Sweetest Pain

Eugene was finally coming home, but Irene could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She stood at the entrance of the Hellfire Pack beside Luna Lorraine and Alpha Dave, watching the road beyond the gates. For an entire year, she had imagined seeing her mate return along that road.

Now, she pressed her restless hands together.

Behind her, families gathered to welcome the warriors. A mother held her child close. An older man stood near the gate, leaning forward whenever movement appeared in the distance.

No one had begun celebrating.

First, they needed to see who had returned alive.

Irene understood their silence. Every letter from Eugene had brought relief, followed by another stretch of waiting. By the time his words reached her, days had already passed since he had written them.

She could only hope he was still safe.

Beside her, Luna Lorraine suddenly caught her hand.

“I see them!”

Irene lifted her head.

Riders were approaching. The sound of hooves reached the entrance, and the crowd stirred. Someone called a name. A child rose onto his toes, trying to see past the adults.

Irene searched the front of the group.

Then she found him.

Eugene.

He rode ahead of the warriors, leading them home.

Her fingers tightened around Luna Lorraine’s hand. She had imagined this moment so often, but nothing had prepared her for the relief of seeing him there.

He was alive.

“There he is,” she whispered.

For the first time in a year, she did not have to trust a letter or wait for someone else to bring news. She could see him for herself.

Soon, they would begin the life she had waited for. She would stand beside him as the next Luna of the Hellfire Pack.

That future had carried her through the long months apart.

As the riders reached the entrance, Irene smoothed the front of her clothes. It was a small, nervous movement. She wanted him to see her smiling, not struggling to hold back tears.

Eugene stopped his horse and climbed down.

Irene moved forward, then hesitated. His parents stood beside her, and the whole pack was watching. She would let him greet them first.

But she searched his face, hoping for even a brief smile meant for her.

He walked straight past.

Irene turned, following him with her eyes.

He had to report to his father. Of course he did. He had led the warriors home, and his duties came before their reunion.

“My mission is complete,” Eugene said.

Alpha Dave pulled him into an embrace.

“I knew you would return safely.”

Cheers rose around them.

Families rushed toward the warriors. A little girl slipped past Irene and threw herself into a waiting pair of arms. Nearby, a woman clung to a returning man, laughing through her tears.

Irene stepped aside to give them room.

Then Eugene called, “Mother.”

Luna Lorraine released Irene’s hand and hurried to him.

“I missed you so much.”

She wrapped her arms around her son. Eugene held her in return, and Irene smiled faintly at the sight.

His mother had waited too.

Irene could give them this moment.

But when Luna Lorraine drew back, Eugene still did not turn toward her.

Irene’s smile faded. She had spent months thinking about what she would say when he returned. Now, standing only a few steps away, she felt strangely unsure whether she should speak at all.

Then he looked at her.

Their eyes met, and Irene almost said his name.

His mouth tightened. Something in his expression stopped her. He seemed troubled, though she could not tell whether it was pain, guilt, or simple exhaustion.

He looked away before she could understand.

Perhaps the mission had changed him. Perhaps he needed time before he could speak about what had happened.

She would listen.

Irene stepped closer and opened her arms.

Eugene stepped back.

She stopped.

There was no one between them. He had seen her reaching for him, yet he had deliberately moved out of her reach.

Her arms slowly fell.

“I’m happy to see you,” she said.

The words sounded painfully small after everything she had wanted to tell him.

“I’m happy to be back,” Eugene replied.

He made no move toward her.

Before Irene could find another word, he reached behind him and took a woman’s hand.

Irene stared.

The woman stood close to him, partly hidden until he drew her forward. She had long red hair, bright blue eyes, and a beauty that would have caught Irene’s attention under any other circumstances.

Now, all Irene could see was their joined hands.

Eugene had stepped away from her.

He was holding this woman close.

He turned toward his parents.

“Father. Mother. This is the woman I mentioned in my letter.”

Irene’s breath caught.

His letter?

She had read every letter Eugene had sent her. She had kept them, opened them again when she missed him, and found comfort in the familiar words.

He had never mentioned this woman.

Not once.

“Who is she?” Irene asked.

Eugene would not meet her eyes.

His silence left her standing before him with everyone moving around them. A warrior passed nearby, smiling at someone behind her. Irene barely noticed.

She needed Eugene to answer.

Instead, Luna Lorraine reached for her hand.

“Let’s return to the pack house first,” she said quietly. “Eugene must be tired. We can talk later.”

Irene looked at her.

Eugene was close enough to hear them. The woman was standing right beside him. Why did Irene have to leave before someone explained?

“Mother, who is she?”

“Come with me.”

Luna Lorraine began guiding her away.

Irene followed for a few steps, too stunned to resist. The celebrations continued around them, but she could no longer share the relief she had felt only moments earlier.

She glanced back.

Eugene still held the woman’s hand. His head was lowered while Alpha Dave faced him with a hard expression.

That look unsettled Irene further.

Something was wrong, and his parents seemed to understand it.

Luna Lorraine kept walking toward the pack house, drawing Irene away from the entrance and the conversation she could no longer hear.

“Mother.”

“We’ll talk inside.”

Irene stopped.

Luna Lorraine’s arm stretched between them before she stopped too.

“Please, Irene.”

“Please what?”

The older woman finally faced her.

Irene studied her expression. Luna Lorraine did not look confused by Eugene’s introduction. She had not asked who the woman was or why he had brought her.

She looked afraid.

“You know who she is,” Irene whispered.

Luna Lorraine’s lips parted.

No answer came.

Irene glanced toward Eugene. He had not followed them or called her back. He remained beside the woman, leaving his mother to lead Irene away.

Until that moment, Irene had been trying to understand his behavior.

Now, she began to question Luna Lorraine’s too.

“Did you know about her before today?”

Tears filled the older woman’s eyes.

Irene waited for a denial.

Luna Lorraine lowered her gaze.

Irene’s hand slipped from hers.

The silence did not tell her who the woman was. It did not explain what had happened during the year Eugene was away.

But it made one possibility impossible to ignore.

He might have written to his parents about this woman while telling Irene to wait for him.

They might have known while Irene stood beside them, speaking about his return and the future she believed was waiting.

She thought of the letters she had read so carefully. She could still remember how she had held each one, relieved to see his handwriting.

Had she been finding comfort in promises he no longer meant?

“Mother…”

Her voice broke.

Luna Lorraine reached toward her, but Irene stayed still. She wanted the answer more than she wanted comfort.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”