Seven Years of Nothing

~Lyra's POV~

“Lyra, as of today, you cease to be the Luna of the Nightshade Pack. Alpha Ivan insists you sign these divorce papers tonight. It’s time to stop clinging to a dream that was never meant to be.”

The words were harsh. Seven years of marriage, seven years of waiting, and still, I was nothing more than an outsider.

I had defied my parents and abandoned my birth pack, all to be with Ivan. We were fated mates, destined by the Moon Goddess herself.

But fate had been cruel.

Ivan had never officially bestowed upon me the title ‘Luna,’ despite my years by his side. Without a wolf of my own, I was seen as weak, an embarrassment to the pack.

Even now, I was nothing more than a hollow shell in their eyes, a Luna without a wolf, a fated mate without power. And now, everything was being stripped from me entirely.

‘I never imagined that my bloodwritten plea for one more meeting wouldn’t sway Ivan,’ I thought bitterly. The desperation in that plea, the hope that it might change his mind, was all in vain.

Instead of the man I once loved, he sent Marissa, his new mate, to finish what he had started.

How heartless!

Marissa moved closer, her hand resting on her growing belly, symbolizing everything I had failed to achieve.

“And I’m pregnant with Ivan’s heir,” she said in satisfaction. “This cub will lead the Nightshade Pack, and with it, my place as Luna is secured. You and him, it’s over.”

The words hit harder than any physical thing. For seven years, I had longed for a child, hoping it would strengthen my bond with Ivan and secure my place in the pack.

But Ivan had kept me at arm’s length, never allowing me the closeness that should have been mine by right. And now, the child meant to be ours would be born to another, a chosen mate, not the fated one.

In the past, such news would have driven me into a blind rage. I would have attacked Marissa like a wild animal, tearing into her with whatever strength I had.

But now, standing on the edge of everything I had lost, I felt nothing but emptiness.

“Fine,” I whispered in a hollow voice, devoid of the fire that once burned within me.

Without another word, I reached out with a trembling hand, blood still seeping from the wound I had inflicted on myself earlier, and scribbled my name on the paper.

Marissa’s eyes widened in surprise at my swift compliance, but her shock quickly turned to glee. She stowed the divorce papers away as if they were treasure, her diamond ring catching the light, an extravagant gift from Ivan.

Seven years of marriage, and I had never received such a ring. I had given Ivan everything, my love, loyalty, even my family’s respect and he had given me nothing in return.

“Does Ivan know I’m sick?” I asked weakly, the words slipping out before I could stop them. My voice trembled with the weight of ten years of love, now reduced to nothing.

“Oh dear… He knows,” Marissa replied, her tone as cold as the wind whipping through my hair. “He said you’re a burden, and the pack is better off without you.”

Her words were like a dagger to my heart, but I didn’t doubt them. They were exactly the kind of words Ivan would say.

I hadn’t seen him in months, not since he first demanded the divorce. He had vanished from my life, leaving me to wither away alone. His friends, family, and even the pack had all turned their backs on me.

Now, even with death creeping closer due to my illness, he wanted nothing to do with me.

“Please,” I begged, my voice cracking. “Just one last meeting with him?”

“There’s no need,” Marissa sneered in disdain. “You’re just a disaster. What good would it do? Lyra, you’ve always been weak, always been a problem. Ivan has made his choice, and that choice is me. I’m his Luna now, and I won’t let you stand in my way any longer.”

"Can I call him... please?" I pleaded once more. His voice would do it one more time.

"Lyra, I'd never stoop so low for a man. Can't you see? The more you beg, the less they respect you. Maybe next life treats you better." Marissa scoffed, grabbing me.

I was too broken to argue, too drained to fight. She had everything, while I, once a privileged daughter of another pack, was now nothing more than a discarded outcast.

As I stood there, lost in the crushing weight of my failure, two burly guards emerged from the shadows, silencing me with duct tape and binding my hands. I was too weak to resist, too tired to care.

“Lyra, it’s time you disappeared from Ivan’s life,” Marissa hissed, her eyes gleaming with malice. “I’ve had enough of you.”

I'm not sure how I know. But I know.

We've been in the air for maybe twenty minutes when I hear the latch. The door, the side door, not the cockpit, clicks. Then metal scrapes. Then cold air screams into the cabin like a living thing, violent and sharp and smelling of ice.

I turn.

Marissa is standing beside the open door. The wind whips her hair across her face. She doesn't push it away.

"Wait…" I start to stand. "Wait, Marissa…"

"You should have stayed sick and quiet," she says. "It would have been easier."

The two men move fast. Faster than I can react. Hands grab my arms, my jacket, and then there's nothing under my feet and the world tilts and I'm not in the plane anymore, I'm in the air, I'm outside, the cold is everywhere at once and the mountains are so far below me and I can't …

I can't…

The wind tears the scream from my throat before it even starts. The sky and the mountains spin together. My body flips and falls and I can't breathe, I can't think, there's only the cold and the speed and the impossible distance between me and the ground rushing up…

As the darkness enveloped me, I felt something stir within, a fierce voice echoing in my head.

“You are not done yet.”

And then, everything went black.