Chapter 0002

(Siena's POV)

Raiden stares at me, eyes widened in shock, but the other is expressionless and cold. For the first time in all the years we’ve known each other, he is rendered speechless.

Knelt before Lila, my hands re-clenched into fits at my side, my heart pounds against my ribs like a wild, caged animal. The cold of the hospital floor bites through the bare skin of my feet, but the temporary discomfort does not compare to the humiliation scorching my skin.

Raiden’s eyes are heavy as they are intrusive, the silence stretching unbearably between us.

Lila, set atop her perch, lets out a soft gasp, one hand fluttering to her chest. She feigns surprise, but I know her heart. There is mockery in her eyes as a slow, impish smile tugs at her lips.

“Oh my God, Siena, I was just joking! I can’t believe you actually got down on your knees!” she snorts as if the notion of my humility is laughable.

She is poison; why can’t you see that?

I force myself to look up at her. The overhead lights cast a soft glow around her golden hair, illuminating her delicate features. She looks almost angelic, but I know better.

Lila has always been a master at playing the innocent, twisting every situation into a grotesquery that can only make her look like the victim—or the benevolent savior, depending on her fancy.

There’s a knowing behind her eyes. It stings uncomfortable. She turns her face up to Raiden, who stands guard, immovable.

“You may as well give her the money, Raiden; she is Luna, after all. Charity darlin,”

She smiles down at me, her voice drips with false kindness. “The Summit of the Alphas is in a few days, and it’s not as if she has credentials…like me. Maybe she really does need a necklace.”

The words cut deeper than I could ever expect.

She makes it sound as if I am nothing—just a useless wife clinging to the edges of a world to which I don’t belong.

You think you’re the real wife at his side?

The thought sears through me.

I let myself sink down. Further, my nails dig into the flesh; my head hung low; the pain is the only thing that grounds me.

Lila is not the only one who knows him, who deserves him.

Bracing myself, I wait for him to silence her, to defend me even in the smallest way.

He doesn’t.

There is no correction; he didn’t even flinch.

Have I ever meant anything to you, Raiden?

My nails dig deeper.

I feel my body shudder. I am frozen to the core. I should be used to this by now, but somehow, the wounds are still fresh, and he rubs salt in my agony every chance she gets.

A shrill ringtone cuts through the atmosphere, lighting to otherwise complement the brewing storm. I jolt, fumbling for my phone, cursing silently.

The number that flashes across the screen sends ice flowing into already frozen veins of heartbreak and treachery.

“I have to take this.” My voice is barely a whisper.

I do not wait for permission, but Raiden remains silent.

He doesn’t care.

“Hello?”

“Siena, it’s…it’s bad.”

The voice on the other side of the phone barely holds on, the sadness and grief bleeding through the line, washing over me like so many defeats.

Rickard, my father’s Beta and best friend, was no young pup, but never had I heard his age so plainly, never had I witnessed the sound of his hurt.

“Your father---he’s getting worse. The doctors don’t think he will last the night.”

The floor seems to tilt beneath me, and the small treasures of my world wobble on their axis, threatening at any moment to take me under.

I reach out to the wall for support.

“We need that money, Siena, and we need you back on the compound.”

I swallow hard, my throat a sandpaper constriction that will not allow a single word to freedom.

“I…I---"

The line goes dead. My hands tremble as I lower the phone, remembering my state and the ill company I keep.

I need to go, now.

Footsteps echo somewhere in the back of my mind.

Raiden approaches.

Without a word, he hands me a check. His eyes are open, but they cannot see me; they choose not to.

The sorrow in my throat, the tears that struggle against my will, thrash wildly, demanding freedom. But I will not give it—not now, not ever. I will never let him see me cry.

When I blink down at the crisp note held in my unsteady hand, my mind is a blur. I can hardly process the sum scrawled in Raiden’s unsightly hand.

It’s a generous amount. More than I imagine he’d offer. More than the price of any necklace,

Lila boasts.

But it isn’t enough.

My heart pounds furiously again as I weigh out the options before me. I cannot leave here empty-handed, but how can I bring myself to…beg.

“Raiden, please. The Windhowl Pack is in serious trouble. My father---”

“Don’t.” His jaw tightens, and he looks past me as I am, at best, a cumbersome idea, a daily strife he tolerates but only finds loathing to be true in his heart.

“This isn’t a game Raiden! I have never asked---”

He puts up a hand to silence me, “Do not ever come to me and lie to me like you’ve done today, Siena.”

His voice is like granite, a black void. And yet, I see it as much as I sense it. The taste of his fury is a bitter taste on my tongue.

I inhale sharply, allowing the sting of his words to do their bidding. “I am not a liar, Alpha!”

Raiden shakes his head; his patience is visibly fraying. My pleas fall on deaf ears and a dead heart.

Dead to me.

“You expect me to believe this farce? This little show that you so delicately conspired…against me?”

“Raiden? Conspire---”

“Enough, Siena!” he growls, the flash of familiar orange in his eyes enough to stifle any more protest that threatened to be made whole.

“I’ve poured more money into your pack than I care to admit, Siena. You know as well as I do that your father has spent every cent I’ve given him! And now, he sends you here, to gravel on your knees, making another scene ---Because of Lila?

He thinks I’m jealous! He thinks I’m making a play for his affections!

My chest tightens painfully. I’m running out of time. “Raiden, if you ever trusted me, if you ever had---”

Love for me.

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He doesn’t even glance at it before stepping back. “I won’t entertain any more of this circus. Take the money, Siena, or don’t. But I will warn you only once. Do not ever lie to me.”

My phone explodes once more. Raiden’s eye catches mine for just a moment, long enough to suggest I’ve overstayed my welcome.

I press the phone to my ear; my skin prickles with chill, my body vibrating against the inevitable tragedy that hunts without remorse.

“Siena,” Rickard pauses, takes a breath.

“...If you want to say your goodbye, come now.”

The world shrinks around me. I can’t breathe.

Then, without a second thought, I turn and run.

Raiden doesn’t stop me.

(Raiden's POV)

She just ran.

Just like that, she was gone.

Watching her sleek form move through the dim shadows of the hospital corridor, my gut twists over on itself.

She didn’t even look back. Not once.

Exhaling sharply, I run a hand through my hair. The irritation that gnaws at my insides makes no sense.

There is no safety between me and the Luna, no…no love.

It’s a harsh reality, but I have given all that I am prepared to. Though curiosity burns just enough to have me question myself.

Was I wrong? Is she telling me the truth?

Turning toward the bed, I remember Lila, her delicate features creased now with a worry that does not concern her. “Do…do you think she might actually be in some kind of trouble, Raiden?”

Lila has no love for Luna, but she does adore their game of cat and mouse. One day, it could prove fatal, but until then, the she-wolves may do as they please; they are of no consequence to me.

“Trouble?” I snort in detrition, but the word rattles around in my head, an unwelcome echo.

“Siena’s always in some kind of trouble.”

Lila lets go, a cackle that prickles my skin.

Why?

“She always was jealous. This necklace, I know she---”

“Enough,” I growl, unable to control the fury that brews like poisonous honey in my belly. “I will not spend the rest of my night brooding over the affairs of Siena or her pack.”

The silence hit the room like a brick wall. The air inside was dead, save for the glowing embers of my discontent.

“You know she’ll be back, Raiden; she always comes back. Always wants.”

I cannot bring myself to respond. Lila isn’t wrong — Siena’s father squandered much of my wealth on luxuries he couldn’t afford. After Siena became my wife, the demand only grew.

Once upon a time, I had given and given until one day, I saw the truth.

They would never stop asking.

Never stop taking.

And Siena? She had played the part of the frugal, dutiful Luna, but I knew better.

She wanted my attention.

That’s all this is.

A desperate plot to keep my eyes on her, my attention loyal to her whims, her expenses.

I will not do your bidding, Siena. Not now, not ever.

Pushing aside the doubt in my chest, I force a smile at Lila.

“She’ll be fine. There was no emergency.” I say.

...Was there?