Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 2

NATALIA

Lilith’s eyes met mine with a kind of measured sweetness I didn’t trust. Her lips curved upward, polite and practiced, but her gaze cut through me like a blade wrapped in silk.

“You must be Andrei’s Luna,” she said.

There it was. That slight edge, subtle but unmistakable. A smile meant to suggest peace, but the kind that pressed its boot into your throat while doing so.

I straightened my spine, clutching the handles of the grocery bag still in my hands. “Yes,” I said, voice steady. “I am.”

She tilted her head, studying me as if I were an exhibit. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard… nothing, of course. I was gone.”

Andrei’s arm hovered at her back protectively, and he cleared his throat. “Lilith went missing during a rogue ambush six years ago. We searched the entire southern ravine, but her body was never recovered.”

He glanced at me briefly—just briefly—and I saw the flicker of apology there. But it was faint. Weak.

“I thought she was dead,” he finished softly.

I knew all this of course. Everyone from Andrei’s Beta to his chef had told me about Lilith. I guessed that he was explaining to me for etiquette’s sake.

Lilith stepped closer to him, one hand grazing his arm like muscle memory. “I was captured. Tortured. Every time I tried to escape, they punished me more harshly. But I survived. I had to. I kept thinking of Andrei. Of home.”

She looked up at him, voice trembling just enough to be convincing. “It was the only thing that kept me alive.”

Something coiled inside me, tight and bitter. I couldn’t breathe around it.

Andrei wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re home now,” he murmured. “You’ll stay with us. I’ll have a room prepared.”

Before I could speak, Lilith let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “A room? Why not here, in the Alpha house? It’s where I’ve always stayed.”

Her tone was light, but I could feel the dig beneath it. She didn’t need a room. She wanted her place back.

My heart thudded painfully as I looked to Andrei. I wanted him to say no. To glance my way, to remember what this house had been for the past five years. But he only nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “Natalia, can you—?”

I didn’t let my expression crack. “I’ll make sure the guest suite is prepared,” I said quietly.

Lilith smiled at me again. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”

I turned to go. I needed air. Space. Silence.

But as I reached the hallway, her voice floated out behind me.

“So… have you fallen for her?”

I stopped walking.

There was a beat of silence—then Andrei’s voice, low and hesitant. I didn’t stay to hear the answer. I couldn’t.

I pushed through the front doors and let the cold night air hit my face. The groceries hung forgotten at my side. My fingers had gone numb, not from the chill, but from the way the ground had just shifted beneath my feet.

I had planned to tell him tonight.

I had dinner prepared, had picked out wine, had thought about where to place the candles. I had wanted to give him hope—us hope.

Now I couldn’t even remember what I had bought.

***

The next morning, I rose early and went to the study. The air still smelled faintly of old parchment and the dried lavender I kept in a jar on the shelf. My fingers moved automatically, unlocking the drawer where I’d tucked away the marriage contract all those years ago.

The paper crackled softly as I unfolded it.

Five years.

We’d agreed that I would serve as Luna to maintain the structure of the pack. A partnership, nothing more. No promises. No marks. No expectations.

But I had broken that rule, hadn’t I? I had let myself love him.

My eyes scanned down to the clause I had avoided rereading until now.

If children are conceived, full custody shall belong to the Alpha. Offspring shall remain within pack territory.

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