The Woman In My Place
1286 Words
Chapter 10
The Woman In My Place
By the time I returned to the Ashford estate that night, exhaustion clung to me like a second skin.
The summit had officially paused until morning, but the emotional damage of the day still echoed through my chest relentlessly.
Kael’s apology.
Draven’s possessiveness.
The fight.
The tension.
Everything felt too heavy.
The pack house stood silent beneath the winter sky as I climbed the front steps alone. Most of the warriors and servants remained at the summit grounds assisting with preparations for tomorrow’s negotiations.
For once, the estate felt empty.
I welcomed it.
The moment I stepped inside, warmth wrapped around me.
But it didn’t feel like home anymore.
Not truly.
I removed Draven’s cloak slowly near the entrance hall, fingers lingering briefly against the dark fabric before guilt immediately followed.
What was I doing?
Why had I even kept it this long?
Because it felt comforting.
The answer came too quickly.
And that terrified me.
“You’re back.”
Selene’s soft voice broke through the silence.
I looked up.
She stood near the staircase wearing a pale cream robe with her golden hair loosely braided over one shoulder.
Beautiful.
Graceful.
Perfectly vulnerable.
Exactly the kind of woman wolves instinctively wanted to protect.
Rowan slept quietly in her arms.
The sight hit me strangely tonight.
Not with jealousy.
With sadness.
Because somewhere along the way, this woman had become more at home in my life than I was.
“You left the summit early,” Selene continued gently.
“So did you.”
Her smile faltered slightly.
“I wasn’t feeling well.”
Of course not.
Selene was always fragile at the right moments.
Always needing care.
Attention.
Comfort.
And Kael always answered.
I started toward the staircase quietly.
“Lyra.”
I paused.
Selene stepped closer carefully, adjusting Rowan against her shoulder.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then finally—
“I know you hate me.”
The honesty startled me.
I looked at her properly for the first time in weeks.
Not as the widow in my house.
Not as the woman replacing me.
Just… Selene.
Tired shadows sat beneath her eyes tonight.
Her hands trembled faintly beneath Rowan’s weight.
Grief still lived inside her too.
“I don’t hate you,” I said quietly.
Her expression shifted with surprise.
“You should.”
The bitterness in her voice caught me off guard.
Silence stretched between us.
Then slowly, Selene lowered her eyes.
“I never wanted this to happen.”
I almost laughed at the irony of that statement.
“What exactly is ‘this’?”
Her throat moved carefully.
“The distance between you and Kael.”
Pain flashed briefly across her face.
Real pain.
“I know he’s been spending too much time with Rowan and me.”
The admission stunned me silent.
Selene sighed softly.
“He feels responsible for us after Marcus died.”
Marcus.
Kael’s younger brother.
Her dead mate.
Even now, grief thickened the air whenever his name surfaced.
“I understand responsibility,” I whispered. “That doesn’t make this hurt less.”
Selene looked at me for a long moment.
Then finally:
“He talks about you constantly when you aren’t around.”
The words hit unexpectedly.
I frowned slightly. “What?”
A sad smile crossed her face.
“You think he stopped loving you.” Her voice softened. “But Lyra… I don’t think Kael remembers how to breathe when it comes to you.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“No,” I said quietly. “He just forgot how to notice me.”
Selene fell silent again.
Something unreadable flickered behind her eyes then.
Guilt perhaps.
Or maybe fear.
Because despite everything, she understood something important:
Kael’s attention toward her had never truly been romantic.
But emotional dependence could become just as destructive.
Rowan stirred sleepily in her arms.
“Uncle Kael?” he mumbled softly.
The innocent question sliced cleanly through the silence.
Selene closed her eyes briefly.
And suddenly…
I understood her a little too well.
She was lonely.
Grieving.
Terrified of losing stability.
Kael became safety.
And Kael, drowning in guilt over his brother’s death, clung to protecting them because it made him feel useful again.
Neither of them intended to destroy me.
But intentions didn’t erase damage.
“I think,” Selene whispered carefully, “he finally realizes what he’s done.”
A hollow ache spread through me.
“Maybe.”
The problem was no longer whether Kael loved me.
The problem was whether I still knew how to survive being loved like this.
Footsteps echoed through the entrance hall suddenly.
Heavy.
Familiar.
The mating bond stirred instantly.
Kael.
The front doors opened moments later.
Cold winter air rushed inside as Kael entered the estate still wearing dark summit attire, his expression tense and exhausted.
Then his eyes landed on us.
Standing together.
Talking quietly.
Shock flickered across his face.
Clearly, he expected tension.
Anger.
Distance.
Not conversation.
Selene immediately stepped back.
“I should put Rowan to bed.”
Kael barely acknowledged her.
His entire focus remained locked on me.
The atmosphere shifted the moment we were alone.
The bond between us tightened slightly for the first time in months.
Not healed.
Aware.
Kael looked at the folded black cloak resting over my arm.
Instant tension returned to his face.
“You kept it.”
The jealousy in his voice was impossible to miss.
I should have denied the importance of it.
Instead, exhaustion made me honest.
“It was warm.”
Kael stared at the cloak for a long moment before speaking again.
“You smell like him.”
Something dangerous flickered through the bond immediately.
Possessiveness.
Fear.
Anger.
Not from me.
From Kael.
I slowly set the cloak over a nearby chair.
“That seems to bother you.”
“It should bother me.”
The sharpness in his voice filled the entrance hall.
“He’s a rival Alpha openly pursuing my mate.”
I crossed my arms quietly.
“And suddenly you remember I’m your mate.”
Regret flashed across his face instantly.
God.
I was so tired of seeing regret after damage had already been done.
Kael stepped toward me slowly.
“No,” he said roughly. “I remembered the moment I realized someone else was noticing what I took for granted.”
The honesty in the words stunned me silent.
He looked wrecked tonight.
Not angry.
Not dominant.
Terrified.
And suddenly I realized something horrifying.
Kael truly believed he might lose me.
Not emotionally.
Completely.
The bond pulsed painfully between us.
He stopped directly in front of me.
Close enough for warmth to wrap around my skin.
Then softly—
carefully—
Kael reached for my hand.
My breath caught.
Months.
It had been months since he touched me gently first.
His thumb brushed slowly across my knuckles.
“I don’t know how to fix this overnight,” he admitted quietly. “But I want to try.”
The vulnerability in his voice nearly broke me.
Because this was the male I fell in love with.
Buried beneath pride.
Duty.
Grief.
Still there.
My chest ached painfully.
“I don’t know if trying is enough anymore.”
Kael’s face went still.
The hurt that crossed his expression almost made me take the words back.
Then suddenly—
a sharp pulse tore violently through the mating bond.
Both of us froze instantly.
Not pain.
Warning.
Kael’s head snapped toward the front windows.
My wolf rose alert beneath my skin.
Outside, somewhere beyond the snowy forest surrounding the estate…
a wolf howled.
Deep.
Powerful.
Ancient.
Every instinct inside me locked instantly into recognition.
Draven.
- Writer
