Chapter 1
On the night of our seventh mating anniversary, my husband gave my chair to another woman.
The chair stood at Kellan's right, where it had stood at every formal dinner since the day we married. My name was carved beneath the silver crest on its back. No one in the hall could have mistaken whom it belonged to.
Kellan pulled it out for Lyra.
"Sit here," he said gently.
Conversation softened around us. Dozens of people pretended not to watch as Lyra lowered herself into my place.
Her black mourning dress made her look fragile against the silver chair. She had returned to our territory three days earlier, six weeks after losing her husband. Everyone knew she and Kellan had grown up together.
I had not known she would attend our anniversary dinner.
"Kellan." I kept my voice low. "That's my seat."
He glanced at the empty chair farther down the table.
"You can sit beside Mara tonight."
Mara, our head healer, was already moving aside to make room for me. The apology in her eyes made the humiliation worse.
A young server hurried over with another chair.
"I can put this at the end, Luna."
She spoke quietly, as though she were helping me avoid a scene.
For one second, I stared at the chair in her hands. No one had asked why Lyra was sitting in mine. They were already deciding where else to put me.
"Thank you," I said. "I won't need it."
The server hesitated, then carried it away.
"This isn't an ordinary seat."
"I know." Kellan touched my wrist as if that should settle the matter. "But Lyra isn't ready to face a room this crowded by herself."
"Then you could have warned me."
Lyra looked up. "I can move."
She put one hand on the table, but her fingers had begun to tremble. Kellan immediately covered them with his.
"No," he said. "Stay."
The bond beneath my ribs tightened. He must have felt my hurt. It passed between us as clearly as heat through an open door.
Still, his hand remained over hers.
"I only wanted one evening," I said.
His expression softened, making me feel unreasonable before he even spoke.
"Lyra just lost her husband. You still have me. She has nothing." His thumb brushed my wrist. "I thought you would understand."
That was the worst part. He did not sound cruel.
He sounded disappointed in me.
I sat beside Mara and survived the dinner while Lyra occupied the place from which I had spent seven years helping Kellan receive our pack.
When the first toast was raised to our mating anniversary, several people turned automatically toward Kellan and the woman beside him.
One of them caught himself and looked at me instead.
By the third toast, no one made the mistake.
Every glass turned toward where I sat farther down the table.
I could not decide which felt worse.
When dessert arrived, Lyra leaned close to Kellan and whispered something that made him smile.
I told myself it meant nothing.
After the final toast, I slipped into the corridor for air. I had almost reached the terrace when I heard voices inside Kellan's study.
Lyra spoke first.
"Can I ask you something?"
Kellan gave a tired sigh. "You usually do."
"If I hadn't left all those years ago, would I have been the one who became your mate?"
My hand closed around the terrace latch.
All Kellan had to say was no.
The silence stretched long enough for my wolf to stir beneath my skin.
Finally, Kellan said, "There's no point asking that now."
I waited for the rest.
It never came.
For seven years, I had believed the moon had chosen us because we would always choose each other.
Standing outside his study, I understood those were not the same thing.