Chapter 2

~Nina~

For a moment, I could only stare at him.

Move my things?

Those three words were an absolute insult compared to everything I had surrendered for him.

This was my sanctuary. Our room. The same room where he had marked me as his. The same bed where he had taken my innocence, where I had spent countless nights wearing his shirt just to breathe in his scent while he was away. The same windows I had stood beside, praying to the Moon Goddess for his safe return.

And now, because another woman carried his child, I was being evicted like an unwanted squatter.

Chloe lowered her eyes, a masterclass in feigned hesitation. “Graham… you don’t have to do this on my account.”

“I’m not doing it on your account,” he replied without missing a beat, his voice unwavering. “I’m doing it for my son.”

His son?

I swallowed the bitter bile rising in my throat and looked at Chloe’s hand resting possessively over her still-flat stomach. She had been in this pack house for less than an hour, yet she had already usurped my home, my mate, and the respect I had spent three years earning.

I forced my gaze back to Graham. “Where am I supposed to go, then? Surely you don't mean…”

His face remained a marble mask. “Yes, Nina. The eastern guesthouse.”

A quiet, breathless laugh broke from my chest. I couldn’t help it. The sound was so empty, so laced with bitter irony, that even Chloe blinked in surprise.

“The guesthouse?” I repeated, stepping closer. “You want your Luna to pack up her life and move to a drafty cottage on the same floor as the servant's quarter just so your pregnant little mistress can sleep in our bed?”

Graham’s jaw clenched, a warning flare of Alpha authority darkening his eyes. “Watch your tone, Nina.”

“Why? Is mistress too harsh a word for your delicate companion?”

Chloe’s eyes flooded with instant, practiced tears. “Graham…”

He stepped between us, his massive frame blocking her from view as his command snapped through the room. “Enough!”

The command vibrated through the air, heavy and suffocating. For three years, that deep voice had been my sanctuary—the voice that whispered promises against my hair when nightmares kept me awake. Now, he was using his Alpha aura to silence me like a common stray.

“You’re making a scene over nothing,” Graham snapped, his patience evaporating. “I’m giving you a place to stay. It’s not as if I’m exiling you from the Shadowveil Pack. What more do you want? We can all coexist peacefully without this dramatic defiance.”

Coexist peacefully. As if I were a retired servant he was doing a favor by keeping around.

I turned slowly, letting my eyes sweep across the room. The crimson silk bedsheets. The scattered rose petals. The flickering vanilla candles. The elaborate feast waiting downstairs. Everything I had lovingly prepared for the return of my mate—the man who had come back from the war front as a cruel stranger.

I reached out and picked up a single red rose from the mattress. The petals were velvety soft beneath my trembling fingertips. I had hand-picked every blossom that morning, dreaming of his touch.

Slowly, intentionally, I crushed the blossom in my fist and let the battered petals fall onto the floor between his boots.

“Fine,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “I’ll leave.”

Graham blinked, caught off-guard. He had clearly braced for a screaming match, a desperate plea, or tears begging him to remember our bond.

Instead, I turned toward the mahogany wardrobe.

“Nina—”

“Don’t touch me.”

He froze at the sudden edge in my voice.

I opened the wardrobe and pulled out a plain travel bag, tossing a few essential clothes inside. My hands shook violently, but I refused to let either of them see a single drop of weakness.

Through the dressing mirror, I caught Chloe’s reflection. She was no longer pretending to cry. Her lips were curved into a tiny, victorious smirk as she watched me pack.

In that quiet second, something inside me snapped into place.

For three whole years, I had hidden my identity. I had buried my royal heritage, playing the weak, grateful omega who was lucky enough to be elevated by a powerful Alpha. I had sacrificed my crown, my father’s pride, and my own royal birthright, believing that if I loved Graham enough, my devotion would be enough.

Standing in that room, watching a manipulative girl claim my life while my husband stood guard over her, the delusion shattered.

I hadn't lost my place because Chloe arrived. I had lost it the moment I let Graham believe my worth was a privilege he granted me. I was Nina—daughter of the Rogue King, princess of a sovereign domain that surpassed his primitive pack in every way. And I had degraded myself for a man who threw me away the second an heir presented itself.

I zipped the bag shut with a sharp click. I didn't take the jewelry he bought me. I didn't take the silver gowns. I took only what was mine before him.

“I’m leaving,” I said flatly. "The maids will come for the rest."

Graham’s brows furrowed, a flicker of unease finally breaking through his arrogant posture. “Good. See that you settle in quietly.”

I held the bag firmly between my hands and walked past them, not granting either of them a glance.

My hand touched the heavy brass doorknob when Graham’s voice cut across the space once more. “Nina.”

I paused, turning my head just enough to catch his silhouette in the mirror.

“Don’t make a scene downstairs,” he commanded, his voice cold. “The pack is celebrating a victory.”

A slow, faint smile curved my lips—a smile he had never seen on my face before. It wasn't the sweet, submissive smile of his Luna. It was the icy, dangerous smirk of a princess who had just marked her enemy.

“Don’t worry, Graham,” I murmured softly. “I won’t make a scene.”

Chloe leaned slightly around his broad arm, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. “I’ll take wonderful care of the suite, Luna. Do visit if you ever get lonely in the guesthouse.”