Chapter 3

When I walked back into the Moon Hall, Lucian was standing outside the dressing chamber.

Evelyn sat on a velvet chair, her eyes red with tears.

Lucian bent slightly, patiently wiping the corners of her eyes with a clean handkerchief.

"Please don't cry."

His voice was softer than I had heard all day.

"This wasn't your fault. You were only trying to help."

A healer's kit rested on the table beside them.

Fresh herbs, bandages, and Moonroot salve lay untouched.

My father's hand was still bleeding in the supply room. Yet the first healer summoned that afternoon had come for Evelyn.

It wasn't the first time.

Last year during the Midwinter Hunt, I had fallen from a cliff after shielding a young cub from a rogue wolf.

My ribs had cracked.

I waited outside the healer's den for Lucian until sunrise.

He never came.

Later, I learned Evelyn had twisted her ankle during training.

Lucian had stayed beside her all night.

When I asked him about it, he simply said,

"Evelyn has no family in this Pack."

"She needed me more."

I smiled and told him it was alright.

Back then, I convinced myself he was only protecting someone weaker.

Now I wondered how many times I had mistaken being second for being loved.

Lucian finally noticed me. "How are your parents?"

It was the first time he had asked.

But he didn't wait for my answer.

His eyes moved past me. "They haven't changed yet?"

I turned.

My mother had followed me out of the corridor.

She wore the same carefully mended dress she had planned to wear to my Marking Ceremony.

The wine stains remained.

The burns on her cheek were impossible to hide.

My father stood beside her, his injured hand wrapped with strips of torn cloth.

Blood had already seeped through them.

Lucian frowned. "They're still dressed like that?"

Before I could answer, he motioned to one of the service staff.

"Move Mr. and Mrs. Vale to the rear seating."

His words hung in the air.

My mother lowered her head immediately. "Of course. We can sit anywhere."

My father gave a small, awkward smile. "It's fine."

An attendant hurried over carrying a new seating chart.

Their names were removed from the Family Table. Instead, they were placed at the very back of the hall.

Beside stacked banquet chairs. Almost hidden from sight.

Guests glanced at us as they walked pass.

Some deliberately took the longer path around my parents, avoiding the smell of dried Firethorn and blood.

"They don't look like Luna's parents."

"Omegas should know their place."

I looked at the seating chart. "Why?"

Lucian answered without hesitation.

"Their appearance isn't appropriate for the Family Table."

"We don't need unnecessary gossip."

He was thinking about reputation.

My father gently tugged my sleeve. "The back is fine."

My mother nodded quickly. "We don't want to embarrass you."

Embarrass me.

My throat tightened.

Another memory hit me.

Last autumn, my mother had suffered Moon Fever after an early frost.

She couldn't even stand.

I had begged Lucian to visit her.

He promised he would come after the Alpha Council meeting.

He never came.

The next morning, I found out why.

Evelyn had been frightened by a nightmare after hearing rumors of rogue attacks.

Lucian stayed outside her room the entire night.

When I asked him about it, he sounded annoyed.

"Evelyn has no one else." Lucian said.

"You still have your parents."

I had told myself he was just too compassionate to turn anyone away.

I had been wrong.

Lucian wasn't kind.

He just picked who he cared about.

And now, watching my parents quietly carry their own shame so they wouldn't burden me,?I finally understood.

It had never been about who needed him more.

It had always been about who he chose.

And it was never me.