You're lying."
The words left my lips before I could stop them.
Thin.
Fragile.
Like they would break if anyone touched them.
I shook my head slowly, taking a step back.
"No…no...no... there's no way…" My voice trembled. "Ethan would never...."
"Would never what?"
Selene's voice cut through mine, smooth and sharp at the same time.
I looked at her.
Really looked at her.
She stood there like she belonged in the center of everything.
Like the moonlight itself had chosen her.
Her blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, catching the silver glow. Not a strand out of place. Not a flaw in sight.
Even the way she held herself...
Chin slightly raised.
Shoulders relaxed.
Eyes calm.
Confident.
Like she had already won.
"Choose someone better?" she finished, tilting her head slightly.
A few people nearby let out quiet laughs.
Not loud.
Not obvious.
But enough.
Enough for me to hear.
Enough for me to feel it.
My fingers curled tighter into my palms.
My whole self felt so disappointed.....
The sting grounded me.
Kept me from falling apart too quickly.
"That's not true," I said again, though my voice had lost its strength. "Ethan wouldn't....."
"Tell her."
Ethan!!!
Tell her!!!
Selene didn't even look at me when she said it.
Her gaze remained on Ethan.
Like she was giving an order.
"Tell her the truth."
She said.....
While her gaze still fixed on him....
The air shifted.
I felt it in the way the crowd leaned in.
In the way conversations died down.
In the way even the wind seemed to pause.
Everything was waiting.
Waiting for him....
Waiting to hear him....
Ethan exhaled slowly.
The sound was quiet.
But I heard it.
Because I was still holding onto something...
Some small, desperate hope that this would all make sense.
That he would look at me and laugh and say it was all a misunderstanding...
That he would take my hand again and tell them all they were wrong....
But he didn't.
"I'm going to marry Selene."
The words didn't hit all at once.
They came slowly.
Like drops of water.
Cold.
Relentless.
"I'm going to marry Selene."
Phewwwww I breathe out weakly
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
No... Ethan...
"You don't mean that," I whispered.
But even as I said it, something deep inside me knew the truth.
"I do."
His voice was steady.
Too steady.
Like he had practiced it.
Like he had said it before.
Just… not to me.
And that was too disappointing....
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"Of course he is…"
"She's the strongest female in the pack…"
"They look perfect together…"
Perfect...?.....?
The word twisted painfully in my chest.
My gaze dropped again to their hands.
Still intertwined.
Still firm.
I remembered the first time Ethan had held my hand.
I had been shaking.
Barely holding myself together after my parents' funeral.
The pack had gathered just like this.
Watching.
Whispering.
Judging.
And he had stepped forward.
Taken my hand.
Held it tight.
"I'm here," he had whispered.
I had believed him.
God… I had believed him.
"You'll survive, Aria."
Really....!!!,..you will survive.
His voice pulled me back.
Present.
Reality.
I looked up slowly.
His expression hadn't changed.
Still calm.
Still distant.
"You always do," he added.
Like this was just another moment.
Another test.
Another thing I would get over.
Like I wasn't breaking right in front of him.
Something inside me snapped.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just… quietly.
Like a thread that had been pulled too tight for too long.
"You always do."
I let out a small laugh.
It sounded wrong.
Unfamiliar.
Because he was right.
I had always survived.
The whispers.
The loneliness.
The way people looked at me like I didn't belong.
I had survived all of it.
But this?
This felt different.
This felt like something I wasn't supposed to survive.
"Aria…"
For a second....
Just a second....
There was something in his voice.
Something softer.
Regret?
But it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.
Selene's fingers tightened slightly around his hand.
A small movement.
Barely noticeable.
But I saw it.
And so did he.
Because whatever had flickered in his eyes....
Whatever hesitation had tried to surface....
It disappeared.
Completely.
Replaced by something firm.
Resolved.
Final.
"Let's go," Selene said lightly.
Like this was over.
Like I was no longer part of the conversation.
No longer part of anything.
Ethan didn't argue.
But how can he not?....
Didn't even hesitate....
He just… nodded.
And turned away.
Just like that?.
No goodbye?.
No apology?.
No explanation?.
Nothing?.
The same person who once swore he would never leave me?
Walked away like I had never mattered.
The crowd shifted as they moved.
Making space.
Clearing a path.
For them.
Not for me.
Never for me.
I stood there.
Still.
As the whispers grew louder.
"She really thought…"
"How embarrassing…"
"Rejected the moment she awakened…"
Each word pressed against me.
But I didn't move.
Couldn't move.
Because if I did
If I took even one step....
I was afraid everything holding me together would fall apart.
So I stayed.
Until their figures disappeared into the crowd.
Until the last trace of them was gone.
Until the space beside me felt colder than it ever had before.
And only then…
Did I realize something.
It wasn't just the bond that had been broken.
It was everything.
Every memory.
Every promise.
Every moment I thought meant something.
Gone.
And this time...
There was no one left to stand beside me.