Who’s He?

Chapter Two : Who’s he? 

Leah’s POV 

I woke up with a pounding headache and no idea where I was.

For several seconds, I simply stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above me, trying to understand why I wasn’t in my bedroom at the Moon Crest pack house.

Then I remembered, the bar, the drinks, the  stranger.

My eyes widened as I slowly sat up.

I looked around the room, and the memories from the previous night began returning one after another, not clearly enough for me to remember every detail, but enough for me to understand what had happened between us.

I looked down at myself and quickly checked the sheets.

My heart sank. I had really done it, I had slept with a stranger.

For a moment, I covered my face with both hands.

What had I been thinking?

I had been married only hours ago, even if that marriage was already falling apart, and instead of going home and facing my problems, I had gone to a bar, gotten drunk, and ended up spending the night with a man whose name I didn’t even know.

I slowly lowered my hands and looked around again.

Where was he?

Then I noticed him.

He was sitting near the window. In a wheelchair.

I stared at him in confusion.

The man was completely silent, his broad shoulders resting against the back of the chair as he looked toward the window.

I frowned.

That couldn’t be right.

I clearly remembered seeing him standing there the previous night.

I remembered his tall body, his broad shoulders, his dark hair, and the way he had looked at me with those strange golden eyes.

He had been standing.

I looked at the wheelchair again, wondering if I was still dreaming. “You were standing yesterday.”

The man didn’t move.

I waited, nothing.

I frowned. “Did you hear me?”

Still nothing.

He didn’t even turn his head.

A strange thought crossed my mind.

Was he mute too?

I stared at him for a few more seconds before deciding that I didn’t want to know anything about him.

Whatever had happened between us had happened because I had been hurting, angry, and drunk, and I had no intention of making it more complicated than it already was.

I pulled the blanket closer around myself and got out of bed.

“I don’t know you,” I said quietly, avoiding his eyes. “And you don’t know me.”

He remained silent.

“Whatever happened between us yesterday, let’s keep it between us.”

Nothing.

I looked at him again.

He still hadn’t said a word.

For a moment, I wondered if he really was mute.

Then I shook the thought away.

It didn’t matter. I quickly gathered my clothes and dressed, refusing to look at him again.

Before leaving, I paused at the door.

I glanced back at him one last time, he  was still sitting there silently.

I opened the door and walked away.

Whatever happened in that room would stay there.

By the time I reached Moon Crest, the morning sun was already high in the sky.

I drove through the pack territory with a heavy feeling in my chest, despite everything Adrian had done, despite the divorce I had demanded, there was still a strange comfort in returning home.

It was still my house, my pack, my  life, at least for now.

I stepped inside the pack house and immediately noticed that something felt different.

People were moving around the hallways, but nobody seemed to pay much attention to me.

I walked upstairs, expecting to find Adrian waiting for me with the divorce papers.

Instead, I saw Penelope.

She was standing near the large window at the end of the hallway, holding her phone against her ear.

She was smiling, not  the weak, tired smile she always wore in front of Adrian.

A real smile, she  looked completely healthy.

There was no trembling in her hands, no pale face, no weak breathing, no coughing.

She was standing perfectly straight in a beautiful dress, talking on the phone as though she had never been sick a day in her life.

I stopped walking.

My heart began to pound. I watched her for several seconds.

Then she laughed, actually laughed.

Something cold moved through me.

I walked toward her.

She noticed me and immediately ended the call.

Her smile remained. “You’re back.”

I stared at her. “You aren’t sick, are you?”

For a moment, she simply looked at me, then she laughed, It wasn’t the weak laugh she used around Adrianc It was a cold, amused laugh.

“You really aren’t that stupid after all.”

My stomach dropped. “You’ve been pretending?”

“Of course.”

I stared at her in disbelief.

She slipped her phone into her handbag and walked closer to me. “Do you really think Adrian would leave you for me if I simply told him I wanted him?”

My hands slowly curled into fists. “So you lied about being sick?”

“I gave him a reason to choose me.”

“You made him believe you were dying.”

“And it worked.” She smiled.

The weakness disappeared completely from her face.

There was no sick woman standing in front of me anymore.

There was only a woman who had planned everything carefully and had no regret about what she had done.

I could barely breathe. “All those hospital visits?”

“Necessary.”

“The coughing?”

“Part of it.”

“The tears?”

She shrugged. “Adrian believes what he wants to believe.”

I stared at her. “How could you do this?”

She looked at me as though I had asked the most foolish question in the world. “I wanted him.”

My voice shook. “You destroyed my marriage just to get him.”

Penelope smiled. “No.” She stepped closer. “You destroyed your marriage when you couldn’t give him what I could.”

My chest tightened. “What are you talking about?”

She looked me directly in the eyes.

“I knew Adrian would never leave you without a reason. You were his wife, his Luna, his mate. You had everything.”

Her smile slowly faded. “So I gave him a reason.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You made him believe you were dying just so he would feel guilty enough to marry you.”

“I made him believe he had one last chance to make me happy.”

“You’re sick.”

“No,” she said calmly. “I’m determined.”

I shook my head. “Does Adrian know?”

She laughed again. “Do you really think I would tell him?”

I stared at her, feeling something inside me change.

Yesterday, I had thought Penelope was a dying woman asking me for the one thing she wanted before she died.

Now I understood.

She had never been dying.

She had been waiting.

Waiting for the right moment to take my husband.

And Adrian had been so desperate to be her savior that he had never once stopped to question the truth.

Penelope walked past me, then stopped beside my shoulder.

“You should have let him go when he asked you to.”

I slowly turned toward her.

She looked at me with a smile.“Now it’s too late.”

I said nothing.

For the first time since this whole nightmare began, I wasn’t crying.

I wasn’t begging, I wasn’t asking Adrian to choose me, I was simply staring at the woman who had lied to everyone around her, including the man she claimed to love and  suddenly, I knew one thing. I was done being the only person in this marriage who didn’t know the truth.