Chapter 3

When the easel fell on me, the sharp metallic edges pierced straight into my thigh. The excruciating pain caused my vision to suddenly turn black. Warm, sticky blood began pouring out of my wound, dyeing my clothes a crimson red color.

The smell of scorched flesh also invaded my senses, sending a huge chill down my back.

"Brandon… My leg…"

I instinctively looked at him, but I realized that he had already left with Gwyneth in his arms without even looking back at me.

"Shut up, Lina. Werewolves have healing abilities of their own. Stop playing the damsel in distress, for fuck's sake."

Brandon's sentence sent me straight down to the depths of despair.

He knew very well that the pain and suffering of the wound was still very real, even if we possessed healing abilities of our own. Still, his attention was entirely on Gwyneth, and he didn't even bother glancing at me at all.

However, in the past, even if I were just to get a tiny red prick on my finger, he would immediately panic and comfort me gently when he realized it.

I smiled at him and said that it would heal on its own, but he still pulled me anxiously into his arms and said, "Healing abilities? So what? It still hurts every bit! Don't you know that I get anxious even if just a single hair falls off your head?"

And yet, my wound right now was a hundred times worse than that, but he was only concerned about Gwyneth, who had nothing more than a red mark on her cheek.

I looked at the engagement ring on my finger and angrily tossed it into the trash can.

I had initially agreed to his proposal to be his mate and the Luna of the pack. But now, I realized that it wasn't even necessary anymore.

I wiped the tears away from my face and got back on my feet before burning up all of the rest of the paintings in the studio.

After going downstairs, I saw Brandon in the kitchen. To think that he was actually cooking for Gwyneth when he rejected me the last time I asked him nicely to make me some pasta.

"Lina, I am the Alpha of the pack. I'll get laughed at if I step foot into the kitchen just for the sake of a she-wolf. Be good and let the housekeeper make you some food instead."

Now that I looked back at it, it seemed he just didn't want to make any effort for me after all. He kept using his Alpha position as an excuse to mask his arrogance and perfunctoriness in the past, but he didn't mind doing anything for Gwyneth at all.

I suppressed the pain in my chest and stormed upstairs.

…

I never saw Brandon again over the next few days. However, my phone was filled with text messages, photos, and even videos from Gwyneth, showing off how Brandon brought her on a trip around the world just to make it up to her for the slap.

They would always have sex every time they went somewhere new, and Gwyneth would send me all the photos and videos of them doing the deed. She even had some of them printed out and hung them up in the bedroom that I shared with Brandon.

All of the photos of Brandon and me at home were completely replaced by those of her and him. Eventually, there wasn't a single photo of me anywhere anymore.

On the last day, they were approached by a street interviewer who asked them if they were a couple. Gwyneth grinned widely at the camera and said, "Of course!"

Brandon didn't refute or deny her statement at all. Instead, he just looked at her with pure affection in his eyes.

Soon, news of their affair spread all throughout the pack, and everyone said that I was the Alpha's abandoned Luna. They told me that Brandon didn't love me anymore, but I just replied with a smile.

Brandon's voice rang in my ears. He once made a promise to me, saying, "Lina, you will be the only mate for me. I will love nobody else but you."

It had only been a few years since he made that promise to me, but it was already broken and shattered beyond recognition.

I wiped off the last of my tears and looked at the date on my phone.

It was the very last day I had to stay here before I could finally leave.