Josh’s POV

There was no guilt in my heart. Not even a flicker about my choice.

Just silence. Cold, but deliberate silence.

The moment Rissa stepped forward said her acceptance—“I accept your rejection, Alpha”—the bond snapped, and I felt it. There was a shift. A notable break. I felt something ancient and sacred tearing in the universe, but it didn’t shake me. Not at all.

It should have, maybe based on all those fairy tales. But it didn’t.

She fell to her knees, clutching her chest as though she was in so much pain, but I didn't move.

Didn’t flinch.

Didn’t help.

I just watched her wail in pain all by herself.

The truth is… I had made peace with this moment a long time ago, sadly how she just gets to realize now. The moment I realized I was shackled to someone the Moon Goddess mistakenly tied to me. A half-human mate. Weak. Powerless. Unworthy of the Black Moon Pack's throne. She was obviously a mistake. She was a soft whisper in a world that needed thunder and that seems to be so impossible.

But there was Teresa, her step sister who she allowed into our home—she was fire. Just the perfect example of the kind of Luna I want.

She was everything Rissa wasn’t. She was strong. Very ruthless and is a pure wolf at that. She knew how to push me, how to please me, how to stand beside me like a real Luna should. When she stood next to me in that crimson dress, her arm brushing mine in confidence, I knew I made the right choice. I just knew it.

Rissa? She always was a delay. A drag and everyone could see it.

Even our mating night—though the bond had sparked, I would admit—but I also sensed something off. But of course I ignored it then. But it's fools that fall in love with fate. Leaders choose what strengthens their legacy.

And Teresa strengthens me. I can't deny it.

I didn't need to hide anymore. The sneaking around with Teresa. All the stolen touches behind closed doors. The lies I fed to Rissa, who was supposed to be my mate, Luna. Well, that part was over. Finally, Out in the open, he can be known for wanting Teresa.

I watched Rissa walk away from the dais. Shoulders slumped. Eyes distant. She didn’t cry, but I knew her heart had shattered. I saw it in the way her hands trembled, how her legs threatened to give out beneath her, but she kept moving. Still so damn proud like always. One would think she was really strong on the inside due to how best she hides her emotions

I used to admire that pride.

But now it irritates me.

Because that pride had no place in a Luna who couldn’t even hold her mate’s gaze in the end.

Beside me, Teresa slipped her hand into mine. Her hands seemed soft and tender. She was confident. Her lips brushed my ear. “You did well, My Alpha” she whispered.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t need validation, but her presence soothed the storm I didn’t let anyone see.

We stood before the pack, watching the crowd whisper and judge based on all that had just happened from their perspective. I let them. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but my orders are never based on that. They’d fall in line soon enough. They always did. My word was law, and my decision—no matter how scandalous—would be justified. Rissa’s rejection was just a necessity. An overdue cut and I don't want to see it as unnecessary.

Some part of me did remember the girl I first marked. The girl who smiled like the sunrise and held my hand like I was her entire world. But that girl had no place in this new era I was building. Her Knowing—her cursed bloodline—was always a threat to me. To us.

She stupidly knew things she shouldn’t. Felt things no mate ever should. It was like being watched by the Moon herself, was never free.

Now I was free, Finally.

I could feel the warmth of Teresa’s skin. Her scent—vanilla and blood lust—wrapped around me like armor. She kissed my cheek softly, then pulled back to meet my gaze with a smirk.

“You’re mine now,” she said.

And I didn’t deny it and on a very sincere note. I just love how possessive she gets.

Because she was right.

And Rissa?

She was a chapter I had closed.

Forever.