Chapter 3

Nina's POV 

Lacy scrambled up beside him, pointing a shaking finger at me. 

"She slapped me, Steven! She walked straight up to me and slapped me! I think she can see!"

My heart thundered in my chest. They were both staring at me, terrified that their sick little secret had been caught out. If I admitted it now, Steven would lock me down, or worse. I wasn't ready to leave yet. I needed to play this right.

I let my eyes fill up with instant tears. I blinked, letting them roll down my cheeks, and allowed my shoulders to shake like I was terrified. I stared blankly at the space between Steven's ear and the wall, letting my hands tremble in front of me.

"Steven?" I sobbed, my voice cracking with pure heartbreak and fear. "Is that you? What's going on?"

Steven hesitated. He stepped closer and waved his hand directly in front of my eyes. I didn't flinch. I kept my gaze hollow, letting the tears fall right through his sightline.

"Nina, why did you drop the soup?" Steven asked, his voice still tense, probing for the truth. "And why did you hit the maid?"

"I didn't mean to drop it!" I cried out, wiping my face with my sleeve like a panicked child. "I... I tried to drink it, but it tasted horrible. It smelled rotten, like someone put dirt or something nasty in it!"

I pointed a shaking finger in the general direction of Lacy's voice.

"She was so rude to me when she brought it in!" I choked out, letting my voice fill with angry frustration. 

"She was mocking me because I'm blind! She handed me the bowl and laughed at me. I got so mad... I tried to push her away, and my hand hit her face! I’m sorry, Steven, I just... I felt so helpless and disrespected!"

Steven stared at me. He knew me. For two years, I had been quiet, gentle, and obedient. I never raised my voice, and I never lost my temper. The idea of me slapping someone on purpose seemed impossible to him.

He turned his head slowly and looked at Lacy. His panic was gone, replaced by irritation.

"Did you give her bad soup?" Steven demanded, his tone cold. "Did you say something to her?"

Lacy’s jaw dropped. "What? No! Steven, she's lying! She hit me on purpose! Look at my face!"

"Shut up," Steven hissed at her under his breath. He looked back at me, seeing my trembling frame and the tears streaming down my face. His shoulders finally relaxed. He was completely convinced.

He stepped over the mess, wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me against his chest. 

"It's okay, Nina. It's alright. I'm here."

He stroked my hair, pretending to comfort me, while over his shoulder, Lacy glared at me with pure hatred. I buried my face in his neck. 

“You can't see, right?” He murmured the question in my ear. 

“No.” I replied simply. 

After Steven left my room to deal with the broken mess, I stayed by the window for a long time. The house was quiet, but my mind was screaming. 

Every little detail of the past two years kept flashing in my head—every time Steven told me he loved me, every time he held my hand and promised I was safe with him.

It was all garbage.

I needed fresh air. I picked up my wooden cane and slowly walked out of my room, tapping the floor with every step to keep up the act. I made my way toward the back balcony, where the cool evening breeze usually blew.

As I got closer to the open glass doors, I heard hushed voices coming from the shadows of the patio.

I stopped right behind the heavy velvet curtain, keeping my body hidden.

"I can't do this anymore, Steven!" Lacy’s voice was sharp, full of anger and tears. 

"Look at my face! That blind bitch slapped me! I’m tired of hiding in the dark, acting like a stupid secretary while she gets to live in your house like a queen!"

I held my breath, waiting to hear what Steven would say. Part of me—the foolish, desperate part of me—still hoped he would defend me.

"Calm down, Lacy," Steven’s voice was low and soothing, the exact tone he used whenever he tried to handle me. 

"You know why we have to do this. She has nowhere else to go, and everyone in the pack thinks I'm a hero for taking care of a disabled girl."

"I don't care!" Lacy snapped. "I want to be your wife! I want everyone to know I’m your woman!"

I heard the soft rustle of clothes, and then Steven spoke again, his voice dropping into a tender whisper.

"You are my woman, Lacy. You're the only one I love, and I will always love you. Nina means nothing to me. She's just a responsibility. Don't worry, okay? You and I will always be together. Just give me a little more time."

A loud ring cracked through the quiet hallway, making me jump slightly.

My phone was buzzing in my pocket.

I turned around instantly, tapping my cane hard against the floor to make noise as I hurried back down the corridor, hoping they wouldn't realize I had been standing right there. I reached my bedroom, stepped inside, and closed the door before pulling the phone out.

The screen showed my mother's name.

My stomach twisted into a hard knot. My parents divorced when I was just a child. When my mother remarried, she completely turned her back on me. Her entire world became her new husband and my stepsister, Lora. I was just an extra mouth to feed, a ghost living in the corner of their house.

The only reason I ever stood up to my mother in the past was because of Steven. I left my pack and moved here for him because I truly believed that once my sight came back, Steven and I would get married and build a real family. A family that actually wanted me.

I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello, Mom?"

"Nina! Finally, you pick up!" My mother’s voice rushed through the speaker, loud, demanding, and full of panic. There was no greeting, no asking how I was doing, and not a single question about my eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

"It's Lora! That foolish girl ran away!" my mother wailed. "Her wedding with Alpha Romeo is in two days, and she vanished! She left a note saying she refuses to marry a dying man!"

Alpha Romeo.

Romeo was the Alpha of my home pack, the Whitestone pack. Years ago, before I ever met Steven, I held a secret, silent crush on Romeo. He was powerful and dangerous, but I had always looked at him from afar.

"Mom, why are you telling me this?" I asked, my voice growing cold.

"You need to come back right now, Nina!" my mother demanded, not a single drop of hesitation in her tone. 

"You have to take Lora's place. You have to marry Alpha Romeo."

“I'm supposed to be the blind daughter. I'm sure Alpha Romeo knows Lora is not blind.”

"I don't care about any of that!" my mother cut me off sharply. 

"The Whitestone pack needs this alliance! If Romeo finds out Lora ran away, he will destroy our family! You owe us, Nina! I raised you, and now you need to step up and do your duty for your sister!"

Duty. That was all I ever was to them. A tool to be used when Lora messed up. She didn't care if I was blind. She didn't care if I was happy. She just wanted to save her precious stepdaughter.

To her, a blind daughter doing her ‘duty’ wasn't such a big deal after all. 

"Mom..."

"Get on a bus tonight!" she ordered over the phone. "The ceremony is in two days. Don't be selfish for once in your life!"

The call went dead.

I slowly lowered the phone from my ear. The room was deathly quiet.

I looked at the wall, then down at my cane.

Steven was outside, kissing the woman who blinded me, telling her he loved her. My family was miles away, demanding I sell myself to an Alpha to save a sister who didn't care about me. Nobody in this world loved me. Nobody was coming to save me.

A quiet, bitter laugh escaped my throat.

My mother wanted me to take Lora's place? Fine.

I was done waiting for Steven's fake love. I was done sitting in the dark, playing the helpless victim while everyone walked all over me.

I opened my closet, pulled out a small travel bag, and began packing my things.

Alpha Romeo wanted a bride. I would be his bride. It suddenly didn't matter to me that I was going to surrender myself to the most ruthless Alpha I had ever known.