Episode 2: The Woman Who Took My Place
1083 Words
Aria’s POV
I used to believe that losing someone meant watching them leave.
I was wrong.
Sometimes, losing someone happens while they are still standing right beside you.
Sometimes, the most painful goodbye is not when a person walks away.
It is when they stop looking for you.
That was what happened with Kael.
He never officially left me.
He never told me that our bond was broken.
He never said the words that would shatter everything.
Instead, he slowly disappeared from me while remaining in the same house.
And somehow, that hurt even more.
Because every morning, I woke up beside the empty space where my mate used to sleep.
Every night, I waited for the sound of his footsteps.
Every day, I watched him become someone else's protector.
Someone else's comfort.
Someone else's everything.
While I became a stranger.
Three Months Later
The Silver Moon Pack had changed.
Or perhaps I was the one who finally noticed the truth.
The halls that once felt like home no longer welcomed me.
The servants who used to smile at me now hurried toward Seraphina.
The warriors who once greeted me as their Luna now lowered their heads when she walked past.
Not because she was their Luna.
Not yet.
But because everyone believed she would become one.
And maybe...
deep down...
so did Kael.
I was standing in the training courtyard when I heard laughter.
A sound I hadn't heard from Kael in a long time.
My heart betrayed me before my mind could stop it.
I turned.
And there he was.
My mate.
Smiling.
But not at me.
He stood beneath the sunlight with Seraphina beside him.
She was holding her pup in her arms.
Kael gently touched the child's head.
The sight should have warmed my heart.
Instead, it broke something inside me.
Because I remembered when we talked about having children.
I remembered the way Kael used to hold me and whisper that he wanted little wolves running through the halls.
"Our children," he had said.
"A family of our own."
Now he looked at another woman's child with the same tenderness he once promised me.
"Aria."
I turned quickly.
One of the servants stood behind me.
"Luna Seraphina requested your presence."
I froze.
Luna.
The word felt wrong.
Seraphina wasn't my Luna.
I was.
But nobody corrected her anymore.
I followed the servant inside.
Seraphina was sitting in the main room, holding her pup.
She smiled when she saw me.
"Aria."
Her voice was gentle.
Almost too gentle.
"Thank you for coming."
I forced myself to smile.
"You called for me?"
She looked down at her child.
"My son has been having nightmares."
My expression softened.
Despite everything, I couldn't ignore a child suffering.
"Is he sick?"
She shook her head.
"No. He just misses his father."
I looked at the little pup.
My heart ached.
A child should never grow up without a parent.
"I can prepare something calming for him."
Seraphina smiled.
"You always know what to do."
Her words sounded like praise.
But something about them felt strange.
"You are very kind, Aria."
I looked at her.
"Thank you."
She stood and walked closer.
"You know... I never wanted things to become complicated."
My brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
She sighed.
"Kael cares about you."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Because that was the cruelest thing anyone could say.
"If he cares about me, why does he barely speak to me?"
Her expression changed slightly.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
A flicker of satisfaction.
Then it disappeared.
"Kael is carrying a lot of responsibility."
I stayed silent.
"He lost his brother. He has a pack to protect. And he feels responsible for me and my son."
Responsible.
That word again.
Not love.
Not devotion.
Responsibility.
"Of course," I whispered.
Seraphina touched my arm.
"You are strong, Aria."
I looked at her hand.
"Stronger than you think."
I didn't know why those words bothered me.
But they did.
Because it sounded less like encouragement...
and more like a warning.
Kael’s POV
I knew something was wrong.
I knew it the moment I saw Aria standing alone in the courtyard.
She looked different.
Not physically.
She was still the woman I had chosen.
The woman whose smile once made my entire world brighter.
But something inside her had changed.
She looked tired.
Lonely.
Like she had stopped expecting me to notice her.
And somehow...
that hurt.
"Kael."
Seraphina's voice pulled me back.
I looked at her.
She was holding my brother's son.
The last piece of Adrian left in this world.
I couldn't abandon them.
I couldn't.
That was what I kept telling myself.
But every time I saw Aria's eyes, I felt something twisting inside my chest.
Guilt.
I knew I was failing her.
I knew I was spending more time with Seraphina.
But what choice did I have?
My brother died because of me.
I failed to protect him.
Protecting Seraphina and his child was the only thing I could do.
At least...
that was what I told myself.
Until I saw Aria walking away.
And for the first time...
I wondered if I was protecting everyone except the person who needed me most.
Aria’s POV
That night, I sat before the mirror.
I looked at the woman staring back at me.
The Luna everyone forgot.
The mate nobody chose.
The woman who gave everything and received nothing.
I removed the necklace Kael gave me during our bond ceremony.
The silver moon pendant rested in my palm.
I remembered his words.
"As long as you wear this, you will always know you belong with me."
A painful smile crossed my lips.
But did I still belong?
Or was I only holding onto a memory of someone who no longer existed?
Lyra stirred inside me.
"Aria..."
"What?"
"Something is coming."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
My wolf became uneasy.
"The moon feels different."
I looked outside.
The night sky was unusually dark.
The stars disappeared behind thick clouds.
And somewhere far away...
a howl echoed through the mountains.
It was not the howl of an ordinary wolf.
It carried power.
Danger.
Ancient magic.
I didn't know it then.
But that sound belonged to a king.
A cursed king.
A monster feared by every pack.
And one day...
he would become the only person who truly saw me.
But before that happened...
I had to lose the man I thought was my destiny.
- Writer
