Chapter 2

2.

In the end, it was my family’s warriors who stayed to comfort me.

"Princess, come home with us. Come back to the Silvermoon Citadel."

This wasn't the first time they had begged me.

I slumped onto a rock, looking up at their hopeful faces.

They were the guardians of the most powerful clan in the Northlands, the Silvermoon Royals. And I, Lyra Silvermoon, was their princess. I should have been in the North, receiving the best training to become their future queen. But five years ago, at the Great Conclave, the Moon Goddess had shown me that Kael was my fated mate. So I followed him to this desolate wasteland he called home.

He was a lone wolf who had built the Ashenfang Pack from nothing. He hated relying on anyone, especially a powerful mate.

So for five years, I never showed him my full strength. I never told him who I really was. To him, I was just a moderately skilled female warrior from a small northern pack.

In five years, I went from a naive princess to his most capable Beta, conquering half his territory for him.

I thought that once he was strong enough, he wouldn't mind my background. But the right time to tell him never came.

I sighed.

It didn't matter anymore. He would never know now.

"Okay," I said. "I'll go back with you."

Their eyes lit up with brilliant relief.

After getting them settled, I returned to my cave, trying to calm my mind through meditation.

But the pack's mind link was buzzing with whispers. I tried to block them out, but a single, triumphant thought from Elara stabbed into my mind like a needle.

The image was of her, nestled against Kael’s wolf form while he gently licked her forehead. A voice echoed with the image: "...he was a little mad at first, but I told him I had a nightmare, and he melted instantly..."

It was a stray thought, accidentally broadcasted across the link while she was bragging to her friends. Her emotions were so strong, the thought was crystal clear.

A wave of nausea washed over me.

I knew he wouldn't be back tonight, just like so many nights before.

Thank the Goddess our bond was never completed. I would never have to suffer this again.

The next morning, I packed my few belongings and went to find the pack's second-in-command to say my goodbyes.

As we were talking, Kael walked in.

I caught his scent immediately. He was drenched in the cloying smell of Elara’s chamomile. In our world, allowing your scent to linger so heavily on another is a claim more intimate than any physical act.

He clearly had a very "comforting" night.

He used to hate it when my scent clung to him, claiming it undermined his authority as an Alpha. It turned out he just didn't want the scent to be mine.

"You're leaving?" He saw my travel pack and his brow furrowed. "Is this because I canceled the ceremony? I told you, it was Elara..."

"It has nothing to do with you," I cut him off. "I'm tired. I want to go home."

"Home? Isn't this your home?" He stepped forward, reaching for me. "Stop acting childish. Elara is just an Omega. She needs protection. As the future Luna, you should be more understanding."

My gaze fell to the spot on his neck where Elara’s scent was the strongest. I said nothing.

He noticed and instinctively covered the mark with his hand.

"She was just weak last night. It must have rubbed off by accident."

The excuse was pathetic.

I just nodded, refusing to argue.

He thought I believed him and let out a sigh of relief, draping an arm over my shoulders. "That's my girl. Don't be difficult. I'll take you to Moonlit Lake tonight, just the two of us. I'll make it up to you."

"Alpha!"

Elara burst in without being announced, a hide scroll in her hand. She hooked her arm intimately through Kael's. "I don't understand this patrol route..."

Kael's attention snapped to her instantly. He turned his back on me completely to explain the map to her.

The two of them stood there, whispering to each other, wrapped in a private bubble no one else could enter.

I watched them for a moment, then turned and walked away.

Back in my empty cave, I took out a shattered stone. It was the Heartstone he gave me when we first met. He said it symbolized our eternal, unbreakable bond.

Last night, in the exact moment he abandoned me at the altar, the stone had cracked in two.

I gathered the pieces, along with the last lingering threads of our connection, and threw them all into a deep fissure in the earth.