Pain exploded across my skull, darkness swallowing me, and before I passed out, I heard my drive's voice. "Luna!"
And then everything went black.
…
When I opened my eyes, the white light hit me so hard I had to squeeze them shut. Pain shot through them, sharp and burning, and I thought maybe I’d never see again. But then, slowly, painfully, the world came into focus. I blinked and blinked until it all made sense. I could see. I could really see.
But before I could even take in the room, I heard voices outside the heavy door.
“Alpha, how much longer are you going to let Chiara pretend to be Luna Chloe? It’s been five whole years.”
I froze. That was Beta Kieran. Drake's right hand.
“I don’t know either." My alpha’s voice followed, rough and sharp. “Back then, the old elders of the pack refused to let me mate a blind wolf. I loved Chloe too much. I lied. I said her eyes were healed, and I… I let Chiara take her place.”
“You’re still doing this, Alpha? All those elders are gone. Why are you still hiding the truth?” Kieran pressed.
Drake’s voice cut him off, sharp with irritation. “Chiara’s pregnant.” He hesitated, then softened. “And I… I don’t know, after all this, after pretending, I feel like I… I can’t breathe without her. I can’t… not have her close.”
“What?” Kieran’s voice cracked with disbelief. “Alpha! You’re saying you have feelings for her? For Chiara? Haven’t you forgotten that her brother caused the accident? That she… that he blinded Chloe? That your mate was living in darkness forever because of them?”
Drake growled low, warning, almost animalistic. “Stop it, Kieran! Chiara had nothing to do with her brother’s sins. I already locked him away. He’ll never see the pack again.”
“You’re just covering it all up, Alpha! Luna stays hidden, she can’t go out, there’s no signal here in the mountains. She lives in your glass house you built for her, safe, pampered, blind to everything. She’ll never know what you did. But if she ever did…” Kieran’s voice fell, heavy with fear.
I pressed my palm to my mouth, tears stinging my eyes. My body felt frozen, cold like the winter snows that blanketed the valley outside. Everything Drake had made for me, every gesture, every plan, it felt like a trap now.
I reached for the stack of portraits on the bedside table. Each one was hand-drawn by him, each one a memory he’d preserved.