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On our anniversary, I found my mate's enchanted journal left open. A linked page titled My True Luna sat open beside six months of messages to my sister.
By the time I reached the last page, I understood exactly what our marriage had been.
I'm Lyra Vance.
Three years ago, I mated Kaelen Thorne, Alpha of Obsidian Peak, the most powerful pack in Chicago.
I was twenty-two. He was thirty-five, already an Alpha everyone feared. At the time, I thought being chosen by him meant something.
He was magnetic—cold silver eyes, sharp features, and the kind of Alpha presence that quieted a room.
When he looked at me, I softened. When he touched me, I believed I was loved.
Even though, after three years of mating, my neck remained bare. He had never bitten my scent gland to mark me. He always claimed his inner wolf "needed more time" to adjust.
I should have seen it sooner.
It was supposed to be a perfect evening—our three-year anniversary.
I'd spent the entire day preparing — his favorite dinner, a new dress, candles lining the penthouse.
He was two hours late.
His private leather journal lay on the kitchen counter where he'd left it that morning. I picked it up to move it.
The magical lock sat open.
Inside, I saw it.
It was a paired journal—whatever he wrote here appeared in the other one.
And right there was a page linked directly to my older sister, Celeste Vance.
Six months of messages filled the pages—ink shifting, photos moving, plans laid out in detail.
*"I close my eyes every time I'm with her, Cel. You know that. It's always been you."*
*"She's just a placeholder until my father's Alpha inheritance unlocks. Then it's us."*
*"She smells enough like your bloodline to fool the elders. Same eyes. Same smile. Poor thing actually thinks I chose her."*
My hands didn't shake. But somewhere inside me, my wolf went quiet.
I turned the page.
Celeste's inked replies were worse.
*"Does she suspect anything?"*
*"Goddess no. She worships me."*
*"Pathetic, honestly. But useful."*
I read for twenty minutes. By the time I stopped, there wasn't much I didn't understand.
Kaelen needed to be mated before thirty-five to unlock his father's billions in pack trusts and Alpha power.
The old man had been specific — mate a Vance female. The families had an old agreement, a merger sealed by bloodlines.
Kaelen wanted Celeste. Always had. They'd been together secretly for years.
But Celeste wasn't ready. She wanted her training with the elite warriors in Europe first. She wanted freedom.
So they made a plan—send Kaelen to me instead. The younger sister. The quieter, easier option.
I was never meant to be the real Luna.
The inheritance unlocked six months ago. Which meant for six months, every morning he kissed my forehead, every night he held me — he no longer needed to pretend.
And he still came home every night.
So why was he still here?
I looked at the most recent message, inked that morning.
*Celeste: "I'm coming back to Chicago next week. For good. It's time, Kael."*
*Kaelen: "Finally. I'll handle Lyra. She won't be a problem."*
I set the journal down, exactly where I'd found it.
I didn't cry. I just stopped wanting anything from him.
I heard his key in the door.
Kaelen walked in, effortless, smelling faintly of whiskey and another wolf. He saw the candles, the dinner, and smiled — that practiced smile.
"Happy anniversary, sweetheart," he said, pulling me close. "Sorry I'm late. Pack border meeting ran long."
I looked up at him, this Alpha I'd built my world around, and I saw nothing but a stranger wearing my mate's face.
"It's fine," I whispered. "I made your favorite."
He kissed my forehead.
I felt nothing.
He spent dinner refilling my wine and praising the food. He even reached across the table to tell me I looked beautiful.
Every word landed differently now.
But I smiled. I laughed at his jokes. I played the role of the adoring mate one last time.
There was one thing Kaelen didn't know about me.
Something no one did.
I wasn't just Lyra Vance, the invisible younger daughter of a declining wolf family.
I was the sole heir to a fortune that made the Thorne pack trust look like pocket change.
It was a Lycan empire hidden by my late grandmother, sealed in a trust that wouldn't awaken until my twenty-fifth birthday.
Which was in exactly four days.
Kaelen thought he was tied to a disposable mate. Before I showed him otherwise, I just needed his signature.
"Kaelen," I said. "The elders sent over some paperwork.
Lineage stuff from my grandmother. Boring, but they need your signature as my mate. Just a formality."
He barely glanced at it. "Of course, babe."
He signed every page.
He didn't read a single word.
Those weren't lineage papers.
They were a Mate-Severance agreement that, upon activation, would transfer every marital territory to me and nullify his claim to any Vance holdings — including the ones he didn't yet know existed.
I watched him sign every page without reading.
"Thank you, darling," I said smoothly.
He winked at me. "Anything for my wolf."
I just smiled, watching him finish his wine.