Chapter 176: Once Loved

The path leading toward the eastern detention grounds stretched quietly beneath the afternoon sun. Unlike the livelier sections of the Golden Eclipse Pack, this part of the territory remained almost unnaturally silent. The training fields had long since disappeared behind us, replaced instead by towering pines whose branches swayed gently whenever the wind wandered through them.

The only sound accompanying us was the steady rhythm of our footsteps against the stone pathway.

My fingers remained comfortably intertwined with Lucretius'. Or rather... he refused to let go. Not that I minded. His hand had always felt like home.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke. The silence between us wasn't awkward. It rarely ever was. It simply existed, allowing each of us to become lost in our own thoughts without feeling the need to fill every quiet moment with conversation.

Eventually, I glanced sideways. Lucretius hadn't looked away from the path ahead once. His expression remained calm. I smiled to myself. "You're wondering..."

His eyes shifted toward me. "Hm?"

I squeezed his hand lightly. "You've been wondering ever since I asked Lorenzo if I could see Redmund."

A brief silence followed before he chuckled. "I suppose I have." His honesty made the smile on my lips deepen. "I didn't want to ask."

"I know."

His gaze drifted ahead once more. "I thought..." He exhaled slowly. "...if you wished to tell me, you would."

The answer didn't surprise me. That was simply who Lucretius was. Patient. Never demanding. Never forcing answers from me before I was ready to give them.

After another few steps, he spoke again. "I won't pretend I wasn't reluctant."

There it was.

The truth.

His thumb slowly brushed across the back of my hand before he lifted our joined fingers toward his lips. The kiss he placed there was featherlight and lingering, almost absentminded. "I don't want that bastard anywhere near you again." His voice remained remarkably composed, only the slight tightening of his jaw betrayed what he truly felt. "The last time he approached you..." His eyes darkened ever so slightly. "...I wasn't there."

The moment Redmund had forced himself upon me while Lucretius had been pulled away by military affairs.

Lucretius' grip around my hand unconsciously tightened. "I wasn't able to protect you." The quiet regret hidden beneath those words made my chest ache. Before I could respond, he continued. "But..." He smiled faintly. "I trust you." His hazel eyes finally met mine. "I trust your judgment." He brushed another kiss across my knuckles. "If you've decided to see him..." he paused. "...then I know there's a reason." The corners of his lips lifted just enough to soften the seriousness lingering across his face. "So long as..." His brows rose almost imperceptibly. "...you don't intend on returning to him."

I chuckled before I could stop it, and I instinctively wrapped both arms around his. "Hubby." He looked down at me. "...I would never." The certainty in my own voice surprised even me. "Why would I return to men who betrayed me?" I shook my head gently. "What would that make me?" A smile tugged at my lips. "A hypocrite?"

He remained silent and listened. Always listening.

"You know me better than that." I looked ahead for a moment before quietly adding, "I finally learned my worth." The words felt strangely liberating to say aloud. "I know what I deserve now." My gaze returned to him. "And it certainly isn't someone who only realized my value after losing me."

We had unknowingly stopped walking. The forest around us seemed to fall away until only the two of us remained standing beneath the shifting sunlight filtering through the trees.

Slowly, I reached upward. Both of my hands gently cupped his face.

His eyes softened almost immediately, instinctively leaning into my touch before he even realized he had done it.

A smile found my lips. "And that's why..." My thumbs slowly caressed the familiar scatter of freckles beneath his eyes. "...Mother brought us together again."

My heart was beating so loud upon mentioning my mother. Even now, I was still surprised that I was one of Her daughters.

"The Moon Goddess knew," I added and smiled. "She knew I deserved you."

For a long moment, Lucretius simply stared at me. Something vulnerable quietly surfaced behind those beautiful freckled hazel eyes and that had survived lifetimes. His shoulders rose with a slow inhale before a quiet sigh escaped him. He closed his eyes briefly, almost as though the weight of my words had become too much to carry.

When they opened again, they shimmered faintly beneath the afternoon light. "Sometimes..." His voice came softer. "...I still think I don't."

My heart tightened from his words.

He smiled, not happily, but almost wistfully. "I spent so many lifetimes loving you from a distance." His gaze slowly lowered toward our joined hands. "As Aurelian..." He chuckled softly. "I never once questioned whether you deserved the world." His thumb gently brushed across my wedding ring. "I only questioned whether I deserved to stand beside you." He looked back into my eyes. "I worshipped you long before I ever dared dream you might love me back." Another step closer. "So even now..." His forehead rested gently against mine. "...there are moments when I wake beside you..." His smile trembled ever so slightly. "...and I wonder if the Moon Goddess simply took pity on a fool who loved one woman for far too long."

My vision blurred almost instantly. Moon Goddess... This man. Even now... Even after becoming my husband. My mate. After crossing lifetimes together. He still couldn't see himself the way I saw him.

I laughed quietly through the tears threatening to fall. Then, I rose onto my toes and pressed a slow, lingering kiss against his forehead. "My silly Alpha." The words came out barely above a whisper. "You still don't understand."

His brows knitted together ever so slightly.

I smiled. "I didn't choose you because the Moon Goddess told me to." My fingers gently threaded through his hair. "I chose you..." Another kiss. "...because if I had been given a thousand lifetimes..." I looked into his eyes. "...I would still fall in love with you."

The forest fell silent around us. And for the first time since we'd begun walking toward the man who had once broken my heart, there was nothing inside my chest except peace.

Lucretius melted and embraced before sealing us with a passionate kiss.

The detention grounds sat at the far eastern edge of the Golden Eclipse territory, separated from the rest of the pack by thick stone walls and towering iron gates. Unlike the mansion, there were no flowers here. No laughter. No children running through courtyards.

Only silence.

It was the kind that settled into old stone and never truly left.

A pair of guards immediately straightened the moment they saw us approaching. "Alpha." They bowed deeply. "Luna."

Lucretius acknowledged them with a brief nod before one of the guards stepped forward to unlock the heavy iron gate. The hinges groaned loudly as they slowly swung inward. The sound echoed down the narrow stone corridor beyond as cool air greeted us. It smelled faintly of damp earth, iron, and old rain.

I felt Lucretius' fingers tighten around mine. Not enough to hurt, but it was only enough to remind me that he was still there.

That if I wished to leave... we would.

Without another word, I squeezed his hand once. A silent answer.

Then together, we continued walking.

The corridor stretched longer than I expected, illuminated only by narrow windows positioned high above the cells. Thin beams of afternoon sunlight filtered through the bars smeared with wolfsbane, leaving pale streaks across the stone floor.

Neither of us spoke. Our footsteps echoed quietly ahead of us. Eventually, we stopped before the final cell.

For a long moment, I simply stared. Dear Moon Goddess... I almost didn't recognize him.

The proud captain of Lucretius' military unit was gone. So was the nobleman whose polished appearance had once earned admiration wherever he walked.

The man sitting quietly against the far wall looked years older than I remembered. His once carefully maintained dark hair had grown unevenly past his collar, falling untidily across his forehead. A rough beard shadowed his jaw, and his clothes hung loosely from a body that had become noticeably thinner, as though weeks—perhaps months—had stolen more than just his freedom.

The confidence that had once filled every room he entered had disappeared completely. Even his shoulders... they no longer carried themselves like those of a commander. They had collapsed inward, heavy and defeated.

For the first time since meeting him, Redmund looked tired. Not physically, but it was soul-deep. The scrape of our footsteps finally drew his attention. Slowly, he lifted his head.

His eyes found Lucretius first. They widened. "Uncle...?" His voice came out rough, unused. He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet before taking several hesitant steps toward the iron bars. "What are you doing here?" Then, his gaze shifted toward me.

He froze. His brows slowly drew together in confusion. His eyes remained fixed on my face, longer than they should have.

Something flickered there. And it was a strange uncertainty.

His expression tightened. "Who..." He frowned harder, visibly unsettled by something he couldn't explain. "...Who are you?" He continued looking at me.

Again.

And again.

As though expecting a memory to surface that stubbornly refused to come.

"Have..." His voice faltered. "...have we met before?"

The question lingered inside the corridor.

I noticed the way his fingers unconsciously tightened around the iron bars. It seemed like some instinct buried deep inside him refused to let the question go.

Before I could answer, Lucretius stepped half a pace forward. The movement was subtle, almost imperceptible. Yet, it was enough to place himself slightly between us. His expression had become unreadable, cold enough that even the guards behind us instinctively straightened.

"You don't have the right," Lucretius said quietly, "to look at her."

Redmund blinked. Confusion quickly replaced the strange familiarity he'd been experiencing. "What?"

"You forfeited that privilege..." Lucretius' voice remained calm. "...the moment you laid your hands on her."

Redmund stared at him and looked back toward me. "I don't..." His brows knitted together. "I don't understand." His gaze searched my face once more. "I've never met her."

Those words settled strangely inside my chest. There had been a time... When hearing him say that would've shattered me.

Now... I felt nothing.

No anger. No grief. No satisfaction.

Only distance.

I quietly stepped around Lucretius until I stood directly before the iron bars as our eyes met.

For several long moments, neither of us spoke. He searched my face. I searched what remained of the man I had once loved.

I let out a breath after a brief moment of silence. "You're right..." My voice remained gentle. "We've never met." A faint smile touched my lips. "Not like this."

Redmund frowned. Confusion deepened across his tired features. "I..." His eyes never left mine. "Why does it feel..." He stopped himself and shook his head. "No..."

Another silence settled between us. Then, I looked at him to the man before me was no longer the Alpha candidate I had once waited for nor the mate who had betrayed me.

He was simply a man forced to live with every choice he had ever made.

And somehow, that punishment looked far heavier than the iron bars surrounding him.