Luna. Chapter 29

(Lyra's POV)

"Are you sure this is necessary?" I asked Sage for the third time as we approached Moonlight Boutique, an elegant shop in the heart of Moonlight Pack territory. "I'm almost seven months pregnant. I feel ridiculous shopping for formal wear."

"The exhibition is next week, and you promised Magnus you'd attend as his Luna," Sage said firmly, holding the door open for me. "You need something appropriate to wear."

The shop was beautiful in an understated way—soft lighting, carefully curated displays, the kind of place that screamed expensive. A middle-aged woman with silver hair approached us immediately.

"Luna Lyra, what an honor. I'm Helena, the shop owner. Alpha Magnus called ahead and asked us to prepare several options for you."

"Several options?"

"For the exhibition, yes. He was very specific about colors and styles that would complement your coloring." Helena gestured toward a private fitting area. "If you'll follow me?"

The back room was larger than some apartments, with comfortable seating, full-length mirrors, and a small platform for fittings. A selection of gowns hung along one wall, each more elegant than the last.

"These are all beautiful," I said, running my fingers over the silk and chiffon. "But honestly, I'm not sure any formal wear will look right on me at this stage of pregnancy."

"Nonsense," Helena said briskly. "Pregnancy can be incredibly elegant when dressed properly. Now, let's see what we have here."

She began pulling gowns from the rack, explaining the merits of each one. A navy blue silk with flowing sleeves. A burgundy velvet with empire waist. A silver chiffon that seemed to shimmer in the light.

"The navy would complement your skin tone beautifully," she was saying when the shop's front door chimed.

"Helena?" A familiar voice called from the main showroom. "I hope you don't mind, but I let myself in. I saw Luna Lyra's car outside and thought I might..."

My heart stopped. That voice. I'd know it anywhere, even though I hadn't heard it in weeks.

Kael appeared in the doorway of the fitting room, and for a moment, neither of us moved. He looked older somehow, more tired, but his eyes were just as intense as I remembered.

"Lyra." My name came out like a prayer. "I was hoping I might run into you here."

"You were hoping..." I found my voice, though it came out sharper than intended. "You don't just run into people three hours from your own territory, Kael."

"No, you're right. I came looking for you." He stepped into the room, his presence immediately making the space feel smaller. "I heard about the Moonlight Pack exhibition from Magnus. I thought you might be here."

"And you thought it was appropriate to track me down?"

"I thought it was necessary."

Sage and Helena exchanged glances, clearly sensing the tension in the room.

"Perhaps we should give you some privacy," Helena suggested.

"No," I said quickly. "Stay here, I won’t talk to him for long." I turned back to Kael. "You’re not here to talk nonsense, are you? Then you walk away after we talking."

"I came to apologize. Again. And to tell you that I've discovered some things about what really happened with Seraphina."

"I don't want to hear about Seraphina."

"Lyra, please. Someone has been poisoning pack members. Seraphina was nearly killed, and a young woman named Petra was murdered."

Despite myself, I felt a stab of concern. "Murdered?"

"The same poison used on both of them. Someone with medical knowledge and access to restricted areas." Kael moved closer, his expression urgent. "I think you might be in danger too."

"I'm perfectly safe at Mountain Cross."

"Are you? Because the person behind this has resources, connections. They've been planning this for months, maybe years."

I wanted to dismiss his concerns, to tell him I didn't care about his pack's problems. But the fear in his eyes looked genuine.

"What does any of this have to do with me?"

"Everything started with your exile. The record tampering, the false accusations, the systematic destruction of evidence." Kael's hands clenched into fists. "Someone wanted you gone, and they were willing to kill to make it happen."

"Well, they got what they wanted. I am gone."

"But you're still alive. Still a threat to whatever they're planning."

Before I could respond, Helena cleared her throat diplomatically. "I don't mean to interrupt, but perhaps you'd be more comfortable discussing this elsewhere? I have other clients arriving soon."

"Of course," I said, grateful for the excuse to end this conversation. "Sage, we should go."

"Wait." Kael moved to the rack of gowns, his eyes scanning the options. "The green one. Try the green one."

"I'm not trying on dresses for your entertainment."

"It's not for my entertainment. It's..." He pulled out an emerald green silk gown with a flowing skirt and delicate beadwork. "You wore green the night we got engaged. It was the most beautiful I'd ever seen you."

Kael always did that, hurting me with a light remark.

That dress had been my favorite, the one I'd felt most confident in. The one I'd been wearing when he'd told me he loved me for the first time.

"That was a long time ago."

"Not that long." He held the dress up to me, his eyes soft with remembering. "Please. Just try it on. For old times' sake."

"I don't want to remember old times."

"Maybe I need you to." His voice was barely above a whisper. "Maybe I need to remember what I threw away."

Sage put her hand on my arm gently. "It is a beautiful dress. And green is definitely your color."

I looked at the gown in Kael's hands, at the hope in his eyes, at my own reflection in the mirror. Seven months pregnant, exhausted from the constant stress, wearing a simple maternity dress that made me feel frumpy and unattractive.

"Fine," I said finally. "One dress. But then you leave."

Helena led me to the changing area while Kael waited outside with Sage. The green silk felt cool against my skin, and I was surprised by how well it fit despite my changed body. The empire waist accommodated my pregnancy beautifully, and the color did complement my skin tone perfectly.

When I emerged from the changing area, the room went completely silent.

Kael was staring at me like he'd forgotten how to breathe. "Lyra..."

"It's just a dress."

"No, it's not. It's..." He swallowed hard. "You're radiant. Absolutely radiant."

I caught my reflection in the mirror and had to admit he was right. The dress transformed my pregnant figure from something I felt self-conscious about into something elegant and powerful.

"The beadwork catches the light beautifully," Helena still behaves appropriately in awkward situations."And the color is simply perfect with your complexion."

"It's lovely," Sage agreed. "You should definitely take this one."

I was about to agree when my phone buzzed with a text from Magnus: "How's the shopping going? Found anything you like?"

This text immediately pulled me back to reality. 

I was Magnus's Luna now, that Kael was my past.

"I'll take it," I told Helena. "But I need to change back now."

"Of course."

As I headed back to the changing area, Kael called after me. "Lyra, wait. There's something else I need to tell you."

"What?"

"I love you. I know I have no right to say it, I know I lost that right when I doubted you. But I need you to know that I never stopped loving you."

I stood frozen in the doorway, the green silk suddenly feeling heavy and complicated.

"You chose Seraphina."

"I chose wrong. About everything." His voice was raw with emotion. "I was manipulated, yes, but that doesn't excuse what I did to you. What I threw away."

"Kael..."

"I know you're with Magnus now. I know you're building a life that doesn't include me. But I needed you to know that losing you was the biggest mistake of my life."

Tears were threatening, and I couldn’t let him see my breakdown right now.

"I need you disappear from my life" I said quietly, and disappeared into the fitting room before he could say anything else.

When I emerged ten minutes later, wearing my original clothes and carrying the green dress in Helena's elegant garment bag, Kael was gone.

"He left his credit card," Helena said tactfully. "Said to put everything on his account."

"I can pay for my own dress."

"I'm sure you can. But he seemed to feel it was important."

As Sage and I left the shop, I found myself looking around for any sign of Kael's presence. But he'd vanished as suddenly as he'd appeared, leaving me with a beautiful dress and a head full of emotions I'd thought I'd buried.

"Are you okay?" Sage asked as we drove back toward Mountain Cross territory.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I thought seeing him again would make me angry. And I was angry. But I was also..."

"Also?"

"Also remembering why I fell in love with him in the first place."

Chapter 0036 

(Lyra's POV)

"You have to try it on," Sage insisted as soon as we returned to Mountain Cross. "I need to see how it looks in natural lighting."

"Sage, I already tried it on at the shop."

"That was artificial lighting. This is different." She was already pulling the garment bag from my hands. "Besides, I want to see what has Magnus so worried about this exhibition."

"Magnus is worried?"

"He's been tense all week about you attending. Something about Moonlight Pack politics and old grievances." Sage hung the dress carefully on the back of my bedroom door. "Come on, indulge me. I promise this is the last time."

Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of my full-length mirror wearing the emerald green gown. Sage had been right—the natural lighting streaming through my windows made the beadwork sparkle differently, and the color seemed richer, more complex.

"Stunning," Sage breathed. "Absolutely stunning. You look like a queen."

"I look like a pregnant woman in an expensive dress."

"You look like a Luna who deserves respect and recognition." Sage moved to stand behind me, adjusting the way the fabric draped over my shoulders. "This is exactly right for the exhibition."

"Tell me about this exhibition," I said, studying my reflection. "Magnus mentioned it's important politically, but he's been vague about the details."

Sage's expression grew somber. "Moonlight Pack has been struggling since they lost their Luna five years ago. She died in childbirth—the baby too. Alpha Derek has never remarried, and the pack has been slowly declining without proper leadership."

"That's terrible."

"It gets worse. There are rumors that Luna Christina didn't die from natural causes. That someone might have deliberately caused complications during her labor."

I turned to stare at Sage. "Murder?"

"No one's ever been able to prove anything. But the timing was suspicious—Christina had just discovered some financial irregularities in the pack's accounts. She was planning to bring evidence to the Council of Alphas."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Embezzlement, possibly. Someone had been siphoning money from pack resources for months, maybe years. Christina found the discrepancies and was preparing to expose whoever was responsible."

"And then she conveniently died in childbirth."

"Exactly." Sage sat on the edge of my bed, her expression troubled. "The pack has been looking for a new Luna ever since, but Derek refuses to consider anyone. He claims no one could replace Christina."

"So why is this exhibition important?"

"Because there's a rumor that Christina had a sister. Someone who might be eligible to claim Luna status and help restore the pack's stability."

"A sister?"

"Christina was adopted as a child. Her biological family was never identified. But recently, someone has come forward claiming to have information about her bloodline."

I asked curiously. "What kind of information?"

"The kind that could identify a living heir. Someone with the right bloodline to become Luna and help Derek move forward."

"And this person will be at the exhibition?"

"That's the rumor. Which is why every Alpha in the region will be attending. If there really is an heir to Christina's bloodline, it could change everything for Moonlight Pack."

I turned back to the mirror, studying the woman looking back at me. Something about this story felt familiar, though I couldn't place why.

"Sage, what did Christina look like?"

"Beautiful, from what I've heard. Dark hair, green eyes, delicate features. Derek has her portrait hanging in the pack's great hall."

Dark hair and green eyes. Like me.

"Did she have any distinguishing features? Birthmarks, scars, anything unique?"

Sage looked at me strangely. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"Well, there was one thing. She had a crescent-shaped birthmark on her left shoulder blade. Very distinctive, apparently—Derek used to call it her moon mark."

My blood went cold. I had a crescent-shaped birthmark in exactly that location. My father had always said it was a sign I was destined for something special.

"Lyra? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I need to see a picture of Christina," I said urgently. "Do you have access to any photographs?"

"Not with me, but I could probably find something online. Why? What's wrong?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe everything." I began pulling off the green dress with shaking hands. "Sage, what if the heir they're looking for isn't some mysterious stranger? What if she's someone who's been hiding in plain sight?"

"What are you talking about?"

I turned so Sage could see the birthmark on my shoulder blade. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my god."

"I need to know everything about Christina's background. Where she was adopted from, what happened to her biological family, any records of siblings given up for adoption."

"Lyra, this is insane. You can't seriously think..."

"I don't know what to think. But I need to find out." I pulled on my regular clothes and grabbed my laptop. "Help me research this. Please."

An hour later, we'd pieced together a timeline that made my heart race. Christina had been adopted from a small orphanage about two hours from my father's territory. The same orphanage my mother had mentioned visiting when I was conceived.

The same orphanage that had burned down twenty-five years ago, destroying all records.

"This is too many coincidences," Sage said, scrolling through adoption websites. "The timing, the location, the birthmark..."

"My mother always said I was special. That I was destined for something important." I stared at the few photos of Christina we'd managed to find online. The resemblance was uncanny—we could have been twins. "What if she knew something about my bloodline that she never told me?"

"What if you're Christina's sister?"

"What if I'm the heir Moonlight Pack has been looking for?"

We sat in stunned silence, processing the implications. If I really was Christina's sister, if I had a legitimate claim to Luna status in Moonlight Pack, it would change everything.

"You have to attend the exhibition," Sage said finally. "You have to see Derek's reaction when he sees you."

"What if I'm wrong? What if this is all just wishful thinking?"

"Then you'll have a nice evening out and come home with an interesting story." Sage squeezed my hand. "But what if you're right? What if you could help restore a pack that's been struggling for five years?"

I looked at the green dress hanging on my door, thinking about Kael's reaction when he'd seen me wearing it. About his insistence that I try it on, that green was my color.

Had he somehow known? Was he an informant?

"The exhibition is in three days," I said finally. "I guess we'll find out then."