Chapter 2: The Sister I No Longer Had

After Caden ended the link, Noah sent one message after another.

"Caden is handling an emergency, and you are still wasting his time because you cannot stand Lydia receiving one day of attention," Noah wrote. "Every woman near him becomes a rival in your head. Stop turning your jealousy into the pack's problem!"

I stared at his words until the screen blurred. Just moments ago, I had so much to say. Now, I was suddenly at a loss for words.

When the ceremony ended, Lydia rested against Caden and smiled at my parents and Noah.

"Tonight has been the happiest night of my life. Please don't be angry with Evelyn because of me."

The guests escorted her to the Alpha residence. My mother had already ordered my belongings moved to the old Hart house. Through the family mind-link, she explained that Lydia needed Caden's personal care, so she would stay in the room that had been prepared for Caden and me.

I returned to the staff quarters at Westvale and locked the pregnancy report I had never delivered inside my case file. Before dawn, the head of Pack Security woke me with an urgent summons.

The protective barrier surrounding Moon Hall had collapsed and injured several pack members. As the investigator assigned to that district, I had to return immediately.

He ordered me to establish the cause before the end of the day. If unauthorized construction had compromised the barrier, every approval document had to be submitted to the Moon Council unchanged.

That was the wonderful thing about a large pack. My mate could perform a ceremony with another she-wolf right in front of me, and I'd still be expected to drag myself to work.

Because the collapse triggered a security audit, the Moon Council released the ceremony's sealed record to my case file. In the image, Caden's hand covered Lydia's, matching rings gleaming on their fingers, while my parents and Noah stood behind them.

The old scar across Caden's hand was clearly visible. He had received it at eighteen when he shielded me from a silver blade.

The same blade cut my shoulder, and he spent the next two nights beside my bed, waking whenever I moved. For years, I had treated that scar as proof that he would never abandon me.

I closed the image, organized the previous night's patrol reports, and requested the construction records from the Moon Council. When I returned to the site, several moonstones that sustained the barrier had been removed. A new ceremonial lane ran directly across their foundations, and Caden's signature appeared on the authorization.

They had dismantled the support points three days earlier so Lydia's Luna coach could reach the hall. No additional guards had been assigned.

My parents arrived with Lydia while I documented the damage. Father ordered me to omit Caden's authorization from the Council report; Mother warned that another scandal could kill Lydia. When I refused, Noah seized my shoulder.

"You followed them to an accident scene just to find out whether they spent the night together? Stop chasing Caden and forcing everyone else to clean up your mess."

I calmly pushed his hand away and held my Security badge in front of him.

"I'm investigating the barrier collapse. Keep obstructing me, and your interference goes into the report."

Noah snatched the construction order from my hand. Even after he saw Caden's signature, he refused to move. Removing a few moonstones was harmless, he insisted. Everyone inside Moon Hall had escaped safely, and pursuing the matter would only distress Lydia further.

I took the document back and recorded his name in front of the patrol officers.

His expression changed, but he continued to block my path. When rogues attacked our training camp at thirteen, I had dragged his injured body through the fence and taken the wolfsbane meant for him. Lydia sat beside his bed for one night after he woke, and Noah decided she had been the one who saved him.

I stopped trying to explain. Instead, I removed the family-link token from my wrist and placed it in his hand.

"If Lydia is the only sister you recognize, then be her brother from now on."

Caden emerged from the damaged hall with one arm supporting Lydia. He paused when he saw me and glanced at the token I had removed. Then he said the border emergency and Lydia's condition had made him lose track of my birthday. Once the damage was handled, he would celebrate with me another night.

"Evelyn must have misunderstood," Lydia said, tightening her hand around his and turning the matching ring toward me. "Caden has enough to carry without accounting for every hour he spends helping me. You are lucky he is so patient."

Her fingers remained threaded through his, and my Luna mantle still covered her shoulders when I looked away.

"Forget it."