CHAPTER 2

Charlotte:

I didn’t see Ashton for most of the morning.

I tried to look for him, maybe find him, maybe speak to him. Even if he did not want me around, I still was his mate, his wife, the woman who was willing to do everything for him.

But no matter how hard I tried, I could not find him.

Not at breakfast. Not in the training field. Not even when I passed the council room where he usually held morning strategy with his Beta and advisors. He was nowhere that I could see.

The coldness from last night still clung to me like frost on skin. I tried to ignore it. I always tried. I always did my best to put the beautiful smile on my face, the perfect stunts. I roamed around the park, managing it, making sure that I fulfilled my duties, that I did not leave my responsibilities unattended to.

I made myself useful, helped the kitchen Omegas, walked the perimeter of the territory like I had any real duty here. I didn’t. I was Luna in name only, a title stripped of meaning the moment Ashton refused to see me as anything more than a burden. And that was why I always made sure to try and make myself useful amongst the pack. If I was not his Luna, unless it was by name might as well be a Luna towards the pack.

Still, I played the part. The good mate. The silent, steady presence at his side, even if his hand had never reached for mine. Even if he made it clear, day after day, that I was never what he wanted. I still played the obedient role.

What would Lydia have done?

I hated that the thought even passed through my mind. But it did. It always did. No matter how much I tried to erase it from my head, I couldn’t. I always found myself compared to her. Even now, when she was gone, when she was dead, even when I was exiled, I still found myself comparing myself to her.

She was the sun to my shadow, the favorite daughter, the one who shifted early, who charmed with a smile and fought like she was born for war. I loved her once. With everything I had. I was willing to give everything for her.

Until that night in the woods.

Until she died.

Until they all decided I was the reason.

Until they all blamed her overshadowing me as something that would be worth me killing her for. Until they all wished and claimed that I was simply jealous of her.

I was so lost in thought I barely noticed the hush that swept over the pack house like a dark cloud rolling in.

It started as murmurs, soft, disbelieving voices echoing from the courtyard. Then gasps. Then footsteps, too many to count, hurrying toward the main hall.

I stepped out of the side corridor, heart lurching. Something wasn’t right. A heavy feeling settled in my chest but I did not understand what it was.

I followed the crowd. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if my body already knew what my mind refused to accept.

And then I saw him, Ashton, standing in the center of the grand hall, his expression tight, unreadable.

But my eyes didn’t stay on him.

They slid past him… to the girl standing beside him. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she kept her eyes on me.

The girl with the golden hair. The impossible face.

The one I had watched vanish beneath a river current years ago.

My breath caught. My lungs seized.

“Lydia?” I called before I could stop myself. “Sister?”

She smiled at me. No, not smiled, smirked.

I should have been thrilled. I should have been happy to know that she was alive. But judging by her expression, I could tell that I shouldn't be. That I should be weary that something was just going to end up turning against me.

“As if you didn’t think I’d come back,” she said, voice too sweet to be real. “Miss me, big sister? Did you really believe that pushing me down the riverbank would help you get rid of me?”

The room spun. The pack’s eyes were on me now, confusion and whispers rising like smoke. Gasps started all around us. Ashton's eyes were fixed on me as if I was some kind of villain.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “This isn’t… you died. You fell…”

“Oh, please.” She laughed. Laughed. “You really believed I was dead? That’s cute. But it takes a lot more effort to kill a Luna like me, an alpha blood like myself. But you always were jealous of me, weren't you? That's the reason why you chose to push me.”

I looked at Ashton, waiting for him to say something, to demand an explanation. But he didn’t even look at me. His eyes were locked on her, soft, uncertain, disarmed.

“You pretended to be the Luna, the perfect girl, the one who was silent and obedient to simply hide the fact that you pushed your sister down a river bank, that you tried to kill her.” Ashton said, glaring at me. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was stopped by Lydia who spoke first.

“I’ll tell you everything,” Lydia said, slipping her hand into his like she’d always belonged there. “But first... I think we need to talk about your little Luna problem.”

The breath left my chest.

“What?” I choked out. “Ashton, you’re not seriously…”

“She said you lied,” he cut in coldly, finally turning to me. “That you knew she was alive. That you covered it up. That you let everyone think she was dead just so you could take her place. You've been playing this game all along. You've been playing me all along.”

“I didn’t,” I said, voice cracking. “She disappeared. I searched for her. I thought…”

He stepped forward and slammed the papers into my hands.

Divorce papers.

“I’ve had enough lies, Charlotte,” he said. “You’re not fit to be Luna. And you were never meant to be mine. And I would rather I find myself without a Luna than have a person like you. I am manipulative woman like yourself as a wife or Luna.”

The words sliced deeper than claws.

“You’re exiled,” he added, voice like ice. “Effective immediately. Signing the papers or not will not make a difference. Our relationship is over whether or not you choose to accept it.”

I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream.

I just looked at Lydia, who winked. “There is always a price to pay, sister. It is time for you to be able to pay it. You've been hiding in my shadow for far too long, and you've taken everything from me. Even my life.”

I kept my eyes on her, looking at her for a moment too long before I took a step back. I need to take my leave when I needed to, and right now I knew that I was never going to belong here.

Because for the second time in my life, I was cast out of the place I once called home.

But this time...

They would all regret it.