Betrayed Luna's New Beginning

I stood in the empty hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs as I waited. Professor Blackwood's folder with the European exchange program information felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in my bag. Three years abroad. Three years away from this pain. Three years to find myself again—if there was anything left to find.

Footsteps echoed against the marble floors, and I knew without looking that it was him. Four years of loving someone teaches you the sound of their walk, the rhythm of their breathing, the subtle shift in the air when they enter a room.

"Luna?" Kai's voice carried that hint of surprise it always did when he saw me outside our scheduled meetings—as if my existence in any other context was unexpected.

I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, knowing that one look into those amber eyes would shatter my resolve. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm heading to a pack meeting," he said, already glancing at his watch. "Can it wait?"

"No." The word came out stronger than I expected. "It can't."

Something in my tone made him pause, his full attention landing on me like a physical weight. I forced myself to look up, to meet the eyes of the man who had consumed four years of my life while giving almost nothing in return.

"I'm leaving," I said, the words burning my throat. "I've been accepted to a program abroad."

His expression didn't change at first, as if he couldn't process the information. Then his brows drew together. "What program? For how long?"

"Three years. With the European packs." I took a deep breath, preparing the lie I'd rehearsed all night. "I have to go, Kai. I'm...cursed."

"Cursed?" He almost laughed, but something in my face stopped him.

"Everyone I love suffers," I continued, the words tumbling out now. "My parents died. I'm wolfless. And you—" My voice cracked. "You're tied to someone who can never be what you need. A proper Luna. Someone worthy of an Alpha."

I expected indifference. Maybe even relief. What I didn't expect was the flash of molten gold that suddenly consumed his irises, or the low growl that rumbled from his chest.

In one fluid motion, he had me backed against the wall, his hand closing around my wrist with bruising intensity. "You're not going anywhere," he said, his voice dropping to that Alpha timber that sent shivers down my spine.

"Kai, please—"

"No." His face was inches from mine, his scent—pine and winter—overwhelming my senses. "You don't get to walk away. Not now."

Confusion flooded me. Four years of neglect, and now he couldn't let me go? "Why? You've never—you don't even—"

"I don't what, Luna?" His grip tightened, something desperate and possessive in his eyes that I'd never seen before. "Don't want you? Don't need you?"

Before I could answer, his head snapped up, nostrils flaring. Someone was coming. He released me abruptly, stepping back as if burned.

"This conversation isn't over," he said, straightening his jacket. "We'll discuss this tonight."

Then he was gone, leaving me trembling against the wall, my wrist throbbing where his fingers had been.

* * *

The library had always been my sanctuary. Tucked between ancient tomes on pack law, I could almost forget the hollow ache in my chest. Almost forget that I'd just lied to my mate about being cursed, when the real curse was loving someone who saw me as nothing but a convenience.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice the approaching footsteps until it was too late.

"Well, if it isn't the little charity case," Sophie's voice sliced through the quiet, sharp as a blade.

I looked up to find her standing before my table, flanked by her Beta friends—all perfectly groomed, all wearing identical smirks. The library suddenly felt very small, and very public.

"I'm studying, Sophie," I said quietly, trying to turn back to my book.

She slammed it shut, her manicured nails clicking against the cover. "Studying for what? How to trick an Alpha into keeping you around? That scholarship must be the only thing of value about you."

Heat crept up my neck as I noticed other students turning to watch. "Please leave me alone."

"Oh, she says 'please,'" Sophie mocked, looking at her friends. "So polite for someone who's been sleeping with my mate for four years."

"He's not—we haven't—" I stammered, but she cut me off with a laugh that echoed through the suddenly silent library.

"You still don't know, do you?" Her smile was vicious now. "You think he sought you out because he saw something special in you? Poor, pathetic Luna."

My stomach twisted. "What are you talking about?"

"The bet." She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a stage whisper that everyone could still hear. "Liam bet Kai his ceremonial blade that he couldn't claim the untouchable wolfless girl. Four years of your life, and it was all for a knife."

The room spun around me, faces blurring as whispers erupted throughout the library. Four years. A bet. A knife.

"You're lying," I whispered, but even as the words left my mouth, pieces clicked into place. The way he'd pursued me so suddenly. The expensive gifts that first month. The gradual cooling of his interest once he'd 'won.'

"Ask him yourself," Sophie said, straightening up with a triumphant smile. "But don't worry—you were useful while it lasted. He needed someone to wash his clothes and warm his bed while I was away on Beta training."

As she sauntered away, laughter trailing behind her like poison, I sat frozen, the truth seeping into my bones like ice water. Not just unloved, but a joke. A wager. A conquest.

And suddenly, the European exchange program wasn't just an escape—it was salvation.