Chapter 2

At noon, Kalev went to the pack council chamber, and Freya found an excuse to leave. Randy then brought a buyer to my house to go over the handover checklist.

This luxury villa in the heart of the pack territory was one that Mom had prepared for me many years ago.

The new buyer was a very straightforward she-wolf named Debbie Barker. She went through the details, inspected the house, and seemed very pleased with it.

"This house has been kept in excellent condition, Ms. Whiteclaw! Are you also taking all the furniture with you?"

I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. I'm leaving everything to you other than a few of my personal belongings. We'll finalize the handover the day after tomorrow."

Shortly after seeing Debbie off, Kalev called. His voice was tight with suppressed anger.

"Ariel. Did you let an outsider into the house?"

I didn't reply.

He sneered coldly and said, "Freya passed by the house and smelled a foreign scent coming from the inside. How dare you bring in someone with an unknown background without telling me about it?"

He spoke with an air of righteous concern, but I could tell that he was more worried about whether or not Freya had been upset by the unfamiliar scent.

I just replied calmly, "It was a repairman. He came in to check the plumbing."

Kalev was clearly skeptical, but he didn't press the issue. He softened his tone and said, "Fine. I'll come home early tonight and take you to that new restaurant. Freya said that you hadn't been eating much lately and told me to spend more time with you."

He said it so naturally as though Freya was the lady of the house instead of me, that she would have to remind him to keep me company when I was supposed to be his mate in the first place.

I hung up on him.

At 6:00 pm, Kalev arrived home right on time. For the first time ever, he actually brought a bouquet of moonflowers for me.

He stuffed the bouquet into my arms and swept his gaze over the empty entryway cabinet.

"Where are the things you used to keep here?" he asked.

I used to keep some of our couple items, couple jewelry, and couple photos there, but I'd already gotten rid of them all. I didn't even bother looking up as I said, "They were just there collecting dust, and I grew sick of them, so I tossed them."

Kalev frowned, but surprisingly, he didn't lose his temper. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me from behind, enveloping me in his scent, his tone softening in a rare display of gentleness.

"Are you still mad about what happened at our mating ceremony? Freya is an orphan. She's sensitive to being lonely. But you're the future Luna of the pack. Can't you just be a little more understanding with her?"

I didn't pull away.

Five years ago, Kalev had also held me in his arms like this, swearing to the Moon Goddess that he would protect me and cherish me with his life for as long as he lived.

But now, he was asking me to be more understanding and tolerant toward the person who had indirectly caused Mom's death.

I looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "Are you coming to visit Mom tomorrow?"

His arms around me stiffened for a bit. Then, he quickly let me go.

"Not tomorrow. I have a meeting with the pack Elders. How about the day after instead? I'll definitely make time to go with you then."

I didn't call his bluff. I'd already seen his schedule, and there was absolutely no official meeting with the pack Elders the next day. The only thing on his agenda was accompanying Freya to pick out some gowns.

Instead, I just nodded and said, "It's fine. Forget about it."

Kalev thought that I was being sensible for once and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"That's a good she-wolf. Once Freya settles down, we'll hold the mating ceremony again, and then we'll think about having a pup afterward. You won't have time to let your mind wander off anymore once you have something to focus on."

I stared at his familiar face and suddenly found it very foreign to me. He might as well have been a stranger.

He went back to the study that night, and I dragged my black suitcase out of the walk-in closet, packing up the few remaining clothing items that I owned.

I neatly arranged all of the fine jewelry that he'd given to me over the course of the five years together on the dressing table, even taking off the necklace that signified my status as the future Luna, tucking it away at the very bottom of the jewelry box.

I was just waiting for the day after tomorrow, when it would all finally come to an end.