CHAPTER 5: OTHER IDENTITY

CORA'S POV

The moment the SUV started moving, I wondered whether I'd made the biggest mistake of my life accepting this offer.

I sat stiffly in the back seat, my suitcase beside me and my hands clasped tightly in my lap. Diamond sat across from me, looking completely relaxed, as though picking up a heartbroken woman from the side of the road in the middle of the morning was something he did every day.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

I watched Ash Moon Pack disappear through the tinted window.

The streets I'd walked for years became smaller and smaller until they disappeared completely.

I expected to feel regret but I felt nothing.

Katiana stirred inside me.

(We're really leaving.)

"Yes."

(And we're not going back?)

I swallowed.

"Never."

The word felt frightening but it also felt strangely freeing.

Diamond glanced at me.

"You don't have to whisper."

I stiffened.

"Sorry."

"You apologize too much."

I frowned.

"I do not."

"You just apologized for talking."

"I was talking to my wolf."

"I know."

My eyes widened.

"How?"

He shrugged.

"I've spent enough time around wolves to recognize when someone is having an internal conversation."

I studied him suspiciously.

"You really are strange."

"That's what people say."

A tiny smile escaped me before I could stop it.

Diamond noticed.

"You should do that more often."

"Do what?"

"Smile."

The smile disappeared.

"I don't feel like smiling."

"I know."

His answer was so simple that I didn't know what to say.

I turned toward the window again.

After a few minutes, curiosity got the better of me.

"Where are we going?"

"New York."

I turned sharply.

"New York?"

"Yes."

"That's across the ocean."

"I know."

"Why?"

"Because you need to disappear."

My stomach tightened.

"From who?"

"Everyone."

I stared at him.

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"It wasn't supposed to be."

I folded my arms.

"Are you kidnapping me?"

Diamond laughed.

"If I were kidnapping you, I doubt I'd be answering your questions."

"That's exactly what a kidnapper would say."

He shook his head.

"You have a point."

Despite myself, I laughed.

I'd spent the entire night crying, yet somehow this stranger had made me laugh twice.

Diamond leaned back.

"Tell me something, Cora."

"What?"

"What do you know about computers?"

I blinked.

"Computers?"

"Yes."

I shrugged.

"Enough to use one."

"That's not what I asked."

"Why are you asking?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked out the window.

That familiar feeling returned.

He knew something about me and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what it was.

Hours passed.

Eventually, exhaustion dragged me into sleep.

When I woke up, the SUV was slowing down.

I rubbed my eyes and looked outside.

My breath caught.

A massive estate stood behind enormous iron gates.

The gates opened automatically as we approached.

Beyond them was a sprawling mansion surrounded by manicured gardens, fountains and tall trees.

I stared.

"Where are we?"

"Home."

I turned toward him.

"Your home?"

"Yes."

The SUV stopped.

Diamond stepped out.

I followed slowly.

A woman in an elegant black uniform approached.

"Welcome home, Alpha."

I froze.

My eyes immediately went to Diamond.

He didn't react.

The woman turned to me.

"Your room has been prepared, Miss Bane."

"My room?"

"Yes."

I looked at Diamond.

"You prepared a room for me?"

"I told you I was expecting you."

My stomach twisted.

"How long?"

He started walking toward the entrance.

I followed.

"Diamond."

He stopped.

"How long have you been expecting me?"

He looked over his shoulder.

"Nine years."

My entire body went still.

"Nine years?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

For the first time since I'd met him, his expression became serious.

"Because nine years ago, you did something that changed my life."

I frowned.

"What did I do?"

"You saved someone."

"I don't understand."

"You weren't supposed to."

My confusion deepened.

Diamond walked into the mansion.

I followed him.

"You're going to have to explain."

"I will."

He led me into a spacious study and closed the door behind us.

A large desk stood in the center of the room, surrounded by shelves filled with books and several computer monitors.

I stared at the equipment.

There were at least six high-end computers on the desk.

"What is this?"

"My private office."

I looked at him.

"Why bring me here?"

"Because I want to show you something."

He walked toward the desk and picked up a tablet.

After tapping the screen several times, he turned it toward me.

My heart stopped.

It was a photograph.

A very old photograph.

A young man sat in front of a computer, his face illuminated by the blue glow of the screen.

I recognized him immediately.

My blood ran cold.

"No."

Diamond watched my reaction.

"You remember him."

I stepped backward.

"I don't know him."

"Liar."

My heart pounded.

Nine years ago.

I remembered.

I was younger.

Angrier.

Desperate to escape the suffocating expectations surrounding me.

I'd spent hours online, teaching myself things I probably shouldn't have been learning.

One night, I stumbled across a security system.

I'd broken through it.

Not because I wanted money.

Not because I wanted power.

I'd simply wanted to prove that I could.

Then I discovered someone trapped inside the system.

A young man.

Someone being held against his will.

I'd helped him escape.

Then I'd destroyed every trace of what I'd done.

At least, I thought I had.

My fingers began trembling.

"How do you know about this?"

Diamond placed the tablet on the desk.

"Because I was that young man."

My mouth fell open.

"You?"

He nodded.

"I've spent nine years looking for the person who saved me."

I stared at him.

"But how did you know it was me?"

"Because you made one mistake."

My stomach dropped.

"What mistake?"

"You left a signature."

I shook my head.

"That's impossible."

"It wasn't a normal signature."

He walked toward one of the computers.

"It was a pattern."

He pulled up a screen.

Rows of complicated code appeared.

My eyes immediately recognized it.

My breath caught.

"I created that."

Diamond nodded.

"Exactly."

I stared at the screen.

The code I'd written years ago.

Code I'd believed was buried forever.

"You found it."

"I did."

"But why?"

"Because I'm very good at finding people."

He looked directly at me.

"And you're very good at hiding."

I didn't know whether to be frightened or impressed.

Probably both.

Diamond leaned against the desk.

"Do you know what happened after you disappeared?"

I shook my head.

"I went back to my normal life."

"No."

His voice was quiet.

"You went back to being Cora Bane, a spineless omega."

The name sounded different coming from him.

He continued.

"The woman who became Luna. The wife who was constantly criticized. The mother who was made to feel inadequate."

My chest tightened.

"You've been watching me?"

"For years."

Anger replaced my fear.

"You've been spying on me?"

"I've been protecting you."

"I didn't ask you to."

"No."

His gaze remained steady.

"But someone else has been looking for you."

My blood ran cold.

"Who?"

Diamond's expression darkened.

"I don't know yet."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because I need your help."

I laughed bitterly.

"My help?"

"Yes."

"Why would I help you?"

"Because someone is trying to kill me."

Silence.

I stared at him.

He didn't look frightened.

He looked determined.

"And you think I can stop them?"

"No."

He paused.

"I know you can find them."

I shook my head.

"You've got the wrong woman."

Diamond walked closer.

"No, Cora. I've got exactly the right woman."

He stopped in front of me.

"The woman everyone called fat who is in reality a coded genuis."

My throat tightened.

"The woman everyone treated like she was worthless but could be worth the world."

My eyes burned.

"The woman who spent six years believing she had nothing special to offer."

He pointed toward the computer.

"That woman is one of the most gifted hackers I've ever encountered."

I stared at him.

He continued.

"And I want you to work for me."

I couldn't speak.

Then he placed a black card on the desk.

I looked down.

A single number was printed on it.

"$100 million."

My eyes widened.

"What is this?"

"Your first payment."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"For what?"

"For helping me find the person trying to kill me."

I pushed the card back toward him.

"I can't do this."

Diamond didn't move.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not that person anymore."

His eyes narrowed.

"Then become her again."

Nobody had ever asked me to become stronger.

Everyone had only asked me to become smaller.

Lose weight.

Speak less.

Try harder.

Be prettier.

Be quieter.

Be easier to love.

Diamond was asking for the opposite.

He was asking me to become more.

I stared at the black card.

Then at the computer.

Then at the man standing before me.

For the first time in years, power stirred inside me.

Katiana whispered inside my mind.

(Maybe this is who we were supposed to become.)

I slowly reached for the card.

But before my fingers touched it, every computer screen in the room suddenly went black.

Diamond's expression changed.

A second later, red letters appeared across every monitor.

WE FOUND HER.

My blood ran cold.

Diamond turned toward the screens.

Then another message appeared.

CORА BANE.

His jaw tightened.

RUN.