Chapter 1

Ravena's POV

The perfume bottle suddenly slipped from my fingers and rolled across the marble floor, spinning until it stopped under the window. I didn’t even bother to pick it up. Something had changed in the air and I could feel it, deep in my bones. That scent… pinewood, wind, and smoke.

Lucien… he was close.

I didn't need anyone to tell me. I knew. My wolf knew.

For a moment, I stood frozen, the brush still gripped in my other hand, half a streak of powder left on my cheek. I stared into the mirror, but I wasn’t seeing my reflection. I was seeing a memory of his face, the way his eyes softened when he called me by my name, the sincerity in his promise when he whispered that he would return.

It had been one full year.

One year since the king's guards arrived on our wedding night, demanding his presence on the battlefield. One year since he kissed my forehead, right after slipping the ring onto my finger. One year since he asked me to wait for him, with a half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

And I had waited.

But I didn’t just wait in silence.

I became the Luna of the Blackstone Pack in more than just a title. I kept the territory running. When the crops failed in the western fields, I brokered a deal with the neighbouring pack to keep food on every table. When the border scouts were ambushed, I met with the warriors myself, listened to their fears, gave them courage, and sent them back with a strategy. I paid out of my own pocket to hire a royal physician to care for Alpha Garrick Throne, Lucien’s father, after a spinal injury left him paralyzed and bitter.

The pack survived because I made sure it did.

Even when Garrick spat words I didn’t deserve. Even when the council doubted me. Even when the nights felt endless and my bed was empty. I never stopped being Lucien’s wife. Not in my heart. Not in my blood.

As I applied more powder to my face, my fingers moved with a sense of calm, but inside me, a storm of emotions raged.

Would he still be able to recognize me? Would I still be able to recognize him? War changed people. I had seen it in Garrick’s eyes, in the tremble of his hands, in the silence of the warriors who came back and never spoke again.

I shook the thought away and reached for my earrings, the ones he had given me on the morning after our bonding ceremony. He said they reminded him of the stars. I put them on and then ran my fingers over the chain around my neck. His chain. His promise. I had worn it every day since he left.

Outside, I could hear the guards moving at the front gates and suddenly there was a sharp knock at my door.

“Lady Ravena!” a voice called through the wood. “He’s here! Alpha Lucien just arrived at the main gates!”

Without wasting time, I turned away from the mirror, my hands trembling as I fastened my cloak. My fingers hesitated over the clasp for only a second before I locked it in place. I walked to the door, but then I stopped and looked back.

My vanity was a mess. The powder lid was open, the perfume bottle lay forgotten under the window, and my lipstick was uncapped and half-done.

But none of that was important now. Lucien had returned, and I couldn't wait to see him.

I stepped out of the room with my heart beating like a war drum. The sound of my heels echoed through the hallway as I walked faster.

I didn’t care how I looked. I didn’t care that my lipstick wasn’t perfect.

He was home, and all I wanted was to see him. To touch him. No more daydreaming or holding my pillow tight in the middle of the night. My Lucien had returned.

But the moment I entered the living room, everything inside me… stilled.

The room was filled with laughter. Cheerful voices echoed off the walls, like I had walked into a celebration I didn’t know about. His uncles were there, his cousins too, the ones who barely looked me in the eye before. Now they smiled at me like they knew a secret I didn’t.

And then I saw Lucien.

He was standing tall in the middle of it all, dressed in black leather armor that still carried dust from the battlefield. His hair was longer than I remembered, tied back, and his body looked broader, harder. When he turned, our eyes met.

At that moment, my heart flipped and then squeezed tight.

This was my husband. My Alpha.

But something felt off.

He didn’t come to me. He didn’t move.

He just stood there, his expression eerily calm. Like he had known I was coming, and yet… didn’t care.

I took a step forward, my hands slightly raised. “Lucien, I…”

He raised a hand, not to reach for me, but to stop me. “Wait, Ravena. There’s something I need to say first.”

Confused, I froze. The air around me suddenly felt too thick, with all eyes on me. Their smiles grew wider, some filled with pity, others with amusement.

Even Garrick, his father, was smiling. Sitting tall in his wheelchair, dressed in formal robes, beaming with pride like he had already won a game I hadn’t been invited to play.

“I met someone during the war,” Lucien suddenly announced . “Her name is Astrid Valea and she is a soldier. A very brilliant one. She fought beside me in every battle. She saved lives, she made the difference. She was the reason we won.”

My throat tightened. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.

Lucien kept going, like he wasn’t breaking me word by word.

“Even the king acknowledged her. In fact just a few days ago, she was given the title of Third-Rank General by royal decree. And more than that… she is my fated mate.”

I blinked slowly, trying to process the words.

His… fated mate?

I tried to speak, but no words came out. The sound of blood rushing in my ears blocked out the rest of the room.

Lucien’s father leaned forward in his chair, his voice loud and full of pride. “The king has already approved the match between Lucien and General Valea. Everything has been arranged. There will be a wedding banquet, and Ravena, you are to oversee the preparations.”

I turned toward him, shocked. “What?”

I looked at Lucien. My Lucien. My husband.

He stared at me like I was an obligation he had finally found a way to get rid of.

“You made a vow to me, Lucien. You married me. You said…”

“That was before,” he said flatly. “Before I knew what the Moon Goddess had truly planned.”

“So you are just going to walk away? From everything we had? Everything I did for you, for this pack?”

“I know you kept things in order, but now things have changed.”

“Because you found someone else,” I said bitterly.

He nodded, not even trying to soften the blow. “I found the one I was destined to be with.”

I laughed, feeling broken and small. “And what am I? A placeholder? A warm body until the Moon Goddess gave you someone better?”

“We were arranged. You know that. You agreed to it.”

“I accepted you,” I replied, stepping closer. “I loved you. I held this entire pack together while you were gone. I paid for your father’s care. I broke my back keeping your name clean. I did everything you couldn’t while you were off playing hero.”

“You’re angry. I expected that.”

“Did you think betrayal would be accepted easily?”

Just then, he reached into his coat and pulled out a folded letter, sealed in gold wax. The royal seal sparkled under the chandelier light as he held it out to me like it meant nothing.

I didn’t take it. Instead, I just stared at the letter.

“What the hell is this, Lucien?”