Chapter 3

LYRA POV

The next couple of days, Lucien doesn’t talk to me. Not once do I hear his voice echo in my mind, not even to urge me to find him and please him as he’d done since he figured out that I am his mate. In fact, I don’t even see him around the pack house as I’m doing my chores.

In the beginning, I find it strange. I didn’t expect him to disappear all of a sudden, especially not after he promised to do something special for me. But in his absence, it’s also easier to forget about his roughness and the red flags I shouldn’t avoid. As the hours pass and the time for the ceremony draws nearer, my heart beats faster and faster with a mix of hope and anticipation.

When I start questioning his silence, Moon insists he must be busy. It’s his ceremony after all, where he’ll finally receive the Alpha title from his father in front of the entire pack and all of Shadow Lake’s allies. He has to have a lot to prepare for. Especially if he plans on announcing that I’m his mate. The thought makes my heart flutter, and I put my doubts aside.

Besides, it’s not so bad that we don’t meet anymore, because I haven’t been feeling well for the past two days. At random times, mostly at night, I would feel an intense pain in my chest all of a sudden. It would go away after half an hour or so. I’d even gone to the pack doctor, worried that something could be wrong with my health, but he reassured me that there was nothing out of the ordinary and I shouldn’t stress about it.

Perhaps it was just nervousness—I had a feeling that tonight, everything would change.

“Lyra!” Maribeth calls at the same time she pounds on my door. “Are you ready? The event is about to start!”

Her reminder prompts me to take one last look in the mirror. My emerald eyes scan my reflection, from the faint freckles across my nose and cheeks hidden under makeup, to my long, pale blonde hair tied in a tight pony tail that descended in flowing waves. I don’t usually have time to take care of my skin and hair, but I made a point to finish my chores earlier so I could properly get ready. If Lucien was going to publicly claim me at his ceremony, I needed to look the part—especially since I couldn’t avoid the mandatory waitress uniform.

“Yes,” I reply, smiling at my reflection one last time before rushing out the door.

I follow Maribeth and the other Omegas into the Grand Hall, where the ceremony will be held. The venue has been entirely decorated for the party, and though it’s empty now, it would be filled with hundreds of guests in less than an hour.

First, I help in the kitchen with whatever the staff needs. As time passes, I can hear shifters arriving, filling the hall one by one. But it’s only when my heart pulses harder that I know Lucien is here. The matebond always intensifies when he’s near.

Eager to see him, I quickly find an excuse to leave the kitchen, volunteering to start serving the first glasses of wine to the guests. I weave through the crowd, hoping no one stops me as I follow the bond towards Lucien.

And in the center of the hall, there he is.

Lucien looks the most handsome I’d ever seen him. His tall, broad-shouldered build is accentuated by his expensive black suit, and his usually tousled dark hair is neatly combed back. From his sharp jawline to his confident posture, he looks every bit the powerful Alpha he’s supposed to become tonight.

As excitement rushes in, I pick up my pace, only to freeze steps away from him when his stormy gray eyes meet mine. They rarely softened around me, but today, they seem cooler than I remember.

Still, simply being close to him again makes my lips start to curl, but my smile fades before it’s even born when Lucien calls, “You, Omega.”

Omega.

Not mate. Not even Lyra. Just the rank that sounds more like an insult.

I swallow my hurt and slowly approach him, only for him to say, “My glass is empty. Take it away for me, won’t you?”

For a moment, I just stand there, taken by surprise by his indifference. It had always been like this in public, but I thought maybe tonight he would start letting his walls down.

“It’s too soon,” Moon defends him. “He needs to keep playing the part until the announcement is made. We need to play along.”

For the last time, I decide to listen to her and bow my head before Lucien. “Yes, Alpha,” I say as I take his glass.

I try to ignore the alarm bells going off in my brain as I walk back towards the kitchen. Have faith, Lyra, I urge myself. Only a few more minutes of this—then, I’ll no longer be Lucien’s secret.

Just as I leave the kitchen with another tray filled with wine glasses, I notice a shift in the atmosphere. Guests start taking their seats. Lucien walks up to the raised dais, where he stands in front of his father, Alpha Ronan, and his mother, Luna Selene. This is it—the beginning of the ceremony.

When Alpha Ronan’s voice fills the space, my heart stutters and I stop to listen. “Ladies and gentlemen. Alphas, Lunas, Betas, and Gammas. Thank you all so much for being here tonight for my son’s Alpha Ceremony.” A round of applause goes off before the Alpha continues, “Before we begin, Lucien has a very important announcement to make.”

I can barely stand still as I overflow with anticipation.

Lucien steps forward. “My dear friends, it is with great joy that I announce I have found the perfect she-wolf to become my Luna and aid me in my duties.”

Moonveil is so excited she starts spinning around inside my head, and as much as I want to do the same, I hold back my excitement, straightening my posture as I wait for him to call my name. Yet just as I take my first step towards him, confident I will soon be invited to join him on stage…

He stretches his hand out to another female.

My world crumbles as he announces, “Please meet Liana Voss—my chosen mate and future Luna!”

The crowd bursts into cheers, the sounds of their celebration so loud no one hears the glass shattering as I let the tray fall to the floor.