After escaping the burning house, I stumbled through the smoke, coughing until my lungs hurt. My chest felt painfully tight as I spotted an old phone booth by the roadside. With trembling hands, I picked up the receiver and dialed the number I had memorized years ago.
“Alaric...” My voice barely came out above a whisper. “Does your offer still stand? Can I... still return to the pack?”
Silence lingered for a moment before his familiar, deep voice reached me, warm and steady.
“Always, Arianne,” he answered without hesitation. “The Northern Pack has never stopped waiting for you. Everyone keeps asking when their favorite she-wolf is finally coming home.”
I closed my eyes and gripped the receiver tighter.
“There's just one problem,” I admitted quietly. “Changing my identity will take at least three days, and slipping out of New York won't be easy. Rowan knows me too well. He'll never let me leave if he realizes what I'm doing.”
Alaric sighed softly.
“You're right. Rowan has always been possessive where you're concerned. The moment you step outside that glass house, he'll know. So how are you planning to get away from him?”
I drew in a shaky breath.
“Then I'll make sure the only thing he finds... is my dead body.”
The words left my mouth without emotion, yet they carried every ounce of my resolve. If he'd been able to let another woman become me, then I could disappear from his life forever.
Before I could say anything else, a pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around my waist from behind.
I gasped.
“My wife...” Rowan's voice cracked as he buried his face against my shoulder. “Thank goodness you're safe. If I'd lost you today... I don't think I'd want to keep living.”
My body went completely rigid.
Every instinct screamed at me to shove him away, to run as far as I could, yet I couldn't make myself move.
“Luna, are you hurt?” Kieran asked as he hurried over. Anxiety was written all over his face. “Alpha rushed into the fire after you. He knew you couldn't see. The chandelier almost came down on both of you.”
“Kieran.” Rowan cut him off sharply. “That's enough.”
His arms tightened around me.
“She made it out alive. That's all that matters. I couldn't care less about the house... or anything else.”
Smoke clung to his clothes. Ash stained his skin, and several places on his jacket were scorched from the flames.
My heart clenched.
I hated that it did.
I hated that he had risked his own life to save mine after letting Celeste steal the life that should have been mine all along.
Then my gaze landed on the person walking toward us.
Celeste.
She emerged from the lingering smoke dressed in spotless white, calmly pulling a suitcase behind her as though the fire had never happened.
“Alpha Ashcroft,” she greeted gently.
Rowan immediately released me, though I sensed his reluctance. After smoothing his hair, he turned to face her.
“Sweetheart,” he said softly, “one of my business associates is here. Just give me a moment.”
He walked over, took both of her hands, and began signing.
Why did you come here by yourself? Didn't I tell you I'd visit tonight? I wanted to stay with you and the babies to make sure you were safe.
Celeste answered in fluent sign language, her expression filled with guilt.
I missed you. I wanted to come because I owe Lillian an apology. I've done her wrong, and I wanted to make things better.
Rowan slowly shook his head.
“No... you're not the one who owes her anything.”
His fingers moved with quiet sorrow.
I've failed both of you. I forced you to live someone else's life because of my own selfish decisions. I lied to Lillian, and I trapped you inside those lies too. Everything happened because I was too afraid to face the truth.
He gently rested his forehead against hers.
I couldn't let Lillian find out... and I couldn't bear to lose you either. I kept convincing myself I was protecting both of you, when really I was only protecting myself.
Celeste's eyes softened as she signed again.
I never wanted any of this, Rowan. I only wanted Lillian to be safe... and our baby too. You've been carrying this burden alone.
Rowan leaned forward and kissed her.
It wasn't passionate.
It was tender.
Heartbreaking.
When they finally pulled apart, he smiled faintly before signing once more.
I've already picked our babies' names. If it's a boy, he'll be Rowann. If it's a girl, she'll be Chanelle.
Something inside my chest shattered.
This was my Alpha.
My mate.
The man who had once sworn there would never be another woman.
Yet every belief I had built my life around was crumbling right before my eyes.
Why did love have to hurt this much?
Almost exactly a year earlier, I had discovered I was carrying his child.
I thought fate had finally chosen happiness for us.
Rowan had been ecstatic.
He reserved an entire hot spring resort so we could celebrate alone, insisting we deserved time away from the rest of the pack.
Everything felt perfect.
Then his phone rang.
A young woman was crying on the other end. Her voice was faint, but I heard enough to know she was desperate.
For reasons I couldn't explain, my heart began to sink.
Rowan crouched beside me and kissed my stomach.
“My love,” he whispered, “there's an emergency back at the pack. Wait here for me. I'll come back as soon as I can.”
I believed every word.
I waited.
Morning passed.
Then night.
I stayed there believing he'd return.
Instead, an avalanche came crashing down the mountain.
Snow swallowed everything in its path.
Our unborn pup...
Our baby...
was gone.
I lost the child before I ever had the chance to hold them.
Later, I saw Rowan resting his hand against Celeste's pregnant belly.
He touched her with the same tenderness he'd once shown me.
The same gentle smile.
The same promises.
The same careful affection.
A bitter smile found its way onto my lips.
The only one buried beneath that winter's snow had been me.
Not long afterward, I overheard him speaking to her.
“Sweetheart,” he said warmly, “I've been busy with pack matters, so I hired a nutritionist to look after you while I'm away.”
His hand covered hers with effortless familiarity, and the look in his eyes was impossibly gentle.
As though she were the only woman who mattered.
“Hello, Miss Brightman,” the nutritionist greeted politely.
Miss Brightman.
Not Mrs. Ashcroft.
Not Luna.
Not me.
For a split second, Rowan hesitated.
Then he said nothing.
He didn't correct the mistake.
He didn't even react.
He simply accepted it.
I dug my nails into my palms so hard they nearly broke the skin, forcing myself to stay silent instead of falling apart where I stood.
A few moments later, Rowan draped a thick wool coat over my shoulders.
“You'll catch a cold,” he said gently. “Let's head home.”
I instinctively turned toward him.
But from the corner of my eye, I saw Celeste give him a small nod.
Rowan leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss against her lips.
The tenderness between them wasn't accidental.
It was natural.
Comfortable.
Like something they'd shared countless times before.
That evening, I watched him move around the kitchen.
Nothing had changed.
He still served me soup with the same careful attention he'd always shown, placing the bowl in front of me as though I were precious.
Then he turned toward Celeste.
With a smile, he wiped a streak of sauce from the corner of her lips.
His eyes shone with unmistakable affection.
He signed playfully,
You're unbelievable. How can someone be this adorable?
I lowered my gaze to the bowl in front of me.
The soup was warm, but I couldn't taste it.
My eyes stung, yet no tears came.
I wanted to cry.
I desperately wanted to.
But I couldn't.
Because I knew that smile.
I knew those gentle hands.
I knew the softness in his eyes whenever he looked at someone he loved.
And at that moment, the truth became impossible to deny.
Every embrace.
Every promise.
Every gentle touch he'd given Celeste...
None of it had been an act anymore.
Somewhere along the way...
Rowan had truly fallen in love with her.
And I had become nothing more than the forgotten woman he left behind.
