Chapter Two: The Woman He Never Forgot

​The grand hall remained deathly silent, the air so thick it felt hard to breathe. At my feet, the parchment announcing my pregnancy lay forgotten, face-down on the polished stone floor.

​My gaze never wavered from the woman standing beside my husband.

​Seraphina.

​The dead woman who had somehow crawled out of her grave.

​She was even more beautiful than the bittersweet stories whispered by the pack elders. Long, ebony hair framed a flawless, porcelain face, and her emerald eyes sparkled with absolute confidence. Her lips curved into a tiny, victorious smile—the smile of a woman who knew she had won before I even entered the room.

​Kael's arm remained locked around her waist. He didn't tighten his grip, but he didn't let go either. He held her like a prized possession.

​My chest tightened until it ached. "Kael..." My voice cracked, the sound painfully small in the vast room. "What is the meaning of this?"

​His expression didn't soften. The warmth he usually maintained for the public was entirely gone. "As you can see, Lyra, Seraphina has returned."

​"I can see that," I said, forcing myself to stand tall, throwing every ounce of my Luna training into keeping my spine straight under the weight of hundreds of staring eyes. "But why is she standing on the sacred dais? Beside you?"

​Before Kael could answer, Seraphina let out a soft, mocking laugh. She tilted her head, her emerald eyes glittering. "Oh, dear. Hasn't he told you about me?"

​I didn't look at her. I kept my eyes locked on my husband, my voice hardening. "I am speaking to my husband, Alpha Kael."

​A flicker of sharp irritation crossed Seraphina's perfect features, but she masked it instantly, leaning closer into Kael's side.

​Kael exhaled a slow, heavy sigh. "There are things you don't understand, Lyra."

​"Then explain them to me."

​For three years, I had sacrificed everything for him and this pack. I had managed the internal affairs, cared for the sick elders, secured fractured alliances, and comforted every grieving family. I had been a perfect Luna. Surely, I deserved more than a cryptic warning in front of a crowded room.

​Kael looked out at the gathered elders before speaking, his voice flat. "Years ago, Seraphina disappeared while traveling beyond our northern borders. We searched for months."

​"You told everyone she died."

​"I believed she had."

​Seraphina stepped forward, her lower lip trembling as theatrical tears shimmered in her eyes. "I was captured by a rogue faction," she said, her voice pitched perfectly to carry across the silent hall. "They kept me imprisoned in darkness all these years. I only managed to escape a few weeks ago."

​Gasps and murmurs immediately rippled through the crowd.

​"What a horrific tragedy..."

"The Moon Goddess truly protected her."

"I can't believe she's actually alive."

​The whispers spread like wildfire. I wanted to believe her—truly, I did. As a wolf, the thought of being caged by rogues was a living nightmare. But the moment Seraphina looked back at me, the tears in her eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating glare.

​She wasn't looking at me with the relief of a survivor. She was looking at me like an obstacle that needed to be removed.

​Kael turned his attention to the head omega. "Prepare chambers for Seraphina inside the Alpha Mansion immediately."

​My heart skipped a beat. Inside the mansion? That sanctuary was reserved exclusively for the Alpha's immediate family.

​The head omega hesitated, casting a nervous, fleeting glance in my direction. "My Alpha... where shall we prepare them?"

​Kael answered without a shred of hesitation. "The East Wing."

​My breath caught in my throat. The East Wing. Those were the historical chambers of the future Luna, sitting directly opposite our shared master suite.

​No. He couldn't be serious.

​Panic finally shattered my composure. I took a step forward, my hands clenching into fists to hide their shaking. "Kael. May I speak with you... alone?"

​"No."

​The single, sharp word landed like a physical slap across my face.

​"Whatever you have to say can be said here," Kael added, his voice unyielding.

​Humiliation, hot and suffocating, burned through my veins. In front of the elders, the commanders, and the guards, he had dismissed me like an insubordinate omega.

​Beside him, Beta Rowan shifted uncomfortably, adjusting his collar. Several elders lowered their heads, unable to meet my eyes, and even the loyal servants looked away. No one wanted to witness the public dismantling of their Luna.

​But no one dared to stop it, either.

​Seraphina smiled sweetly, reaching up to casually smooth an invisible wrinkle from Kael’s collar. "Oh, Kael, don't be so harsh on her. She must be completely overwhelmed."

​The domestic intimacy of her touch made my stomach churn with nausea. She acted as though she still owned him—and his silence proved that she did.

​Instinctively, my hand drifted down, hovering just over my flat stomach. Our baby...

​I had walked into this hall to tell him about the little life we had created. Now, the words felt like ash in my mouth. If I announced my pregnancy now, it wouldn't look like a miracle; it would look like a desperate plea for mercy.

​Kael raised his hand, commanding the room's attention once more. His face became an unreadable mask of Alpha authority. "I have one final announcement."

​A suffocating sense of dread settled deep into my bones. The elders exchanged uneasy glances, and even Beta Rowan’s brow furrowed in confusion.

​"I expect every member of this pack to attend tomorrow night's Moon Assembly," Kael announced, his deep voice echoing off the high stone walls. He paused, his gaze cutting through the crowd. "Because I will be making a final decision regarding the Luna of the Blackthorn Pack."

​The world stopped spinning. The blood in my veins turned to ice.

​No... No, please. Not this.

​I stared at him desperately, silently begging, screaming at him with my eyes to look at me, to say anything else.

​But Kael never looked back. His eyes remained fixed straight ahead, staring right through me as if I were already a ghost.

​And for the first time in three years, I realized I was about to lose far more than just my husband's love. I was about to lose far more than just my husband's love. I was about to lose everything.