Chapter 2

Lyra's POV

The silence that followed my arrival felt heavier than anything I had endured during my year away; every conversation died, and every smile disappeared. The music stopped halfway through a song, leaving only the faint crackle of the fireplace in the corner of the hall.

 Dozens of eyes settled on me, some shocked, some curious, and some openly annoyed. It was as if I had walked into a place where I no longer belonged; my gaze stayed fixed on Darius. 

A year ago, he had stood before the Pack Council and promised me he would wait for me. He had promised that our family would survive the separation; those promises had carried me through nights when I had nothing but loneliness for company. Now he stood beside Vanessa, looking more surprised to see me than happy. The distance between us felt far greater than the year we had spent apart.

Darius finally moved first. He stepped away from Vanessa and moved toward me, but there was no urgency in his stride, no relief or excitement. Just the calm expression he wore whenever he handled pack business. 

My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, hurt by the lack of recognition from her mate. I ignored the feeling cause if I allowed myself to dwell on it, I would fall apart right there in front of everyone.

 “Lyra,” he said when he stopped a few feet away. 

Hearing my name on his lips should have comforted me, but it didn't. It sounded formal, like he was greeting a visitor instead of his mate. 

“You came earlier than expected.”

 I stared at him in disbelief. ‘Earlier than expected?’

 My release date had been arranged months ago; he knew exactly when I would return. The fact that those were the first words out of his mouth made something inside me ache. 

“Today was always the date,” I replied quietly. A flicker of irritation crossed his face before disappearing.

 “I've been busy.” That was all he offered. 

Before I could respond, Leo, my son, stood near Vanessa's chair, staring at me. My heart squeezed painfully. He had grown taller during the year I was gone; his face looked older too, less round than before.

 For a second, everything else faded away. The pack members vanished, the whisper and even Darius vanished; there was only my little boy. I remembered the day he was born, staying awake through endless nights when he was sick and teaching him how to shift for the first time. During exile, his face had been the one thing I thought about most. I took a small step forward. 

“Leo.” 

His name barely made it past my lips. I smiled despite the tears threatening to form in my eyes. For one hopeful moment, he simply stared; then he turned and rushed straight to Vanessa, and my smile faded. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face against her side. Vanessa gently rested a hand on his shoulder while he peeked at me as if I were a stranger. The sight hit harder than any physical blow ever could.

A murmur spread through the hall; nobody bothered hiding their reactions. Some wolves exchanged awkward looks while others watched with open interest. A few even smiled, and I understood why. To them, this wasn't heartbreaking; it was entertainment. 

They had spent an entire year watching Vanessa take my place. They had watched her sit beside Darius at meetings, and they had watched her care for Leo. They had watched her move through the packhouse as though she already belonged there.

 Now they were seeing the original Luna return and discover how little space remained for her. Vanessa looked down at Leo and stroked his hair.

 “It's alright,” she said softly. “Your mother has been away for a long time.”

 The words sounded kind enough for everyone else, but to me, they felt carefully chosen. Leo tightened his grip on her clothes. 

“I don't know her anymore,” he said.

 The words were simple and honest. Exactly the sort of thing a child would say that made them hurt even more.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to stay calm. Losing control here would only give people another reason to look down on me. My eyes shifted to the moonstone necklace resting against Vanessa's throat. It was impossible to miss that every Luna of the Nightfang Pack had worn it before me.

 The necklace represented leadership, loyalty, and the bond between the Alpha and Luna. Yet somehow Vanessa was wearing it while I stood at the entrance carrying a travel bag. The unfairness of it all threatened to overwhelm me. I looked back at Darius. He noticed where my attention had gone but said nothing; the silence told me more than words ever could.

 If he truly disagreed with what was happening, Vanessa wouldn't be wearing it. If he respected me as his Luna, he would have stopped this long ago. Instead, he stood there pretending everything was normal, pretending there was nothing wrong with another woman occupying the place that belonged to his mate.

A year ago, before my exile began, I had given Darius a set of mate-severance papers. At the time, he claimed he needed space to think. I had assumed he would decide while I was gone, but looking at him now, I realized how foolish that assumption had been.

 “Did you sign them?” I asked.

 The question cut through the room instantly; their little whispers stopped, and every head turned. Even Leo looked up; Darius's expression hardened, and Vanessa became very still.

 Nobody needed me to explain which papers I meant; the entire pack had heard rumors about them. The severance papers would end our marriage and formally break the bond between Alpha and Luna.

 “This isn't the time,” Darius said after a long pause. 

I held his gaze. “It is for me.” 

His jaw tightened. “You've just returned.” 

“And you've had a year.” Neither of us looked away. The tension stretched through the hall until it became difficult to breathe. Around us, the pack watched in complete silence.

For several seconds, Darius said nothing; the longer he remained quiet, the clearer the answer became. If he had signed the papers, he would have told me. If he intended to sign them, he would have said so.

 Instead, he looked annoyed that I had dared to ask the question publicly. As though I was causing problems by refusing to ignore what everyone could already see: Vanessa stood beside him, Leo stood beside Vanessa, the pack stood behind all three of them, and somehow I was the outsider. My chest felt tight, but I refused to let anyone see how badly I was hurting. 

“We'll discuss this later,” 

Darius finally said. His tone carried the same authority he used during council meetings, as though this conversation could be postponed simply because he wanted it to be. I stared at him for a long moment before I realized something bitter. 

Darius never believed I would leave him even after everything that had happened; he still thought I would stay exactly where he wanted me, waiting, hoping, and accepting whatever scraps he offered. And judging by the confidence in his eyes, he hadn't signed the papers. Not because he loved me enough to fight for me, but because he never imagined I would truly walk away.