CHAPTER 179: CHAPTER 179 LOCKED DOOR

Freya

I had barely taken a step from Isabella’s room when I heard the distinct click of the lock. My daughter wasn’t trying to keep others out—just me. The realization settled like a cold stone in my stomach.

She was probably locking the door to contact Aurora without my knowledge. Selene whined softly in our shared consciousness, mourning the distance between us and our pup.

*She’s slipping away from us,* Selene whispered.

*Not completely,* I countered, remembering the genuine smile Isabella had given me earlier. *There’s still something there worth fighting for.*

I turned and headed back to the bedroom I’d once shared with Silvano. Even after the coldness between us had grown glacial, Aunt Emma had ensured I kept clothes and necessities at the pack house. The elderly she-wolf liked me—perhaps the only one in Silvano’s family who truly did—and often invited me back for meals, maintaining the illusion of a united Luna and Alpha.

After a long shower, I settled on my usual side of the king-sized bed, the mattress still shaped to my form despite my long absence. I pulled out the novel I’d tucked into my bag earlier—a romance about a wolf finding her true mate against impossible odds. Once, I’d read such stories with hope; now they seemed like cruel jokes.

The minutes ticked by as I lost myself in fiction until my eyes began to sting from fatigue. Checking my phone, I realized it was already eleven-thirty.

Silvano still hadn’t returned.

We used to have a passionate love, intense enough for me, who had always been cautious, to choose to abandon everything and join his wolf pack, becoming his mate. He had once said we were fated mates, that I was the best gift the Moon Goddess had given him. But after Aurora’s return, everything changed.

He fell in love with her wild spirit, her calculating intelligence, her unmistakable Alpha presence. After that, he barely touched me at all. The bond between us grew so thin I sometimes wondered if it still existed.

I wasn’t sure if his absence tonight meant he wasn’t planning to return to our room at all, or if he was simply busy with pack business. Either way, the emptiness of the bed mirrored the emptiness I felt whenever we were together now.

Restlessness drove me from the bedroom. I descended the stairs, my bare feet silent against the cold hardwood. Just as I reached the landing, voices drifted from the direction of the study.

"Everyone’s asleep. Is it because Freya’s here that you don’t want to return to the bedroom this late?" Maria’s voice, sharp with judgment.

I froze, instinctively stepping back into the shadows. Through the partially open door, I could see Maria and Silvano. My mate was smoking—something he rarely did except when deeply troubled—his broad shoulders silhouetted against the window. From this distance, backlit as he was, I couldn’t make out his expression.

"Actually, I understand you," Maria continued, her tone conspiratorial. "I’ve met Aurora several times now. She’s only twenty-five and has already earned her doctorate from one of the top universities globally."

My chest tightened. Aurora was younger than me by several years, and her academic achievements far outshone mine.

"She handles pack business matters impressively too," Maria went on, each word a knife between my ribs. "She’s beautiful, with that wild, untameable spirit. Her excellence and radiance are qualities most women simply don’t possess."

I clenched my hands into fists, nails biting into my palms.

"She certainly has what it takes to attract you," Maria said, her voice honeyed with false concern. "But she is Alpha Enzo’s daughter, your cousin, Silvano. Are you serious about this?"

"I know what kind of woman I want," Silvano cut her off, his voice a low growl that sent an involuntary shiver down my spine.

Even after everything, my treacherous body still responded to him. Selene stirred restlessly within me, caught between the instinct to approach our mate and the knowledge that we were no longer welcome.

"But—" Maria frowned. While she clearly looked down on me, she apparently didn’t approve of Aurora either. She wanted to say more, but something in Silvano’s expression made her hesitate. "You’re so protective of her, won’t even let me say a word. Fine, I’ll stop talking, okay?"

I listened, my cheeks stinging from the night air drifting through an open window. A bitter smile crossed my lips as I turned to leave. I had no interest in hearing more about Aurora’s perfection or my own inadequacy.

Just as I moved away, Maria remembered something else. "Oh right, I heard Freya submitted her resignation and is planning to leave the company?"

I paused, one foot on the bottom stair. I hadn’t told anyone about this yet—not even Isabella.

"The day before yesterday, York mentioned she made a mistake," Silvano replied, his tone indifferent. "He was quite angry, so I told him to follow company procedures and terminate her."

The casual way he spoke of ending my career—my one remaining connection to pack business—felt like a physical blow. After everything I’d sacrificed for this pack, for him, he’d discarded me without a second thought.

Maria’s laugh cut through me. "So that’s what happened. When she mentioned this earlier, she made it sound like she resigned on her own. I thought... with her clingy nature, always sticking to you like glue, how could she willingly resign? So she was actually fired, haha."

Silvano didn’t respond, as if the matter of my employment—my dignity—had nothing to do with him.

I swallowed hard against the lump forming in my throat and continued up the stairs. As I reached the second floor, I nearly collided with York, who was heading downstairs.

We both startled at the near miss. After recovering, York apologized first, his brow furrowing with concern. "Luna Freya, are you alright?"

Among the Moretti family, besides Aunt Emma, York was the only one who treated me with genuine kindness. When I first mated with Silvano, York had been young, not yet caught up in the pack’s politics or Aurora’s influence.

I shook my head and forced a slight smile. "I’m fine."

He didn’t look convinced, his nostrils flaring slightly as he caught the scent of my distress. But like the gentleman he was, he didn’t press the issue.

"You should get some rest," he said gently. "It’s late."

I nodded and continued to my room, the weight of what I’d overheard settling heavily on my shoulders. So Silvano had arranged to have me fired, taking away the last thing that was truly mine. The final bridge connecting me to the pack’s inner workings had been burned.

As I closed the bedroom door behind me, I couldn’t help but feel it was symbolic—the closing of a Chapter in my life. The divorce papers in my bag seemed more necessary than ever now. If Silvano could so easily dismiss my contribution to the pack, perhaps it was truly time to leave.

Tomorrow, I would speak with Silvano alone. No more hiding behind Luna Victoria’s expectations or Isabella’s needs. It was time to face the truth of what our marriage had become—and what needed to happen next.

I slipped between the cold sheets of our bed, curling onto my side away from Silvano’s empty half. Even if he returned tonight, I knew he wouldn’t touch me. He hadn’t in months.

The realization brought not pain, but a strange sense of clarity. I had been holding on to something that no longer existed—perhaps had never truly existed at all.