Lyra Darius NovelHiding Me as His Luna, I Become the Luna of His Enemy

Lyra, Alpha Darius has signed off on your resignation from the MoonCorp. But I dont think he realized it was you. Do you want me to let him know?
Lyra kept her gaze on the parchment in her hands, the faint shimmer of moonlight glinting off the silver ink. Shaking her head, she said, No need.
Lyra. The steward from the Council sighed softly, as if trying one last time. He still cares about you, you know. Everyone in the pack thought you and the Alpha were destined mates. Maybe just think it through?
A bitter scoff slipped past Lyras lips.
Little did they knowwhatever bond existed between her and Alpha Darius Halvorn wasnt mere gossip. They were already bound by the Moon.
Their union was sacred, marked by the ancient rites of their ancestors. But love and duty were two different beasts and Lyra had learned that lesson in blood three moons ago.
A rogue ambush had shattered her spine. She had needed her bonded mate to come to the healers hall and give consent for the Moonforge surgery that would save her.
But she lost count of the howls she sent through their mental link before he finally answered. Worse, when he did, his voice was cold and impatient.
Its just a minor attack. Youll heal. Hang onIm still at Mireilles moon feast.
Mireille Vaylen.
Her closest friend.
That was the night Lyra realized her mate had betrayed not just their vowbut the Moon Goddess herself.
In the end, as she lay fighting for her life, she had to sign her own consent rune with trembling hands.
Just before she was wheeled into the Moonforge chamber, Darius arrivedhis arms around Mireille.
The woman had cut her hand on a crystal chalice. For her sake, he pulled the healer aside, demanding she be treated first.
That brief delaythe minutes they lostcost Lyra blood and breath.
She spent the next seven nights in the Healing Chamber, not knowing if she would ever walkor shiftagain.
That was when she finally accepted the truth.
Some bonds, when they rot, must be severed. Now that Ive healed, its time to walk away.
Lyra looked up at the steward, her voice calm. People change, she said softly. I stood by him through the hardest three years of his reign. Thats enough.
For all those years, the woman Darius truly loved had always been Mireille.
Lyra was merely a byproduct of that one night long agowhen Darius had been drugged at a Lunas Feast and ended up in her den.
When the scandal threatened the Alpha Council, he had offered to mate heron one condition: no one must ever know.
Now that Mireille had returned to Frostmere, Lyra had no intention of clinging to a bond the Moon had clearly abandoned.
But before she left, she had one last thing to do. Four parting giftseach one a celebration of the freedom they would soon have from one another.
***
With the dissolution parchment in her satchel, Lyra pushed open the carved doors to the Alphas chamber.
Inside, Darius stood before the great hearth, trimming the stems of moonlilieswhite blossoms that glowed faintly in the dark. His sleeves were rolled to his forearms.
He had never been one for romance. He used to mock other Alphas who gifted their mates with flowers.
Pointless things, hed said once on Moons Eve. Dead within a week.
In the three years theyd shared the same roof, Lyra had never received so much as a single petal.
Those lilies werent hers; they were Mireilles favorite.
A few clipped stems dropped into the fire before he finally turned. Back to duties already? Hows the recovery?
He placed the bouquet in a crystal vase shaped like a crescent moon, adjusted a petal and added, About that night I didnt mean for things to go that way. Mireilles not like you. Shes fragile. One little scratch and she faints. Besides, there was only one healer on call.
He smiled. But I knew youd be fine. Youve survived worse, havent you? Grew up with nothing. A small wounds nothing to you, right?
Lyra almost laughed.
He had no ideashe was the only daughther of Kaiden from Wolfhart Pack in Lycanthra, an ancient bloodline said to be blessed by the first Moon Goddess. The only hardship shed ever known began the day she bound herself to Darius.
He might have known, had she not severed ties with her family to mate him in secrecy.
But she let him believe what he wanted. Silence, to Darius, always meant obedience. For that, to him, she always had such a good temperperfect for keeping around
He walked toward her, holding the bouquet like a prize. Hey, do you think these are beautiful?
As the lilies neared her, her throat seized. She turned her head, coughed once, twicesharp and violent.
The allergy burned through her veins, a spark that triggered her wolfs pain. He shoved her aside, snarling, Watch it!
Her back hit the sharp edge of the obsidian desk. The wound along her spine tore open again, blood seeping through her tunic.
While her vision swam, Dariuss attention never left the flowers.
You almost ruined them! he barked. Do you have any idea how rare these are? Cultivated under moonlight from the High Vale!
Realizing she couldnt even compete with a bouquet, Lyra let out a bitter laugh.
I stayed three years with this male for this? I must have been blind to love such a fool.
He had never cared enough to know her body couldnt tolerate moonlilies. Nor that her wounds werent yet healed.
She steadied herself, drew a breath and pulled the documents from her satchel.
Alpha Halvorn, she said, offering the parchment. I need your signature.
That made him pause. For the first time, his gaze lingered on her. When it was just the two of them, she had always called him by name onlynever Alpha Havorn.
You just got out of the Healing Hall, he murmured. You should be resting.
Still, he reached for the parchment. Just as his fingers brushed it, his crystal communicator chimed.
Lyra caught the name glowing across the rune-lit surface.
[My Moon]
He had saved Mireille that way, while her own name in his device was simply Lyra Wolfhart.
That contrast said everything.
He answered with a grin, bouquet in one hand and strode toward the door.
I wont be back for dinner. Head home after the council meeting.