Chapter 5- Pretending it meant nothing

POV: LYRA ASHBOURNE

By the time we reached the Ashbourne estate, I had regained enough control to hide my panic. The carriage stopped outside the house, and after stepping down and straightening my dress, I walked toward the entrance.

The moment I entered the drawing room, I knew they had been waiting for me.

My father stood near the fireplace with my mother beside him while Selene sat on the sofa, and the moment she saw me, her attention immediately shifted toward me.

“You’re back.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

My mother walked toward me with an expectant expression.

“What happened?”

I knew exactly what she meant, but I pretended not to understand.

“At the palace?”

Her expression hardened. “Of course at the palace. What happened after the selection? What did Alpha Kael say, and what did he ask you?”

My father stepped closer, his attention fixed on me.

“Did he confirm that you’re staying as his chosen woman?”

I looked at all three of them, and suddenly, I understood that they weren’t worried about me at all. They wanted to know whether Selene had secured the position they had spent years dreaming about, whether their plans had worked, and whether the Ashbourne family was finally going to stand closer to the Alpha than ever before.

Not one of them had asked if I was okay.

“I was there for dinner,” I said carefully. “We spoke.”

My mother’s eyes narrowed. “Only spoke?”

Heat rushed to my face as memories of the previous night flashed through my mind, forcing me to look away.

“There isn’t much else to tell.”

Selene stood and walked toward me, her expression shifting from curiosity to something sharper.

“What do you mean there isn’t much else to tell? What did he say about me?”

I forced myself to meet her gaze.

“He didn’t say much.”

“Did he like you?”

The question caught me off guard because I immediately remembered the way Kael had looked at me, the change in his voice whenever he spoke to me, and the strange reaction between us that I still couldn’t explain.

My chest tightened.

“He was polite.”

Selene stared at me. “That’s all?”

I nodded. “That’s all.”

The lie came far too easily.

My father, however, remained unconvinced.

“You were alone with him.”

“Yes.”

“And he gave you no indication that he intends to proceed with the arrangement?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Another lie.

My mother seemed to relax as she accepted the answer.

“Perhaps we worried for nothing.”

I lowered my eyes. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m tired.”

I turned toward the stairs, but just as I reached them, my father’s voice stopped me.

“Lyra.”

I froze.

Hearing my real name made my stomach drop because he rarely called me that unless something was wrong.

Slowly, I turned around.

“Did anything unusual happen?”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My fingers tightened around the fabric of my dress while the hidden mark beneath my collar seemed to burn against my skin.

“No.”

My father continued watching me, searching for any hesitation or change in my expression that might expose the lie, but I forced myself to remain still until, after several tense seconds, he finally nodded.

“Good.”

I turned and continued upstairs, refusing to breathe properly until I reached my bedroom.

The moment I closed the door behind me, I leaned against it and pressed a hand to my chest as my heart raced uncontrollably.

They couldn’t know, and none of them could find out.

I locked the door and crossed the room, and when I reached the mirror, I stood there for several seconds before finally pulling my collar aside.

The mark was still there.

I stared at it, unable to understand how something so faint could have the power to turn my entire life upside down.

I could lie to my family, hide the truth from Selene, and even pretend that nothing had happened, but I couldn’t erase the mark.

My fingers hovered over it before lightly touching the skin around it, and I felt my eyes begin to burn.

Why me?

For most of my life, I had believed I was the one person fate had forgotten. I had grown used to being the wolfless daughter, the unwanted twin, and the girl who watched her sister receive everything she had been denied.

Now fate had given me something I couldn’t safely keep: a mate, an Alpha, and a bond that could destroy my family while leaving me with nowhere to run.

I lowered my hand and stared at my reflection, knowing that the safest thing I could do was pretend nothing had happened.

Kael didn’t know who I really was. As far as he knew, I was Selene, and if I stayed away from him, refused to give this bond any reason to grow stronger, and returned to the life I had always known, perhaps everything would eventually fade.

Perhaps the mark would disappear, and perhaps the memories would become nothing more than something I could eventually forget.

I needed to believe that because I had no other choice.

The night meant nothing, and I had to make myself believe it meant nothing.

I stared at my reflection, repeating the thought silently, but the tears gathering in my eyes made it impossible to accept completely because somewhere beneath the fear, the guilt, and every reason I had to stay away from him, I already knew the truth.

That night had changed everything, and no matter how many lies I told myself, I couldn’t change that.