HIS SWEET LUNA

MAYA

I stood there staring at my Edward, my heart pounding so hard against my ribs I thought it would burst right out of my chest. My eyes welled up with hot, emotional tears as I took in the sight of him—standing tall, strong, and healthy, his deep amber eyes completely clear and full of life. He was cured. He could see me.

Without thinking, pure instinct took over. I let out a soft sob, rushed over to throw my arms around his neck, and reached out to hold him tight.

"Edward!" I cried out, my voice cracking with overwhelming joy.

But before my arms could touch his chest, Edward stepped backward, putting a cold, deliberate distance between us.

That sudden move made me pause mid-stride. My hands hovered awkwardly in the chilly air, freezing in place. My breath caught in my throat, a sharp, icy pang of hurt shooting straight through my chest. He had pulled away from me.

Before I could even process the sudden rejection, two of the elders who had not yet left the hallway stepped closer, their heavy velvet robes sweeping against the marble floor as they glared down at me with pure, unadulterated disgust.

"The sweet Luna Maria was with him for years and he did not have any issues!" one of the elders declared loudly, pointing a stern, trembling finger straight at my face. "Then you came into this palace, and he became mysteriously blind and paralyzed! You nursed him, and he remained blind in his bed. But the moment you left this house to be with your cheap boys on the street, the sweet Luna's hands touched him, and he became healed!"

"That is enough!" the second elder spat, his face twisted in disdain as he gestured toward the dark back hallway. "Move back to the kitchen where you belong, or leave this palace forever!"

A wicked, triumphant smirk spread across Maria's face as she stood nearby, folding her arms over her chest and enjoying every single second of my public humiliation. She looked at me like I was dirt beneath her polished shoes.

Just as I felt the hot tears of frustration stinging my eyes, Alpha Edward stepped forward, his massive frame radiating an intense, terrifying authority that instantly suffocated the noise in the hallway.

"SILENCE!" Edward roared, his deep voice booming off the high stone walls like a violent crack of thunder.

The elders froze instantly, taking an involuntary step back in sheer fear.

"My healing is just as mysterious as my sickness!" Edward roared, his nostrils flaring as his powerful gaze swept across the room. "And please, do not blame my Maya for things you know nothing about!"

Without another word to the council, Edward reached down, grabbed my hand in a tight, unyielding grip, and pulled me along with him. His hand was large and warm, but his hold was so firm it borderline hurt my wrist. I stumbled slightly as I followed his long strides, my heart racing in total confusion as he marched us up the grand staircase, past the silent guards, and straight down the long corridor toward our private master quarters.

The moment we crossed the threshold into the bedroom, Edward slammed the heavy wooden door shut behind us.

BANG!

The sound echoed through the high ceiling, sealing us off from the rest of the palace. Before I could even turn around to speak or ask him what was happening, he shoved me firmly toward the bed. I fell backward onto the soft mattress, my dark cloak sprawling around me as I scrambled to sit up and face him.

"Edward, please, listen to me—" I began, my voice trembling with fear and confusion.

"MAYA!" Edward roared, stepping closer to the edge of the bed.

The air in the room grew suffocatingly thick, heavy with the oppressive weight of an angry Alpha's aura. I looked up at his face, and my stomach dropped into a bottomless pit of absolute terror. His clear amber eyes had turned blood-red, glowing with the raw, volatile fury of his inner wolf. His broad chest heaved up and down heavily as he glared down at me like an enraged predator cornering its prey.

"You left this house for five whole days!" he growled, his voice dropping to a dangerous, guttural rumble as he leaned down so close I could smell the familiar scent of pine and rain on his skin—a scent now twisted by sheer, unbridled rage. "Tell me about the boy you were with! Where does he live?! Tell me everything about him right now!"

I shrank back against the headboard, clutching the silk sheets tight in my hands. The sight of his glowing red eyes terrified me, but the agony in his voice hurt even more.

"Edward, there is no boy!" I pleaded, tears spilling over my eyelashes and running down my pale cheeks. "I swear to you on my life, I was not with any boy! I didn't leave you to sleep around!"

"Then where were you?!" Edward bellowed, slamming his fist onto the wooden bedpost with enough force to make the heavy frame shake. "Where were you for five days while I lay in that bed helpless?! Maria told the entire council you ran off with street boys! She said you abandoned me because I was blind and useless to you!"

"She lied to you!" I screamed back, my own anger flaring up through my tears. "Maria is lying to you, Edward! She has been lying to this entire pack from the very beginning!"

"Then give me the truth!" Edward demanded, his red eyes burning into mine with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. "Give me a reason to believe you, Maya! Give me a name, a place, anything! Because right now, every elder in this territory believes my mate deserted me for another man!"

I looked into his blood-red eyes, seeing the deep, agonizing pain hidden beneath his rage. He wasn't just angry—he was heartbroken. He thought the woman he loved had given up on him the moment he lost his strength. He thought I had betrayed our bond.

I opened my mouth, desperate to tell him everything. I wanted to scream that I was Princess Philomena reincarnated. I wanted to tell him that I had spent those five agonizing days sleeping on the cold dirt over my own ancient grave, absorbing ancestral magic just so I could gain the power to save his life and destroy Maria once and for all. I wanted to tell him that I had endured Maria's vile, humiliating touch every single night just to stay in this palace and keep him safe from her poison.

I took up this risk for you, I wanted to cry out. I sacrificed my dignity, my body, and my soul for you!

But as I looked at him, the old caretaker's stern warning echoed sharply in the back of my mind: Do not reveal your full strength until the trap is set. Maria has acquired dark magic. If you strike too early, you will lose everything.

If I told Edward the full truth right now, his rage would drive him to confront Maria immediately. He would challenge her openly, unaware that she possessed forbidden dark magic from the mountain covens—magic strong enough to match my own telekinesis and strike him down again. We weren't ready for an open war yet. The trap wasn't fully set.

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling dry as bone, and looked straight into his burning red eyes.

"I cannot tell you where I was," I whispered, my voice breaking as fresh tears streamed down my face. "I cannot give you a name, and I cannot give you a place. But I swear on the Moon Goddess, on my very soul, that no man has ever touched me. I have never loved anyone but you."

Edward stared at me for a long, suffocating moment. The red glow in his eyes flickered, fighting against the raw heartbreak in his chest. He let out a ragged, tortured breath, shaking his head slowly as he stepped back from the bed.

"You are hiding things from me, Maya," he said quietly, his voice dangerously low and full of deep sorrow. "You look at me with secrets in your eyes. If you cannot give me the truth... then I don't know how to protect you from what the elders are planning to do next."

He turned his back on me, walking slowly toward the large arched window that overlooked the courtyard, leaving me alone on the bed with the crushing weight of my secrets.