The Broken Promise

~FREYA~

The wooden stairs groaned under my uneven weight. I gripped my walking stick with a fierce determination, relying on the solid wood to keep my hands from trembling. Every step sent a jolt of sharp pain up my ruined leg, yet it was a dull ache compared to the raw, bleeding hole in my chest. I had spent hours locked in the master bathroom last night, letting the scalding shower drown out my pathetic sobs. But morning had come, pulling me back into the nightmare.

Gael and Elise were already seated at the long dining table when I reached the bottom of the staircase. The clinking of their silverware sounded like snapping bones in the quiet room. I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, avoiding their faces. How was I supposed to look at them? My husband of seven years had found his fated mate in the very woman I had nearly died to protect. Worse, he had chosen to keep this devastating secret, turning my own home into a den of lies.

I mumbled a flat greeting and pulled out my chair next to Gael. My movements felt mechanical as I reached for the teapot, pouring the steaming amber liquid into my mug. I could feel Gael’s heavy gaze on the side of my face. He was studying me, trying to dissect my cold demeanor. A part of me wanted to flip the heavy oak table, to scream the ugly truth into their faces until my throat bled. Another part just wanted to vanish from the pack. But where would I go? My father would never take me back, and no pack wanted a discarded, marked she-wolf.

"Freya, is everything alright with you?" Gael finally asked, the stretching silence breaking his nerves.

I paused, my fingers hovering over the porcelain sugar bowl. I kept my eyes locked on my steaming mug. "Do you expect me not to be alright?"

My voice wavered despite my iron grip on my emotions. I cursed my own weakness as a tremor shot through my hand, making the sugar cube splash clumsily into the hot tea.

Gael shifted in his seat, leaning closer. His brow pulled together in a mask of perfect, sickening concern. "You've seemed distant since returning from the Luna meeting. Did something happen there? Was someone unkind to you? Did anyone hurt you?"

A hollow, dry laugh clawed its way out of my throat. It sounded like scraping metal in the tense dining room. "It's quite amusing that you suspect an outsider is to blame," I said, the bitterness dripping from every syllable.

I lifted the mug to my lips and took a slow sip. Over the rim, my eyes flicked to Elise. She sat frozen across the table, her skin a sickly, ashen gray. Dark circles bruised the fragile skin under her eyes. She quickly dropped her gaze to her plate, her fingers trembling around her fork. She looked awful this morning.

"What does that even mean?" Gael demanded, his voice rising with a sharp edge of frustration and confusion. "If something is troubling you, why not just speak up so we can face it together, instead of shutting us out with this frosty silence? Can't you see it's wearing Elise down?"

The sheer audacity of his words snapped the final thread of my restraint.

I slammed my heavy ceramic mug down onto the table. The loud crack echoed off the walls, making both of them flinch. Hot tea sloshed over the rim, burning my knuckles, but the physical sting meant nothing.

I turned my head, locking my furious stare directly on my husband. "Why does my silence unsettle you so?" I challenged, my voice cutting through the air like a blade. "And how does my composure cause Elise to fall ill? Are you feeling guilty about something?"

Gael’s jaw went slack. He stared at me, his mouth agape, stark disbelief washing over his handsome features.

Across the table, Elise squirmed in her chair. The last drop of color drained from her face. She clamped a hand over her mouth, a harsh, wet gag ripping from her throat. Her chair shrieked against the hardwood floor as she shoved backward, scrambling to her feet. She didn't look back as she sprinted out of the dining room, her gagging echoing down the hall.

Gael watched her flee, and when he turned his eyes back to me, the realization hit him. His secret was out. The unspoken truth hung over the spilled tea between us.

Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes. A suffocating wave of anger crashed into my chest.

"Freya," Gael started, raising his hands, his tone desperate and placating.

I shook my head, refusing to hear his lies. I snatched my walking stick from the edge of the table and forced myself up. I ignored the screaming pain in my leg and moved as fast as my crippled body allowed, putting distance between us. I hurried out of the dining room, practically dragging myself up the stairs to retreat to our bedroom.

"Freya, wait!" Gael called out, his heavy footsteps thudding right behind me.

I reached our bedroom and stumbled inside. Before I could shut the door, Gael pushed his way in, his chest heaving.

"Freya, please," he pleaded, reaching out for me.

I backed away, brandishing my walking stick like a shield. "How could you, Gael? We made a promise to each other."

Pain and regret twisted his features into a miserable grimace. He ran a hand through his hair. "I know, Freya. I know. But she is my destined mate. The attraction was overwhelming. I tried to resist at first, but I..."

"What good is your resistance now?" I shouted, cutting off his pathetic excuse. My chest heaved as the tears finally spilled down my cheeks. "You were the one who said we should reject our destined mates if we ever found them! You looked me in the eyes and told me I was enough! What was the whole point of training so hard to become a warrior Luna?"

I had bled on the training mats for this man. I had pushed my body past its limits, waking up before dawn, fighting until my knuckles were raw just to build a foundation strong enough to lead this pack beside him. I dedicated my entire life to balancing his strengths because the Moon Goddess hadn't paired us.

And then, the memory of Elise bolting from the table crashed into my racing mind. The pale skin. The sudden, violent gagging.

The realization hit me with the force of a storm.

Morning sickness.

Elise was pregnant.

The breath punched out of my lungs. Rejection was unthinkable now. If she was carrying the Alpha's child, the pack would shift their loyalty to her without a second thought. She was the true mate. She was the mother of their future heir. And I? I was just a placeholder.

My mind spiraled into a dark abyss. I was a marked she-wolf. Claimed. Mated. Discarded. No male would ever want a woman who bore another Alpha's bite mark, a woman who had spent years sharing a bed with a man who ultimately threw her away. I felt like damaged goods. Obsolete. The years of dedication, the relentless sweat and tears poured into this pack—all of it meant nothing.

The stoic mask I had worn for seven years shattered into a million jagged pieces. The unbreakable foundation of the golden couple crumbled beneath my feet.

My knees gave out.

I collapsed, a heavy, agonizing sob tearing from my throat. I didn't hit the floor. Gael lunged forward, catching me in his strong arms. He pulled me flush against his broad chest, holding my shaking frame tightly to himself.

For a brief, pathetic second, I couldn't muster the strength to pull away. My body craved comfort, even if it came from the very man inflicting this torture. I wept against him, my tears soaking his shirt.

"Freya, I’m so sorry," Gael whispered into my hair. His voice cracked, his tears mingling with mine. "I should have been honest with you from the start. I never intended to hurt you like this, baby, please."

He tightened his grip, his breath hitching. "I... I need time to process all of this."

Those words sliced through the last remaining shreds of my wounded heart.

He needed time?

A fresh surge of adrenaline and raw fury ignited in my blood. I shoved my hands hard against his chest, breaking his hold. I stumbled back, leaning heavily on my stick, my eyes burning with rage.

"Fuck you, Gael!" I screamed, the curse tearing through my sobs. "What do you expect me to do? What about my happiness? Where does this leave me? What am I supposed to do now? Where do you want me to go from here?"

Gael stepped toward me, his hands outstretched. "You are not going anywhere, Freya. You're still my wife. You are still my Luna."

I looked at him with absolute disgust. "And what about when your pack chooses her as their Luna?" I shot back, the bitterness coating my tongue. I thought of the night my life changed. The ambush. The blood. "She's the woman I nearly died to save, Gael! I gave up my leg for her! How could this happen?"

"Freya, nothing is going to change between us," he insisted, trying to sound convincing, though panic flickered in his eyes. "You will always be my Luna. I promise you that."

Empty promises. Meaningless, hollow words from a coward who broke his most sacred vow.

I wiped a brutal hand across my wet cheek, my jaw setting hard. "So, I'm just supposed to sip the poisoned tea Elise brews every time you decide to fuck her?"

Gael flinched as if I had slapped him. His eyes darted wildly. "I will stop touching her," he blurted out quickly, a desperate edge to his voice. "I promise, Freya. I won't touch her again."

A dark, bitter laugh clawed its way up my throat. It echoed in the tense space of the bedroom, devoid of any humor.

"You have been fucking her since my accident," I stated, my voice dropping to a deadly, cold register. "And it seems you've enjoyed every moment. What makes you think you can just stop now?"

Gael opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Stop making promises you can't keep," I told him.

With those final words, I turned my back on the man I had loved for seven years. I gripped my walking stick and walked out of the room, leaving him standing there in the wreckage of our marriage, staring helplessly as I walked away.