#Chapter 2: Years Ago

NATALIA

Lilith’s eyes met mine with a kind of measured sweetness I didn’t trust. Her lips curved upward, polite and practiced, but her gaze cut through me like a blade wrapped in silk.

“You must be Andrei’s Luna,” she said.

There it was. That slight edge, subtle but unmistakable. A smile meant to suggest peace, but the kind that pressed its boot into your throat while doing so.

I straightened my spine, clutching the handles of the grocery bag still in my hands. “Yes,” I said, voice steady. “I am.”

She tilted her head, studying me as if I were an exhibit. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard… nothing, of course. I was gone.”

Andrei’s arm hovered at her back protectively, and he cleared his throat. “Lilith went missing during a rogue ambush six years ago. We searched the entire southern ravine, but her body was never recovered.”

He glanced at me briefly—just briefly—and I saw the flicker of apology there. But it was faint. Weak.

“I thought she was dead,” he finished softly.

I knew all this of course. Everyone from Andrei’s Beta to his chef had told me about Lilith. I guessed that he was explaining to me for etiquette’s sake.

Lilith stepped closer to him, one hand grazing his arm like muscle memory. “I was captured. Tortured. Every time I tried to escape, they punished me more harshly. But I survived. I had to. I kept thinking of Andrei. Of home.”

She looked up at him, voice trembling just enough to be convincing. “It was the only thing that kept me alive.”

Something coiled inside me, tight and bitter. I couldn’t breathe around it.

Andrei wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re home now,” he murmured. “You’ll stay with us. I’ll have a room prepared.”

Before I could speak, Lilith let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “A room? Why not here, in the Alpha house? It’s where I’ve always stayed.”

Her tone was light, but I could feel the dig beneath it. She didn’t need a room. She wanted her place back.

My heart thudded painfully as I looked to Andrei. I wanted him to say no. To glance my way, to remember what this house had been for the past five years. But he only nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “Natalia, can you—?”

I didn’t let my expression crack. “I’ll make sure the guest suite is prepared,” I said quietly.

Lilith smiled at me again. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”

I turned to go. I needed air. Space. Silence.

But as I reached the hallway, her voice floated out behind me.

“So… have you fallen for her?”

I stopped walking.

There was a beat of silence—then Andrei’s voice, low and hesitant. I didn’t stay to hear the answer. I couldn’t.

I pushed through the front doors and let the cold night air hit my face. The groceries hung forgotten at my side. My fingers had gone numb, not from the chill, but from the way the ground had just shifted beneath my feet.

I had planned to tell him tonight.

I had dinner prepared, had picked out wine, had thought about where to place the candles. I had wanted to give him hope—us hope.

Now I couldn’t even remember what I had bought.

***

The next morning, I rose early and went to the study. The air still smelled faintly of old parchment and the dried lavender I kept in a jar on the shelf. My fingers moved automatically, unlocking the drawer where I’d tucked away the marriage contract all those years ago.

The paper crackled softly as I unfolded it.

Five years.

We’d agreed that I would serve as Luna to maintain the structure of the pack. A partnership, nothing more. No promises. No marks. No expectations.

But I had broken that rule, hadn’t I? I had let myself love him.

My eyes scanned down to the clause I had avoided rereading until now.

If children are conceived, full custody shall belong to the Alpha. Offspring shall remain within pack territory.

My stomach turned.

There it was. The reminder that I was always temporary. That if I gave birth, the child would belong to him—not to us. And if we divorced, he had the right to keep them.

He doesn’t even know, I thought. And now… I don’t even know if I’ll get the chance to tell him.

A sharp knock startled me. I shoved the contract back into the drawer and forced it shut just as the door creaked open.

Lilith.

She stepped into the room like she owned it, every movement deliberate and graceful. But her eyes had lost their pretend softness.

“So this is where you keep all the important things,” she said, glancing around. “Nice of you to keep it warm while I was gone.”

“What do you want?” I asked, keeping my voice flat.

“To talk,” she said, though her smile said otherwise. “You seem like a good girl. Sweet. Obedient. But you must understand—it’s time for you to go.”

My hands clenched at my sides. “Excuse me?”

She stepped closer. “I was taken. Not dead. That means I’m still Andrei’s true mate. You were a replacement. Convenient. Temporary.”

“I’m his fated mate,” I said simply.

She smirked. “And after all these years, he still hasn’t marked you.”

“Andrei hasn’t marked me,” I said carefully. “But he hasn’t marked you either.”

She sneered. “Give him time. You think he won’t? You think he’ll keep you when he can have me again?”

I didn’t answer.

Her expression darkened. “Do you know what it’s like to be tortured for years? To survive on scraps and filth, only to come back and find some little nobody playing Luna in your home?”

I lifted my chin. “I was asked to fill that role. I never claimed to be you.”

She moved fast. One second we were speaking—the next, her hand was around my throat.

My back hit the bookshelf with a dull thud, papers fluttering loose around us.

“You should never have been part of his life,” she hissed. “If I hadn’t been forced to leave, if I hadn’t been dragged away, you never would’ve had a place here. You’d still be nothing.”

Her grip tightened. My vision blurred. My wolf stirred inside me, protective and furious—not just for me, but for the tiny life growing inside.

I didn’t think.

My claws extended, slashing across her cheek.

She screamed and stumbled back, clutching her face, blood trickling through her fingers.

The door flew open.

Andrei stood there, eyes wide. “Lilith!”

He rushed to her side instantly, pulling her into his arms.

“She attacked me,” Lilith sobbed. “I only came to speak with her—I was trying to be kind—and she told me to stay away from you, that I wasn’t welcome.”

“I didn’t—” I started, but Andrei rounded on me.

“What the hell were you thinking?” His voice was sharp, colder than I’d heard it in months. “She just came back from years in hell, and you—?”

“She grabbed me,” I said. “She threatened me—”

“You’d better hope she’s all right,” he snapped. “For your sake.”

Then he turned and led Lilith out, his arm still around her shoulders, leaving me standing alone in the wreckage.

I could still feel the ghost of her hand on my throat. Still feel the tremor in my fingers.

Still hear the sound of Andrei’s footsteps as he walked away from me.

Again.