Chapter 12
1093words
A sea of black umbrellas, like a silent, dark cloud, hovered over the Black Moon pack's cemetery.
Dressed in a black, custom-tailored suit with a single white daisy on his lapel, Aiden stood woodenly beside the lavish coffin.
He was like a hollow sculpture, accepting condolences from the mourners with mechanical movements.
"Alpha, our deepest sympathies."
"Aiden, you need to be strong for the pack."
Every werewolf who passed by couldn't help but sigh at the sight of his bloodshot, lifeless eyes.
Such a perfect pair.
How could they be torn apart by death so suddenly?
The rain poured down, drenching everyone's clothes.
After the crowd dispersed, Aiden could no longer hold himself up. With a thud, he fell heavily to his knees in the mud.
Before him was the cold, black marble headstone.
[Elara: Black Moon's One and Only Beloved Luna]
The name, carved in elegant script, pierced his eyes like needles.
He shakily raised his hand, his fingertips tracing the cold engraving over and over. Finally, he pressed his feverish forehead against the headstone, letting the rain and tears mix freely.
"Elara... I'm so sorry..."
"How could you be so cruel? You won't even visit me in my dreams!"
Since the funeral, Aiden had locked himself away in the master bedroom that once belonged to them.
It was a sealed-off space, filled with the stench of strong liquor and decay.
Like an addict, he drank high-proof elven spirits day and night, trying to numb the screaming agony of his severed mate bond.
He wanted to be drunk.
If he were drunk, maybe he could see her in his dreams.
But it was as if Elara truly hated him to the core.
For a full week, no matter how he begged, no matter how he screamed her name in his nightmares, she never once appeared.
The other end of their mate bond remained eternally, deathly silent.
Another empty bottle shattered against the wall.
Aiden collapsed onto the carpet, his vision blurring.
Just then, a pale hand picked up the rolling bottle.
"Aiden, why are you drinking so much?"
The voice was gentle, tinged with a shy hesitation.
Aiden snapped his head up.
Through his drunken haze, he saw a white figure standing against the light in the doorway.
The silhouette, the long hair, even the hesitant posture of wanting to approach but not daring to—it was all so much like Elara.
His heart began to pound, and blood rushed to his head.
"Elara?"
He scrambled up from the floor like a drowning man grasping a piece of driftwood, lunging forward and pulling the person into a crushing embrace.
"Elara! Is it you? You came back?"
"I knew you were lying to me... You're not dead, are you? You've finally come to see me..."
He frantically buried his face in her neck, trying to find that moonlit scent that haunted his soul.
The woman in his arms winced. His grip was tight enough to crack bone.
"Aiden... you're hurting me!"
But Aiden didn't seem to hear. He cupped her face with trembling hands, his confession a jumbled mess.
"I shouldn't have lied to you... I shouldn't have touched that woman... I was wrong, so wrong... Don't go, I'm begging you, don't leave me again..."
Hearing him chant Elara's name, a twisted jealousy flashed in Cassia's eyes.
Why?!
That bitch was already dead, turned to ash, yet she still occupied the Alpha's heart!
Couldn't he just open his eyes and see her?
Suppressing the hatred in her heart, Cassia wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice turning syrupy and sweet.
"Aiden, look closely. It's me. I'm Cassia."
Aiden's body went rigid.
The scent filling his nostrils was no longer the clean scent of moonlight, but a cheap mixture of powder and perfume.
The infatuation in his eyes receded in an instant, replaced by a towering wave of disgust.
His hands slid from her cheeks, but a moment later, they shot back to close mercilessly around her slender neck.
Before Cassia could react, she was thrown with immense force.
Her entire body slammed onto the leather sofa nearby, bouncing a few times before coming to a stop.
"Ah! My stomach..."
Cassia let out a pained cry, clutching her belly. Her face went pale as she watched the man approach like the grim reaper.
"Aiden, what's wrong with you?"
Aiden looked down at her, all traces of his former affection gone.
"Who let you in here?"
His voice was low, each word squeezed from between his teeth.
"I warned you to stay away from her!"
"Why did you have to provoke her!"
"Did you have any idea the things you sent would kill her?"
Cassia was stunned. She had never seen this violent side of Aiden.
The Alpha who had always been considerate, even at his roughest in bed, now looked like he wanted to tear her limb from limb.
She collapsed to her knees and crawled to his feet, crying a river of tears.
"Aiden! I didn't want this to happen!"
"I was just... I was just thinking about our pup."
"I was afraid our pup would be born without a father, that he would be called a bastard... I only did those stupid things because I love you too much!"
"Aiden, for the pup's sake, please forgive me this one time, okay? Elara is already dead, let's start over..."
She sobbed, trying to use her tears and their unborn child to wring one last ounce of pity from him.
But she had forgotten.
In all his years leading the Black Moon pack, Aiden hated nothing more than being threatened, especially by the very person who had caused the death of his beloved.
He stared at Cassia's face, the face he had once been so captivated by, and now found it utterly hideous and ironic.
It was this woman who, in league with the black magic, had pushed him and Elara into the abyss.
He slowly knelt, his long fingers gripping Cassia's chin, forcing her to look up.
"Forgive you? Fine."
Cassia froze, a spark of hope igniting in her eyes.
She knew it! The Alpha couldn't bear to...
But before the smile could fully form on her lips, she heard the man whisper in her ear, pronouncing her sentence.
"Since you're so desperate for forgiveness, then go die."
"If you're truly sincere, then go to hell and atone to Elara in person."
