Beneath the Alpha's Moon

LUCIAN’S P.O.V.

I sat there, slumped in my leather chair, staring at the scattered documents on my desk without really seeing them. The stacks of contracts and reports that usually commanded my focus now felt meaningless, their words blurring into a fog. An emptiness pressed against my chest, so sharp it felt almost tangible. The only sound in the room was the steady, hollow ticking of the clock on the wall, each beat driving the ache deeper, like it was marking the distance between me and Teresa.

Ares lay silent in my mind, brooding in a darkness I hadn’t felt from him before. He hadn’t so much as growled since this morning. It was as though he was punishing me with his silence, withholding even the smallest hint of his presence. I should have been relieved—this silence, this distance, was exactly what I’d wanted, wasn’t it? A chance to be alone, to keep Teresa from getting too close, from seeing parts of me I wasn’t ready for anyone to see, from turning into a wreck like my father. But now, with Ares simmering in the background and Teresa gone, it felt as though someone had taken a knife and sliced away half of me, leaving a hollow space in its place.

A sigh escaped me, heavy and full of bitterness. But before I could sink deeper into that emptiness, the door swung open with a loud bang, shattering the silence. Rylan and Juliette stormed in, their faces a blend of panic and anger. They stopped just inside the doorway, catching their breaths, both of them staring at me with wide, searching eyes.

My heart clenched. I knew exactly why they were here. The pack knew by now. Everyone knew. I’d sent Teresa away, and judging by the expressions on Rylan and Juliette’s faces, I wouldn’t get out of this easily.

Rylan’s voice was rough, edged with a kind of fear I rarely heard from him. "Lucian, please—please tell me you didn’t send her away." His voice trembled, the disbelief clear in his eyes, as if he were begging me to say it wasn’t true.

I forced myself to meet his gaze, struggling to keep my expression as flat and unreadable as possible. "I did," I replied, my tone as empty as I felt inside. Yet, even as I spoke the words, they felt like stones in my mouth, heavy and bitter. The weight of the admission pressed me deeper into the chair, choking me with the finality of it all.

Rylan’s face paled, his disbelief transforming into something raw and broken. He sank down into the chair across from me, his usually calm, reliable presence now shaken, leaving him looking empty. His gaze turned glassy as he tried to process my words, a look I’d never seen on him before—lost, pained. Juliette, standing beside him, sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes flashing with shock and heartbreak. I knew that look too well. It was the look of disappointment.

"Why, Lucian?" Her voice was a whisper, barely audible, as though speaking any louder would shatter her fragile heart. "She’s your mate."

The word hit me like a kick to the gut, pulling me back to all the moments we’d shared—the way Teresa laughed at my sarcasm, the way she looked at me with those big, trusting brown eyes, blissfully unaware of the darkness that ran through me. I gritted my teeth and looked away, forcing myself to mutter, "It’s better this way." The words tasted sour, filling my mouth with the bitterness.

For a moment, the room fell into a tense, suffocating silence. Then, Juliette’s gaze shifted, hardening with anger. Her eyes blazed as she took a step closer, her voice trembling with barely restrained fury. "You’re acting like a damn fool," she snapped, her tone piercing. Her words were sharp, cutting through my defenses with ease. "Lucian, do you have any idea what you’ve done? You can’t just throw her away like this. You need to go after her—crawl if you have to—and bring her back!"

Her words flared something in me, something defensive and stubborn. I wasn’t used to being challenged like this, my instincts protested. Anger rose within me, mixed with my own guilt and frustration. "Watch it, Juliette," I said, my voice cold and cutting. "Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean you can talk to me any way you want. I’m still your Alpha."