Chapter 2 Shattered Promises

Irene’s Point of View

Something was wrong with Eugene.

Not small wrong.

Not the kind that could be fixed with a conversation or a smile.

This felt worse.

And the longer the night went on, the more I felt it crawling under my skin.

The party around me was loud and alive. Music echoed through the hall. People laughed. Glasses clinked. Warriors celebrated Eugene’s return like the pack had finally gotten its future back.

But none of it reached me.

The noise felt far away.

Muted.

Like I was standing behind invisible glass while everyone else breathed normally.

My eyes searched for Eugene again.

And again.

Every single time I found him, he disappeared moments later.

Turning away.

Walking off.

Talking to someone else.

Avoiding me.

Not subtly, either.

Deliberately.

Like being near me was the last thing he wanted.

The realization cut deeper every time.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to walk toward him again.

I had already tried more than once tonight.

I asked him what was wrong.

Asked why he would not even look at me.

But Eugene gave me nothing.

No answer.

No explanation.

Not even irritation.

That somehow hurt more.

There was no hug waiting for me.

No relieved smile.

No kiss after an entire year apart.

Nothing.

The moment I had replayed in my head for months…

the one that carried me through lonely nights and painful mornings…

never happened.

It vanished before I could even touch it.

And the worst part?

I still had not gotten the chance to tell him how grateful I was that he came home alive.

The words stayed trapped inside my chest, heavy and aching.

I lowered my gaze before anyone could notice the emotion building in my eyes.

Not here.

I could not break down here.

Not in the middle of a celebration.

So I forced myself to breathe.

Forced myself to stand still.

Forced myself to pretend the crack inside my chest was not slowly spreading wider.

But then my thoughts drifted back to the woman.

That woman was still here.

Still inside Eugene’s room.

My stomach tightened painfully.

Why?

Why was she staying there?

Why had nobody explained anything properly?

The questions would not stop.

They kept scraping through my mind one after another until I could barely focus on the voices around me anymore.

Every answer I asked for ended the same way.

“Later.”

“After the party.”

“Not now.”

But later never came.

And with every passing minute, the feeling growing inside me became harder to ignore.

Because deep down…

I was starting to fear I already knew the answer.

The feeling inside me kept getting worse.

Heavy.

Cold.

Wrong.

Like something sharp was slowly cracking through my chest from the inside.

Maybe I was overthinking everything.

Maybe exhaustion was making me paranoid.

Or maybe…

some part of me already knew the truth.

And I was just too afraid to look directly at it.

Something was not right.

I felt it long before anyone said a word.

The other warriors kept glancing at me.

Not normally.

Not the way they used to.

There was no warmth in their eyes anymore.

No teasing smiles.

No excitement.

Only pity.

Quiet pity.

The kind people gave when they already knew someone was about to suffer.

Every time I caught it, my stomach twisted harder.

Like they knew something I didn’t.

Something I was not ready to hear.

Time slowed into torture after that.

Every second stretched too long.

Every second scraped against my nerves.

Until finally,

“It’s time.”

The words sent a chill down my spine.

We were called into the Alpha’s study.

The moment I stepped inside, my chest tightened.

The room felt too quiet.

Too sealed.

Like the walls themselves were waiting for something terrible to happen.

I sat beside Luna Lorraine and grabbed her hand immediately.

Too tightly.

My fingers started hurting almost at once, but I could not make myself loosen my grip.

It was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

My vision blurred again.

I blinked fast, trying to stop the tears, but they kept building anyway.

I did not even understand what I was feeling anymore.

Anger.

Fear.

Pain.

Humiliation.

It all tangled together until I could barely breathe through it.

The silence inside the room grew heavier.

Thick.

Suffocating.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody looked at me for too long.

And somehow, that made everything worse.

I could not take it anymore.

“What is happening?” I asked.

My voice came out weaker than I wanted.

Shaking.

“What do you know that I don’t?”

I swallowed hard before forcing out the next question.

The one that had been tearing through my head all night.

“Who is that woman?”

The words fell into the room like stones.

Heavy.

Sharp.

But nobody answered.

Nobody moved.

The silence thickened so much it felt like it was wrapping around my throat.

I looked from one face to another.

Luna Lorraine.

Alpha Dave.

Neither of them could meet my eyes for long.

That terrified me more than anything.

“Let’s wait for Eugene,” Alpha Dave finally said.

His voice stayed calm.

Too calm.

Like he had rehearsed this moment already.

“He will explain everything.”

But his words did nothing to ease the panic rising inside me.

Because deep down…

I already knew this conversation would not fix anything.

Whatever Eugene was about to say…

it would destroy something.

Maybe us.

Maybe me.

The pressure in my chest only grew heavier.

I wanted to ask more.

Needed to.

But Alpha Dave was still the Alpha.

And the fear sitting in that room felt bigger than my courage.

So I stayed silent.

And waited.

But the silence surrounding us no longer felt empty.

It felt alive.

Like the truth was already standing inside that room with us…

just waiting for Eugene to finally say it out loud.

We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Time dragged so slowly it started to feel intentional.

Cruel.

Every passing second tightened around my chest until breathing became harder.

Nobody spoke much.

The silence inside the study felt stretched thin,

like everyone was bracing for something ugly.

Then the door opened.

My heart jerked violently.

Eugene walked in.

And Ruby walked in beside him.

Too close.

Close enough that something inside me immediately twisted.

The air in the room changed.

Cold.

Heavy.

Wrong.

Like the moment I had been dreading all night had finally arrived.

For one terrifying second, panic shot through me.

Sharp enough to make my hands tremble.

But I forced it down immediately.

No.

This was Eugene.

My mate.

The man I loved.

He would never destroy me like this.

There had to be an explanation.

A misunderstanding.

Something I simply did not know yet.

There had to be.

I clung to that thought desperately.

Then Eugene sat down.

Beside Ruby.

Not me.

Not even close to me.

My stomach dropped so fast it made me feel sick.

And somehow…

that still was not the worst part.

He would not look at me.

Not once.

Not even by accident.

My chest caved inward.

This was the same man who walked into battles without fear.

The same man who stood in front of enemies twice his size and never backed down.

But now…

he could not even meet my eyes?

Why?

What was so horrible that he could not even face me while saying it?

“Mother… Father…” Eugene started.

His voice lacked its usual confidence.

I noticed the way he clasped his hands tightly together.

Too tightly.

I knew that habit.

He only did that when something was seriously wrong.

“This is Ruby,” he continued quietly. “The woman I mentioned in my letter.”

My brows pulled together instantly.

Letter?

What letter?

A horrible feeling crawled slowly up my spine.

Then Eugene inhaled once.

Like he was forcing himself to continue.

“I… will take her as my chosen mate.”

Everything inside me stopped.

The words crashed into me so hard it felt physical.

Chosen mate.

For a second, I genuinely forgot how to breathe.

The room blurred around me.

The voices disappeared.

The walls.

The people.

Everything faded into nothing.

All I could hear was that sentence repeating over and over inside my head.

Chosen mate.

Chosen mate.

Chosen mate.

I sat completely frozen.

I waited for him.

Believed in him.

Loved him even while he was gone.

And now he was choosing someone else in front of me like I had never mattered at all.

Not a single word for me.

Not even my name.

Luna Lorraine’s grip tightened around my hand, trying to steady me.

But it was too late.

Something inside me had already cracked open.

And I could feel the damage spreading.

“What about me?”

My voice barely sounded like mine.

Weak.

Shaking.

Small enough that I hated it immediately.

But I could not stop.

“What am I to you now?”

The words scraped painfully against my throat.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself, but the questions kept spilling out anyway.

“Who is she?”

Everything inside me was unraveling too fast.

My thoughts.

My breathing.

My heartbeat.

Nothing felt stable anymore.

My hands trembled in my lap while panic clawed higher and higher inside my chest.

This was wrong.

All of it.

How did we end up here?

Why did he never tell me?

How long had this been happening behind my back?

Eugene took a slow breath.

Heavy.

Painfully heavy.

Like even breathing had become difficult for him.

And suddenly, I realized something that made my stomach twist harder.

He was not avoiding me because he did not care.

He was avoiding me because he knew this would destroy me.

Then finally…

he looked at me.

Our eyes met for the first time that night.

And it shattered something inside me instantly.

Because the man staring back at me no longer looked like Eugene.

He looked lost.

Broken.

Like he had been drowning for a long time and no longer knew how to save himself.

Guilt filled his eyes.

So did shame.

Fear.

Regret.

It was all there so clearly that it almost made me sick.

Like he wanted me to understand him.

Like he was begging for forgiveness without saying the words out loud.

But I could not understand this.

Not this.

Never this.

“What is happening?” I asked again.

My voice echoed weakly through the room.

Thin.

Fragile.

Like every word was tearing itself out of me.

Eugene’s hands clenched tighter.

His knuckles turned white.

He opened his mouth.

Then stopped.

No sound came out.

He could not say it.

Or maybe he simply could not survive hearing himself say it.

And before he could try again,

Ruby spoke.

“You must be Irene.”

Her voice was calm.

Too calm.

Too polished for a moment like this.

She looked directly at me, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

Only careful sympathy.

The kind people used when they already knew they were about to hurt someone.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“But things… didn’t go the way we planned.”

We.

That single word hit me harder than I expected.

We.

Not him.

Not her.

We.

Like they already belonged together.

Like I was the outsider in this room.

“Right now,” Ruby continued gently, “Eugene has to take responsibility.”

Responsibility.

The word landed inside my chest like stone.

Cold.

Final.

And suddenly, everything inside me went terrifyingly still.

Because deep down…

I already knew what she meant.

Or at least, part of it.

And whatever the full truth was…

it was bad enough to make Eugene look at me like this.

The room tilted slightly around me.

Every breath became harder.

Every heartbeat sharper.

“What kind of responsibility…?” I whispered.

My voice was barely audible now.

I turned toward Luna Lorraine instinctively.

Her grip on my hand tightened again.

Hard enough to hurt.

Like she was trying to keep me from completely falling apart before the final blow even landed.

But I was already breaking.

Slowly.

Quietly.

Right in front of all of them.

Eugene pressed his lips together tightly.

And somehow…

that terrified me more than any answer could.

Eugene’s jaw tightened.

But he still would not look at me.

Not now.

Not even now.

And somehow, that hurt more than anything else.

Because in that moment…

I understood.

He was not going to answer me.

He could not do it.

He did not have the courage to destroy me with his own voice.

So Ruby did it for him.

“I’m pregnant with the Alpha’s first child.”

Her words sliced through the room cleanly.

Calm.

Cold.

Certain.

Like she had already rehearsed this moment in her head a hundred times.

Like she had already accepted what would happen after she said it.

“I’m sorry you found out this way,” she continued softly, “but it’s the truth.”

Something inside me shattered instantly.

Pregnant.

The word echoed violently inside my head.

Again.

And again.

And again.

My ears started ringing.

My chest tightened so painfully I thought something inside me had physically broken.

His child?

My breath caught sharply.

And this time…

it did not come back right away.

The room suddenly felt smaller.

The walls too close.

The air too thin.

I could barely breathe through the pressure crushing my chest.

Before I realized it, my eyes dropped to Ruby’s stomach.

Flat.

Still small.

Barely noticeable.

Early.

Which only made everything worse.

Because it meant he had been with her while he was still writing to me.

Those letters.

Those sweet words that kept me alive while he was gone.

I miss you.

I love you.

I can’t wait to come home.

My stomach twisted violently.

Lies.

Every single one of them.

Or maybe worse,

maybe he meant them when he wrote them.

Maybe he destroyed me while loving me at the same time.

That thought hurt even more.

My chest burned so badly I wanted to rip the feeling out of myself.

How could he do this?

How could he make me believe in something so real…

while breaking it apart behind my back?

I could feel my entire world collapsing piece by piece inside me.

But I refused to cry.

Not here.

Not in front of all of them.

And especially not in front of him.

“How long…?” I asked quietly.

My voice trembled.

But there was something sharper underneath it now.

Something wounded enough to cut.

“How long have you known?”

I looked at Alpha Dave first.

Then Luna Lorraine.

The moment I saw her face, something inside me sank even deeper.

She was crying silently now.

Looking at me with so much guilt it almost made me sick.

Like she already believed she had failed me.

Like she no longer deserved to comfort me.

No one answered immediately.

The silence twisted tighter around my chest.

Painful.

Merciless.

Finally, Alpha Dave spoke.

“Two months.”

His voice sounded heavy with guilt.

But the words still crushed me anyway.

Two months.

Two whole months.

And suddenly, every smile tonight made sense.

Every avoided answer.

Every pitying glance.

I was the only person in this room who had not known my own life was already over.

Two months.

The words kept echoing inside my head.

Again.

And again.

Two months.

They all knew.

Every single one of them.

And nobody told me.

Nobody warned me.

They let me wait for him.

Let me hope.

Let me stand there smiling like a fool while everyone else already knew my life had fallen apart.

Something inside me finally snapped.

I yanked my hand away from Luna Lorraine.

Hard enough to sting.

Then I stood abruptly.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Too suffocating.

Like the walls were crushing inward around me.

I could not breathe in there anymore.

I could not stay another second.

So I turned and walked out quickly.

Fast enough that my vision blurred.

I did not look back.

“Irene!”

Eugene’s voice chased after me immediately.

Loud.

Urgent.

Footsteps followed behind me.

Then suddenly,

his hand wrapped around my arm.

He turned me around before I could pull away.

Forced me to face him.

“Don’t be like this,” Eugene said quickly. “We can talk about this.”

Talk?

Something inside me shook violently.

“What is there to talk about?!” I snapped.

My voice cracked so sharply it barely sounded human.

“You got another woman pregnant!”

My hands trembled uncontrollably at my sides.

I wanted to hit him.

Wanted to scream until my throat tore open.

But Eugene looked frustrated instead of ashamed.

“It was a mistake!” he shot back. “You weren’t here. I was lonely!”

The words hit harder than the confession itself.

For a second, I just stared at him.

Stunned.

Because suddenly, I understood something horrifying.

He was not truly sorry for what he did.

He was only sorry I found out.

And somehow…

that hurt even worse.

The pain inside my chest changed after that.

It stopped feeling sharp.

Stopped feeling desperate.

Instead, it burned slowly.

Ugly.

Like something rotten finally exposing itself completely.

So that was his excuse?

Lonely?

A bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

Cold.

Broken.

Sharp enough that even Eugene flinched slightly.

“Should I go to war next time too?” I asked quietly. “So you won’t feel lonely?”

My voice shook harder now.

Not just with anger.

Not just with heartbreak.

But with something deeper.

Something that sounded dangerously close to disappointment.

“Is that what you expect from me?”

I held his gaze then.

Really looked at him.

And for the first time in my life…

I did not see my mate standing in front of me.

I saw a stranger.

A man capable of looking me in the eyes while explaining why betraying me made sense to him.

Someone I no longer recognized.

Someone I could never fully trust again.

My chest tightened once more.

But this time, the feeling was different.

Not softer.

Not weaker.

Colder.

Clearer.

Like some painful truth I had been refusing to accept was finally settling deep into my bones.

Something inside me was changing.

Not breaking anymore.

Changing.

And as I stood there staring at him, I realized something I could never undo once it entered my mind.

The man I spent a year waiting for…

never actually came home.