Novel Therapy

Celeste helped me decorate the altar where Callum was supposed to mark me. Half an hour later, I learned she’d already had his mouth, his scent, his nights, his promises. I got the Wolf Moon fantasy. She got the Alpha in bed. So at their ceremony, I took the mic and asked: “Does my mate treat you gently there too?” 1 **Aveline’s POV** Eight years into our long-distance mate bond, Alpha Callum Blackthorne and I finally made a vow. This year, beneath the Wolf Moon, we would complete our Mate Ceremony. I flew overnight from Moonveil Pack to Stormhaven Pack, ready to build our marking altar with my own hands. Silver moonvine curled around the arch. The camera was ready. The full moon would rise tomorrow. I had planned to stand before him and say: Callum, I want to be your Luna. I want you to mark me. I want to give you every year I have left. Then my phone vibrated. Callum’s message appeared. [I’ve been with your best friend, Celeste Vayne, for eight years.] My whole body went cold. Another message followed. [Every time you fly here to see me, I spend the night with her first to calm her wolf.] My wolf, Lyra, let out a broken whimper inside me. Celeste stood only a few steps away, wrapping moonvine around the altar. Half an hour ago, she had smiled and wished me joy as Stormhaven Pack’s Luna. My best friend. My phone buzzed again. [Celeste said you want me to mark you under the Wolf Moon.] [I bought a ring. I was going to propose to her tomorrow, under the Blue Moon.] [If you can’t handle it, we can break things off.] [Or we can keep hooking up. Your choice.] I nearly doubled over. Celeste walked toward me, gentle and smiling. “Aveline, when your ceremony is done, I’ll stand beside you. I want to watch you become the happiest Luna.” I ripped my hand from hers. Her face flashed with shock. “Aveline?” Before I could answer, Callum’s voice sounded behind me. “Ave.” I turned. He stood there in a black suit, Celeste’s scent clinging thick to his skin. “I fell irreversibly in love with Celeste first.” He didn’t come to me. He stepped in front of her. Shielded her. “Take your anger out on me if you must,” he said. “But leave Celeste out of it. She has suffered enough.” I stared at him. Eight years. I had crossed half the country again and again for this mate bond. I had waited, believed, loved. He had gone to my best friend’s bed before every visit. And now he said she suffered? I grabbed the camera tripod and hurled it at him. It struck his forehead. The wound sealed fast, but the red trail stayed on his face. I destroyed the altar I had built for us. “How could you?” I screamed. “How could you do this to me?” Our friends rushed in. “Aveline, enough!” “He’s Stormhaven Pack’s Alpha!” “Everyone knew about Callum and Celeste. We hid it because you couldn’t handle the truth.” “They’ve loved each other in secret for eight years. Let them be happy.” My raised hand froze. Everyone knew. Only I was the fool. Thunder cracked overhead. Clouds swallowed the Full Moon. Rain poured down. The crowd ran for shelter. I stayed in the storm. Callum took off his jacket and held it over Celeste’s head. She curled into his arms and glanced back at me. No guilt. Only victory. Then pain tore through my lower body. Rain mixed with the warm stain spreading down my dress. I stared at it numbly. This was supposed to be my second surprise. Half a month ago, I had learned I was carrying Callum’s pup. 2 **Aveline’s POV** I woke inside Stormhaven Pack’s infirmary. Rain beat against the windows. The Blue Moon was hidden behind black clouds. My hand moved to my stomach. A dull ache answered me. Outside the door, Celeste sobbed. “Callum, go back to Aveline. She’s carrying your pup. The healer said this may be her only chance to carry one to full term.” My breath stopped. My only chance. Callum’s voice followed, tight with resentment. “Celeste, you stayed hidden with me for eight years because of her. You suffered without a title. Are you really willing to step back now?” “Her happiness matters,” he said. “But what about yours? Don’t push me back to a woman I don’t love.” The door slammed open. Callum stood there, cold and sharp. “Aveline, I will never mark you in this lifetime.” A bank card flew onto my hospital gown. “There’s fifty grand on it. The PIN is Celeste’s birthday. I saved it to take her on a trip after our ceremony.” He looked straight at me. “Give up all claim to the pup. Take 500k. Consider it a settlement for the years you wasted coming here.” My fingers shook around the card. While I planned our ceremony, he planned her proposal. “Get out,” I shouted. “You can’t buy my pup with her birthday.” Callum only scoffed. “Celeste and I love each other honestly. What’s wrong with that? You were the one clinging to a bond that ended long ago.” His words struck the deepest wound inside me. Eight years ago, after learning I had grown up orphaned, Callum bought me a moonstone necklace with almost all his Alpha allowance. “Ave,” he had whispered then, “I’ll cherish you. Protect you. Give you a real home.” That man was gone. This one only looked at me like I was an obstacle. “I’m giving you twenty-four hours,” he said. “Take the 500k and leave Stormhaven Pack, or I’ll have you removed.” He left. I sat alone, staring at the card in my palm. Celeste’s birthday. That was the passcode to the price of my heartbreak. I booked the earliest flight back to Moonveil Pack. Then another message arrived. [Celeste isn’t just my lover.] [She saved my life during the earthquake eight years ago.] [I can’t betray her.] [So I have to betray you.] I stared at those words until my vision blurred. Because the one who pulled Callum from the rubble eight years ago was me. 3 **Aveline’s POV** I was the one who saved Callum during the earthquake. I dug him out with my bare hands, shifting broken concrete and twisted steel until my palms split open and my fingers went numb. I dragged his unconscious body free, took him to South Harbor Medical Center, then collapsed. When I woke, I never told him. I didn’t want his love to come from debt. I told only Celeste. Back then, she was my closest friend. I never imagined she would steal the truth and use it to steal my mate. The next morning, I went straight to the airport. I had barely taken my boarding pass when Callum grabbed my wrist. “Aveline, Celeste got into a crash.” His eyes burned red. “Are you happy now?” I froze. “She was driving here to stop you. She said she would give me back. This is your fault.” He dragged me from the airport to the Stormhaven infirmary. The moment we entered, he shoved me toward a healer assistant. “You and Celeste both carry Golden Line compatibility. Draw from her. Save Celeste.” I stumbled back. “My body is already fragile. This could risk the pup.” I looked at him, shaking. “Callum. This is your pup too.” The healer hesitated. Callum didn’t. “It’s just an unborn pup. If it’s lost, it’s lost.” He said it like our child meant nothing. “If you want another one someday, I can make you godmother to mine and Celeste’s.” Lyra roared inside me. The healer assistant raised her hands. “Alpha, this violates pack medical code. We cannot draw from an unwilling she-wolf carrying a fragile pup.” Callum’s face hardened. “I’ll take responsibility. Celeste comes first.” My strength drained fast. My sight blurred. Callum stood beside me, voice softening just slightly. “Ave, you’re the only match. Celeste is your best friend. You wouldn’t watch her fade, would you?” Silent tears slid down my face. I had always given Celeste everything. At the Moonveil orphanage, I split my food with her. When a couple wanted to adopt me, I gave her the chance instead. I thought she was my family. Now I was being forced to sacrifice my pup for hers. Pain ripped through me. The healer assistant panicked. “Alpha Callum, we have to stop. She’ll lose the pup if we continue.” I reached for Callum’s suit, begging without words. He looked away. “Keep going,” he said. “Celeste’s life matters more.” Yesterday, I dreamed of becoming his Luna. Now I was losing everything. My mate. My best friend. And my only pup. 4 **Aveline’s POV** After hours of emergency treatment, the healer stepped out with a covered tray in her hands. She couldn’t meet my eyes. “I’m sorry, Miss Wren. Your pup is gone.” The world went silent. I cried until my eyes burned and my throat broke. Not long after, Callum entered, supporting Celeste. She looked pale and delicate, her voice trembling with fake gratitude. “Thank you for saving my life, Aveline.” She held my hand. “I can’t keep running from happiness. I’m going to marry Callum. Please forgive me. Come be my bridesmaid. Stand beside us and bless us, okay?” I stared at her soft face. Her happiness mattered. Mine could be destroyed. I didn’t scream. I only asked, “Celeste, do you remember what you promised me before you climbed into his bed?” Her face drained. “You swore you’d protect Callum for me,” I said. “You said if any she-wolf tried to steal him, you’d defend me first. What about yourself?” “Aveline, enough,” Callum said coldly. Then he stepped in front of her again. “I forced Celeste into everything. I pressured her first. She tried to push me away, but I wouldn’t let her go.” He took every stain onto himself, desperate to keep her pure. Eight years of my love became a joke. I looked at them both. “If you two truly love each other, I’ll attend your Mate Ceremony.” Celeste stared at me. Callum frowned. I smiled. “After all, you were once the two most important people in my life.” Three days later, Stormhaven Pack’s Alpha Hall was filled with silver moonvine and cheering guests. They called Callum and Celeste star-crossed lovers. They said she was the only woman worthy of the Luna crown. I stood in the crowd, listening to my own humiliation dressed up as romance. Celeste pulled me onto the stage and placed a microphone in my hand. “Aveline, you’re my best friend. Say a blessing for us.” She wanted my blessing to wash away her betrayal. I smiled. The hall went silent. I looked straight at her. “My best friend,” I said softly, “does my mate treat you gently in bed?” Chaos exploded. Celeste went pale. Callum shoved me hard. I hit the edge of the platform, palms scraping against stone. “Aveline Wren,” he snarled. “What is wrong with you?” I pushed myself up. Callum grabbed my gown and dragged me toward the entrance. “If I had known Celeste was the one who saved me,” he said, “I never would’ve gotten together with you.” Just before he threw me out, I laughed. “Callum.” He froze. I opened my palm. A thick scar ran from my wrist toward my knuckles, pale and permanent beneath the moonlight. “The woman who saved you wasn’t Celeste.” His pupils widened. I looked straight at him. “During that earthquake eight years ago, I was the one who dug you out with my bare hands.” 5 **Aveline’s POV** All color drained from Callum’s face. He stared at the scar across my palm as if seeing it for the first time. Wolves healed fast, but this mark had never faded. The steel had dragged dirt and rust deep into the wound. Even pack healers couldn’t erase it. “That can’t be right,” Callum whispered. He turned to Celeste. “You told me you pulled me out.” Panic flashed in her eyes, then vanished beneath tears. “Aveline,” she said, wounded and shaking, “I know you’re hurt because Callum left you. But you can’t lie like this.” She clung to Callum. “I was the one who saved him. I swear it. Don’t blame her, Callum. She’s only trying to split us apart because she’s in pain.” Callum’s doubt hardened back into anger. “Aveline. When did you become this cruel?” Alpha pressure rolled from him, forcing guests to lower their heads. “You spent eight years ignoring every sign I had chosen my true mate. Your obsession with this dead long-distance bond only proves you never understood real mate devotion.” The words tore through me. Once, he had been warm. He had promised to be my home. He had called me every day while we lived apart, sending photos from patrol, council meetings, training grounds. I had believed distance could not break love. Before flying here, I had even quit my job at Moonveil Pack, ready to stay in Stormhaven as his Luna. Now I understood. He had betrayed me for eight years, and all our friends had helped hide it. Around me, the whispers began. “She’s lying.” “No wonder Alpha Callum chose Celeste.” “A low-born orphan thought she could steal the Luna crown?” They looked at me like I was the villain in Callum and Celeste’s love story. I took a deep breath and stood straight. “I have proof,” I said. “I can show everyone right now that I was the one who saved him.” 6 Callum froze. Before he could speak, Celeste tugged his sleeve. “Callum, don’t listen to her. I was the one who saved you. I’d never lie about something this important.” The guests joined her. “Don’t let her ruin the ceremony.” “She’s bitter.” “Where are the guards?” Callum’s jaw tightened. “Shut the doors. Take her outside.” The Alpha Hall doors began to close. I shoved my hand into the narrowing gap and forced them back open, ignoring the pain in my fingers. Everyone stared at me like I was throwing a tantrum. But Celeste knew the truth. That was why panic kept flashing across her face. Eight years ago, after the earthquake, I had heard faint cries beneath collapsed concrete. I dropped to my knees and dug through stone and steel with my bare hands until I found a wounded teenage boy. That boy was Callum. Later, when he pursued me, I learned his name. I never told him I had saved him. I didn’t want gratitude. I only told Celeste. Now she clung to him, terrified the truth would come out. “Callum,” I said. I pulled a folded stack of papers from my bag and held them up. “This is my proof.” Every eye in the hall turned to me. Celeste went white. “These are my old medical records from South Harbor Medical Center. They show exactly what happened that day.” I read aloud. “Multiple wounds across both hands. Deep penetrating injury through the palm. Severe soft tissue damage.” I lifted my scarred hand. “This came from pulling you out of the rubble.” The hall fell silent. Callum stared at the documents, then at my palm. His face emptied of color. The truth was finally in front of him. Not as a memory. Not as a rumor. As proof he could no longer ignore. Celeste whispered, “Callum…” But this time, even her tears couldn’t save her.