Chapter 4 Betrayal at Midnight

Irene’s Point of View

The moment Luna Lorraine smiled at me, something inside my chest hurt.

Not because she had done anything wrong.

Because she still looked at me with the same warmth she always had… even after everything Eugene destroyed.

Hearing Skylar’s words eased the tightness in my chest a little. It helped knowing someone else understood how impossible this felt. Skylar noticed the shift immediately and smiled at me with quiet relief.

“I’ve been telling her the same thing, Luna Lorraine,” she said lightly.

But sadness still clung to her voice beneath the teasing tone.

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse the offer, especially when it came from Luna Lorraine herself. Her kindness made saying no feel cruel somehow. She had always treated me gently, patiently, carefully.

Like the mother I never had.

“Look,” Luna Lorraine said softly as she lifted the dress higher, “you’ll look beautiful in this, Irene. It’s even the same color as your name.”

Her eyes warmed.

“I picked it just for you.”

The words landed harder than they should have.

The dress really was beautiful. Soft. Elegant. Carefully chosen.

And somehow, that made everything worse.

Because there was a time when I had secretly imagined this becoming my life forever. A future where Luna Lorraine truly became my mother once Eugene and I completed the bond. A home where I finally belonged somewhere.

But standing there now, I realized that dream was dead.

Luna Lorraine would become Ruby’s mother instead.

The thought hit so sharply I almost stopped breathing.

Bitterness twisted violently inside me.

I hated Ruby.

Hated hearing her name. Hated her existence. Hated the way she stepped into the place that was supposed to be mine.

But the anger I felt toward Eugene was worse.

Far worse.

Because Ruby never promised me forever.

Eugene did.

How could he throw everything away so easily? How could he lie to me, betray me, then somehow make me feel like I was the problem?

Every memory with him felt poisoned now.

“Come here and try it on,” Luna Lorraine said gently, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked at her again.

And there it was.

That same concern.

That same tenderness.

Not fake. Not forced.

Real.

The guilt settled heavily in my stomach.

None of this was her fault.

She was only trying to help me breathe through the damage her son caused.

So with a heart that already felt exhausted, I accepted the dress from her hands and forced myself to prepare for the party that night.

Every step felt heavier than the last.

Like my body already knew this night would hurt me somehow.

…

The moment I entered the pack house, the noise hit me all at once.

Music.

Laughter.

Glasses clinking.

Too loud.

Too alive.

My chest tightened immediately.

This celebration was meant to welcome the lycan pack. The same lycans who had once fought against us near the borders. The same warriors responsible for deaths I still remembered too clearly.

Men I had laughed with.

Trained beside.

People who never came home.

The atmosphere felt wrong.

Everyone was pretending peace existed while old hatred still breathed underneath the surface.

I could feel it everywhere without even looking.

Behind the smiles.

Behind the drinks.

Behind every forced conversation.

Alcohol flowed freely across the room. Food covered the long tables. Music echoed through the walls of the pack house.

But none of it reached me.

The grief inside me was louder.

“You look so gorgeous,” Skylar said brightly after finishing my makeup.

She stepped back proudly, trying so hard to cheer me up.

I knew she meant it.

That only made me feel worse.

People had always called me beautiful.

Tonight, the word felt meaningless.

The dress fit perfectly. The makeup softened my pale skin. Everything about my appearance should have made me feel confident.

But sadness ruined it.

I could see it clearly in my own eyes.

No amount of makeup could hide how broken I felt.

Skylar kept complimenting me anyway, determined to pull me out of this darkness.

But I barely recognized the girl staring back at me anymore.

She looked beautiful.

And completely devastated.

“Don’t make that face,” Skylar said softly.

She cupped my cheeks and gently pulled at them, trying to force a smile out of me.

The gesture should have been funny.

Instead, it almost made me cry.

“You’ve mourned him for an entire week already,” she continued firmly. “At some point, you need to let Eugene regret what he lost.”

Her eyes sharpened with protective anger.

“He should be miserable right now, not you. It’s his loss for throwing away his future luna.”

The words were meant to comfort me.

But Eugene’s betrayal was still too fresh, too raw. Every reminder of him felt like someone pressing against a bruise that refused to heal.

Still, for Skylar’s sake, I forced a small smile.

Weak.

Tight.

Painfully fake.

But enough to ease the worry in her eyes.

I followed her out of my room anyway, even though every step felt reluctant. Like part of me still wanted to hide behind locked doors where nobody could look at me with pity.

Because the rumors had already started.

Of course they had.

People noticed everything inside a pack.

They noticed how I suddenly stopped leaving my room. How I avoided gatherings. How Eugene stopped coming near me. It didn’t take long for whispers to spread.

Questions.

Looks.

Speculation hidden behind fake concern.

I hated all of it.

“Don’t worry,” Skylar said as she squeezed my hand. “There are too many people tonight. We probably won’t even run into Eugene or Ruby.”

The second their names left her mouth, something sharp twisted deep inside my chest.

I hated that they still affected me this much.

I buried the feeling quickly as we stepped into the garden.

The noise from the party faded slightly behind us, replaced by cool night air and distant laughter. But the calm outside did nothing to quiet the storm inside me.

Because this was no longer just heartbreak.

It felt bigger than that now.

Like the future I spent years believing in had been ripped away so suddenly my mind still couldn’t catch up.

The garden was beautiful tonight.

Lanterns glowed softly between the trees. Stars scattered across the sky. Music drifted through the night air.

But tension lingered underneath everything.

The lycans moved through the crowd with effortless confidence, and every time one passed nearby, conversations shifted slightly.

People watched them carefully.

Some with fear.

Others with resentment.

Old wounds still lived here.

You could feel it in the way shoulders stiffened whenever the lycans walked by.

This was my first time seeing them up close.

And somehow, the stories about them hadn’t been exaggerated.

They were enormous.

The men towered over nearly everyone around them, built like warriors even while casually walking through the party. But what surprised me more were the women.

They looked just as dangerous.

Strong.

Beautiful.

Confident in a way that made ordinary werewolves seem fragile beside them.

I remembered hearing stories about female lycan warriors. There were fewer of them, but they fought alongside the men without hesitation.

Looking at them now, I believed every story.

“I can’t believe people can actually be that tall,” Skylar whispered dramatically as a male lycan passed by us.

Even I barely reached his shoulder.

But I only glanced at him briefly before looking away again.

My thoughts were too heavy for curiosity tonight.

We continued walking through the crowded streets surrounding the pack house. Stalls lined the pathways, selling drinks, jewelry, roasted meat, handmade weapons, and all sorts of things.

The noise became overwhelming fast.

Too many voices.

Too many eyes.

Too many people pretending not to stare at me.

My chest tightened.

“I’m tired,” I admitted quietly.

The dizziness was starting to settle in now.

“I want to sit down for a while. You can keep walking if you want. I’ll wait here.”

Skylar immediately looked worried.

For a second, I thought she might refuse.

But then her expression softened when she noticed how exhausted I really looked.

I pointed toward a nearby drinks stall.

It was mostly empty except for two people standing there.

Far enough from the crowd.

Far enough to breathe.

“Oh,” Skylar said, trying to hide her disappointment. “Okay.”

Then she hesitated.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?”

I forced another smile.

This one hurt even more than the first.

“Go,” I told her gently. “Or you’ll miss all the fun.”

Skylar studied my face for another second like she didn’t fully believe me.

Then finally, she nodded and walked away.

And the second she disappeared into the crowd…

The loneliness hit me all over again.

Skylar scrunched her nose at me playfully before disappearing into the crowd.

I waited until she was completely out of sight.

Then my smile vanished.

Just like that.

The exhaustion hit me so hard it almost felt physical. My chest ached. My head felt heavy. Even pretending to be okay for a few minutes had drained whatever strength I had left.

I moved toward the drinks stall slowly, wanting somewhere quiet.

Somewhere nobody would ask questions.

“Oh, Irene!”

The old man behind the stall greeted me warmly the moment I sat down.

His kindness made guilt flicker inside me.

Everyone was being gentle with me lately.

Like they were afraid I might break apart if they spoke too loudly.

He started making small conversation while preparing drinks, but most of his words blurred together in my head.

“Do you have anything sweet?” I asked quietly.

My voice sounded rough.

Worn down by too many nights crying alone.

“Of course.”

The old man immediately handed me a large glass filled with bright red liquid.

The sweetness hit the air before I even tasted it.

“Thank you,” I murmured absentmindedly.

Then silence swallowed me again.

I stared down at the drink without really seeing it.

The crowd around me became distant noise. Laughter echoed nearby. Music drifted through the night. Conversations rose and fell around the stalls.

But none of it reached me.

I was too lost inside my own head.

Too trapped inside memories I did not want anymore.

Eugene’s smile.

His promises.

The way he used to look at me like I was enough.

My grip tightened slightly around the glass.

I hated that part the most.

Because somewhere deep down, my heart still remembered the version of him that loved me.

And that made moving on feel impossible.

A strange sensation suddenly crawled across my skin.

Awareness.

Silent.

Sharp.

Like someone’s eyes had been resting on me for a while.

I slowly lifted my head.

Across the stall, someone was watching me.

My stomach tightened instantly.

I shifted slightly in my seat but kept my expression neutral, unsure if I was imagining it at first.

But the feeling didn’t disappear.

Whoever it was…

they hadn’t looked away once.