Chapter Five

Taylor's POV

“Sorry, miss,” the guard said. “The pack can’t receive any visitors right now. We’re in mourning.”

“But I really need to see the Alpha.”

“You can’t come in,” the first guard repeated. He propped his hand on the iron. The sun hit the metal and threw a strip of light across his knuckles.

“Who are you mourning?” I begged, keeping y hands where he could see them. The nose mask hid my face. I smirked in my mind as I remembered how defenseless and weak I must have looked now after I had the doctor wrap my head in thick, layered bandages, and an additional bandage covered the area around my right eye.

He shifted. The other guard glanced at me and said, “Our Luna… she—” He stumbled over the name. “She died in a car accident on the way to her father’s pack yesterday.”

My lungs decided to learn how to breathe again. Die. The word hung between us like smoke.

I nodded and subtly removed the nose mask and turned back. “I just wanted to see the Alpha. I’ll come back later.”

The guard didn’t seem to want me to come back ever.

But then he saw me. And he stilled, as planned.

“Stop.”

I paused. Like something in the air stopped. He took a step back.

They all took a step back.

I smiled to myself. No one needed to know how much I enjoyed the surprise I gave them.

“We thought… oh—” The guard’s mouth found a prayer before he knew it. “Goddess, you’re—”

He pressed two fingers to his lips like a prayer. One of the guards dropped his radio and ran.

I stood very still and stared at them with carefully placed confusion on my face.

“What… what are you talking about?”

Soon enough, we heard the uproar of the pack as multiple people ran to the border gate.

Brandon was the first to push through them. His eyes were wet with big, fat tears.

“Taylor—” he said. His voice broke on my name. “You’re alive.” He wiped his cheek with the heel of his hand. There was a small, soft crack in the air between us. I reached for that crack with both palms.

“Do you know me?” I asked, with a blank look on my face. Lunex ground her teeth together in my head.

He cupped my face with his heavy hands. Hands I once thought would be my salvation. The same hands that handed the gun to Clara to kill me.

“Of course,” he said. “Of course I know you.”

I didn’t know why my chest tightened, but I let it. I let myself look at him like the mouthless fool he’d expect from the Taylor he once knew. “I don’t remember anything,” I whispered. I let my knees betray me and start to sag. He caught me before I fell.

Fake b*st*rd.

The pack gasped like they were watching a scene from a story.

Clara came forward, looking as beautiful as ever. But now I could see the evil in her eyes. Her brown eyes locked on mine, and I saw the panic she quickly hid with a mask of concern. “Taylor, sweetheart,” she said. Her voice was all sugar and nerves. “You gave us such a fright.”

Brandon lifted me into his arms and tucked my legs against his side like a man carrying something fragile. The pack hummed behind us. Someone pinned a shawl around me. Brandon held me closer like the grateful, possessive mate he was pretending to be.

We got inside, and Brandon immediately started fussing around me like a headless chicken.

“I don’t know who you are—” I faltered. The room was a stage. The light made halos around every head. “I don’t remember anything,” I said again.

“I’m here,” he said. “You’re safe with me, baby.”

Instant barf.

“Uhm… are you my brother?”

“No. My name is Brandon, and I’m your mate.” He tried to peck my cheek.

“Oh… oww,” I shrieked, holding my stomach. “My stomach hurts.”

“Is she okay?” Clara asked. Brandon ignored her.

Her hand squeezed the cup she carried. I saw a crack spider across the porcelain.

Brandon set me on a chair. “I’ll get you something to drink,” he said. “Do you feel strong enough to eat?”

What? So you could poison me. No thanks.

“Let them try. One of the benefits of being a white wolf is you are immune to wolfsbane or any type of poison,” Lunex smirked.

Oh, in that case. “Yes, please.”

I studied his face. The muscle at his jaw jumped when he spoke. He was practiced at being kind. I wondered how I never saw it.

Love made me blind—but never again.

Clara watched him leave. Her hand tightened harder on the cup. The crack grew.

I smiled wickedly.

“You look different,” my stepmom said softly.

“I woke up different,” I answered, and let my smile do the rest.

“You really are back,” she said. Her fingers curled around the cup. She shook her head as she subtly glared at me.

Straighten your face before I do it for you, you murderer, Lunex growled in my head.

A small giggle escaped my lips.

“Why are you laughing?” she asked in a snippy tone, narrowing her eyes at me.

I giggled even more. “I’m just happy,” I said. “Happy to be back among people who love me.”

She made a small sound. “Hmmn… if you say so.”

“I do say so.” I kept my eyes on the fire and watched the reflection of her hands shaking.

Just a bit more.

She frowned. Her thumb rubbed the rim of her cup until the glaze made a faint scratch. “You were lucky,” she said. “Most people who went through what you did would have—” She stopped at the sight of some pack members coming around to offer their blessings.

Lucky. The word sat like a stone.

“Where is Brandon?” I asked, making a show of curiosity.

“He’s—” She looked over her shoulder. Her eyes flicked to the doorway. She kept them there too long. “He’ll soon be here.”

The pack around us hummed. Someone clapped a hand on another’s shoulder. A pup squealed.

Oh, dearest stepmother, you had no idea what I was going to do to you.

“I wonder when my very handsome mate will be back with my food,” I said, and let the tease roll soft across my tongue. The pack turned. A few heads tilted in approval. Someone called, “The Alpha won’t be long.”

“Your mate?” my stepmom scoffed. She kept her cup between both hands now. Her fingers had tightened.

“Yes,” I said, because it sounded like the thing I should say. “I’m forever grateful to the Goddess for giving me such a kind, powerful Alpha to be all mine.” I let the words stretch around us in a clear challenge.

Her shoulders twitched. Her hands tightened on the cup. The room narrowed to that small movement. I watched the knuckles go white. For a second, a line crossed her face and I saw anger there. Then she smoothed it away, practiced, like one of those actors who spent more time on their faces than on their lines.

“Well,” she said, and the cup trembled, “I’m glad you’re—”

Her sentence suddenly died as the door swung open gently. Brandon’s broad shoulders filled the doorway, glaring directly at Clara. Pack members straightened. Heads bowed. Someone inhaled sharply, like the Alpha scent alone was enough to sting lungs.

He carried a tray of broth, water, bread. His movements were careful, almost reverent, like I was made of cotton wool.

Anyone who saw him right then would think he was the perfect mate.

“I hope you’re not trying to upset my mate, Luna Clara.”

Clara stiffened, and her blushed cheeks reddened even more. Her fingers loosened so suddenly the cup nearly slipped.

There it is.

"Oh!” I beamed. “My mate is here.”

I said brightly, dripping my voice in sugar.

Clara’s jaw ticked once.

Beautiful.

Brandon froze in place for half a second. I saw the panic and desperation on his face that I wouldn’t remember anything or what they did to me.

He forced a smile. “Here you go, sweetheart.” He knelt, lifted a spoon, blew on it like I was helpless.

I didn’t take the spoon. I let my fingers drift to his wrist, light as a breath.

He swallowed.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “You take such good care of me.”

Clara’s throat bobbed.

She looked away.

Score.

Brandon tried to feed me again, and I leaned back a little. “Can you… hold it higher? My neck hurts.”

I blinked up at him, wide-eyed.

He adjusted immediately.

Like a puppet tugged by invisible strings.

“You really don’t remember anything?” he asked softly.

I tilted my head. “Should I?”

The room stilled.

Clara stepped in like she wanted to reclaim ground. “She shouldn’t be overwhelmed. Brandon, let her rest. I’ll—”

“You’ll do nothing,” he snapped. The pack members quieted immediately.

Eyes widened.

Clara’s lip trembled before she hid it behind a practiced smile.

“Of course, Alpha Brandon,” she murmured.

I swore the word Alpha tasted like poison on her tongue.

I covered my mouth like I was shocked. “Alpha? Oh! That means I’m the Luna, right?”

I looked from her to him.

Then whispered, soft enough to dig,

“I hope I’m… worthy.”

Clara’s nostrils flared. Her hands trembled again. Someone near her murmured, “Of course she is.” Others nodded.

The humiliation slid slowly over her skin like oil.

Perfect.

Brandon’s phone rang.

He jerked, almost dropping the tray. “I—I need to take this.” He stepped back, lifting the phone to his ear. “Yeah? What—”

He stopped breathing.

His eyes widened.

Something cold and ugly settled in his expression.

He spun toward Clara. “What do you mean they are taking back the supplies?”

Clara blinked. “Brandon, what—?”

He didn’t hear her.

He stared at the wall like whatever he was hearing was ripping him open.

The pack went silent.

Even the fire crackled quieter.

“What?” he said again, voice low and dangerous. “Repeat that.”

Everyone held their breath—including me.

He lowered the phone slowly, his face hollowing out.

And then he looked at me.