Chapter 2: THE GHOST BECOMES FLESH

Elena’s POV

“You know she was never supposed to be Luna, right?”

“Of course. How could someone so weak be our leader?”

“Oh, she is just a placeholder until our real luna returns.”

“Sloane?”

“Oh yes.”

By the time I walked through the corridor, the guard was done with his explanation for why Sloane was a million times better than I was.

Throughout the day, I had to endure the now-familiar words from the people that should have been my family.

That evening, the council dined again in our halls. This time, I was prepared. I made sure the cooks and dining staff set the table. Even after I did all that, I still had to endure scolding from Elaine because she didn’t like the way something was.

As the dinner started, I sat beside him – at Trent’s right-hand side. Around me, the elders spoke out loud, about the morning affairs.

I tried not to flinch whenever their conversation shifted over to me, but that was useless. That name, Sloane, seemed to chase me around like a curse.

I had never met her, yet I was always compared to her, even though she wasn’t there. I still lived in her shadow.

As they spoke, I told myself to smile a little harder, to keep mute. I tried to keep my back straighter, because I thought, maybe… just maybe I could make them all think better of me.

But throughout the dinner, Trent hardly looked at me and every single time he did, I could see a hollowness within his gaze, as though I was nothing more than a void, filling a space that wasn’t mine.

The conversation shifted towards new lands, treaties and an upcoming alliance with a different pack. A pack I had been hearing about all over the news, a pack whose leader was supposed to be one of the most powerful alphas alive.

Xander Vine.

Whenever his name came up, I tried very hard not to react to it. Because I knew him, and I didn’t just know him, we dated.

As the conversation progressed, I nodded politely, even though I wasn’t exactly included and no one addressed me.

Suddenly, Trent tapped me on my shoulders, “More wine,” he ordered, his tone both rough and harsh.

I stood alert, my eyes flickering as I immediately rushed to bring another goblet of wine to him,

He took it from my hands without acknowledging me and turned back to the elders. He poured the wine into his cup and then said, “If Sloane were here, none of this would have been hard.”

Those words again,

Even though I had heard them speak a lot, anytime I heard her name from his lips, it felt like a dagger had pierced through my heart.

He had not even hesitated, just said her name out loud, as though she was the only one that mattered to him.

And worse, the elders around the table seemed to agree with him, with some even nodding, like they believed Sloane was somehow the solution to every freaking problem of the pack.

I lowered my head, trying, but failing, to hide the sting in my eyes. My hand slipped down under the tablecloth as my fingers began to caress the scars left on my arm by Elaine the last time I had annoyed her.

Even as I was abused, I kept silent. Because that was what I always did, because I knew that fighting back against her would only hurt me more.

The dinner was wrapped up in cold silence. I was silent, but my hands were twitching as I prepared to begin cleaning up.

And then -

The bustle around the dining table froze.

A hush seemed to sweep through the pack, doors swung open with force, light, elegant footsteps echoed around the hall, and I snapped my head around, confused, only for me to also freeze.

It was her.

The woman whose face haunted my dreams,

Sloane.

She was back.

She swept into the dining hall like a hurricane on heels. Seemingly not caring that she had just interrupted an official meeting.

She was wrapped in a tailored leather coat, her blonde hair flowed behind her, and her radiant smile seemed to be plastered on her face.

Even though she wasn’t an alpha, her presence was commanding. Every single wolf that saw her tilted their heads in respect. Even if her face wasn’t plastered around my home, I would have been able to immediately tell who she was.

Every rumor and whisper I had once heard and scoffed at. They had not been exaggerated, she was breathtaking.

And my mate?

Trent didn’t even hesitate.

While I was frozen in shock, he had already jumped out of his seat, a large grin plastered on his face as he began walking forward to greet her.

His entire body demeanor had changed, he moved like lightning, faster even, faster than I had ever seen him approach anyone, even me.

He reached her in moments and, without pausing, wrapped his arms around her as though she was his soul returning from a long voyage.

“Sloane.” he spoke softly, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear, but even though I could barely hear him, I could hear the undertones. His voice was reverent, full and alive.

It was eerily different to how he sounded when he spoke to me.

“You are home.”

She laughed softly, her voice elegant as she leaned into him and returned the embrace, as though she had never even left.

My lungs refused to expand as I stood up and got on my feet. As I stood frozen, my heart and every semblance of hope I once held tight began breaking into tiny pieces.

Around me, the elders all stood up, all smiling as they all cheered for her return.

I looked around and realized a raw truth.

I wasn’t even a shadow on the wall anymore.

To them all, I was nothing now.