Chapter Five

Moana’s POV

"You are doing it on purpose," he hissed.

"Doing what, Alpha?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Your scent," he said. He leaned down, his nose touching the skin of my neck. I shivered. 

"It is everywhere. I can't go into a room without smelling you. I can't eat. I can't sleep. It feels like you are pulling on a string inside my chest."

"I am not doing anything," I said, tears filling my eyes. "You are the one who rejected me! You told me I was nothing! If you want the feeling to stop, then let me leave the pack!"

Eldrick’s hand shot out and grabbed my waist, pulling me hard against his chest. I gasped. The touch was like an electric shock, and the pain in my heart stopped instantly. For the first time since the ceremony, I felt at peace. My wolf hummed with joy.

"I can't let you leave," he whispered into my hair. His voice was soft now, almost like he was crying. "If you go too far away, the pain will kill me. And I hate you for that. I hate that my life is in your hands Moana."

He pulled back just enough to look at my face. His golden eyes were swirling with colors. He looked at my lips, then back at my eyes. 

"You have your father’s eyes," he said. His grip on my waist tightened. "Every time I look at you, I remember the knife he held to my throat. I remember the blood. How can the Goddess give me a mate who comes from a family of killers?"

"My father didn't do it!" I yelled, finally finding my courage. "Look at the maps, Eldrick! Look at what he was doing for the pack!"

I tried to show him the map, but he snatched it from my hand and threw it across the room. 

"I don't care about maps!" he roared. 

He pushed me back against the bookshelf. He put his hands on either side of my head, trapping me. He was so close I could feel his heart beating against mine. Our hearts were beating in the same rhythm. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

"Tell me you hate me," he whispered. His face was inches from mine. "Tell me you want me to die. Give me a reason to stay away from you."

I looked at him and saw the powerful Alpha who had ruined my life. I saw the man who had made me a slave. I wanted to say I hated him. I tried to find the words.

But the bond was too strong, my soul knew he was mine. 

"I can't," I whispered. 

Eldrick groaned. It was a sound of pure agony. He leaned his forehead against mine. We stood there for a long time, just breathing each other's air. For a moment, we weren't an Alpha and a servant, we were just two broken people tied together by a golden thread that wouldn't break.

"This is a curse," he whispered.

"No," I said softly. "It’s a gift. You are just too proud to see it."

Eldrick stiffened. He pulled away from me and stood up straight. The coldness came back into his eyes, but I could see his hands were still shaking.

"Clean up this mess," he said, pointing to the map he threw. "And stay in the library. If I see you in the hallways tonight, I will lock you in the cells."

He turned and walked out, slamming the door.

I sank to the floor, my heart racing. I picked up my father's map and smoothed out the wrinkles. 

Eldrick was starting to feel the truth. He was fighting it with all his strength, but the bond was winning. 

I looked back at the secret paths on the map. I had a feeling that soon, these paths would be the only way to save the pack and the man who had rejected me.

The library was silent again, but the air still tasted like Eldrick. I sat on the floor for a long time, holding my breath. 

He had held me. He had smelled my hair. For a moment, he hadn't looked at me like a traitor, he had looked at me like a man who was starving and thirsting for me. But then he walked away. He always walked away anyway, my thoughts spiraled.

I wiped my eyes and looked back at the map he had thrown. It was an old, yellowed piece of paper. When he threw it, the paper had hit a heavy wooden shelf and ripped just a little bit.

I picked it up to fix it, but then I stopped.

"What is this?" I whispered.

The rip in the paper showed something underneath. This wasn't just one map, It was two maps glued together. My father had hidden something between the layers of the paper.

I used my small cleaning knife to slowly, carefully peel the two layers apart, my hands barely holding the knife. If the guards caught me with a knife, they would throw me in the cells. So, I had to be very careful.

When the papers came apart, a small, thin letter fell out. It was written in my father’s neat handwriting. 

To my Moana, it said. If you are reading this, I am gone. They think I am a traitor, but I am trying to save the Alpha. There is a shadow in the pack. A snake wears a crown of gray hair. Do not trust the Elders. Look at the North path. The real enemy is…

The letter ended there. There was a large brown stain on the bottom of the paper. Blood, and it was my father’s blood.

My heart stopped for a second. My father wasn't trying to kill the Alpha, he was trying to warn him! And he knew who the real traitor was. A crown of gray hair.

"Elder Marek," I breathed. 

Marek was the oldest man in the pack. He was the one who encouraged Eldrick to reject me. He was the one who told everyone I was a snake. If Marek was the real traitor, then Eldrick was in a room with a monster every single day.

I had to tell him. Even if he hated me, even if he threw me out, I had to save him.

I grabbed the letter and the map and ran toward the door. I forgot that Eldrick told me to stay in the library. I forgot that I was just a servant. I ran through the dark hallways of the Pack House. 

When I reached the Alpha’s study. I could hear voices inside.

I pressed myself against the cold wall outside the study, my heart pounding so loud I was sure they could hear it. I held the map and the letter close, trying not to make a sound.

“…Moana cannot be Luna,” Elder Marek said. “It’s impossible. She is… she cannot lead. You must send her away, Eldrick. Before she ruins everything!”

“No!” Eldrick’s voice shook. “If I push her away… if I let her leave… I’ll die. My heart… It hurts too much. She’s inside me. Every moment. Every breath.”

“She is not your mate!” Marek hissed. “She can't be, Alpha Eldrick! The Moon Goddess made a mistake! You must see the reason!”

“I hate her!” Eldrick shouted. “I hate that she has this power over me! I hate that I can’t stay away! But I… I can’t let her go!”

There was silence, heavy and sharp. Then Marek stepped closer.

“Exile her. Send her away, and you will be freed.”

“I… I can’t,” Eldrick whispered. “I… I..”

Suddenly, the study door snapped open. A guard had seen me pressed against the wall.

“Stop right there!” he barked. 

His hands grabbed my arms, pulling me roughly, which made the letter slip from my fingers and fall to the floor, landing face down in a patch of black mold in the corner.