Chapter 2

Aria’s pov

The walls of my room closed in like a cage, silent, suffocating witnesses to my unraveling. I hadn’t left my bed in three days and the food tray outside the door remained untouched. I heard the maids whispering about it each morning, their soft footsteps came and went, but no one dared to knock. Not even to see if I was breathing.

Well, maybe they hoped I wasn’t.

I curled tighter under the sheets, my body drenched in sweat and tears, though I felt nothing but cold. The fake mark throbbed like it pulsed with its own heartbeat, mocking me with every breath I took. If it was real, it would have healed by now, but it wasn’t.

That single truth haunted me like a curse. A ghost with teeth that gnawed on my insides. I was the Luna in title only, just like a pretty ribbon tied around a deal I had no say in. The pack had celebrated us, the elders had given their blessing and moon bore witness our union… but none of it meant anything to Kade.

Still, every night, the burn of betrayal rippled through my chest, curling into my bones and locking my wolf behind an invisible barrier she couldn’t break. She growled and whimpered, confused and wounded. She didn’t understand why our mate wouldn’t answer us and neither did I.

A knock jolted me from my thoughts. My heart skipped, but I didn’t move. I expected the knock to fade into silence, but instead, the door creaked open. I didn’t bother to look, assuming a maid had finally gathered the courage, but then, a familiar voice echoes in the room.

“Luna Aria,” Beta Riven said, stepping into the room carefully. He bowed his head, hand briefly pressed to his chest in respect. “Forgive the intrusion. I came because… word has spread you haven’t been eating.”

I blinked slowly, barely turning my head. My voice cracked when I tried to speak. “Did Kade send you?”

A long silence stretched between us before he finally lowered his eyes. “No, Luna. He did not.”

The way his voice dropped, heavy with guilt or maybe restraint, made my throat tighten and I turned my face away.

“Then you may leave. I will not eat until I set my eyes on Kade.”

Riven didn’t move.

The silence stretched again, thicker this time and laden with words he didn’t dare speak. I could feel the weight of his presence, the way he lingered near the doorway as if caught between duty and defiance.

“Luna,” he finally said, voice low, “you’ll grow weaker and the pack will worry. As it stands, the omegas are worried.”

I flinched at that. Not because of his concern, but because it sounded real.

“You all shouldn’t,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. “Because your Alpha doesn’t.”

“That’s not true.”

I looked at him then. His jaw was tight, the muscles clenched as though holding back something far more dangerous than anger.

“If he did,” I said slowly, “he would be here and not you.”

Riven’s eyes searched mine. “He… can’t be.”

Something inside me splintered.

“Can’t?” I echoed. “Or won’t?”

He stepped forward then, slowly, as though approaching a wounded animal. “You don’t know what he’s dealing with, Luna.”

“I don’t care what he’s dealing with,” I said, my voice shaky, but fierce. “He is my mate. My Alpha. And he left me here alone, without a word, just to be with that thing! And you’re here telling me I don’t know what he’s —”

My breath hitched. I couldn’t finish. The strength to keep yelling slipped away like sand between my fingers.

Riven moved closer. “Please, Luna… just try. Drink something at least.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the table and poured it into a glass.

I tried to lift the cup, but my hand trembled. He stepped in, gently holding it to my lips. I drank it, and it helped. My stomach groaned loudly in protest and my eyes locked onto Rivne’s.

A knock came in, almost perfectly timed.

“You can come in,” Riven called.

A young omega slipped inside, head bowed with a tray in her hands.

“Set it down,” he instructed softly.

She placed it near the bed and exited without a word.

“I’m not hungry,” I whispered, my voice sharper than I intended. “Take it with you when you leave.”

“I would not be doing my duty if I ignored your condition, Luna. Even if the Alpha is too busy to see it, I will not. You look… unwell.”

I was actually, inside and outside, but I didn’t want his pity.Still, he stayed.

“I will help you eat.”

My pride wanted to protest, but my body didn’t have the strength . Even lifting the blanket fell impossible. He moved closer, and then when a strange scent of rain soaked earth and pine laced with something grounding and calming hit my nose.

“Kade?” I gasped, breath catching. My pulse raced as I gathered all my strength and stood up abruptly, stumbling toward the door.

“Kade!” I called as I stood in the empty hallway outside my room. I turned my head quickly, searching the corners, but he wasn’t there. Still, I could smell him.

I ran down the stairs, through the living room, past the pantry with my heart thundering in my ears but Kade wasn’t there.

So how could I sense him if he was nowhere around, or was I hallucinating again?

I dragged myself, following the scent as it lead me past my room and towards the guest room. My vision blurred, limbs failed and my wolf surged in confusion and longing. But the more I walked towards the door, the fainter the scent became.

Just as I reached the door, my eyes closed against my will and everything went dark, sending me into total darkness.

***

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, the harsh white light forcing my eyes shut again. My wrist ached and I followed the discomfort which lead to a needle taped to my skin, connected to an IV bag hanging nearby.

How did I get here? I asked myself looking around.

Then the scent returned, subtle at first, then stronger and closer.

Rain. Earth. Mate.

Just then the door opened and I expected Kade, but it was Beta Riven.

He stepped in tall, composed, and yet… his nostrils flared like he too was following the same scent trail.

“Mate?” he said, voice low and shaken.

My wolf stirred.

“What?” I breathed, throat dry. “Is this some kind of joke?”