Chapter 5

Elena & Killian

Elena

“By the Moon Goddess’s fangs, Elena,” Killian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Maeve was right when she said you hit your head. You’ve gone insane.”

I didn’t bother answering that, because I knew Killian wouldn’t believe me if I said I wasn’t crazy—just angry and horrified. It didn’t matter, anyway. Even if he refused to divorce me, I would still leave and send him the papers as soon as I could.

But I didn’t expect Killian to turn on his heel and hiss, “I’m locking you in here so you don’t, I don’t know, try to kill yourself or maybe burn the house down.”

My eyes widened. “What? You can’t lock me in here!”

“Watch me,” Killian said, already fishing the house’s skeleton key from his pocket. Before I could reach him, he had swung the door shut and locked it with a decisive click.

“Let me out!” I yelled, pounding my fists against the door. “You can’t just leave me here!”

“I’ll be back in a while,” Killian’s muffled voice came back through the wood. “I’ll have another servant bring you your dinner, since Maeve will probably try to set you free.”

And just like that, he was gone. His footsteps echoed through the cavernous house as he strode down the hallway, ignoring my cries.

Once I heard the front door close, I knew I really was trapped in here for the next few hours; and Maeve was out at the moment and likely wouldn’t be back before Killian was.

It hit me, then, that based on what I could recall from my previous life, it was tomorrow that someone would come in the night and dig up Natalie’s grave. And once that dug-up grave was found, a necklace would be found beside it.

My necklace.

In my past life, Killian believed that I was the one who killed Natalie. He believed that I orchestrated the attack by the rogues, that I paid them to kill her so I could keep my position as his Luna.

None of it was true, of course, but that didn’t matter to him; all that mattered was what he thought and where the clues pointed.

And that necklace was the first step that led to my ruin. Someone had planted it there to frame me, and I had to either get out of here before that happened or find a way to prevent it.

But how?

My mind raced as I scrambled to think of something. Suddenly, it hit me: Maeve wasn’t the only ally I had around here.

It was risky, but it was the only thing I could think of. Killian’s Beta, Lucas, always believed that I wasn’t the real culprit of Natalie’s death. If I went to him, maybe he would help me.

Shutting my eyes, I reached out to Lucas through the mind link we shared. There was a brief moment of silence, and I grew worried that I couldn’t reach him from here or perhaps that Killian had told him to ignore me if I tried.

But then, finally, I heard his voice echo in my skull. “Yes, Luna?”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Lucas, I need your help.”

…

Killian

The ceremony came to an end, the throng of people starting to shuffle toward the feast hall that wasn’t far. But I lingered, needing a few minutes to myself before I went home.

Natalie’s grave was quiet and peaceful; the tombstone had a photo I personally selected, a memory of her before everything changed, as if the tragic event had never happened.

She had saved our pack by luring away those rogues, and she had given her life for it.

For a little while, I lowered my head, looking at Natalie’s photo with my hands stuffed into my pockets. But no matter how much I tried to focus on this quiet moment with her, or rather what was left of her, I couldn’t stop thinking about Elena.

Her behavior today was extremely unlike her. She was usually meek and obedient, always bending over backwards to do what I wanted her to do. She rarely spoke back to me, and never complained.

And now, in the span of one day, it was as if she were a completely different person. Hell, she was trying to divorce me!

Either she truly had gone insane from a single fainting spell and I was a fool for not taking her to the hospital sooner, or it was a ploy for attention. The latter seemed more likely.

After all, Elena had always loved me—I had seen her stolen glances and blushing cheeks many times over the years, even when Natalie was still around. And if there was one thing I knew about love, it was that no one who truly felt it could let go of it so easily.

Not unless something happened to make them hate the other person.

But Elena couldn’t hate me, especially not so suddenly. Nothing had happened lately, not that I could think of. We followed our usual routines, distant but dutiful as always. It wasn’t like we were happy, but it wasn’t like… this.

By now, I was feeling irritated. I left without going to the feast hall, something that would likely not go unnoticed, but I had to get home. When I arrived back at the large, sprawling manor, I noticed Elena’s bedroom light was on.

Good. So she hadn’t climbed out the window.

I took the steps two at a time toward her room, preparing myself for what I might say to her as I went. But as I reached the top, I froze, seeing my Beta—Lucas—emerging.

He glanced at me as he passed. “Alpha,” he said, bowing his head respectfully.

“What were you doing in there?” I barked.

Lucas froze, his mouth opening and closing a few times. I growled under my breath, suddenly hit by a wave of jealousy. If he and Elena had been…

Was that why she was trying to divorce me in the span of a day? Over an affair?

Bristling with righteous anger, I stormed down the hall and burst into her room. Elena was still wearing the same sweater and pants from earlier, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she hadn’t been fully nude mere minutes before.

Before Elena could speak, I crossed the room and grabbed her wrist. “What the hell are you doing, Elena?”