WRINKLED BODY NOT MINE

MAYA

Walking home appeared so much slower than going. Every step through the dark mountain pass felt like dragging heavy iron chains attached to my feet. My toes were bruised, my throat was dry, and the night air bit coldly into my skin, but I kept pushing forward.

Finally, after hours of non-stop walking, the familiar white marble pillars and tall iron gates of our pack territory came into view. We stopped at the edge of the quiet border woods.

Mr. Orlando turned to me, his old eyes serious under his gray hood. "Remember what I told you, Maya," he whispered softly. "Hold onto the book, keep your spirit strong, and do not let fear blind your path."

"Thank you, Mr. Orlando," I said, bowing my head with deep gratitude. We bid each other goodbye, and he melted back into the dark shadows of the forest while I walked toward the palace alone.

I got to the house with my heart beating wildly against my ribs, expecting the absolute worst. My palm was sweaty against the smooth handle of the heavy oak doors. I was ready to accept whatever punishment or rage Edward and Maria were going to throw at me. I had prepared my mind to be dragged before the pack elders, locked in the dungeons, or interrogated for disappearing without permission.

I stepped quietly into the grand foyer, holding my breath.

"Oh, Maya! Thank goodness you are near," a young kitchen maid gasped, hurrying past me with a basin of blood-stained water and silver towels. She stopped for a brief second, wiping sweat from her pale forehead.

"What is happening?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly as I looked at the bloody towels.

"Maria is bleeding profusely," the maid said, her eyes wide with shock. "The doctor said she has just a few days to live. Her body is completely rejecting the healing salves, and the wounds from her fall won't close up."

My heart skipped a beat, but not out of pity. "And Edward?" I asked quickly, my eyes searching the empty corridor. "Where is the Alpha?"

"He is fine," the maid replied simply, adjusting the heavy basin in her arms. "He is out for a meeting with the territory elders in the council hall. He should be back later tonight."

I stood there in silence, completely stunned. The maid did not act like I was away for seven whole days! She spoke to me so casually, as if she had just seen me scrubbing the floors this morning. She didn't ask where I had been, why my dress was dusty, or why I was missing for a whole week. Or maybe she is just a maid and cannot ask me some questions, I thought to myself, trying to make sense of her strange calmness. Maybe a servant’s presence is so invisible in this palace that nobody notices when one goes missing.

I walked down the quiet hallway and pushed open the door to the Luna's bedchamber.

I got into the room, and Maria was in a very bad shape. The heavy stench of metallic blood and bitter herbs filled the air. She lay pale and shivering on her massive velvet bed, her face hollow, her lips dry and cracked. Fresh red blood seeped through the thick white bandages wrapped around her chest and ribs. She looked small, weak, and pathetic, a far cry from the cruel, arrogant woman who had once held a blade to my throat and stolen my life.

I stepped closer to her bed, watching her chest rise and fall in shallow, painful gasps. A cold, unyielding stillness settled over my soul.

Well, I am out on this earth to destroy her. Looking at her broken body, I knew in my heart that my tears were over. The destruction has just began, and I would not shed a single tear for the monster who destroyed my home.

I left her room without saying a word, walked back to my own small room, and waited in the quiet darkness.

In a few hours, Edward came back.

I heard his heavy, familiar footsteps echoing down the corridor before my door pushed open. He looked tired, his broad shoulders slumped, but when his eyes landed on me sitting by the window, a gentle look washed over his face.

"Oh, Maya," Edward said softly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "How was your day?"

I froze on the spot, my hands tightening around the fabric of my skirt. I stared at him, completely speechless. I didn't know what to tell him because it has been seven whole days away! I had walked across borders, spent a week in a completely different territory with Mr. Orlando, and suffered through miles of dust and fear. How could he ask me how my day was?

"It... it was quiet, My Lord," I managed to whisper, keeping my head down so he couldn't see the utter confusion in my eyes.

"Good," Edward murmured, walking over to the wooden basin to wash his hands. "It has been a stressful evening with the elders."

Everything seems normal. He undressed, blew out the wall candles, and climbed into the bed beside me just like he used to. There was no anger, no questioning, no search party, and no accusation of betrayal. It was as if time had stood still inside the palace while I was gone, or as if seven days had simply vanished into thin air. I lay beside him in the dark, my mind racing in circles, completely unable to sleep.

Till in the middle of the night.

The moon reached its peak, casting a sharp, silvery beam of light straight through the window and across our bed. Edward shifted beside me. He opened his eyes, turning his head to look at my face resting on the pillow beside him.

Suddenly, his body went completely stiff.

Edward gasped, recoiling backward so fast he almost fell off the edge of the mattress. He sat up, his amber eyes wide with sudden shock and disgust as he stared down at me in the moonlight.

"Edward?" I asked, sitting up quickly, my heart hammering in my chest. "What's wrong? What is it?"

He reached out a shaking hand, his fingers stopping inches away from my cheek as if he were afraid to touch a hot iron.

"Why did you darken your skin?" Edward asked, his voice thick with confusion and a rising wave of horror. He stared at my face, his jaw tight. "You were attractive the last week... but today you are dark and wrinkled!"

My breath caught violently in my throat. My hands flew up to touch my cheeks, my forehead, and my neck. My skin felt coarse, rough, and dry under my fingertips.

Right then, I knew something or someone replaced me when I was away.

While I was away for seven days in that distant territory, another entity, an illusion, or a dark spirit—had been walking through this palace, playing my role, and living my life! And now that the real Maya had returned, whatever fake vessel or illusion had been left behind was rotting away, decaying right in front of Edward's very eyes under the divine light of the full moon.

Right then, I knew something or someone replaced me when I was away.

Edward backed away toward the edge of the bed, his voice trembling as he stared at me like I was a stranger. "You are Maya, but now wearing your lingerie I see a wrinkled skin different from the one I made love to this morning and even the night before."