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The woman tapped at her son’s cheek fondly. “I am just messing with you. I do think that you spend more time in this hospital when there are two people that you have to visit, hmm?”

Ronan had no answer to that. He just gave his mother a gentle smile.

Lucien suddenly felt self-conscious. Should he really barge in when Ronan was spending time with his mother? Of course not. In that case, better make it short.

“Lady Adele Fangblade, nice to meet you. Thank you for lending me the shawl. And I am really sorry for my behavior previously.”

Lucien held the cashmere shawl in front of him like some sort of sacrificial item. Ronan threw Lucien a quizzical glance, clearly curious about Lucien’s improper behavior toward his mother. His mother could not help but break into laughter.

“Oh my. You don’t have to apologize. I was indeed being nosy and judgmental. Ronan, honey, why don’t you get us something to drink? Mother is thirsty.”

“Alright, Mom.”

Ronan’s hand lingered on his mother’s shoulder for a few seconds before it left. When he passed by Lucien, he briefly hugged him. The gesture did not escape Lady Adele Fangblade’s keen observation. Smiling, she gestured for Lucien to come closer.

.....

“Come, child. Come sit next to me.”

She patted on a bench just next to her wheelchair. Lucien obediently took a seat.

“Your shawl,” he said, again offering the shawl to the lady.

Unexpectedly, she grabbed his hand instead. “Keep it. I want to give it to you.”

“I cannot accept it,” Lucien quickly said. “This is....!”

Lady Adele Fangblade shook her head. “If I say that I am giving it to you, then you should accept it. Why so reluctant to accept my gift?”

Lucien’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down nervously. The shawl itself was expensive, but the real value lay within the sigil that was carefully sewn into the shawl. It was not something that one could buy at any store. For a Fangblade, items bearing their house’s sigil must be worth more than any amount of gold.

“I trust that you will take good care of it,” the lady gently said.

Lucien nodded stiffly.

“Take it as my thanks for loving my stupid son.”

“...”

“As someone who has experienced the backlash of a mating bond, I can imagine why your health suddenly declined and you had to disappear for years. I am sorry. My son is impulsive. I did not teach him well.”

Lucien remained silent. He had never once spoken about his mysterious disease, but he knew how it came to be. The effect of betrayal by a fated mate was as severe as that by a bonded mate. Because fated mates were rare, no one really knew what would happen if they ended up having sexual relations with other people.

Lucien too did not know. Until he tasted it himself.

For years, Lucien had paid for Ronan’s licentious behavior with his own body. Every single intimate encounter for Ronan equaled a torture session for Lucien. He never knew it for sure, but he felt it in his heart.

The feeling of having his heart ripped into pieces.

When the man who he loved, who said he loved him in return, did not shy from betraying their fated connection, again and again.

Lucien’s devastation must be written all over his face because Lady Adele Fangblade suddenly moved to hug him.

“I apologize on his behalf. He didn’t know he would hurt you by doing that. Fated mates are something so rare that the werewolf community does not have a set of written rules for them.”

“I don’t blame him,” Lucien said over the lady’s shoulder.

Lucien really didn’t. After all, Ronan needed to heal from the rejection. Even if he had not behaved wantonly, one day he had to take a proper Luna and mate with her. Either way, Lucien was bound to be hurt again and again. No one knew when it would end.

Lady Adele Fangblade released Lucien and gave him a sad smile.

“He does, and I do too.”

“There is no need,” Lucien said.

It was part of the deal. To his greatest consternation, Ronan was still unmarried and heirless. It was as if his suffering all these years were for nothing.

Lady Adele Fangblade grabbed both of Lucien’s hands.

“My son loves you,” she said in all seriousness. “For the sake of both of you, will you consider letting him pursue you?”

Lucien furrowed his brows.

“Lady Fangblade, Ronan needs a Luna. A Luna who can birth him some healthy pups. I cannot do that.”

Tears glistened in the lady’s eyes.

“Of course you cannot give birth to his pups, but is that so important?”

“What can be more important?” Lucien challenged the elder woman.

After all, that was the most important duty of a Luna. A Luna who could not give birth to pups was only half a Luna, no matter how wise or how devoted she was to the pack.

“Happiness, my child,” she answered. “As simple as that. Happiness.”

“Ronan will be happy when he meets the right one,” Lucien said, his voice trembling from pain.

In fact, he already did. Lillian Woodland.

Suddenly, Lucien’s throat became dry.

Lillian Woodland would make a perfect Luna for Ronan. She was smart, beautiful, and she hailed from a prominent pack.

Their relationship had been announced during the Moon Banquet. They had given their promises to each other. Dane Silverback approved of her. Everyone did.

Lucien staggered to his feet, his legs shaky from the realization.

“Lucien? What happened?”

Lady Adele Fangblade extended her hand toward Lucien to pull him closer, but Lucien already retreated a few steps back. “Lucien?”

He was so stupid.

He should have known that Ronan was only keeping him company to keep Landon at bay.

It did not matter whether Ronan realized the truth about the past or not.

Ronan was no longer his, and he would never be his. Never again.