RAVEN’S POV

I wake up to silence.

The kind of silence that feels wrong.

It takes me a money to realize what day it is.

June 14th.

My birthday.

Mia’s birthday.

I’m twenty years old today. Except I’m not Mia anymore. And no one remembers.

I drag myself out of the bed. Pull on my servant clothes. Tie my hair back. And get to work.

Just another day.

The pack house is quiet when I enter. Too quiet for a morning.

No one’s in the kitchens. No breakfast preparations. No voices.

Where is everyone?

I find Sarah in the pantry.

“Why is it so quiet?” I ask.

She glances at me. Something like pity in her eyes.

“It’s Luna’s birthday. Would-be Luna. The Alpha declared it a day of mourning. No celebrations. No noise. Just…remembrance.”

Oh.

“Everyone’s at the memorial garden,” Sarah continues. “Leaving flowers. Saying prayers. You should probably stay here. Keep out of sight. Today’s hard for them.”

I simply nod. Unable to speak.

She leaves.

Then I’m alone.

The pack remembers my birthday even though I’m gone.

They actually remember.

They’re mourning me right now. Leaving flowers on a memorial I’ll never see.

I sink into a chair. My hands shaking.

I should be celebrating. Twenty years old. Under normal circumstances, Damien should have planned something, Maya would have baked my favourite cake. The pack would have thrown a party.

Instead, I’m dead.

And they’re leaving flowers.

I don’t cry. Can’t afford to. Someone might come back and see me do so.

So I just sit there. Numb. Empty.

The door opens.

It’s Maya.

She’s carrying something wrapped in cloth. Her eyes are red and swollen like she’s been carrying for hours.

“Raven?” She sounds surprised to see me. “I thought everyone was at the memorial.”

“I’m not pack,” I say quietly. “It didn’t feel right.”

She nods. Understanding.

Then she sinks into the chair across from me and sets the wrapped bundle on the table.

“It’s her birthday,” Maya whispers. “Mia’s. She would have been twenty today.”

I can’t breathe.

“We were going to throw a party.” Maya voice cracks. “Big one. She was finally legal for the Alpha’s wine. We were going to dance, drink, and celebrate until dawn.”

Stop. Please stop.

“Instead I’m leaving flowers on an empty memorial.” Tears begin to stream down her face. “And talking to a stranger because I can’t talk to her.”

She unwraps the bundle.

Inside is a blue ribbon. Silk. Faded slightly.

“I gave this to her when we were fourteen,” Maya says. Touching it gently. “She wore it in her hair every day for a year. Said it was her favourite thing in the world.”

I remember that ribbon.

Goddess, I loved that ribbon.

“She gave it back to me before the ceremony.” Maya’s crying harder now. “Said she wanted something new for her new life. Told me to keep it safe. Like she knew…”

Maya finally breaks.

Full body sobs that shake her entire structure.

And I break too.

I can’t hold it anymore.

Tears slip down my cheeks. Silent. Desperate.

I bite my lip so hard to keep from making any sound - I even taste blood.

Maya doesn’t notice. She’s too lost in her own grief.

“I miss her so much,” Maya gasps. “It physically hurts. Like someone reached into my chest and ripped out part of my soul.”

I know.

I know exactly what that feels like.

Because that’s what the mate bond snapping felt like. What dying felt like.

“She was supposed to be Luna.” Maya clutched the ribbon. “We were supposed to grow old together. Raise our pups together. Be sisters forever.”

I press my hand over my mouth. Trying to hold it in.

But tears keep coming.

Maya’s scent is everywhere. Lavender and sage and grief. The same scent I woke up to every morning.

My best friend.

My sister.

Right here. In front of me. Breaking apart.

And I can’t tell her I’m alive.

Can’t hold her and tell her everything will be okay.

Because nothing is okay.

“I keep thinking I see her,” Maya whispers. “In the gardens. In the halls. I know it’s crazy but I swear sometimes I smell her perfume. Like she’s still here.”

She looks up at me then.

Really looks.

Her eyes searching my face.

“You remind me of her so much,” she says. Voice raw. “The way you move. The way you tilt your head when you’re thinking. Even your hands.”

She reaches out. Takes my hand in hers.

Her thumb brushes over my knuckles. The same way she used to when I was young and I was scared.

“You’re kind,” Maya says. Crying. “Like she was kind. Fierce but soft underneath. She would have liked you, Raven. She would have wanted us to be friends.”

I can’t stop the sob that tears out of me.

Maya’s eyes widen. Concerned.

“Are you okay?”

No.

I’m not okay.

I’m watching my best friend break and I can’t fix it.

I yank my hand back. Stand up. Shaking.

“I’m sorry,” I choke out. “I just…I need air.”

I run.

Out of the kitchen. Through the halls. Out the back door.

I make it to the edge of the forest before I collapse.

And then I let it out.

All of it.

The grief, the rage, the unbearable weight of being dead while everyone I love suffers.

I sob until I can’t breathe. Until my ribs ache.

My wolf howls inside me. Mournful. Desperate.

We’re alive but we might as well be dead.

Because we can’t have our life back.

Can’t have our mate or our friend or our pack back.

All we have is this borrowed face and a servant’s uniform and secrets that are destroying us both.

I don’t know how long I sit there.

But eventually the tears stop.

I wipe my face. Take shaking breaths, and try to pull myself together.

When I finally stand and head back to the pack house, I find something on the doorstep.

The blue ribbon.

Maya left it there for me.

I pick it up with shaky fingers and bring it to my nose.

It smells just like her.

Like fourteen years old Maya trying it in my hair and calling me beautiful.

I tuck it in my pocket and close the door.