Chapter 8

Maya's POV:

“Why?” I whispered into the empty room, my voice cracking. Why did the Moon Goddess let my life unravel like this? First she allowed those horrors to swallow my family, then she forced me into a marriage of convenience with Declan who I gave him five years of my life and what did I get in return?

He chose his ex over me the moment she returned, casting me aside like I was nothing. Now I was trapped here with a man who had proven himself a demon, a monster who admitted he killed my baby without a flicker of remorse.

Sobs tore from my chest as I clutched my still-flat belly, fingers pressing against the emptiness where my child had been only hours ago. The tiny life I had secretly begun to love, my last fragile connection to the man I had foolishly adored, was gone.

The door creaked open and I looked up to see a middle-aged woman in a white coat, her dark hair pulled into a neat bun and a stethoscope draped around her neck. She looked every bit the professional doctor, her expression calm and concerned as she approached the bed.

“Are you okay?” She asked gently, pulling a chair closer and sitting down.

I barely registered her at first, my mind still spinning with plans of escape. “Please.” I begged, my voice raw and trembling. “You have to help me escape. I don't want to be anywhere near a man who killed my baby.”

The doctor’s brows drew together and she studied me for a while, then asked quietly, “Why do you think Alpha Cassian caused your baby’s death?”

I sat up a little, ignoring the dizziness that swam through my head. “Because he poisoned the food I ate.” She looked genuinely stunned, her eyes widening. “That’s not what happened at all.” She said firmly.

“Your miscarriage had nothing to do with poison or anything being added to your food. You lost the baby because your body simply wasn’t strong enough after all the stress you’ve been under lately.”

I shook my head violently, refusing to accept it. “You’re lying. If you don’t want to help me escape, you could have just said so instead of making up stories to keep me here.”

The doctor chuckled softly, though there was no mockery in it. “Every nurse and doctor in this clinic can attest to what really happened. Alpha Cassian carried you in himself, looking absolutely terrified. When we told him you were pregnant, he was shocked, but he demanded we do everything possible to save both you and the baby. He stayed right outside the room the entire time and when it became clear we could only save you, he threatened to kill every one of us if you didn’t survive.”

Her words made my thoughts tumble over one another in a whirl because Cassian had admitted he killed the baby. So why did he say that if it wasn’t true? Confused, I replayed the moment I woke up: I had been so consumed by grief and rage that I hadn’t even noticed how he looked sitting there, holding my hand with worry etched across his face.

Instead I accused him outright and in his anger, he must have lashed out and claimed responsibility just to hurt me back. I muttered several curses under my breath, then I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand, but the doctor rose quickly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You need to rest.” She said firmly. “Where is Cassian?” I demanded, ignoring her. “I need to speak with him.”

“He might be in the main building.” She replied, stepping back when she saw I wouldn’t be stopped. “Down the corridor, through the double doors, then follow the path to the left. It's the largest structure, you can’t miss it.”

I thanked her absently and slipped out of the room, my bare feet cold against the tiled floor. The hallways blurred as I walked, my hospital gown whispering around my legs. When I reached the main building, the living room looked exactly as I remembered it from earlier, only this time a few maids were busy dusting and arranging flowers.

Stepping forward, I stopped one of them. “Do you know where Cassian is?” She nodded politely. “In his study, milady. Down that hallway, the last door on the right.”

I followed her directions on unsteady legs until I stood outside the heavy wooden door. Voices drifted from inside but I pushed the door open without knocking to see an unknown man inside. He cleared his throat, and excused himself with a quick bow in my direction while Cassian looked up from behind his large oak desk, surprise flickering across his handsome face before it settled into irritation.

“You shouldn’t be here.” He said, rising slightly. “You need to be resting in the clinic.” I ignored the command in his tone. “I want to ask you a question.”

“I’m not in the mood for your questions right now, Maya.” I stepped closer anyway, heart hammering. “Did you really kill my baby?”

Cassian went completely still. He watched me for a few seconds then asked quietly, “Why do you want to know now? Weren’t you certain I killed the baby earlier?”

“The doctor just told me that you had nothing to do with me losing the baby. So why did you tell me you killed it?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Cassian rose slowly from his chair and walked around the desk toward me and I took an instinctive step back, fear prickling along my spine as anger flashed in his piercing blue eyes.

“Why are you still scared of me?” He demanded, voice rising. “I already told you that I would never hurt you.” When he finished speaking, something inside me snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be scared?” I shot back, tears stinging my eyes again.

“I have no idea where I am, who you really are, or why you want me to be your wife. I was suddenly told I had to come here and marry you or else you would wage war against Declan and everyone I care about. Of course I’m scared!”

Cassian closed the distance between us in two strides and placed his hands gently on my shoulders. “You have nothing to be scared of.” he said, his voice softening. “I will never hurt you. I will never do anything that would make you feel bad. I promise to give you anything you want. I will take care of you, protect you, and love you endlessly.”

I shrugged his hands off, stepping back. “The only thing I want is for you to let me go. But you can’t do that, can you?”

He exhaled slowly. “I will do any other thing you want, but I cannot let you go. You belong to me so I will never let you go back to Declan or any other man.”

His words sent a chill through me. “Then if you won’t let me go, at least tell me why you’re so obsessed with me. Who are you? Why do you want me? Did we know each other before?”

Cassian’s expression darkened with annoyance. “Do you really not remember me?”

“If I remembered, I wouldn’t be asking all these questions,” I replied, frustration bleeding into my tone. He scoffed, crossing his arms. “Then I won’t tell you anything. I won’t answer any of the questions you’ve asked or the ones you haven’t asked until you remember me.”

I searched my memory desperately, digging through years of faces and moments, but nothing surfaced that matched the man standing in front of me.

“Have you mistaken me for somebody else?” I asked and Cassian shook his head, his blue eyes intense and unwavering. “I am certain you are the person in my memory. The one I have spent the past several years loving endlessly.”