Chapter 2
Ana
I turned around quickly. My heart was pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Max walked into the house with steady, confident steps. He looked as handsome as ever, but there was something in his eyes I couldn't quite name.
Beside him was the girl from the picture. Up close, she looked even more like a replacement. She was small and thin, about the same height as my Lily. She even wore her hair in similar braids.
Then I saw another person behind them.
A tall lady walked in, moving with a quiet confidence that filled the room. She was about the same height as me, with long hair and a calm expression.
I stood still and stared for a long moment. My chest felt tight, making it hard to take a full breath. I looked from the new picture to the small girl, and then back to my husband. Finally, I found my voice, though it sounded small and shaky.
"What is going on, Max? Who are these people?"
Max smiled at me. It was a warm, easy smile, the kind he always used to make me feel safe. He acted like nothing was wrong at all.
"Ana, you're awake," he said smoothly. "This is Emily. She will be staying with us for a while. And this is little Mai."
He gestured to the girl.
"Since you've been so lonely and you miss Lily so much, I thought you could take care of her. It will be good for you to have someone to look after again."
I watched him as he spoke, but his words didn't make the knot in my stomach go away. I looked at little Mai. She stood very quietly, clutching the lady’s hand. She looked nervous.
I pointed a trembling finger at the new picture on the wall, the one where my daughter’s face used to be.
"Explain this, Max. Where are my daughter's pictures? Why is her face gone from our walls?"
Max walked over to me. He took my hands gently in his. His palms were warm, and he squeezed my fingers as if to comfort me.
"Lily has been gone for a week now, Ana," he said, his voice dropping to a low, soothing tone. "Leaving her pictures everywhere would only bring you painful memories every day. Every time you walked down this hall, you would cry. I just want to take care of you. I want to help you move on."
I looked into his eyes for a long moment. He sounded so sure of himself. He sounded like a man who loved his wife and wanted to protect her from more hurt.
For a second, I wondered if I was being unfair. Maybe he was right. If I kept seeing Lily's smiling face on every wall, the hurt would never stop. The house felt like a graveyard with those photos up.
But something still felt off. The logic didn't quite reach the cold spot in my heart.
"So why did you put her picture up?" I asked, nodding toward the photo of the new girl. "If pictures cause pain, why is this one here?"
Before Max could answer, the tall lady—Emily—stepped forward. She took my hands softly, her touch light and kind.
"The Alpha was very sad," she whispered. "He came to me because he didn't know how to help you. I thought it was the right thing to do. We decided to adopt a child and put up the picture so you wouldn't feel worried about the empty spaces. We wanted the house to feel full again."
I looked at her carefully. Her eyes seemed honest, but I felt a strange urge to pull away. I took my hands back and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Okay," I said slowly. "But what is your relationship with the Alpha? How do you two know each other so well?"
Max spoke quickly this time, before Emily could say a word.
"She is my childhood friend, Ana. We grew up together in the old pack lands. She doesn't have a place to stay right now because of some trouble back home. That’s why I brought her here. She can help you with Mai, and you can help her by giving her a home."
I stood there and nodded slowly. I didn't say another word.
I told myself that I must be worked up because of everything that had happened. Losing Lily had broken something inside me. Maybe I was just seeing problems where there were none. I was paranoid and grieving, and Max was only trying to fix our broken lives.
I looked at Max again, trying to force a smile. "I want to go meet my friend. I need some air. I will be back later."
Max nodded and kissed my forehead. "That’s a good idea. Go spend time with Ema. It will do you good."
I walked into the restaurant downtown an hour later. The air smelled of grilled meat and fresh bread, but I wasn't hungry. Ema was already waiting at our usual table in the corner. The moment she saw me, she stood up and pulled me into a tight, meaningful hug.
"Ana, oh my god," she breathed into my hair. "As soon as I heard the news about Lily, I came straight back to the pack. I am so, so sorry. How are you doing?"
I sat down and tried to make my smile look real, but it felt like a mask that didn't fit. "I'm fine, Ema. Truly. It’s just... I feel a bit worried."
"Why? What happened?" she asked. She leaned in, her eyes full of concern.
I looked around to make sure no one from the pack was listening. I leaned closer to her. "Why do I feel like Max is cheating on me?"
Ema looked at me with wide eyes, her mouth dropping open slightly. "What? How? Ana, Max loves you. What do you mean?"
I explained everything that had happened that morning. I told her about the missing pictures and the new girl. I told her about Emily and how she was already acting like she lived there. I told her about Max’s quick, rehearsed answers.
Ema reached across the table and held my hands tightly.
"Listen to me. Maybe she really is just his childhood friend. Max is a good man, and he’s an Alpha. He has a lot of responsibilities. Don't think too much about it right now. You've been through so much. Your brain is trying to find things to worry about because the big worry—Lily—is too much to handle."
I sighed and nodded slowly. "Maybe. Maybe I am just stressed out and thinking too hard. It just feels so fast, Ema. She’s only been gone a week."
Ema stood up and smiled brightly, trying to change the mood. "Today I came to make you happy, not to see that sad face. Look happy and smile for me. Let's go."
She was determined to distract me. She brought out a bag of things she had gathered—my favorite spicy snacks, little gifts from her trip, and she told me funny stories about the people she met while traveling. She forced me to eat a few bites of cake even when I said I was not hungry.
After lunch, she took me to the beach. We walked along the edge of the water where the waves rolled gently over the sand. The air felt fresh and cool against my skin. We went to the park and then to a small shop to look at jewelry.
She turned the whole day into a series of small, fun moments. For a few hours, the heavy pain in my heart actually felt a little lighter. I laughed at one of her jokes. For a moment, I felt almost like the old Ana again.
By the time I got home and went to bed, I was exhausted. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
In the middle of the night, I opened my eyes suddenly. My throat felt dry and scratchy, and I desperately needed a glass of water. I reached over to the other side of the bed to see if Max was awake, but my hand hit nothing but fabric.
Max was not there.
I felt the spot where he usually slept. The sheets were cold.
Has he gone to check the pack border again without telling me? I wondered. He often did that when things were tense, but usually, he told me.
I got up quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house. I walked downstairs in the dark, my bare feet silent on the wooden floors. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I drank it slowly, feeling the cool liquid soothe my throat.
When I was finished, I started back up the stairs, holding the empty glass carefully. The house was deathly quiet, except for the faint sound of the wind outside.
As I passed the guest room on the second floor, I stopped.
A soft sound was coming from inside. It sounded like a moan.
At first, I told myself it was nothing. Maybe Emily was having a bad dream or Mai was crying. But then I heard a man’s voice. It was low and full of a deep, familiar feeling.
"I love you so much," the voice whispered. "I want you to bear another child for me. A son this time."
It was Max.
My stomach dropped as if I were falling from a great height. I felt cold all over. I moved closer to the door without even thinking about it. My heart was thumping so loud I was sure they would hear it.
I took a small peek through the door, which was slightly open.
Right there on the bed was my husband. My Alpha. He was held in the arms of the lady he had called his childhood friend. They were together, their bodies close, lost in each other in the moonlight.
The sight hit me harder than the car crash ever could. I felt as if the air had been sucked out of the room. My legs went weak, turning to water beneath me.
I tried to steady myself, but the glass slipped from my numb fingers before I could stop it.
It fell to the floor with a loud, shattering crash.
