The moon was full when Mira Whitmore returned to Ravencrest Manor. She'd checked her cycle three times before making the drive from the medical center where she'd been working late. Ovulation peaked tonight—her body's brief window of fertility that had become the only reason her husband came home anymore.
The manor loomed against the night sky, all dark stone and darker windows. Only the master bedroom glowed with warm light. Kieran was already here, waiting. Of course he was. Selene would have reminded him. His mother tracked Mira's cycle more carefully than Mira did herself.
Mira parked her modest sedan next to Kieran's sleek black SUV and sat for a moment, hands still gripping the steering wheel. Through the windshield, she could see that lit window. Her bedroom. Their bedroom. Though it hadn't felt like "theirs" in years.
Just get through tonight, she told herself. Maybe this time will be different.
She cut off the thought. Four years of "maybes" hadn't changed anything yet.
The house was quiet when she entered, her footsteps echoing on marble floors. The butler, Fletcher, appeared from the shadows with his usual impeccable timing.
"Luna," he greeted with a respectful nod. "The Alpha is upstairs."
"Thank you, Fletcher."
She climbed the grand staircase, each step heavier than the last. The master bedroom door was ajar, light spilling into the hallway. Mira pushed it open.
Kieran stood by the window, phone pressed to his ear, his back to her. He was already dressed in sleeping pants and nothing else, his broad shoulders tense. Even from across the room, Mira could feel the restless energy of his wolf—impatient, duty-bound, wanting this over with.
"I'll call you back," Kieran said into the phone, his voice low and warm in a way it never was with her anymore. He ended the call without waiting for a response and finally turned to face her.
Alpha Kieran Ravencrest was objectively beautiful. Dark hair, sharp features, eyes that shifted between gray and gold depending on how close his wolf was to the surface. When they'd first met six years ago, Mira had thought herself the luckiest woman alive to be chosen as his mate.
Now she just felt tired.
"You're late," he said, glancing at his watch.
"I had a patient emergency. A child with a severe allergic reaction. I couldn't just leave."
"You're a healer, not a doctor. There are others who could have handled it."
But I'm the best one, Mira wanted to say. Instead, she said nothing and moved toward the bathroom.
"Don't take too long," Kieran called after her. "I have an early morning."
Of course he did. He always had somewhere else to be.
Mira showered quickly, trying to wash away the feeling that she was preparing for a transaction rather than intimacy with her husband. When she emerged in her nightgown, Kieran was already in bed, scrolling through his phone with a slight frown.
He looked up when she approached, and for just a moment—so brief she might have imagined it—something flickered in his expression. Recognition, maybe. Or memory of what they used to be.
Then it was gone.
"Come here," he said, setting his phone aside.
Mira slid into bed beside him, and Kieran reached for her with practiced efficiency. His hands were familiar but not gentle, his touch skilled but not tender. He knew exactly how to prepare her body for what came next—four years of scheduled encounters had made him efficient.
But efficiency wasn't the same as desire.
The act itself was mercifully quick. Kieran had always been considerate of her physical comfort, even as he'd grown indifferent to everything else. When it was over, he rolled away immediately, chest rising and falling with measured breaths.
Mira lay still, staring at the ceiling, feeling the familiar emptiness that came after these encounters.
Once upon a time, they would have stayed tangled together, talking and laughing until dawn. Now the silence was so heavy it hurt to breathe through it.
Kieran got up without a word and headed to the bathroom. Mira heard water running, the sounds of him washing her off his skin. When he emerged, he was already half-dressed.
"Remember to take a pregnancy test," he said, buttoning his shirt with brisk movements. "Let me know immediately if it's positive."
"Where are you going?" The question slipped out before Mira could stop it.
"Back to the city." Kieran didn't look at her as he fastened his belt. "I have meetings tomorrow."
Meetings. That's what he called the time he spent with Astrid Sinclair, his mistress. The she-wolf he'd been openly involved with for three years now, whose existence everyone in the pack knew about but pretended not to see.