Someone I Used to Know

I stayed with Ethan Hudson for seven years. He grew bored of me.

He found a younger werewolf girl in the clan.

I didn't plead for him to stay this time.

I discarded the mate-bond stone, burned the protection bracelet I crafted, and left the clan that night.

His friends ridiculed me, wagering how soon I'd beg for reconciliation.

Ethan, arm around his new girl, laughed and said, "Three days tops. She'll come back crying."

Three days passed, then another three, and I never returned.

Ethan couldn't wait any longer and contacted me first. "Sylvie, enough with the tantrum…"

Victor Wilson, his rival, cut in on the phone. "Ethan, you've got to move fast to win her back. Too late, and a good girl's gone."

Ethan's howl nearly broke the receiver. "Get Sylvie on the phone!"

Victor kissed me softly and said, "She can't. She's worn out from last night and just fell asleep."

1

Our seventh anniversary with Ethan came.

I held a newly made protection bracelet, ready to propose.

Bad timing struck. A key clan meeting happened, and I arrived late.

At the clan hall's entrance, laughter echoed.

"Sylvie? Dull," Ethan's voice said casually. "Not like the new girl I'm into."

A werewolf chuckled. "Seven years? That'd get stale."

Ethan sipped his whiskey. "Holding her hand feels like my left touching my right."

The room's werewolves roared with laughter. "Seven years, man. Sylvie's lasted long with you."

"But she's stunning, though. Few in the clan match her."

"Her figure's killer. That red dress at the last gathering? Every male wolf stared."

"She's a fierce hunter too. Last contest, she shot a boar's head clean through. So badass. I love a female wolf like that."

Ethan stayed silent at their teasing.

Someone asked, "Alpha, you chased Sylvie so hard back then. Really letting her go?"

"What's to keep?" Ethan's tone chilled. "Anyone's boring after seven years."

"Yeah," another added. "Same meat daily for seven years? You'd hate it."

"Alpha, if you and Sylvie split, can I try for her?"

"Go ahead," Ethan replied, sipping again, unconcerned. "Anyone who wants her can."

He didn't look up.

"Come on," someone mocked. "With all the young female werewolves, why go for one that's been played out?"

Laughter shook the hall.

I gripped the bracelet in my pocket, the moonlight stone biting my palm.

I texted Ethan. "Something came up. Going home."

As I turned, my skirt swept leaves on the steps, rustling softly.

Back at the empty house, I tossed the bracelet into the bottom of a drawer.

That night, moonlight slipped through the curtain gaps, and I stared at the ceiling until dawn.

That was the night I decided to leave.

Within days, word spread through the clan.

Ethan was chasing a newly matured werewolf girl, young and innocent, never in love.

He pursued her boldly, just like he had with me years ago, making sure the whole clan, the entire settlement knew.

He gave her a house at the highest point in the clan's forest, where the full moon's silver glow shone brightest.

The car he gifted her had the clan's crest on the door, the exact model he once promised me.