Twin Flames, Broken Bonds

Vera

The divorce papers sat on the marble breakfast table like a venomous thing waiting to strike.

I stared at them, my coffee untouched, my hands trembling. Six months. Six miserable months of being Mrs. Darius Blackthorn, Luna of the Silvercrest Pack, and it was already over.

I should have cried. I should have felt my heart shatter.

Instead, I felt relief.

And that scared me more than the papers themselves.

"You're not going to sign them?"

The voice sliced through the silence. Selene stood in the doorway, her dark hair falling in glossy waves over a silk robe that wasn't hers. My robe. The one that had gone missing from my wardrobe a week ago.

Of course she'd wear it.

"I..." My throat was dry. "Why would he..."

"Oh, Vera." Selene glided across the floor like a ghost of the sister I used to know. "You know why."

And I did.

I'd known since the wedding night, when Darius's mark on my neck had felt more like a brand than a bond. When his eyes had been cold, distant... already belonging to someone else. Her.

He never touched me after that. Not once.

When I caught them in the garden months later, not kissing, but close enough that the air burned between them , I'd told myself I'd imagined it. That my husband wouldn't betray me with my own sister.

But now, the papers said otherwise.

"He wants to marry you," I said, my voice breaking.

Selene looked away, feigning guilt. "The Elders discovered a clause in the Luna Accord. Since you and Darius haven't... you know... the union can be annulled. They said it's better for the pack."

Better for her, she meant.

"The physician confirmed you're still... untouched," she added softly, twisting the knife. "So technically, the marriage was never..."

"Real?" I finished for her, forcing a laugh that came out like a sob. "Right. Not real."

Selene's eyes watered. "I'm sorry, Vera. You were never meant for this world. You belong in libraries, not among wolves and politics. Just sign the papers. You'll be free."

Free.

What a lovely word for discarded.

Something cracked inside me, quiet at first, then sharp as lightning. I stood, my chair scraping against marble. "Where is he?"

Selene's lips parted. "Vera..."

"Where. Is. He."

"In his office. But please..."

I didn't wait.

My footsteps echoed down the hall as I passed the curious stares of pack members. They could smell the storm coming, my scent spiking with fury and something darker, something even I didn't recognize.

Darius's office door loomed ahead. I didn't knock.

He was behind his desk, head bent over a stack of documents like nothing in the world could touch him. When his eyes lifted to mine, those silver-gray irises went cold in an instant.

"Vera." Calm. Controlled. Detached. "I assume Selene told you."

"She told me everything." I held up the papers. "Your little solution."

"It's for the best," he said simply. "You must see that."

"For the best," I echoed, stepping closer. "For who, exactly? You? Her? The pack that already whispers behind my back?"

Darius sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You're unhappy here. I can't give you what you need. This was a mistake from the start."

"A mistake," I whispered. "Funny, that's exactly what Selene said."

His jaw tightened. "Leave her out of this."

"Why? She's in everything." My voice shook. "From the moment we arrived, you looked at her like she hung the moon. You never even tried to hide it."

"That's not true."

"It's pathetic, Darius. You could've at least waited until after the honeymoon to break my heart."

"Enough." His tone snapped like a whip. "Sign the papers and spare us both the misery."

I stared at him for a long, trembling moment. Then I smiled. Small. Sharp. Dangerous.

"I'll sign them," I said. "But only after you tell me one thing."

His eyes flickered. "What?"

"Who told the Elders about my... untouched status?"

He froze. For a split second, a heartbeat, I saw something flicker in his gaze. Guilt. Shock.

"Was it you?" I asked softly. "Or her?"

He didn't answer.

The silence told me everything.

I turned to leave, the papers clutched in my hand. "I hope she was worth it, Alpha."

My fingers brushed the doorknob, then I heard it. A voice. Muffled but unmistakable, coming from his communicator on the desk.

"Did she sign?" Selene's voice.

My blood turned to ice.

Darius lunged for the device, but I was faster. I snatched it, slammed it against the wall, and watched it shatter into pieces.

For the first time since our marriage, Darius looked... I'm afraid.

I straightened, chin high, every ounce of heartbreak twisting into something fierce and cold.

"You both made one mistake," I said quietly. "You thought I was weak."

Then I walked out, leaving him in the wreckage of his lies.

And for the first time in six months, I didn't feel like a ghost.

I felt alive.

Vera

For a long moment, we just stared at each other - Alpha and Luna, husband and wife, enemies bound by law.

Darius was the first to look away. He dragged a hand through his dark hair, exhaling like the weight of my presence exhausted him.

"Yes. I wanted Selene," he said finally, his voice low but steady. "I still do. She's my, " He stopped himself.

I tilted my head, bitterness curling my lips. "Your what? Your mate?"

When he didn't answer, I laughed, a hollow, ugly sound. "But you married me. You marked me, Darius. You claimed me, even if you couldn't stand to touch me."

His jaw flexed. "That mark means nothing without consummation. You know that." His tone hardened, that commanding Alpha authority sliding into place. "Sign the papers, Vera. Go home. Find someone who can actually love you, because I can't."

There it was, the truth I'd tried to ignore for six long months.

The air left my lungs in a rush. The ache in my chest burst open, spilling into something wild.

Before I realized it, my hands moved, the papers flying across the desk, scattering like torn feathers.

"No."

Darius blinked. "What did you just say?"

"I said no." My voice trembled but didn't break. "You want this over? You want to erase me and marry my sister? Then you're going to have to work for it."

He straightened, power rolling off him in waves. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I am your wife," I shot back. "Your Luna. Whether you like it or not, that means something. And I'm not going to let you throw me away like I was nothing."

His silver eyes darkened. "The Elders already approved the annulment. The loophole is legal. All you're doing is delaying what's inevitable."

"Then let me delay it," I said. "You owe me that much. Six months of my life, Darius. Six months of humiliation. Six months of watching you look at *her* while pretending I didn't exist. If you want your freedom, you can damn well earn it."

Something flickered in his gaze, not pity, not anger. Something... curious.

"What do you want?" he asked quietly.

The question caught me off guard. My mouth moved before I could think.

"Three months. Give me three months before the annulment goes through."

His brows drew together. "Three months? For what?"

"To be your wife," I said simply. "Your real wife."

He laughed, a short, humorless sound that made my pulse spike. "You've lost your mind."

"Maybe I have." I took a step closer, meeting his glare head-on. "You've kept me locked out since the wedding, no training, no meetings, no say in the pack. For three months, that changes. I'll act as your Luna. I'll do everything I was meant to do. And then, if you still want to end it, I'll sign the papers myself."

He leaned back, studying me like I was a puzzle he hadn't expected to find in his own office. "And what does that entail, exactly?"

"I'm not asking for romance," I said, even though the words nearly strangled me. "But I want my role. I want to train with the females. I want to sit in on your council meetings. I want to stand beside you at the Alpha Summit next month, as your Luna, not your shadow."

Silence stretched between us, thick and electric.

Finally, Darius gave one sharp nod. "Three months. No more." He stepped closer, his scent brushing against me, dark cedar and something dangerous. "But this changes nothing, Vera. At the end of those three months, I'm still marrying your sister."

The words sliced through me, clean and merciless. But I didn't flinch. "Understood," I said.

"Good." His voice was cold again. "Now get out. I have work to do."

I turned toward the door, my pulse thrumming, my body trembling from holding in too much, rage, pain, something else I didn't dare name.

I was halfway out when his voice stopped me.

"Vera."

I looked back.

He was watching me with an expression I couldn't read. "For what it's worth... I am sorry. You deserve better than this."

My throat tightened, but I forced a smile that didn't reach my eyes. "Yes," I said softly. "I do."

I left before he could see the tears spill.

Three months. That's what I'd bought myself.

Three months to figure out who I was without him, or maybe who I'd been all along.

Three months to stand my ground before he took everything else from me.

But as I walked through the empty halls of the pack house, something strange stirred inside me. A faint hum beneath my skin, a pulse that didn't belong to heartbreak.

By the time I reached the end of the corridor, the air had shifted. The lights flickered, just once.

And deep in my chest, my wolf, silent since the day of the wedding, whispered one word.

Mine.

What if I didn't let him go?

What if I fought?

My fingers brushed the mark on my neck, Darius's mark. Still there. Still binding me, even if he refused to acknowledge it. And for the first time in six months, I smiled.

I couldn't face Selene. Not yet. I could still see the way Darius's eyes softened when he looked at her, the way they never softened for me. So instead of going back to the dining room, I drifted to the only place in this massive pack house that ever felt remotely mine: the library.

It sat tucked away in the west wing, three floors of dust, quiet, and the smell of leather and old paper. Most wolves preferred the training grounds, the communal halls, or the woods. But I'd spent countless hours here, hiding between shelves, pretending I wasn't slowly falling apart.

I sank into my usual chair by the window overlooking the forest and finally let the tears come.

What the hell had I just done?

Three months. I'd demanded three months to play at being his wife when he'd already made it clear he didn't want me. What was I hoping for? That he'd wake up one morning and see me differently? That he'd remember what it meant to love me?

Pathetic. I pressed my palms to my eyes, swallowing a sob. Pathetic, Vera. Again.

"You know," a voice rasped from the doorway, "for someone who just backed an Alpha into a corner, you don't look very triumphant."

I jolted. An elderly woman stood there, leaning on a gnarled walking stick. Elder Moira. I'd only seen her a handful of times, she rarely left her cottage at the edge of the territory.

"I... I didn't mean to intrude," I stammered, wiping my face.

"Oh, hush." She waved her hand. "This is pack territory, child. You're Luna. You don't apologize for existing in your own home."

Luna. The word landed heavy and ironic.

Moira settled across from me with a grunt, her sharp blue eyes assessing me. "I heard what happened. The whole pack's buzzing about it. News travels fast when it involves the Alpha."

"Wonderful," I muttered. "I'm sure they're all laughing about the pathetic Luna who threw a tantrum."

"Laughing?" Moira cackled. "Half the females are ready to throw you a parade. Do you know how long we've waited for you to grow a spine?"

I blinked. "What?"

"For six months you've been walking around like a ghost," she said. "Letting that fool Alpha ignore you while he sniffs after your sister like a lovesick pup. Today was the first time you acted like a Luna instead of a shadow."

Her words stung because they were true.

"I wasn't trying to make a scene," I whispered.

"Maybe not. But you finally reminded him you exist." Moira's tone softened. "What Darius has done is cruel, child. But you've let him. You've hidden here, made yourself small, hoping he'd notice your silence. That's not how you tame a wolf."

My throat ached. "Then what was I supposed to do?"

"What you did today, fight." She leaned forward and took my hand. "That boy needs someone who challenges him. His father made him an Alpha but forgot to make him a man."

"He doesn't want me to challenge him," I said bitterly. "He wants Selene."

"Does he?" Moira's eyes gleamed. "Or does he want the one thing he can't have? Alphas crave resistance. Your sister pushes him. You've been too accommodating. Which of you do you think intrigues him more?"

I looked away. "Even if you're right... he still loves her."

"Love," Moira scoffed. "He confuses love with obsession. He doesn't know what it means to choose someone through silence and storms." Her grip tightened. "You have three months. Use them to find your power, not his affection."

"I don't even know where to start."

Moira's lips curved into a predatory smile. "That's why the Moon sent me. Come, if you're going to be a Luna, you'll need training."

"Training?" I echoed.

"Did you think being Luna meant smiling prettily beside your Alpha?" Her eyes glittered. "Oh, sweet child... you've no idea what power lies in your position."

By the time I left the library two hours later, my head was spinning.

Moira had unraveled everything I'd ignored for months, pack politics, alliances, territory management, the Luna's influence. "The females look to you for guidance," she'd said. "The pack needs your strength when the Alpha's judgment falters. You've been chasing one man and forgetting the two hundred wolves who depend on you."

She was right. I'd been drowning in heartbreak while my pack drifted without a Luna.

That ended now.

When I reached the training grounds, the late sun was already bleeding into the horizon. Female warriors sparred in human form, graceful, brutal, alive. I recognized Kara, the head female warrior; Maya, the young wolf who always smiled when she saw me; and at the edge, arms crossed, watching me like a ghost from another life, Selene.

She straightened as I approached. "Vera..."

"I'm here to train," I said, loud enough for every wolf to hear. "Elder Moira says all Lunas should. I've been negligent in my duties."

Silence swept the field. A few warriors exchanged glances. Selene's lips parted, something unreadable flickering in her gaze.

Then a slow clap echoed from behind.

I turned. Darius stood at the edge of the clearing, his expression unreadable, his eyes darker than the dusk around us.

"Then let's see," he said softly, his voice carrying across the field, "if the Luna can still fight."