Chapter 7

"It's my friend who's leaving," I told Ryder, keeping my voice steady.

He studied my face for a few seconds as if searching for a tell, and in the end, he just nodded.

Ryder's behavior made reality impossible to ignore over the next two days.

Two days before I left, he showed up with a stack of pictures. Those were the pre-ceremony photos of him and Isabelle.

He opened his laptop right in front of me, video-called her, and asked, "What do you think of these?"

On the screen, Isabelle had on my white gown, and happiness was written all over her face. She ran a hand over her belly. Her eyes were soft with maternal warmth.

"Ryder, these photos are gorgeous," she cooed into the camera. "Wearing the gown feels so special. It's like we're actually having a bonding ceremony."

"You'd look beautiful in anything," Ryder said. His voice was so tender that it made me gag.

I sat at the far end of the couch, as if I didn't exist. As I watched their saccharine display, something inside me simply died.

"Ryder, I want to place these photos at our families' ancestral shrine, so our forebearers can see our pup," Isabelle said.

Ryder agreed at once. "Good idea."

Their families' ancestral shrine? Their pup?

They spoke with such ease, as if I, Ryder's real mate, had never existed.

Ryder shot me a look after the call. My calm put him on edge.

He frowned. "You've been really quiet lately."

"What's there to say?" I asked.

He said nothing. He kept at his work as if I were nothing but air.

…

The day before I left, I went to the infirmary for my last dose of the toxin suppressant. Silverblood had crept to the edges of my heart, and every breath cut like a blade.

Even so, I held myself together, refusing to let anyone see a crack.

I ran into Ryder and Isabelle at the entrance. She'd just finished her prenatal checkup.

She spotted me and came running. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "Lyra! I've been meaning to apologize."

Isabelle seized my hand. She sounded choked up. "I know I've hurt you, but I had no choice. The healers say I have no more than three months left, and my only wish is to have Ryder's pup."

I watched her act and felt nothing.

"I know," I said evenly, already drawing my hand back to leave.

Isabelle went on sobbing. "Please forgive me, Lyra! I never meant to take what's yours!"

"It's fine," I repeated.

She saw my indifference, and annoyance flickered in her eyes. But she slipped back into that pitiful, helpless act almost at once.

She let go of my hand. "Thanks for understanding. I should head back. My stomach feels a little off."

I turned to leave, and as I set foot on the steps, Isabelle came up behind me.

"Lyra, wait!"

I turned. The sweet mask she'd worn was gone, leaving nothing but naked malice.

Isabelle sneered. "You think keeping your cool gets you anywhere? You just stand there while your mate has a pup with someone else and pretend you don't care. You're a pathetic excuse for a mate."

"Are you finished?" I asked.

She went on, taunting, "You'll never be Luna. Ryder's heart is with me and our pup now. You're just someone who doesn't matter."

I looked at her twisted expression and felt a flicker of pity.

"If saying that makes you feel better, then keep saying it," I said, turning to leave.

"You!" Isabelle spat, pissed at how calm I was, and shoved me hard.

I shifted aside and caught her by the arm without thinking to keep her from falling.

Right then, she let her wolf kick in and threw herself off balance on purpose, pitching backward. I tried to catch her, but it was too late.

"Help!" she screamed as she tumbled down the stairs.

Footsteps hammered the hall. Ryder was sprinting over from the far end. He saw me reaching for Isabelle as she was falling.

Time seemed to stall.

The moment she hit the floor, she clutched her belly. Real fear flooded her eyes. She hadn't expected the fall to be that hard.

"My pup…" she whispered, trembling.

Ryder's face went livid. The look he threw me was all fury and disappointment.

He bellowed, "Lyra! How could you do this? Isabelle's carrying a pup! How dare you? Apologize to her right now!"