Chapter 2
Five Fears Waiting, I Was Just a Lie Chapter 02
But only for a second.
Harlan recovered just as fast.
His voice turned cold and distant, like he was talking to someone he’d never met.
“Why are you here?”
Serena glanced at me.
“Harlan, who’s this?”
The officers beside him exchanged a quick look, then stepped in with easy smiles.
“Must be one of Commander Blackwood’s old friends.”
“Don’t worry, Strategist Ashford. Everyone at Command knows how devoted the Commander is to you.”
Harlan stepped forward, putting himself between Serena and me.
His voice was civil. Nothing more.
“She’s an old classmate from the warrior academy.”
He turned to the aide beside him without missing a beat.
“Walk her out. She’s disrupting Command operations.”
I stared at him.
He wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes stayed on Serena.
The aide came to escort me out. Harlan was already reaching for Serena’s hand.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the pack hospital.”
Serena rose on her toes and kissed his cheek, still smiling.
“You’re the best, you know that?”
As they passed me, she looked back.
“Harlan, you can’t just leave your classmate standing here like that.”
Harlan didn’t look back.
“We weren’t that close.”
“She’s not important. You are.”
The tears came before I could stop them.
Every officer and staffer who walked by had their eyes on me.
Seven years I’d known him. Five of them spent long-distance.
I’d crossed the entire territory to get here.
And all of it came down to one sentence. We weren’t that close.
His message from three days ago was still on my phone.
[Maeve, just give me a little more time.]
[Once I make Alpha Commander, I’ll file our bond registration with the Council.]
That was all it took.
I walked away from a warrior career that was finally taking off. I dropped everything and came to him.
Not once did I imagine it had been a lie from the beginning.
My phone buzzed. Harlan.
[Go with the aide. I’ll explain later.]
I read the message twice, my chest tightening.
I couldn’t stop myself.
[Why did you lie to me?]
His reply came right away. Colder than before.
[Go back.]
[Don’t make a scene.]
[You’re embarrassing yourself.]
I thought about every time I’d tried to visit him in Southvale.
Every time, there had been an excuse. A border mission. Rogues in the area. Bad timing at Command.
It had never been about convenience. He’d been terrified I’d show up and blow his cover.
I reached up to wipe my face.
Then I heard the whispers closing in around me. Underneath them came the soft click of phone cameras.
“Who is she, showing up at Pack Command like that?”
“She’s pretty enough. Shame she has no self-respect.”
“Wait. Is she actually the Commander’s side piece?”
I ducked sideways, covering my face. I could barely get the words out.
“I’m not his mistress.”
“He lied to me…”
No one answered. Just muffled laughter, and stares that didn’t even try to hide.
The aide loaded my luggage into the car.
His voice was polite. Everything else about him said hurry up.
“Miss Vale, please get in the car.”
The drive felt endless.
The car pulled up to an exclusive pack residential estate set back from the road. A sprawling manor sat at its center.
High walls ringed the property, backed by iron gates and pack guards.
So this was where Harlan had been living. And he’d told me he was crammed into warrior barracks.
Serena’s Luna scent permeated the estate grounds, soft but suffocating. My wolf could barely breathe under it.
All that time, I’d been worried he was struggling out here. Every month, I sent him half my paycheck without telling anyone.
The aide brought me inside.
The lock clicked shut behind me.
“Wait here for Alpha Commander Blackwood.”
A woman’s perfume saturated the air, rich and unmistakable.
Months ago, when Harlan had visited me on leave, the same scent had clung to his clothes. He told me it was incense from the Command reception room.
I believed him.
I turned around.
Everything in me went still.
