Chapter 1 Heartbreak Anniversary

ARYA

In five years of marriage, I’d never gotten flowers from my husband. Not on my birthday, not when I convinced the alpha king to give our pack the immunity we needed to be among the lead training packs in the world, and certainly not today, on our fifth anniversary.

It would mark the fifth year of what was nothing but the words.

I woke up to an empty room. An empty bed. Just like I had every day since I married Jaime.

I curled into the comforter, clinging to its warmth against the cold that never stopped biting at my skin. The pack laughed about it and me. I was the Luna who couldn’t stand the cold.

It was unheard of, a wolf who couldn’t stand the chill of the air in the North. Much less a luna.

I wasn’t fully a wolf. At twenty-three, I still hadn’t shifted. Still hadn’t gotten my wolf. The Moon Goddess had to be punishing me. No way would i hve been forsaked like this. It's what the pack said, at least.

The digital clock glowed 7:12 a.m. I’d set my alarm for eight hoping to sleep in for the first time in years. A small indulgence to celebrate the day. I thought just this once, I deserved a late start. It was my anniversary, after all.

The irritable ringing started again, reminding of why I was even up.

Ryker.

His name flashed on the screen, and with it came a wave of calm. It wasn’t out of place for him to reach out to me. He was my husband’s Beta. His best friend. The only person in this pack who didn’t make me feel like I was invisible.

I picked it up. “Hello?”

“Arya, why aren’t you at the office?” His voice was kind as always, but a tight note.

“I have the day off, remember? It’s our anniver—”

“Yes, I’ll be there in a minute!” he shouted to someone speaking in the background. “Arya, please. Get down here. There’s been a breach.”

That was all it took.

I threw off the comforter and ran to the bathroom. The tiles were cold beneath my feet which I ignored. I brushed my teeth, splashed water on my face, and changed into a white blouse and gray skirt with my hair up in a tight bun. I finished off the look with four-inch pumps. Enough height to look sharp, but not so much I’d stand out. Jaime hated when I stood out.

By the time I got downstairs, the driver was already waiting near the pack house’s rounded driveway.

The sleek black SUV parked near the gates, just beneath the towering statues of the first Alpha line. I’d told him I wasn’t going in today, but he looked like he’d expected this. Of course. Everyone knew I never really got days off.

“We need to get to the office,” I said.

“Of course, Luna.”

The fifteen minute drive felt longer. I kept reaching for my amulet. My palms were sweating.

If there really had been a breach, Jaime wouldn’t just be in a bad mood. Someone was going to pay.

The pack office came into view, sharp glass and steel. Tall and stern, just like the man who ruled it, it stood high and imposing.

My stomach turned as we pulled up. There were more guards than usual, stationed at every corner, like forzen statues ready to attack. A few of the pack members I passed spoke in hushed tones. They didn't shoot me judgemental looks when I passed. That was enough for me to know whatever went down was bad.

I stepped into the building and nodded at the warriors who bowed as I passed. No one met my eyes for long. They never did. Unless they wnated me to see their distaste for my existence.

I could hear voices speaking over each other when before I entered the conference room. I identified Ryker’s low, calm tone, someone else shouting in the background. The tension in the room was sharp enough to cut through flesh. The scent of rage hung in the air, it wrapped itelf around me.

The elders in the chairs all turned toward me, nodding in greeting. Even if they believed I wasn't good enough to be their luna. I still am. I'm wearing the ring and I stand beside their Alpha.

Jamie was standing by the large window in his office, facing away from me. His shoulders were stiff, arms crossed making him look broader. That stance meant one thing, he was livid. Which was terrifying. He never raised a hand to me. But that's becase his silence was violence enough.

“Luna Arya is here,” Ryker announced as I stepped in. He looked relieved for a moment, his eyes flicking over me like he was checking to make sure I was still intact.

Jaime didn’t turn.

I swallowed, something heavy settling in my chest. I should be used to this by now.

I stood there for three full seconds to gather my thoughts before speaking. “What happened?”

He finally spoke. “Rogues crossed the northern border. Just before dawn.”

“Were there casualties?” I swallowed, already doing mental calcutons for what needed to be done.

“One guard was injured," he said almost dismissively. "But that’s not what concerns me.”

He turned slowly. His sharp grey eyes cut across the room to me like a drawn blade. There was never any warmth in them. But today, there was something worse than indifference. Accusation.

“They were looking for something,” he said. “Or someone.”

A beat passed. His insinuation hung heavy in the air. My brows furrowed, wondering where he was going with that.

I was ready to ask but he beat me to it.

“Do you have something to tell me, Arya?”

"What?"

A nervous chuckle slipped past my lips before I could stop it and I looked around the room. Everyone’s eyes were on me, carrying expressions I have never seen before.

Of course, it would be me. I was always the problem, even when I wasn’t anywhere near it. I balled my hands into tight fists to stop myself from reaching for my amulet. It was the only thing that felt like home when everything else was going wrong.

My grandmother had given it to me when I was six. I’ve never taken it off since she wore it around my neck seventeen years ago, just like I promised her.

I wasn’t born in this pack like each of them, and that had been a cause for conflict at one point or another. Especially, when the dowager Luna, Jaime’s grandmother, had chosen me to be his wife. To them I was unworthy. An orphan she took it when I was six.

But none of them have ever looked at me like they thought I could betray the pack. My home.

“What would I have to say?” My tone came out harsher than intended.

But I was shocked, and hurt.

“There has to be an explanation for why, the one day you decide to not come into work early, we were breached.”