Chapter 181 — The Truth I FearedZarina’s POVI ran.Up the stairs, past the hallway, into our bedroom—the one place that was supposed to be mine. Ours.My hands trembled as I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. I didn’t care if it was childish. I didn’t care if it made me look weak. I just couldn’t look at him right now.I pressed my back against the door, my chest rising and falling too fast. My throat ached, and my eyes burned. The tears had been waiting, heavy behind my lids, and now they poured freely.I sank to the floor, holding my knees, trying not to make a sound—but I couldn’t stop the sob that broke through my lips.I wasn’t supposed to feel this way.I had fought so hard to be strong. To be Luna. To be mother. To be wife. And now… now everything felt like it was slipping out of my hands.Why?Why did she have to come back?Why did she look like me?And why—why did he look at her like he had once looked at me?“Asher…” I whispered his name without even realizing
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty — A Heart Breaking in SilenceZarina’s POVThe living room was quiet, filled with the soft ticking of the wall clock. The children had just gone to bed. I had finished reading their bedtime story and kissed each of them goodnight. Asher sat on the couch, his eyes on the fire crackling in the hearth. I joined him, sitting beside him and resting my head on his shoulder.We hadn’t said much since the last argument. The silence between us had been thick, but this moment felt like a step toward healing. A quiet breath before the storm we didn’t know was coming.“I missed this,” I whispered.He turned to me, gently touching my hand. “Me too.”His voice was soft, like the wind that passed through the trees at night. For a moment, everything felt okay again. The shadows of worry, doubt, and confusion faded a little.Until we heard the door open.I sat up quickly. My heart skipped. Asher’s hand tensed in mine.And then she walked in.Zaria.She didn’t knock. She
Chapter 179 — A Substitute HeartZarina’s POVI couldn’t breathe.It was like the walls around me were closing in, slowly, tightly, suffocating me from the inside out.“She was my mate.”Those four words repeated in my head like a loud, cruel echo that refused to fade.She. Was. My. Mate.I stood still in the middle of the room, my eyes locked on Asher, trying to understand what had just come out of his mouth. Maybe I heard wrong. Maybe my heart was playing tricks on me.But the look on his face…Pain.Guilt.Fear.No, I didn’t hear wrong. He had said it. He had confirmed it.Zaria.The woman who looked like me.The woman who smiled like she knew something I didn’t.She wasn’t just a stranger. She wasn’t just a passing shadow from his past.She was his fated mate.The very thing I could never be.“I thought she died,” he said quietly, stepping toward me. “Years ago. I searched for her. I went mad looking. But she vanished. There was no trace.”“So you gave up,” I said, my voice dry an
Chapter One hundred and seventy eight— The Woman with My FaceZarina's POVThe house was quiet.Too quiet.Asher had left early for his meeting with the elders. The children were asleep upstairs, the soft rise and fall of their chests a symphony to me. I had finished putting away their laundry and was heading back towards the kitchen when I heard the front door slowly creak open.I had thought at first it was Asher. But the movements weren't his. Soft, elegant. commanding.I moved towards the sound—and froze.She was standing there.The same woman from the party.The same woman who had smiled when everyone stared.The woman who was too much like me to be coincidence.She let her gaze drift over the house slowly before it fell on me. A small smile curled her lips, but it was not friendly. It was knife-sharp—like the blade of a knife disguised as a flower."Hello," she whispered, stepping another step further inside.I didn't say anything.I just stood where I was, my hand tightening
Chapter 177 - The Fire in Me Would Not Be SilentZarina's POVI sat on the living room, yet I could not feel the couch beneath me.My hands were placed on my lap, but I could not prevent them from trembling.The one in the fireplace was burning peacefully, but inside me, another fire burned with greater intensity. One of questions, confusion… and pain.Who was she?Why did she look like me?And why had Asher taken her hand and led her in without a word?I didn't want to judge him.He was my partner. The father of my children. The man who had stuck with me through battle, through heartbreak, through it all.But today, he had looked at another woman with an expression I couldn't understand. And when she smiled, it wasn't a warm smile. It was one of the smiles that made my heart shrink.That woman never visited.She came to muss something loose — and did.And now, I couldn't shake my head of it.The children slept upstairs. The packhouse was quiet, except for the storm brewing inside me.
Chapter 175 – The Silence AfterZarina’s POVThe celebration ended like a candle snuffed out by a sudden wind.No warning.No goodbye.Just… silence.One moment, the air was full of laughter, of cheers, of my children’s giggles and the voices of a pack that had finally accepted me. And then—her. That woman. That haunting stranger with my face. And everything fell apart.Now, the courtyard was nearly empty. The drums that once beat joyfully sat abandoned in the corner. The flowers I’d picked with my daughters earlier now lay trampled beneath boots that left in a hurry. Wolves had scattered—some confused, some curious, and a few with eyes full of something I didn’t like.Something that looked like… hope.For her.I stood there like a fool, arms wrapped around myself, watching the crowd disperse. Some gave me awkward glances. Some avoided me completely. And others… looked past me.Past me, toward her.She stood beneath the shadow of one of the trees, her arms calmly folded, lips curled i