Chapter 2 Her face, Her grave

Ava's POV

"Caden, why....? I....I'm your mate. The Moon Goddess chose..."

He turned towards me, his eyes colder than the winter that had once howled through my exile. "Don't speak her name to me."

The words hit harder than any blow.

"Caden, please... I-"

His lips curled, not in warmth, but pure hatred. "Whatever the Moon Goddess gave us was a mistake." I stumbled back as if I had just been struck by lightning.

"A mistake?"

But his eyes swept over me-empty, cold. "I never wanted you, I never will. My Luna...the woman I love...was taken from me ten years ago. And now, she's returned."

Everything inside me immediately shattered. "But...you sent for me. You called me back." A bitter laughter escaped his lips. Sharp and humourless.

"You think I summoned you for love? You are an obligation, Ava. Nothing more than that." My heart shattered into bits, sharp and merciless, as if someone had just taken my soul in their hands and crushed it without warning.

The words hung thick in the air between us, rough and cruel. They pierced straight through my chest, deeper than any blade ever could.

For a moment, the world stood still. The hundreds of eyes watching, the looming banners ahead-all blurred into nothing but a cold, suffocating void.

I had spent ten years alone, in exile, telling myself that I could survive until this moment, everything would be okay. If I could stand here today, strong enough and worthy enough, my life would finally mean something.

And yet, the man whose mark I prayed to the moon goddess for, whose bond was the only thing I held on to during the darkness....looked at me like I was nothing but a mistake. A burden.

"Did he just reject her?"

The whispers began to come, soft at first. Then louder. Harsher.

"She's not his mate?"

"I knew it. She was too cursed to become Luna."

I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his eyes, but they were like ice. Empty of wrath, empty of the connection I had spent years dreaming about.

Caden's voice rang out like a death bell, sharp and final. "My true mate...my true mate is Seraphina Duskthorn. She was always meant to be my Luna."

The crowd froze, whispers and murmurs circling them. No one moved. No one breathed, even the wind outside seemed to stop, holding its breath for what came next.

Then-

The grand door creaked open with a groan that echoed through the hall like a ghost rising from the dead. There she was, covered in silver light, stood the girl whose name was still haunted by nightmares.

Seraphina.

My sister.

Dead for ten years.

She was still alive, breathing. Smiling. And walking straight into the arms of the man who had just shattered me. A choked gasp tore out of my lungs. My knees nearly gave up on me.

No. No. This isn't real.

This can't be happening.

My whole world faded. I felt as though I was underwater, everything far and muffled, my heartbeat roaring in my ears.

"Come here, my Luna," Caden whispered, his voice low and deep. Seraphina smiled, slow and intoxicating. Running into his arms like she never left him. Her smile hadn't changed-but her eyes had.

There was something cold in them...Something different. She looked at me as if I didn't exist, as if the past, the pain, my exile, none of it mattered.

And the pack.... They all bowed to her, every single one of them. The same wolves who had labeled me cursed. The same wolves who had branded me a traitor, a mistake.

All falling to their knees for her. The cold, ruthless Alpha-the man whose rejection still burned on my skin-softened. His entire body shifted.

And he...he didn't hesitate. He pulled her close to him, his hands claiming her waist like she belonged there. Like she always had. His forehead resting against hers, their breaths mingling with each other.

And right there-in front of the entire pack, in front of me-he kissed her. Not a fleeting kiss of duty or obligation. It was deep, hungry. Worshipful.

A kiss that spoke of years lost and years to come. A kiss that told the whole world that this was just the beginning of their love story.

I stood frozen, the room spinning around me. My lungs forgot how to breathe. The mate bond snapping tight between us, a cruel thread pulling, burning.

I thought rejection would end it. But no-it made it worse. It screamed in pain. Tears streaked from the corner of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Not here.

Not now.

The memory clawed its way back to me-that day in the forest. Seraphina fell into the river, but she never screamed. She just smiled, right before the water swallowed her.

She smiled. And when I dove in after her, it wasn't just the water that pulled me down. No, it was something else. Something colder....something darker.

No one believed me back then, not even my father. They said the grief made me imagine things. So I stopped remembering. Until now.

"Escort her out of this place." Caden's voice cut through my thoughts, his cold eyes on me even more painful than a punch to the face.

"For everyone's peace, leave this place, Ava."

Two guards grabbed my arms. Their grip was painful, merciless. I tried to struggle, but no words would come out of my mouth. Not while my heart is still lying in pieces on the floor.

"What are you doing Caden?"

"No... please let me go!!!" I barked, but no one would even pay me any attention. The guards gripped and dragged me even more forcefully this time around.

Then, as I was dragged past her, Seraphina leaned in, her breath hot against my ear, sweet and poisonous at the same time.

"You should've drowned that day instead of me," she whispered, her voice laced with silk and venom. "But I'm back now....to make your life even more miserable."

And then she smiled.

Cold. Cruel. Beautiful.

The smile that made everything clear to me. This wasn't my sister at all.

This was the smile of something else that wore my sister's face.