Chapter 1 Shattered Reunion

Irene's Point of View

My mate was finally coming home.

So why did I feel like something terrible was about to happen?

I stood at the entrance of the Hellfire Pack beside Luna Lorraine and Alpha Dave, watching the road where the returning warriors would soon appear.

Families had gathered behind us, waiting for their loved ones.

No one was laughing.

Everyone was waiting to see who had made it home alive.

Then Luna Lorraine suddenly grabbed my hand.

“I see them!”

I looked up.

The warriors were coming.

My heart raced as I searched the line of riders.

Then I saw him.

Eugene.

He was at the front, leading the warriors home.

For a moment, everything else disappeared.

He was alive.

After one long year, he was finally standing in front of me.

I had waited for this moment for so long that it hardly felt real.

I was his mate.

The woman chosen for him.

The woman who had stayed behind and waited while he was away.

Soon, I would stand beside him as the next Luna of the Hellfire Pack.

I had believed that for an entire year.

And now, finally, I was going to have my life with him.

Eugene climbed down from his horse.

I wanted to run to him.

I wanted to throw my arms around him and never let go.

But everyone was watching, so I stayed where I was.

I waited for him to look at me.

He didn't.

He walked straight past me.

My smile slowly disappeared.

Eugene didn't even glance in my direction.

He went directly to Alpha Dave.

“My mission is complete,” he said.

Alpha Dave pulled him into a proud embrace.

“I knew you would return safely.”

Around us, the pack erupted in celebration.

Families rushed forward.

Children ran into their parents' arms.

People cried, laughed, and held on to each other after a year of waiting.

Then Eugene called out,

“Mother.”

Luna Lorraine released my hand and ran to him.

She wrapped her arms around her son.

“I missed you so much.”

I stood there alone.

I kept waiting for Eugene to turn around.

He didn't.

Not once.

Maybe he was tired.

Maybe he hadn't seen me.

I tried to believe that.

Then he finally looked at me.

Our eyes met for only a second.

There was something in his expression that I couldn't understand.

Pain.

Guilt.

Regret.

Then he looked away.

I took a slow breath and stepped toward him.

This was still our reunion.

He was still my mate.

I opened my arms.

Eugene stepped back.

Not by accident.

He deliberately put distance between us.

I froze.

He looked at me like I was someone he barely knew.

My arms slowly fell to my sides.

“I'm happy to see you,” I said.

My voice sounded strange to my own ears.

“I’m happy to be back,” he replied.

His voice was flat.

Then he reached behind him.

And took someone's hand.

I stared at the woman standing beside him.

I hadn't noticed her before.

All I had seen was Eugene.

Now I couldn't look away.

She had long red hair, bright blue eyes, and a beauty that immediately drew attention.

Eugene held her hand tightly.

My stomach dropped.

He turned toward his parents.

“Father. Mother. This is the woman I mentioned in my letter.”

I stopped breathing.

A woman he had mentioned in his letter?

I searched my memory.

I had read every letter Eugene sent during the past year.

Every page.

Every word.

He had never mentioned her.

Not once.

I looked at him.

“Who is she?”

My voice shook.

Eugene still wouldn't look at me.

Luna Lorraine's hand closed around mine.

This time, it didn't comfort me.

It felt like a warning.

“Let's go back to the pack house first,” she said quietly. “Eugene must be tired. We can talk later.”

“Mother...”

I looked at her.

“Who is that woman?”

She didn't answer.

She only led me away.

I followed because I didn't know what else to do.

But before we left, I turned back.

Eugene was still standing beside the woman.

His head was lowered.

Alpha Dave stood in front of him, his expression hard.

But Luna Lorraine was already pulling me toward the pack house.

“Mother,” I whispered.

She didn't stop.

“Who is that woman?”

Her fingers tightened around mine.

“Please, Irene.”

“Please what?”

She finally looked at me.

And the expression on her face made my stomach drop.

She wasn't confused.

She wasn't surprised.

She looked afraid.

“You know who she is,” I whispered.

Luna Lorraine said nothing.

That silence was answer enough.

I stopped walking.

For the first time, another thought entered my mind.

Maybe Eugene wasn't the only one hiding something from me.

Maybe they all knew.

I looked back at him.

He was still holding that woman's hand.

Then I looked at Luna Lorraine.

“Did you know about her before today?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

She still didn't answer.

And suddenly, the past year of letters felt different.

Every word Eugene had written.

Every promise.

Every time he told me to wait for him.

What if there had been something he never wanted me to know?

My voice came out barely above a whisper.

“Mother...”

“Why didn't anyone tell me?”