Chapter 1
Corvina's POV
Every anniversary, my boyfriend pretends to propose to me—just because his adopted sister thinks it’s hilarious.
One year, the ring box held nothing but a "Dream on" note. Another, he dropped to one knee—just to tie his shoe. Last year, he finally slid a real ring onto my finger. The band was lined with silver. While I screamed, he and Myrtle laughed themselves breathless. In the ER that night, he held my bandaged hand and swore: Next year. For real.
So, on the eve of our seventh anniversary, when he called me out to the lake house I’d designed for our future, I curled my hair. I wore a new dress.
I opened the door, and a bucket of ice-cold mud crashed down over my head.
“Sorry, babe,” Hesper grinned. “I bet them you’d show. You did—so no proposal this year.”
I ripped off the moonstone pendant I’d worn for seven years.
“Then we’re done.”
Every anniversary, Hesper played along with his adopted sister and pretended to propose to me.
One year, the velvet box held a note: Dream on. The next year, he dropped to one knee—just to tie his shoe. The year after that, Myrtle and his friends burst in howling with laughter before he even opened the empty box.
Last year, he finally pulled out a real ring.
Heart pounding, I let him slide it on. A second later, the silver lining inside the band seared into my flesh. I screamed, clawing at it, but it felt welded to my bone. The harder I pulled, the hotter it burned.
Hesper and Myrtle were doubled over laughing. Myrtle had picked the prank ring out herself.
I spent that night in the ER. The doctor said the burn reached the bone; any later, and I would’ve lost the finger. Hesper sat by my bed, regretting nothing but swearing anyway: “Next year. I’ll really do it. I promise.”
So, when he called on the eve of our seventh anniversary, ordering me out to his lake house, I thought he was finally keeping his word.
He’d bought the land on Mirror Lake and built the place entirely off my blueprints. The day they finished, he’d held my hand before the floor-to-ceiling windows. “This is where we’ll live once we’re married.” That was a year ago. We still hadn't spent a single night in it.
I spent hours getting ready. I curled my hair, did my makeup, and put on the dress I’d bought just for tonight. Giddy as a kid, I pushed open the heavy walnut door.
A bucket of ice-cold mud crashed down over my head.
It stank of swamp water. It plastered my eyes shut and poured down the neckline of my new dress.
The living room exploded.
“Told you Corvina would show! You lose, big brother!” Myrtle hung off Hesper’s arm, shaking with laughter.
Hesper strolled over, casually wiping a smudge of mud from my cheek. “Look at you, all dressed up. Shame about the dress.” He didn't even flinch. “I bet the guys I couldn’t get you out here tonight. If I won, I’d propose tomorrow. If I lost, we’d wait another year. Sorry, babe. You showed. So I guess it’s not happening this year.”
I just stared at him through the filthy water dripping from my lashes. “You know what tomorrow is, right?”
He dismissed it with a chuckle. “Of course. Our seventh anniversary. How could I forget?”
The freezing mud clung to my skin, sinking straight through to my bones. The realization hit me with sudden, suffocating clarity: Seven years. Seven years, and our anniversary still couldn't compete with a punchline for his little sister.
I reached up and snapped the chain of the moonstone pendant I’d worn faithfully since year one.
“Then we’re done.”
The pendant hit the marble floor with a sharp, echoing clink. The music abruptly died. The laughter stopped.
Hesper frowned, his amusement vanishing. “Come on, don’t be like that. It’s a little mud. I’ll help you wash it off. You know Myrtle’s pulled way worse than this—she’s actually going easy on you. Don’t make it look like getting a girlfriend means I can’t take a joke anymore.”
Right on cue, Myrtle’s face crumpled. Tears welled in her eyes. “Corvina, we were just messing around. If you hate it, fine, we’ll stop. But why do you always jump straight to breaking up?” She flounced over to the loveseat, crossing her arms defensively. “I told you she can’t take a joke, Hes.”
Every eye in the room turned hostile, staring at me like I was the villain.
It was always like this. Myrtle didn't share a drop of blood with Hesper—she was the adopted daughter of Alpha Rohan and Luna Bryndis—but the entire Celandine Pack treated her like royalty. If she frowned, the world stopped to make her smile. Hesper was no exception.
It was exactly like the birthday party Hesper had thrown for me years ago. Myrtle had forced everyone to play Truth or Dare. While everyone else got tame dares like yelling from balconies or texting crushes, mine was an order to strip in front of the room. When I quietly refused, Myrtle bolted out crying. The entire pack—Hesper included—chased after her to comfort her.
My birthday ended with me sitting alone, watching the candles slowly burn out over a table of cold food. From that day on, Hesper only brought me to pack gatherings if Myrtle approved.
“Corvina,” Hesper’s voice snapped me back to the present. He pointed at the loveseat. “Apologize to Myrtle.”
Once, I would have. I used to shrink myself to fit in, swallowing my pride just to keep him from looking bad.
But not tonight. My seven-year relationship ending didn't carry half the weight of Myrtle’s fake tears. I’d always been the runner-up.
I bent down and picked up my bag and my coat—the coat I’d saved two months’ paychecks for, hoping to impress his parents tomorrow.
I looked at Hesper, ignoring the glaring crowd. “We’re over. And this time, I mean it.”
I turned for the door. As I passed the foot of the stairs, my eyes caught on a pair of fuzzy pink slippers waiting neatly by the bottom step. I’d been in this house less than five times. Myrtle already had a designated spot for her shoes.
I didn't stop walking.
Behind me, Myrtle giggled softly. “Hes, she’s your girlfriend of seven years. You’re seriously not going after her?”
Hesper’s cold laugh followed me out into the dark.
“She’s just throwing a tantrum. If I go chasing her, who’s going to take care of you? Besides, where’s she gonna go? She has no one but me. Trust me, she’ll be crawling back by tomorrow.”
