DISASTER

MAYA

What could that mean? I trembled from head to toe, my hands shaking so violently that I could barely keep my grip on his shoulders.

How can a strong, powerful Alpha suddenly go completely blind overnight? He was fine just minutes ago! He had looked at me with his own two eyes, admiring my body, making sweet love to me in the morning light. There was no fever, no injury, no warning.

"Edward, please! Calm down! Look at my hands, try to focus!" I pleaded, cupping his face, trying to direct his gaze toward the morning sun streaming through the window.

"It's dark, Maya! Everything is completely pitch black!" Edward cried out, his voice cracking with a terrifying mix of helplessness and rage. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, stumbling blindly, his hands crashing into the heavy nightstand and knocking a glass vase to the floor. The glass shattered into a hundred pieces.

I rushed forward, grabbing his waist to pull him back from the sharp shards. "Stop moving, Edward! You will cut yourself!"

I led him back to the bed, holding him tight as he buried his face in his hands, his broad chest heaving with heavy, panicked breaths. I tried all I could to help him at the moment, pouring cold water over a napkin to wash his eyes, whispering soft prayers, and trying to guide his vision, but nothing happened. The amber glow in his eyes was gone, replaced by a dull, lifeless blankness.

I sat beside him on the edge of the mattress, my mind racing in a hundred different directions.

I didn't want Maria to know about it. She would laugh at me. She is that kind of person—a wicked, bitter woman who would parade around the palace, clapping her hands in joy, telling every servant and guard that I claimed to be a Luna, but now I had a blind, useless Alpha to be with. She would use his weakness to tear down everything we had built.

I quickly dressed Edward and helped him sit quietly on the armchair, warning him not to move. Then, I rushed to the door and discreetly summoned a loyal guard, sending a urgent, secret message to Doctor Evans to report to the master suite immediately without telling a soul.

Within twenty minutes, Doctor Evans hurried into the room, carrying his medical bag. He closed the doors tightly behind him, his face growing pale when he saw the Alpha sitting motionless, staring blankly into the room.

For nearly an hour, the doctor performed every test he knew. He shone bright magnifying lights directly into Edward's pupils, checked his blood pressure, felt his neck for swelling, and used small needles to test his nerve reflexes.

Throughout it all, Edward's eyes didn't even flinch at the blinding light.

Finally, Doctor Evans stepped back, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. He looked at me with a bewildered, frightened expression.

"What is it, Doctor?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "What is wrong with his eyes?"

"I... I cannot explain it, Luna Maya," Doctor Evans stammered, shaking his head in total confusion. "Physically, his eyes are completely healthy. There is no blood clot, no nerve damage, no poison in his system, and no medical condition detected whatsoever. Anatomically, he should be able to see clearly. But functionally... the Alpha is completely blind."

My heart sank straight to the bottom of my stomach. No medical cause meant only one thing—dark magic or a spiritual curse.

Now, I had no choice. A pack cannot be led by an Alpha who cannot see an approaching enemy. I had to make it known to the pack that Alpha Edward had gone blind.

By noon, I used the Luna seal to summon the grand council of elders to the palace meeting hall.

The heavy oak doors of the council chamber closed, locking out the curious maids and guards. Seven elderly men and women sat around the long stone table, their faces stern and expectant.

I stood at the head of the table, my hands clutching the edge of my velvet Luna cloak so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Luna Maya," the chief elder spoke, his deep voice echoing against the stone walls. "Why have you called an emergency council meeting without the Alpha by your side?"

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling as dry as sand. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words caught in my chest.

"I... the Alpha..." I stammered, my knees trembling beneath my dress. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. "Alpha Edward has lost his sight. He woke up this morning... completely blind."

Gasps of pure shock erupted across the room. Two elders stood up abruptly, their chairs scraping loudly against the floor.

"Blind?!" Elder Thomas shouted, his thick grey eyebrows drawing together in disbelief. "How can an Alpha go blind overnight without a battle? What happened to him?!"

"The doctor examined him," I explained quickly, my eyes pleading with them to listen. "There is no physical sickness, no poison, no injury. It happened suddenly after he woke up—"

"A curse!" another elder cut in, pointing a long, accusing finger straight at my face.

The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly from confusion to deep, dangerous hostility.

"Think about it, my fellow elders!" Elder Thomas barked, looking around the table with cold, angry eyes. "Ever since this girl stepped foot into this palace as a maid, disaster has followed her every step! His brother Lucas just died two days ago under suspicious circumstances, and now our Alpha goes blind just a few days later!"

"No! That is not true!" I argued, stepping forward, my voice rising in desperation. "I love Edward! I am carrying his heir! Why would I harm my own husband?!"

"Because you are evil!" an old female elder hissed, her eyes glaring at me with pure hatred. "When Alpha Edward was married to Maria alone, there was peace! There was no disaster, no moving pictures, no mysterious deaths, and no blindness! But the moment you entered his bed, it has been one problem after another! You brought a dark omen into this royal house!"

"Where is the seer?!" Elder Thomas demanded, turning to the guard at the door. "Bring the seer to read her spirit! Let him tell us what witchery she used on the Alpha!"

The guard bowed nervously. "Elders... I already sent a runner to the seer's hut at the edge of the forest the moment I heard the news."

"And what did he say?" the elder snapped.

The guard swallowed nervously, looking at me with a frightened glance before turning back to the council. "The seer refused to come to the palace. He locked his doors and sent a message back..."

"What message?!"

"He said..." the guard whispered, "he said he will never step foot near the palace as long as the evil maid sits on the throne. He called her a demon in disguise and warned us that she will destroy the entire pack if we do not throw her out!"

The council hall erupted into chaotic shouts. The elders slammed their fists on the stone table, their angry voices echoing off the walls, every single pair of eyes glaring at me with absolute condemnation.

I stood alone in the center of the room, my hand resting protectively over my baby bump, tears of anger and fear blurring my vision as the weight of their hatred crashed down upon me.