Aiden had finally come out of the forest.
It had been two weeks since the bond was revealed. Two long, aching weeks of silence and staring at the moon until his eyes stung. The pack had tried to stop him from leaving—to find her—but he had grown tired of obeying rules written for wolves who never had to lose someone the way he had.
Today, he'd ignored them.
Jeans on. Hoodie up. No trace of his wolf left to see. He wasn't here as a beta. He wasn't here as anyone's mate.
Just... Aiden.
The human part of him that still hurt like hell.
He followed Evelyn's scent through the streets—faint but still familiar—and ended up in front of the school building. He checked the time.
"2 PM," he murmured.
He leaned against the iron fence, waiting. Voices rose as students spilled from the building, laughter and footsteps filling the sidewalk. Then he saw her.Evelyn.
Same green eyes. Same warmth in her cheeks. Her hair was pulled into a loose braid and she wore a hoodie and jeans that reminded him painfully of when they used to match.His feet moved before he could think.
"Aiden?"
She barely recognized him before he stepped in front of her, gently gripping her wrist. His other hand pulled back the hood.
"Evelyn," he said, with a small, almost broken smile.Her eyes widened.
"You look like a ghost," she whispered.
He let out a breath, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "Feels like it."She stared at him a moment longer, then slowly pulled her wrist free. "Why are you here?"
His heart twisted. "To see you.""You left.""I had to—""No. You didn't." Her voice was sharp now, angry.Aiden stepped back, the smile dying on his lips. "I didn't choose this bond.""But it still happened.""I didn't want it to," he said, louder now. "I still don't.""You bonded with him."
The word hung between them like poison.
She wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you... do you love him?"
Aiden's lips parted—but no words came out. He didn't know what he felt. Rage? Confusion? Attraction? All of it?
"I don't know," he whispered.
Evelyn looked at him for a long moment. "Then why are you here?"He looked down. "To say goodbye. Properly."
Silence.
Then, Evelyn nodded. Once. Slowly. She stepped forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek—the same cheek she always used to kiss when they met.
"For what it's worth," she said, "you were my first love." He shut his eyes as the words stabbed deep.
"You were mine, too." And then—she walked away. This time, he didn't stop her.Aiden's heart felt hollow. He stood there as Evelyn's footsteps carried her farther away—until something cracked deep in his chest.
He ran after her.
No plan. No words. Just a desperate ache burning under his skin.He didn't grab her—just rushed in front of her, blocking her path with shaky breath and trembling eyes.
"Evelyn... I need to tell you something," he said, voice unsteady.She stopped, blinking up at him, waiting.
But as soon as their eyes met, Aiden froze. The words dissolved on his tongue. Her gaze still held the warmth he once knew, but now it was wrapped in layers of pain, disbelief, distance.He sank into her eyes—drowning. He forgot to speak.
A long minute passed.
Evelyn let out a soft sigh and tried to step around him.
He reached out, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I... I love you," he said quickly, almost choking on the words. "I really do. I wanted—hoped—it was you the moon god chose for me."His voice cracked.
"I want to be with you. I–I can suppress the bond. I can ignore it. Please... just don't go." His voice climbed in pitch, desperate. The final words slipped from his lips in a whisper. Barely audible. Begging.
Evelyn stared at him.And then she laughed.
Not a soft, sweet laugh. But something jagged. Bitter. A sound that made Aiden flinch."Wasn't it you," she said, her voice low and rough, "who told me that the bond was the most important thing to a werewolf?"
Her eyes glistened now, but she didn't cry.
"That it was unbreakable. That it was... fate?"
Aiden's breath caught. His hand dropped from her shoulder. She wasn't wrong. He had said that. Back when things were easy. Back when he thought fate would be kind."I didn't know then," he whispered.
"No," Evelyn said, backing away a step. "But now you do. And still you came here pretending it doesn't matter. That we can just... undo it."
Aiden shook his head. "I'm not pretending."
"Yes, you are." Her voice trembled now, a sharp mix of fury and grief. "You feel it, don't you? When he's near. Like the bond's pulling at you."He said nothing.
"And when he's not, you ache."
Still silence.
"Then don't stand here and lie to me, Aiden." She stepped around him again, and this time he didn't stop her. Couldn't.
He turned his head just enough to whisper, more to himself than her, "I still love you..." And Evelyn, walking away without looking back, whispered too— "I know."
Aiden stood frozen on the sidewalk, Evelyn's scent still lingering in the air long after she vanished into the crowd of students. The ache in his chest didn't dull—it burned hotter. He clenched his fists in the pocket of his hoodie, head down, teeth gritted.
He felt like his lungs were full of smoke.
The bond tugged at him faintly. A soft pulse under his skin. Not Evelyn's scent. Not her warmth.Him.
Theron.
Aiden growled low in his throat before quickly silencing himself. People were still walking around him, unaware. Human.
He didn't belong here.Not anymore.Not in the pack.Not in the city.Not even with Evelyn.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it.
He turned and started walking—faster, then running—through the streets until his feet hit dirt. Trees rose around him again. His world. The forest. The moon was already starting to show in the early dusk sky, faint and pale.
He collapsed onto the cold ground just inside the tree line, breathing hard.
He didn't know how long he stayed there. He wanted to scream, but the sound stuck in his throat.
He closed his eyes.
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Somewhere in the forest, not far away, Theron stood with arms crossed, bare chest lit by silver light. He hadn't followed Aiden to the school. But he'd known. He'd felt it. The tension through the bond had spiked like lightning.
He ran a hand through his long white hair and muttered, "Idiot."
But the concern in his amber eyes betrayed him.
The wolves around him stirred, sensing their king's unrest even if they didn't understand it.Theron turned away and walked deeper into the trees, muttering something ancient under his breath. The trees shifted around him, clearing a path.
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Back in the clearing, Aiden slowly shifted—just his hands first, clawed, flexing in the dirt—then the rest of him. His black wolf emerged from the broken shell of his human form, panting, heart pounding in his chest.
He didn't know who he was anymore. He didn't want to feel this. He didn't want him—Theron—to feel it either. But he knew that was already too late.
Aiden walk back to the streets, night swallowing his black fur, blue eyes glowing faintly, his paw took him on a very familiar old path, the path to Evelyn house.
he only got to set a paw on the front yard, when Evelyn storm out "Aiden what are you doing here!" Aiden stop, blue wolf eyes look up at her, tail wagging a soft whine.
Evelyn didn't smile, her eyes was fill with rage and grief "don't you fucking understand?! we breaking up!"
Aiden lowered his head, his glowing blue eyes wide with pain, ears flat against his skull. The sharpness of Evelyn's voice cut through him deeper than claws ever could.
Her hands trembled at her sides. She wasn't wearing a coat. Just a loose hoodie and pajama pants. Like she'd rushed out in a fury—because of him.
"I told you!" she shouted, voice breaking. "You made your choice, Aiden. You chose the bond. You let me go the moment you didn't fight for us."
Aiden took a cautious step forward, his large paws silent on the frosty ground. A soft whimper rumbled from his throat, a sound full of longing and guilt.
"I don't care if you're hurting," Evelyn snapped, blinking fast to hold back tears. "You left me in the dirt that night. Do you know how that felt?"
The black wolf stood there, still and heavy with sorrow. The wind tugged at Evelyn's hair, and for a moment everything went quiet between them. Only the moon bore witness.
Then Aiden stepped back.
Slowly, reluctantly, he turned around—tail low, body tense with regret—and padded away.Evelyn watched him go, one hand rising halfway in the air like she might call him back... but she didn't.
The door slammed behind her.
Not long after, deeper in the forest, Theron stood atop a hill overlooking the city lights. His eyes were closed, but he was seeing everything—feeling everything through the bond.
He didn't smile.Didn't speak.But the moonlight around him shimmered brighter.
The king was listening.And for the first time in a very long time... He felt jealousy.