Chapter 2

“Isn’t that Alpha Adrien’s bride?”

“She looks good for someone who should be mourning her husband.”

“How can a widow wear such? Her husband has barely been dead two months.”

The whispering in the ballroom was getting louder and louder.

I could only watch in shock as Lillian walked deeper into the room, stealing the attention from Asher and me, the hosts of the ball.

Her red dress left nothing to the imagination. It was tight-fitting with a slit so high that she was begging for a wardrobe malfunction.

“Ash!” she exclaimed, running forward and shoving me aside to jump on my husband.

I stumbled, catching myself before I fell face forward on the stairs.

Ash did not push her away. Rather, he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

“Hi, Lily. It has been a minute.”

Lillian snuggled into his neck. “I missed you. Why did you not come to see me?”

Ash had the decency to look at me and let her down. “I have been busy.”

Lillian followed his gaze and pretended to be surprised when she saw me. “Oh, Elena. I did not see you there.”

Bitch.

I forced a smile on my face. “It’s Elara. How are you holding up since Adrian died?”

An annoyed look flashed behind her eyes but disappeared. “It has been hard. I thought that would be obvious. You look beautiful in that dress. Someone would think you were wealthy or something.”

We laughed together.

My eyes fell to her deep cleavage meaningfully. “You look well. I must not have put the dress code in your invitation. I have been so busy that I have been making silly mistakes all month.”

Before she could retort, I turned to Asher. “The guests are waiting, Asher.”

I could see in his eyes that he still wanted to talk to Lillian, but the Full Moon Festival was far more important than whatever childhood memories they wanted to talk about.

“Lillian, I will speak to you later. How about you wait at our table?”

“Our table was set for four,” I reminded. “Your parents and us.”

It must have been my imagination but his arms tightened around Lillian. “Lillian cannot sit elsewhere. She is family.”

I bit back the words on my tongue. “Of course. I will speak to the staff. We cannot have a grieving widow sit alone.”

Asher made sure Lillian was seated before we started moving around the hall.

Whenever guests greeted us, their eyes would flit to Lillian, who was sitting at our table chatting animatedly with Asher’s parents.

Asher’s mum, Lucia, laughed again for the fourth time in ten minutes.

My chest hurt. I had rarely gotten a ‘well done’ from Lucia, much less a smile.

In fact, both his parents hated me for simply existing. Lillian, on the other hand, just had to breathe to get them to laugh.

“Alpha, the decor is impeccable,” one of the Lunas from a larger pack said.

Asher flushed with pride, holding my waist. “I trust Elara with all of that. She never disappoints.”

“You two make a lovely couple,” the Alpha said.

Asher made a show of kissing the side of my head. “Thank you.”

This was the reason we had married and the reason we insisted on hosting the Full Moon Festival at our pack every year despite the cost.

Presenting a united front to the Alphas and showing them how much progress we have made as a pack over the last five years.

The songs finally started.

Asher held my hand, leading me to the dance floor wordlessly.

Our bodies pressed against each other as we danced. It would be a perfect time to bring up our relationship again.

“Asher, I was telling you something earlier.”

He hummed absentmindedly, his eyes fixed somewhere above my head.

“I was thinking of taking our relationship to the next level, making it real. I have fallen in love–”

“Elara, can you excuse me? I will be back in a few minutes,” Asher suddenly interrupted me to say.

He walked away, leaving me in the center of the ballroom by myself. My face lit up in flames.

He had not heard a word I said.

I turned around, wanting to follow him and paused.

He was leaving through the side doors, the ones that led to a private garden that only the members of our family had access to.

My gut told me to check our table.

Lillian was gone as well.

I signalled for one of the guards who was nearest our table. “Where did Lillian go?”

“She left for the private garden to get some fresh air earlier, Luna.”

My hands clenched into fists.

I did not want to doubt my husband. Not because of that red-haired witch.

But…

“Just to check up on them,” I muttered to myself as I moved to the private garden.

The door was open by a crack, just enough for me to see into the room.

Lillian and Asher sat on the bench facing away from me. The distance between them was practically non-existent.

She was just a centimetre away from sitting in his lap.

“Her husband just died for goddess’ sake,” I hissed through my teeth, about to open the door when I heard my name.

“Elara is still my wife, Lillian,” Asher said in a voice that was uncharacteristically soft.

I did not know he could sound that gentle.

“So what?” Lillian whined. “I was here long before her. We used to be so good together.”

My mind filled with scenarios, each one worse than the last. I needed to know what the hell she meant by that.

“Lily, you should not have come tonight.”

Lillian sounded breathy. “Your parents invited me. Besides, I could not stay away any longer. Not with what happened.”

My legs started to shake. All I wanted to do was run away and puke.

But I needed to hear that conversation to the end.

“What do you mean?”

“Asher, I’m one month pregnant.”