Chapter 2
I used to believe that time could soften even the coldest heart.
Three years ago, I thought if I loved Jude enough, cared for him enough, and stood beside him long enough, one day he would turn around and realize that I had always been there.
Now I understood that time didn't change people.
It simply revealed where they truly wanted to be.
The pack headquarters was busier than usual.
Warriors hurried through the marble corridors carrying reports from neighboring packs, servants arranged fresh moon lilies inside crystal vases, and young wolves decorated the entrance with silver ribbons to celebrate their Alpha's birthday.
For three years, I had been the one preparing everything.
Every birthday banquet. Every celebration. Every carefully chosen gift.
This year… I hadn't prepared anything.
Not because I had forgotten.
I simply didn't know whether I wanted to remember anymore.
As I stepped through the front entrance, one of the reception wolves greeted me with a bright smile. "Luna."
I returned a small nod. "I came to deliver today's charity documents."
"Oh." The young she-wolf blinked before lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Alpha has been in a really good mood today."
A really good mood.
The words felt strangely foreign.
Jude… Happy?
She continued excitedly before I could respond.
"Miss Ashford came early this morning to surprise him for his birthday. I've honestly never seen Alpha smile like that before."
Something inside me quietly tightened. "He smiled?"
"Yes." She laughed. "It was such a gentle smile. Everyone was shocked. Alpha even canceled two meetings just to have lunch with Miss Ashford."
Gentle.
The exact same word that had haunted me since our anniversary.
I thanked her politely and walked toward the main lobby, but my steps slowed before I reached the revolving doors.
Because they were already there.
Helen stood beside Jude, holding out a neatly wrapped black gift box tied with a silver ribbon.
"Happy birthday," she said softly.
Jude accepted it. Then… He smiled. It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't wide.
Just a small curve at the corner of his lips.
But somehow it transformed his entire face.
The sharpness melted from his silver eyes.
The constant distance disappeared.
For one brief moment, the Alpha everyone feared looked like an ordinary man standing beside the woman he loved.
Spring sunlight breaking through winter ice.
That was what it reminded me of.
I had spent three years carefully walking across the frozen lake that was our marriage, always afraid one wrong step would make everything worse.
Now I realized there had never been warmth beneath the ice.
Only layer after layer of coldness.
Reserved entirely for me.
I lowered my gaze before either of them noticed me.
Perhaps… I had never belonged in this picture.
My phone vibrated.
[Jude: I won't be home tonight. Helen isn't feeling well after the journey. I'll stay with her.]
There wasn't even a question. Only another notification.
Another decision already made.
I stared at the message for several long seconds before locking my phone without replying.
For the first time… I had nothing left to say.
That evening, I drove to my parents' house alone.
Mother's birthday had always been important to me.
Even after marrying into the Moon Howlers Pack, she never once complained that I visited less often.
Instead, every time I apologized, she simply smiled and said, "Your own family comes first now."
If only she knew.
The dining table was filled with dishes carrying familiar scents from my childhood.
Braised venison. Wild mushroom soup. Honey-glazed vegetables.
Every recipe my mother knew I loved.
"Where's Jude?" Dad asked as he looked toward the door.
"He's finishing some Alpha business," I answered automatically. The lie came so naturally now that it no longer hurt to tell it.
Mom smiled gently. "Then we'll wait."
So we waited. Six o'clock became seven. Seven became eight.
Every few minutes, Dad glanced toward the window whenever headlights passed outside.
Every sound of an approaching vehicle made Mother straighten hopefully before quietly sitting back down.
By nine o'clock, the food had already been reheated twice.
Mother finally carried out the last dish—Dad's favorite roasted ribs—and placed it carefully in the center of the table.
Her smile remained gentle.
"Let's eat," she said softly. "The food will get cold again."
I picked up my fork and cut into the steak on my plate.
After chewing twice… I couldn't swallow.
It wasn't because the food tasted bad.
It was because I suddenly realized I had spent the last three years swallowing far more than food.
I swallowed disappointment. I swallowed excuses.
I swallowed every forgotten anniversary, every canceled promise, every lonely dinner and every sleepless night.
Just one more time. I had always told myself. Wait a little longer.
One day he'll come home earlier. One day he'll choose you. One day he'll finally see everything you've done for him.
Tonight...
Watching the birthday candles beside my mother's untouched cake slowly burn lower while my parents silently pretended not to notice Jude's absence...
I finally understood something.
He wasn't late. He wasn't busy. He simply wasn't coming.
Not tonight. Maybe… Not ever.
A sharp ache spread through my chest, but no tears came.
Only an unfamiliar calm.
The kind that arrives after your heart has already broken enough times that it no longer has the strength to crack again.
My phone suddenly buzzed. Then again. And again.
Jude.
Five missed calls. I ignored every one of them.
A minute later, another message appeared.
[Beatrice. Are you done making a scene?]
I stared at those words until they blurred.
A scene.
That was what he believed this was.
For three years, I had never questioned him when he left me waiting.
Never argued when Helen always came first.
Never complained when he forgot my birthday, our anniversary, or every promise he had ever made.
I had smiled. I had understood. I had forgiven.
Yet today… Because I hadn't wished him a happy birthday...
Because I hadn't chased after him… I was the unreasonable one.
The difficult one. The dramatic one.
A bitter smile slowly curved across my lips.
At last… I understood my place in Jude Walker's life.
I wasn't his Luna.
I was simply the woman expected to wait until he remembered I existed.