chapter 6

Kaelen's POV

I returned to my office after meeting Lyra and her twins, but I couldn't focus on my work.

I kept staring at the document in front of me for several minutes without reading a single word.

Rowan entered and noticed that something was wrong at first glance.

"What is it?" he asked.

It was a genuine question, but I felt irritated. I wasn't even in the mood to answer him or hear whatever he had to say.

"Nothing," I told him.

He looked at me in disbelief. "Come on, Kaelen. I'm your Beta, but I'm also your best friend. I've known you for years, so I know when something is bothering you. What happened?"

I remained silent.

"Lyra, right?" he asked.

I couldn't hide it anymore. I groaned in frustration as I dropped my pen. My mind went back to the twins.

I kept remembering Aiden's smile and the way Aria had looked at me with those strangely familiar silver eyes.

Then I relived the moment Lyra had called their names.

"Aiden. Aria." Her voice and their names kept replaying in my head.

I couldn't understand what was wrong with me.

I was angry and frustrated with myself at the same time because there was absolutely no reason for me to care about children I had never met before.

But still, when Lyra took them away, I couldn't help the unexpected sense of loss that settled inside me.

Rowan noticed that I didn't answer him.

"This is about Lyra, right?" he asked again. "She's affecting you."

I couldn't deny it immediately. I simply looked at him and nodded.

Rowan walked toward my desk and pulled out the divorce papers from where I had kept them. He placed them in front of me.

"Kaelen, you still have a chance to be free from her. Why not sign the divorce papers once and for all and let Lyra go?"

I looked at him without saying anything.

"We all know that apart from the Inter-Pack Alliance project, finalizing the divorce was one of the reasons she came back," Rowan continued. "Just let her go. Let yourself be free too."

Anger rose inside me. What did he know about what I was feeling? The annoying part was that he was right, but I refused to see the logic in his words.

"You can't just tell me to divorce Lyra," I said defensively. "Our marriage wasn't just about two people. It was a political arrangement. Going through a divorce now could affect the pack."

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "But you've had five years."

I remained silent.

"Five years was enough time to sign the divorce and stabilize the pack if you really wanted to do it," he challenged.

I couldn't hide from the truth anymore. At this point, I had to be honest with myself.

Seeing Lyra again felt strange. I had expected to see the quiet woman who used to wait for me at home. The woman who always wanted my attention.

The woman who had spent three years trying to make our marriage work. Instead, she had returned as a successful and confident woman who was completely indifferent toward me.

The realization that Lyra no longer needed me unsettled me.

"Did you see Cassian Nightvale?" Rowan suddenly asked.

My jaw tightened the moment I heard his name. I remembered seeing Lyra speaking comfortably with him during the meeting.

Something about the way they interacted had irritated me. No. It wasn't jealousy.

There was no way I could be jealous of Cassian and Lyra. After all, I had no reason to believe anything was going on between them.

"Yes, I saw him," I answered. "Why?"

"Nothing." Rowan hesitated. But I could tell there was something else on his mind.

"What?" I asked.

He looked at me carefully. "Do you think he's the father of her children?"

The moment those words left his mouth, anger surged through me.

It was so sudden that even I didn't understand where it was coming from.

I looked at Rowan sharply. "Get out."

His eyebrows pulled together. "What?"

"I said leave. I have work to do."

Rowan immediately noticed the shift in my voice. He knew I was no longer speaking to him as a friend..I was speaking to him as his Alpha.

He looked at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Fine."

Then he turned around and quietly left..The moment the door shut behind him, I took a deep breath and pushed the document I had been pretending to read away from me.

My eyes moved toward the divorce papers Lyra had sent five years ago. I opened them. For several minutes, I simply stared at the signature line waiting for me.

There was a pen in my hand..All I needed to do was sign. One signature..That was all.

I tried to imagine Lyra finally becoming free from me. The thought unexpectedly made my chest tighten. I immediately put the pen down.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Before I could decide what to do next, the office door opened again. Selene walked inside.

I almost felt irritated the moment I saw her, but I quickly masked it. I didn't know why her presence had started making me angry recently.

Maybe it was because of the pressure she had been putting on me. Or maybe it was because of my own indecision.

I hated the way I was feeling.

Selene didn't deserve the way I had started treating her. But then again, neither did Lyra deserve the way I had treated her.

"Hey, Kaelen," Selene said.

She walked toward me and tried to hug me. I didn't return the hug. Selene slowly pulled away.

Then her eyes settled on the divorce papers lying on my desk.

I saw the smile spread across her face. She must have thought I was finally about to sign them. She was probably already thinking about our wedding.

"So when are you signing the divorce papers?" she asked.

"Soon," I replied.

She looked at me. Confusion briefly crossed her face, but she quickly hid it.

"It's time for us to start planning our wedding, Kaelen," she said.

My eyes moved toward the divorce papers. And for the first time in five years, the thought of marrying Selene didn't make me happy.

I stared at the papers again. Then I looked at Selene.

What was wrong with me?

Why was the future I had once wanted suddenly beginning to feel like a life I wasn't sure I wanted anymore?

And why was the only person I could think about at that moment...

Lyra?