002

THE TRUTH

LUNA

I stood in the laundry room, my back pressed against the washing machine, trying to breathe. Trying to think. Trying to understand what I had just witnessed.

Who was she? Why was Damon so sweet to her?

Why did the entire family light up around her like she was the sun and I was just a shadow they stepped over? Three years. She had been gone for three years. And the moment she walked back in, it was like I had never existed.

The door opened.

My body went stiff.

Ryker stepped inside, closing the door behind him. That smirk was still plastered on his face, his eyes moving over me in that way that made me want to scrub my skin raw.

"Poor thing," he said, his voice dripping with fake sympathy. He took a step closer. "I really do feel pity for you, Luna."

I pressed harder against the washing machine, my hands gripping the edge. "Get out."

He ignored me, taking another step. "You know, if you had just given yourself to me, I would never let anyone hurt you. I'd treat you right. Better than my brother ever has."

My stomach turned. "In your dreams. I love Damon, and I will never cheat on him."

Ryker threw his head back and laughed. It was loud and manic, his hand clutching his stomach like I had told him the funniest joke in the world.

"Oh my dear Luna!" He wiped his eyes, still laughing. "So foolish. So innocent. Or maybe just blind."

"What are you talking about?" My voice came out shakier than I wanted.

He stopped laughing, but the grin stayed on his face. "You're acting like you aren't seeing what's going on right in front of your face."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Let me enlighten you then." He moved closer, and I shifted to the side, keeping distance between us. "You see that woman who just walked in? Her name is Aria. She's Damon's first love. Way back from high school. They were inseparable. Everyone thought they'd get married. The whole pack was planning their mating ceremony."

No. No, he was lying.

"She left for the European packs three years ago for business," Ryker continued, watching my face. "And you see, the whole family loves her. Do you know why?"

I shook my head, my throat tight.

"Because she's powerful. An Alpha female from one of the wealthiest packs in existence. Her family controls the Shadow Moon Pack—one of the strongest packs in Europe. If Damon makes her his Luna, our pack would become one of the most powerful packs in the world. We'd be untouchable."

My hands started trembling.

"And you think—" He laughed again, shorter this time. "You actually think he would choose you over that?"

"Stop it." My voice barely came out.

He kept walking toward me. I kept moving back until my shoulders hit the wall. "Damon mated with you because he needed a Luna on paper. That's it. Aria wasn't here, and the pack was starting to talk. Starting to ask questions. Starting to say he might never find his true mate because he was still waiting for someone."

"You're lying." But my voice cracked.

"Am I?" He was right in front of me now, his hand reaching for my face.

I saw it coming. I saw his fingers about to touch my cheek, about to slide down to my neck.

I kicked him. Hard. Right between the legs. He doubled over with a choked gasp, his hands clutching himself, a growl ripping from his throat.

I didn't wait. I ran. Out of the laundry room. Down the hallway. Up the stairs. My feet pounded against the marble as I heard him cursing behind me, but I didn't stop. I didn't look back.

I burst into my room and slammed the door, locking it. My chest heaved as I pressed my back against it, sliding down to the floor.

No. No, Ryker was wrong. He had to be wrong.

Damon loved me. He mated with me. We had a ceremony. We completed the bond.

Didn't we? I tried to remember our mating ceremony. Tried to remember if he had smiled at me. If he had looked happy. If he had marked me willingly.

The memories were blurry. Rushed. His face had been blank the entire time. Selene had organized everything. I hadn't been allowed to invite anyone from my old pack. It had been small. Quick. Over in less than an hour.

And our mating night—I shook my head. No. I wasn't going to think about that.

I pushed myself up from the floor. I needed to talk to Damon. I needed him to tell me that Ryker was lying. That Aria was just an old friend. That I was his mate and that meant something.

I wiped my face and left my room, walking down the hall toward Damon's bedroom. Our bedroom. Except I hadn't slept there in months. He had told me he needed space. That he worked late. That my presence disturbed his alpha rest.

I had believed him. I reached his door and raised my hand to knock. But I heard something.

A sound.

I pressed my ear closer. It was a moan. A woman's moan. My hand shook as I reached for the doorknob. It turned. It wasn't locked.

I pushed the door open.

And I froze.

Aria was on his bed. Damon was on top of her. Her legs were wrapped around his waist. His hands were tangled in her hair. They were moving together, their bodies pressed so close I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. His canines were elongated, hovering over her neck—the mate mark spot.

The breath left my lungs.

Aria's eyes opened. She saw me standing there. And she smirked.

She smirked at me while my mate was inside her. Damon turned his head, following her gaze. He saw me. And he didn't stop. He didn't pull away. He didn't look surprised or guilty or ashamed.

He looked annoyed.

"Don't be delusional, Luna," he said, his voice flat and cold. "You know this bond wasn't real. I only mated with you to avoid the pack saying I was waiting pathetically for someone who left. Nothing more."

My wolf howled in agony inside me.

"I took a silver bullet for you," I whispered, my voice breaking. "It was meant for you. I threw myself in front of it. It destroyed my wolf. Made me weak. I did that for you."

"Oh, just quit this already," Damon said, his tone bored. "No one asked you to take a silver bullet. You did it out of your own foolishness." He thrust into Aria again, making her gasp. "And you were always weak. Don't blame it on the silver bullet."

The words hit me like a slap. Like a thousand slaps.

My wolf, already crippled from the silver poisoning, curled up and whimpered in defeat.

Aria giggled beneath him, running her fingers through his hair. "Damon, she's still here."

"She'll leave," he said, turning back to her. Back to her.

My hands were trembling so badly I thought they might shake right off my wrists. I stepped back. One step. Then another. Then I turned and ran.

Back to my room.

I slammed the door and leaned against it, my whole body shaking. Tears poured down my face. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't—The door pushed open slightly.

I looked down.

Kai stood there, his little face scrunched up in disgust.

"Mommy, why are you always crying and being so weak?" he said, his voice full of frustration. "My friends laugh at me for having a weak mommy each time you drop me off at school."

My heart shattered.

"Kai, sweetheart—"

"They say you're ugly," he continued, his amber eyes—so much like his father's—looking at me with something close to shame. "I want a pretty mommy like Emma. Like Aria."

He turned and ran out of the room before I could say another word.

I sank to the floor, my hand pressed over my mouth to muffle the sobs. My own son. My own child. The one person I thought might love me.

He was ashamed of me.

I don't know how long I sat there. Minutes. Hours. Time stopped meaning anything.

Finally, I pulled myself up. I grabbed my suitcase from the closet and threw it on the bed. I started pulling clothes out of drawers, shoving them inside. I didn't fold anything. I didn't care. I just needed to pack. I needed to leave.

Five years. I had spent five years in this pack. Five years being screamed at. Slapped. Insulted. Worked like a servant. And for what?

For a mate who never loved me.

For a family that never wanted me.

For a son who was ashamed of me.

My phone buzzed. I almost ignored it. But something made me look.

An email.

From: ‘[e-mail]’

Subject: ‘We Need You’

I stared at the screen. I hadn't heard from anyone in the hacking community in five years. Not since I left everything behind to be Damon's perfect little mate.

My fingers trembled as I opened it.

Luna, Or should I say Shadow_Cipher?

We know you've been gone. We know you've been hiding. But the world hasn't forgotten what you can do. You were the best. The ghost in the machine. The one who could break into anything, anywhere, anytime. Banks, government servers, corporate firewalls—nothing could keep you out.

We have a job. A big one. The kind that needs someone with your skills. The kind that pays seven figures. We're not asking you to come back permanently. Just one job. Prove you've still got it.

If you're interested, respond to this email. We'll send details.

Don't let them keep you in a cage, Luna. You were meant to fly.

- Phantom

I read it again. And again.

Shadow_Cipher. That was my handle. My identity before I became Mrs. Damon Blackwood. Before I became nothing.

I had been the best hacker in the underground. Untraceable. Unstoppable. I could break into anything. I had turned down million-dollar offers. I had been feared and respected.

And then I met Damon. And I left it all behind. Deleted my accounts. Destroyed my equipment. Became the perfect, obedient mate.

For what? My fingers moved before my brain caught up.

‘I'm in. Send the details.’ I hit send.

Then I zipped up the suitcase and dragged it off the bed. It hit the floor with a heavy thud. I grabbed my purse, checked for my wallet and phone, and pulled the suitcase toward the door.

I walked down the stairs. The whole family was in the living room now. Selene. Mira. Ryker, still looking pale and angry. Damon and Aria sat on the couch together, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist.

They all turned to look at me.

I reached into my purse and pulled out the papers. The ones I had gotten two months ago. The ones I had been too scared to use. Rejection papers. In the werewolf world, they were worse than divorce. They severed the mate bond completely. Forever.

I walked over to Damon and dropped them on the coffee table in front of him.

"Sign them," I said.

Selene stood up, her face twisted in disgust. "What is this?"

"Rejection papers." I looked at Damon. His expression hadn't changed. "Sign them, and I'll leave. You'll never have to see me again."

Mira burst out laughing. "Oh my God, this is hilarious. You should be grateful, Luna. Grateful we let you stay here as long as we did. Where are you even going to go?"

"I don't care."

"You'll be on the streets," Selene said, stepping closer. "You have no money. No pack. No family. No skills. You're nothing without us. Without this pack."

"Don't worry, Mom," Mira said, still laughing. "She's going to end up begging on the streets. Give it a week and she'll come crawling back." They all laughed. All of them except Damon. He just stared at the papers on the table.

"Sign them," I said again.

He picked up the pen sitting next to the papers. And without a word, without even a moment of hesitation, he signed his name on every page. He didn't ask me to stay. He didn't apologize. He didn't even look at me.

He just signed.

The moment his signature hit the last page, I felt it. The mate bond—weak and pathetic as it had always been—snapped. The emptiness that had always been there became absolute.

I was free.

I took the papers, folded them, and put them back in my purse. Then I turned and walked toward the door. I heard Aria's voice behind me, sweet and mocking.

"Bye, Luna. Good luck."

More laughter.

I opened the door. Rain was pouring down, heavy and cold. The sky was dark even though it was still afternoon. I hadn't even noticed the storm.

I pulled my suitcase outside and started walking. The wheels dragged through puddles, splashing water up onto my legs. My clothes were soaked within seconds. My hair stuck to my face. I couldn't see clearly through the rain, but I kept walking.

I didn't know where I was going.

I didn't care.

Anywhere was better than here. I reached the end of the long driveway and turned onto the main road. My suitcase felt heavier with every step. My shoes squelched with water. My hands were numb from gripping the handle.

I kept walking.

Then I heard the engines. Four black cars. Expensive ones. Sleek, predatory, the kind that screamed power and money. They came from both directions, boxing me in on the empty road.

They stopped.

All of them. At the same time. I froze, the rain pounding down on me, my suitcase handle slipping in my wet grip.

The doors didn't open. I just stood there. Staring at the dark windows. Waiting.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Another email.

‘Your ride is here, Shadow_Cipher. Time to come back to life.’