My heart had broken and now there was nothing left inside me to break. Every organ inside my body seemed to whither and die like an orchid that had been thrust out into harsh, cold, winter snow.

Secretly watching them, he gave her food off of his plate. That honor was meant for me. She smiled, taking his hand in hers. A shudder ran through me and I had to fight my wolf to stay down, her emotions becoming too much for me to contain.

A thick lump in my throat formed as I watched their happy display. I wondered briefly what everyone thought, but their eyes said it all as they, too, watched the exchange.

Suddenly, his eyes found mine and my breath hitched, my heart skipping a beat.

He felt me watching him.

You always feel the watching eyes of your mate. He had probably felt my eyes on him five minutes ago when I initially peeked out the window, but ignored me, thinking I would go away. The thought only made it hurt worse inside as the pain swallowed me up. My wolf whimpered inside my mind at the same time she snarled at the thought of that female who didn't belong here.

I held his gaze for a moment as tears rolled down my cheeks, relishing the effect he had over my nerves when he looked at me. It was a calming sensation that soothed my anxiety, a double-edged sword I had to live with until we both marked and mated another.

Letting the curtain drop between our view, I turned away and crumpled onto my bed, sobbing violently. I shouldn't hurt myself worse by watching them - watching their interactions with each other. The pain was all too real, but I couldn't help it. The wolf pushed me to see, she needed to witness this as well.

This female was nothing more to him than a summer fling. She wasn't his everything, that was me.

I'm may be just seventeen and four years his junior, clearly not Luna material yet, but I was meant to be by his side. I'm Luna born, not her.

He wouldn't have waited long to mark me, though. Males can't resist marking their mate once they find her, no matter the age difference. You could only ever find your mate once both were shifted wolves, so seventeen was as young as it went, It wasn't frowned upon.

I saw it in the way he looked at me the night we stood in the driveway. He wanted to mark me, but the thoughts of the pregnant female wouldn't let his wolf ascend to claim me. I'm glad he didn't, I wouldn't want to be stuck in that mess.

He brought her back home with him. She could have stayed in her own pack, but my mate was too much of a gentleman, so he brought her here, never knowing that I would be here waiting.

Another round of sobs wracked my body as hot tears drenched my pillow. My chest felt empty. The place where my heart should be, it ached. He took that with him when he sniffed me out and told me everything that had happened once the pack members went back to the celebration, my first-shift celebration.

No one knew what he'd done that night, but they all recognized I was his. The beta's daughter was their alpha's son's mate. It was a time to rejoice, two strong bloodlines promising strong heirs in the future.

A knock at the door stifled my cry as I hid my face under the blankets, waiting for him to go away.

I could smell Deacon's scent, my best friend, and his younger brother.

"Nova, I know you're in there. Open up, I brought you something." His semi-deep voice called out.

Deacon was my age, seventeen. We had always talked about the 'what if's' if we were mates and prayed to the moon that it wouldn't be so. We were more like siblings than anything, but now I wish it had been different.

I could smell the food permeate through the door, making my stomach roll in a wave of nausea. Food wasn't something I had been indulging in, in the past few weeks. My stomach couldn't deal with the process of breaking down and digesting because that was what my broken heart was currently doing to my soul.

"I'm not hungry, Deacon" my weak voice was hoarse and raspy from crying so long. I couldn't let anyone see me like this, especially him.

I heard him sigh through the door and then the sound of metal jingling before my door popped open. I sat up gaping at him as he walked in with a warm smile, plate in one hand.

"Figured you'd say that, but Dad wants you to eat. He said it's an order." He sat the plate on the nightstand and sat beside me on the bed. I knew I looked and smelled awful, I hadn't been out of my room to even shower in three days.

"Don't look at me like that, Deacon." I glared at his sky blue eyes, which were almost identical to his brother's.