Chapter 8
When I told Faye about Theo trying to show up again, she nearly combusted.
“Too little, too late,” she snapped. “Romantic regret after the damage is done? Cheaper than garbage.”
She jabbed a finger at me. “And don’t you dare fall for that act again. I swear, Anya, if you go soft, I’ll choke you out myself. You hear me?”
Arms crossed, she leveled me with a glare.
“My girls can date eight guys at once if they want. But what I won’t allow ever is one guy getting eight chances to mess them up. Got it?”
Her dead–serious expression had me laughing. I nodded obediently.
“Got it, ma’am.”
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We signed the lease for the new shop and moved straight into renovations.
But somehow, Theo caught wind of it. And that’s when the grand gesture parade began.
Every single day, like clockwork, stuffed pastries from the north side of the city showed up at the store. My favorite afternoon tea? Delivered. Rain or shine. No note. No calls. Just deliveries like he thought consistency was love.
Sometimes there’d be a handwritten note tucked in with the pastries: [For my moody mate who’s still mad at me.]
Even the delivery guy couldn’t stay neutral anymore.
“Your mate’s got dedication, I’ll give him that,” he said one day, handing over the bag. “He’s been at this for over a month. You sure you’re not gonna forgive him?”
I smiled and looked him dead in the eye.
“If your mate let some female friend parade around in your clothes, shower at your place–naked -you gonna forgive that?”
The delivery guy shut up real quick. After that, every time he came by, he mumbled curses under his breath.
“Damn scumbag… Miss, don’t you dare go soft.”
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But Theo wasn’t done.
When the food failed, he started bribing the construction crew.
Boxes of snacks, iced lattes, protein shakes… and generous cash tips slipped into tool bags when no
one was looking.
If I wasn’t there? He’d sneak in like a damn shadow.
Eventually, I’d had enough.
I agreed to meet.
–
And of course he showed up like he was auditioning for a second chance.
Hair styled to perfection, new clothes, subtle cologne, and that over–eager gleam in his eyes that made him look like a peacock trying not to ruffle his own feathers.
“Anya,” he said softly, trying to sound vulnerable.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. A lot. And I know I messed up–bad. But the one thing you can’t deny… is that I’ve always loved you. I still do.”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small velvet box. Inside was the silver ring from years ago.
“Our promise ring,” he said, voice cracking like it meant something.
“Remember? We said we’d swap it out for a diamond on our Mating Ceremony day. I kept it. This whole time.”
That ring…
Back then, it was everything.
Theo used his first real paycheck to buy it. We engraved our names in it together. He held it up and told me, smiling like a boy who believed in forever, “Anya, I’m gonna lock you down with this ring.”
“You’ll be mine–and only mine.”
We were both proud and stubborn back then. Determined to make it without help from our families. He used to say, “When I make it on my own, I’ll buy you a diamond so big it’ll blind the Moon Goddess herself.”
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And I believed him.
I loved him with everything I had.
Even after his business crashed, I handed over my savings to help him recover. I stood by him when
things got ugly. I cheered him on when he was barely scraping by. I watched him grow from nothing into an Alpha–and I was proud.
I thought that would be enough.
They say standing by a man while he rises comes at a cost.
I didn’t believe that.
Until I did.
Because I bled for him. I broke for him. I gave up everything for him.
And in the end… he left me on the side of the road.
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I looked at the ring for a long moment. Then pushed the box gently back toward him.
“I’m not going back, Theo.”
He blinked. Like he didn’t understand the rules had changed.
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My parents have always been bound by the Moon’s call, fated mates since their youth. I grew up
watching their unwavering devotion, never once hearing them snarl or clash. They were each
other’s first mark, forever sealed as each other’s eternal pack.
So yeah–I believed in that kind of love. I wanted it too.
And when Theo failed me, I didn’t just grieve the relationship. I grieved the story I thought we were
writing.
For a long time, I tortured myself with questions.
Why her?
What did Elena have that I didn’t?
What did I do wrong?
But then I remembered something my dad once told me. “You can’t move forward if you’re always
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staring backward. That’s how people end up stuck.”
That was me.
I was stuck.
Wasting time blaming myself for someone else’s choice.
I looked Theo dead in the eye and said what needed to be said:
“No matter what you do, or how hard you try… we’re not starting over.”
Not now.
Not ever.
Chapter 8
