"Phew, everything is ready. Lights? Check. Scented candles? Check. Even dinner is set,"
Diana exhaled as she ran a hand over her stomach, her gaze fixed on the framed photo of a man hanging in the center of her bedroom, the love of her life. "Cloud will be so happy... This news—he's going to be a father, cool."
Excitement buzzed through her eyes. Despite her constant travels as an ancient artifacts researcher, she had made sure to come home early to surprise him. He thought her flight wouldn't arrive until tomorrow.
"Will he love this surprise? I'm only in my first month, thinking about being able to carry a child chill me..."
She murmured, scanning the room. The air was thick with the scent of luxurious perfumes, the dim lighting casting a romantic glow. Her eyes flicked to the clock—fifteen minutes until he arrived. She rushed to the bathroom to get ready.
Diana had run away with Cloud when she was exiled from the Blue Moon Pack for being a hybrid—on top of that, she had never been able to shift into her wolf form. But Cloud had never left her side. He was her fated mate, her husband her all world. Of course, this news would bring him joy.
Standing before the mirror, she applied her lipstick, taking in her reflection—her sculpted waist, her full hips, her amber eyes wide with anticipation, and the cascade of sunset-red hair tumbling down her bare back.
Her dress clung to her figure, accentuating her curves in all the right ways. She blew a kiss at the mirror. "Now you won't complain about wanting to be a father anymore."
Just then, a strange noise reached her ears. A chill ran down her spine. It was Cloud's voice. But... he wasn't alone.
A dreadful sensation gripped her, her legs nearly giving out as she stumbled toward the door.
"Oh, Cloud... baby, hurry, I can't wait—put it in."
She stopped. The door was only slightly ajar, and through the gap, she could hear a woman's breathless voice.
No. It couldn't be.
Was the love of her life—her mate—cheating on her?
Her lips trembled. One hand instinctively pressed against her stomach. She swallowed hard.
"You have to face this," she whispered, forcing back the tears.
She pushed the door open.
Cloud was there. But he wasn't alone.
A brown -haired woman was pinned beneath him, her body pressed flush against his, his lips trailing down her back.
Not on their bed. Not the bed she had shared every passionate night with him.
Not today.
Not on the day she was supposed to tell him they were having a child.
The candles had been knocked over. The decorations she had so carefully prepared were crushed, scattered across the room—wrecked by their tangled bodies moving from one spot to another.
"Cloud, what the hell?!"
Diana's scream ripped through the air. But the man she loved barely spared her a glance. He only tilted his head up slightly, letting out a low groan as the woman beneath him took control, riding him without a care in the world.
Neither of them acknowledged her presence.
"Oh? Wasn't your flight delayed until tomorrow?"
His voice dripped with mockery as he continued his betrayal, his hands roaming the other woman's body as she moaned his name.
Diana's face burned with humiliation.
"Sweetheart, I thought you arranged this little surprise for me," he said, smirking as he kissed the woman's lips.
Diana's heart shattered.
"Oh, don't mind her," the woman laughed. "I don't even know why you keep her around. She's useless. She can't even give you what I can."
A vase crashed against the floor.
"And she's never here all the time, anyway. She leaves you alone for weeks. Look at me—beautiful, everything you need. And unlike her, I won't abandon you." The woman trailed a hand down Cloud's chest, whispering, "You'll have a child, Cloud... after tonight."
Diana's breath caught.
"This is insane! Cloud, you and I are bound by a sacred—"
Before she could finish, Cloud was in front of her, gripping her wrist and slamming her back against the wall.
"I'm done with you, Diana. I'm sick of waiting. Five years together, and you still haven't given me a child. For God's sake!"
Tears welled in Diana's wide amber eyes.
She wanted to scream that she was pregnant. That she had been planning to tell him tonight.
But seeing him with another woman—seeing him like this—made the words choke in her throat.
"I, Cloud Stivtenio, reject you, Diana."
No.
Not this.
Not to this extent.
Was he really breaking their sacred bond? Over this woman?
The betrayal hit her like a scorching slap.
She collapsed to the floor, watching as Cloud turned back to the brown -haired woman, who stretched her arms toward him.
"My darling, Camellia," he murmured. "I, Cloud Stivtenio, accept you as my fated mate. Will you be mine?"
No. This isn't real.
It couldn't be happening.
Not this fast. Not this easily.
What about everything they had been through? The good times, the struggles, the love?
"Yes," Camellia purred. "A thousand times yes."
Diana felt like vomiting.
She couldn't listen to this. She couldn't bear to watch.
The man she loved.
The man she trusted.
Her only hope.
Gone.
Swiping away the tears staining her cheeks, she forced herself to stand. Her voice was steady despite the pain.
"I, Diana, accept your rejection, Cloud."
She Declared then she ran. Out of the room.
Out of the home they had built together.
The home they had worked so hard to buy when they first came to the city of Marcil, ruled by the strongest pack in the region.
She stumbled on the pavement, her heel snapping.
"Ah... sorry, little one," she whispered, cradling her stomach. "Looks like your father won't be part of our family after all. But you… you're all I have left."
For some reason, the tears wouldn't stop.
Why couldn't Cloud have waited?