Two

Chapter Two

Nia’s POV

For the first time in three years, I woke up feeling wanted.

The morning sunlight slipped through the curtains and fell across the bed, warming my face as I slowly opened my eyes, and for a few seconds, I stayed still because I was afraid that if I moved too quickly, whatever happiness I felt would disappear.

My body was sore, my mind was heavy, and there was still a strange warmth beneath my skin, but none of that mattered because I could remember everything that had happened the night before.

Azrael had come back to me, I turned my head slowly, expecting to find him beside me, but the other side of the bed was empty.

My heart dropped, I pushed myself up and looked around the room, wondering if he had gone to the bathroom or stepped outside, but there was no sign of him anywhere, so I pulled the blanket closer around myself and sat there quietly, trying to understand how I could feel so happy and abandoned at the same time.

Maybe he had left because he regretted what happened, maybe he was embarrassed, maybe he had gone downstairs to deal with Hailey before she discovered that he had come back to me.

I pressed my fingers against my lips as memories from the night before returned to my mind, and despite everything that had happened between us, a small smile found its way onto my face.

He had held me, he had really kissed me, I am really going to have a baby 

For those few hours, I had forgotten every cruel word, every lonely night, and every time I had watched him choose Hailey over me, I had finally felt like his mate instead of a Luna who happened to share his name.

My gaze moved around the room, and that was when I noticed something lying on the floor.

A black shirt.

I reached down and picked it up, holding it close for a moment as his familiar scent filled my senses, and my wolf stirred inside me as though she remembered him just as clearly as I did.

I pressed the shirt against my chest and closed my eyes.

Maybe things could change now, maybe last night had reminded Azrael that the Moon Goddess had chosen me for him for a reason, maybe I had finally given him what he needed. An heir.

The thought made my stomach twist with nervous excitement.

I placed the shirt beside me and slowly stood from the bed, wrapping the blanket around myself as I walked toward the bathroom. Before I reached the door, I heard voices downstairs.

I froze, one of them belonged to Hailey, te other belonged to Azrael.

My heart began beating faster, I stared at the bedroom door, he was downstairs, so he had come back.

A strange relief washed over me, and I quickly changed into a robe before leaving the room.

I walked down the hallway, my bare feet making almost no sound against the floor, and as I reached the staircase, I could hear Hailey laughing.

I frowned. Why was she laughing so happily?

I took another step, then another, and when I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I stopped.

My entire body went cold. Azrael was standing in the sitting room, my husband.

He was dressed in a black shirt and dark trousers, and his hair was still slightly wet as though he had just returned from his morning run.

Hailey stood beside him, holding a cup of coffee while she spoke to him.

I stared at them, neither of them seemed to notice me at first.

I couldn't breathe.

My mind refused to understand what I was seeing.

Azrael was here but if Azrael was here...nMy fingers tightened around the railing. Who had been in my room? I looked at my husband again, hoping that somehow I had misunderstood what I was seeing.

He turned his head and noticed me, his expression immediately changed. "What are you doing standing there like that?"

 His voice was cold, just as it had been the night before.

I couldn't answer.

Hailey looked at me and smiled. "Nia, you look terrible this morning," she said, laughing softly as she looked me over. "I hope you didn't spend the entire night crying after Azrael left with me."

My heart stopped. 

Azrael frowned at her. "Why would she be crying?"

Hailey shrugged as she moved closer to him. "Because she is always emotional, and you know how badly she wants your attention."

I barely heard them. My mind was somewhere else.

Azrael had left with Hailey, I had watched them walk upstairs, I had watched the bedroom door close, I had stood downstairs crying and then someone had come to me, someone who looked like him, someone who smelled like him.

Someone my wolf had recognized.

My breathing became shallow..

Azrael looked at me suspiciously. "Nia, why are look at me?"

I finally forced myself to speak. "Where did you sleep last night?"

His eyebrows pulled together. "What kind of question is that?"

I swallowed hard. "I mean, after you went upstairs with Hailey, where did you sleep?"

Hailey's smile disappeared. 

Azrael looked irritated. "I slept in my room."

My heart began pounding. "Alone?"

He gave me a strange look. "With Hailey."

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

I took a step backward. No!

That wasn't possible, I had felt his arms around me, I had heard his breathing, I had kissed him, I had called his name.

My wolf had responded to him, how could Azrael have been with Hailey while he had been with me?

I suddenly remembered the mole. The small mole beneath the man's collarbone.

My eyes widened. Azrael had no mole there, I had noticed it, I had even wondered about it but I had ignored the thought because I had wanted to believe that he had finally come back to me.

My stomach twisted.

"Are you feeling sick?" Azrael asked, his voice still carrying the same coldness that had become so familiar to me.

I looked at him, I wanted to ask him who had been in my room, I wanted to tell him everything but how could I explain it?

How could I stand in front of my husband and tell him that I had been with another man because I believed he was my mate?

My cheeks burned with shame.."I don't feel well," I said quietly.

Azrael sighed. "Then go and treat yourself."

There was no concern in his voice.

Hailey smiled again. "Perhaps she is finally realizing that being Luna comes with responsibilities, especially when she still hasn't given the Alpha an heir."

I looked at her. For once, I had nothing to say, I turned away from them and started walking toward the staircase.

T

Just then the front doors exploded open.

Every conversation in the mansion stopped instantly.

Warriors stormed inside, their boots striking the marble floor as they formed a path, and then he walked through it.

A tall man dressed entirely in black, broad shoulders. Dark hair. A hard, unreadable face.

He didn't hesitate, he didn't look around like a man entering someone else's home, he walked in like he had never lost it.

Azrael went rigid.

For the first time since I had known my husband, I saw something in his eyes that made my stomach twist, fear.

One of the older warriors stepped forward and bowed his head.

"Alpha KadoxKadox."

My breath caught. KadoxKadox? Azrael's stepbrother.

The former Alpha who had disappeared during the war years ago and had been presumed dead bt he was standing before us now. Alive, his cold eyes settled on Azrael.

A faint smile curved his lips. "How long," he asked, his voice deep and calm, "did you intend to keep my throne warm for me?"

Azrael's face hardened.."When did you get here, brother?"

"Yesterday."

My heart stopped, yesterday.

The word echoed inside my head, yesterday.

The man in my room, the arms around me, the lips against mine, the scent my wolf had recognized.

My gaze slowly dropped to KadoxKadox's open collar.

There it was, the small mole beneath his collarbone.

The same mole I had noticed last night, the same mole Azrael didn't have.

My blood turned cold. The man I had spent the night with wasn't my husband.

It was KadoxKadox, my husband's stepbrother.