crystal clear on camera.

Their bold display drew gasps from everyone watching.

Someone muttered, "Is it just me, or does that guy look a lot like Alpha Ryan?"

But that whisper got drowned out fast by all the congratulations flooding in.

Nobody wanted to call it out. Or maybe the whole Pack had already accepted that Lina and Ryan were together, and she was the only one—his actual Mate—still left in the dark.

Ryan hadn't just betrayed her. He was actively denying their Mate bond, turning her into some kind of joke that the Pack could laugh at whenever they felt like it.

Bella's fingers tightened around her communicator until her knuckles went white. It felt like someone had wrapped a giant fist around her heart and was squeezing, making it impossible to breathe.

She slammed the communicator face-down, but her vision was already blurring.

The image of Ryan and Lina kissing kept replaying in her head, refusing to leave her alone.

She clutched at her chest, the bitterness and suffocating pain inside threatening to drive her completely insane.

She remembered how after her parents died, Ryan had stood in front of her and said, "I'll be the one you can rely on from now on." And she'd believed him.

But what the hell did Ryan actually see her as? Some tool to keep the Pack stable? Or just temporary comfort until he found an Omega who could give him pups?

If he really loved Lina, then why was he so hell-bent on completing the bond with her?

Did he want to bond with her just so she could wear the title of Luna while watching him raise pups with Lina? Did he expect his human Mate to wake up every day and face his kids with another Omega, turning her into the Pack's biggest joke?

Her eyes stung, and she tilted her head back. Then Bella suddenly slapped herself across the face. The sharp pain snapped her back to reality for a moment.

The sound of her palm hitting her cheek echoed through the empty mansion.

"Why did I even click on it? God, I'm pathetic."

She threw herself onto the couch, breathing hard. Bitter tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

She couldn't cry anymore. Crying was weakness.

She raised her hand to cover her eyes and kept repeating the same thing in her head.

Soon... She'd be gone soon.

The witch had already found a body with a similar build to hers, and it would arrive at Shadow Pack in the next couple of days.

When the time came, she'd give Ryan the shock of his life at the Mate ceremony by "dying" right in front of everyone.

She'd make him pay for his betrayal in front of the entire Pack, and then she'd disappear from his world completely. Like she was never there at all.

Ryan didn't come back to the Shadow mansion for the next few days.

As for where he was? Lina's videos had already given her that answer.

In the video, Ryan was crouched down in front of Lina with the softest expression on his face.

Just like every first-time father, he carefully pressed his hands against her belly, waiting to feel some sign of movement from the baby inside.

Bella couldn't watch anymore. She closed her communicator with a blank expression.

After a long moment, she let out a bitter laugh at herself.

He'd never looked forward to anything like that with her. Not once. She'd even asked him before, "What do you think our baby would be like?" and all he'd said was something vague like "We'll talk about it after we're bonded."

Turns out he never planned on having a baby with her from the start. Lina and the baby she was carrying were what he actually wanted.