Chapter two

The next morning came.

I sat at the foot of the breakfast table with a cup of tea gone cold. Nobody had told me to come. Nobody had told me to stay away, either, which was how I knew the verdict had already been decided.

My father sat across from me, eyes flicking between Luca and Lyra like a man tallying a bill. My mother fed Lyra strawberries from her own fork.

"You look better, darling," Mom murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind Lyra's ear. "The journey must have been dreadful."

"It was," Lyra said, soft and fragile. She glanced at Luca. "But knowing he had rebuilt everything made every mile worth it."

Of course it did. My teacup rattled against the saucer. I quickly set it down before anyone noticed. Luca sat at the head of the table in a gray shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbow. He hadn't looked at me since I walked in. His coffee sat untouched. His jaw worked as though he were chewing something bitter.

A servant stepped forward with a tray. "Alpha, your morning tonic."

"Not now," Luca said.

"Oh, let me." Lyra took the glass and slid it into his hand with a smile. "You always forgot to drink it when you were stressed. I remember." I frowned. Luca took no tonic. In three years, he had never taken one. Luca drank it anyway, to please her.I turned my attention. I had a larger problem sitting in front of me. Thomas cleared his throat and set down his fork. "Luca. Now that Lyra is home and restored, we should discuss formal arrangements. The pack needs stability. The rumors about the temporary arrangement need to be put to rest."

The temporary arrangement. That was my marriage. Three years of my life, reduced to a clause."Father," I said.

He didn't turn his head. "Adele did what the crisis required, Luca. She filled the role. But we all know who was meant to sit beside you when this kingdom stood strong."

"Adele has always been quiet and accommodating," my mother added. "She understands family duty. Don't you, dear?" I stared at her. "Do I?"

"There. You see?" Mary smiled at the table. "Such a reasonable girl." My throat tightened. I turned to Luca. I didn't plan to. My body just did it, expecting something, anything.

"Luca."

His eyes met mine for one heavy second. Something moved behind them, something unsettled and almost afraid.

Then Lyra laid her hand over his, and it was gone. "The pack's standing is stable now," he said, flat as a ledger. "We will discuss the transition of the Luna title in private, Thomas."

Transition.

I knew that word. I had used it myself, in memos, about outgoing quartermasters and retired captains. It meant someone was being removed politely.

"You're doing it here?" I asked. "At breakfast? In front of the staff?"

"Sit down, Adele," dad said.

"No."

The silence that followed was almost interesting. I had never said that word to my father before.

"You are behaving like a spoiled child," he said, low and cold. "You knew what this marriage was from the first day. A placeholder. A proxy. Did you think an Alpha would choose a shadow over the sun?"

"A shadow." I laughed, and it cracked in the middle. "I rationed the winter grain. I signed the treaties. I held this pack together while you hid from debt collectors, Father."

"And you were paid in comfort," My mother said, stirring her tea. "Three years of luxury. Don't be ungrateful, Adele. It doesn't suit you."

"Luxury."

"We have arranged a cottage in the southern countryside," she went on. "You'll have a pension. You can live quietly."

"How long?" I asked. "How long have you known?"Nobody answered. Lyra studied her nails.

"The day she came back," I said. "Or before?"

"Don't be dramatic Adele," Lyra sighed. "We only want what's best for everyone."

"Everyone," I repeated turning to Luca one last time. My voice came out smaller than I wanted.

"Is this what you want?"

His jaw clenched. A vein stood out in his neck. Through the thin, unsealed thread between us, I felt it, a sudden lurch of discomfort, like a man shifting under a weight he couldn't name.

"Adele," he started. Lyra slid her fingers through his and leaned on his shoulder. The lurch died. His face shut like a door. "Your father is right," Luca said. "The pack needs stability. The elders insist the Sunfall treaty be honored through its rightful heir."

"You will hand the pack ledgers to Lyra by noon," he finished.

And I waited for more. An apology. A reason. Even cruelty would have been something. There was nothing.

"By noon," I said.

"By noon," Luca confirmed.

I stood. My chair scraped. Nobody told me to sit this time.

"You'll need the access codes," I said. "I'll write them down. Or Lyra can call me if she runs into trouble."

Lyra's smile flickered. "I'm sure I'll manage."

"I'm sure you will," I said. "You always do."My father's face reddened. My mother set down her cup with a soft click.

"Adele," Luca said. I stopped at the door. Didn't turn.

"The Alpha suite," he said. His voice was rough. "You'll want to move your things. "Three years, I thought. Three years in that room, and he couldn't even say my name with it.

"Of course," I said. "Lyra will want it aired out." I walked out into the stone corridor. The cold hit my face like a slap while my feet carrying me forward while my mind went blank and white. I made it to the end of the hall before my hands began to shake.

"Adele." I flinched. Garrett stood at the corner, arms folded, his scarred face unreadable. He had clearly been waiting.

"Captain."

"I heard." His eyes were hard. "The whole barracks heard before you finished your tea."

"News travels."

"Adele." He lowered his voice. "Say the word. My officers will stand with you in front of the council." I looked at him. He meant it. Of everyone in this castle, he was the only one who had ever meant anything.

"Thank you," I said. "But no."

"Why not?"

"Because I'd win," I said quietly. "And then I'd spend the rest of my life guarding a chair no one wanted me in."

He was silent a moment. "Where will you go?"

"I haven't decided."

He studied me. He was too sharp a man to be fooled, and too decent to push. "If you need anything," he said at last. "Anything. You come to me."

"I will."

He nodded once and stepped aside. I went up to the Alpha suite and stood in the doorway for a long time. The bed. The wardrobe. The window where I had watched the snow fall so many nights, waiting for a man who never came.

Then I sat at the vanity, pulled out a sheet of paper, and began writing codes.

Forty-two accounts. Nine warehouse keys. Six seals. Every number from memory. I wrote steadily, without hurrying, without crying.

When I finished, I read the page back and felt a small, odd pang. It was the whole of the pack on one sheet. Everything I had built, reduced to a column of digits.

Lyra would never understand a single line.I folded the page and slid it into an envelope. Behind me, the door opened.

"Oh, good. You're packing." Lyra leaned in the frame, bright as a spring morning. Behind her, two maids waited with empty trunks. "I hate to rush you, but Luca wants his things moved by this afternoon."

"His things."

"Our things," she corrected sweetly. She glanced at the envelope. "Is that for me?"

"The access codes."

"How thoughtful." She crossed the room, plucked it from my hand, and tucked it into her sleeve without reading it. "You're so organized, Adele. It's what everyone will remember about you."

"Lyra."

"Hm?"

"Where were you?" I asked. "For three years. I never asked. Where did you go?"

Her smile didn't move. But her eyes went still for half a second, the way a cat's do before it pounces.

"Somewhere far away," she said lightly. "Somewhere quiet."

"Alone?"

"Does it matter?" She patted my cheek. "You're not the type to ask questions, darling. That's why you were so useful." She turned, called for the maids, and swept out. I stood there with my palm burning where she had touched me. Useful. I couldn’t shake word out of my head I looked at my reflection in the vanity mirror. A pale woman in a plain dress looked back, hair coming loose, eyes red but dry.

My wolf stirred, quiet this time.

Wait, she said. 

"Wait for what?" I whispered.

She didn't answer. But I felt her watching, patient and alert, like something waiting at the edge of a forest.

Down the hall, Lyra laughed.

I picked up my bag and began to pack.