Chapter 5

Nina's POV 

My mother didn't come to the station to meet me. I had to pay a cab driver with the last bit of cash in my purse to drop me off at my childhood home.

When I pushed open the front door, my mother and stepfather were sitting in the living room, shouting at each other over a stack of unpaid bills.

"You're finally here!" my mother barked, stepping over to me without a hug, without a drop of warmth. She grabbed my arm tightly, her fingers digging into my skin.

She tried to drag me inside, assuming I was still blind. I pulled my hand away with a firm grip.

"Looks like you still have the memory of this place," she sneered, crossing her arms. "Where is your luggage? Why are you dressed like a beggar?"

"I brought what I could," I said, looking her dead in the eye without a cane or a tremor.

My stepfather scoffed from the sofa, spitting on the floor. "A blind brat. You managed to stay useless to yourself and everyone else for two years. You look worse than when I last saw you."

"That's not a smart thing to say," I snapped, stepping cleanly around the coffee table. "Looks like you haven't noticed that I walked in completely unaided."

My stepfather's smirk faded. My mother stared at me, her jaw dropping.

"Wait... you're not blind?" she gasped in sudden excitement. But before I could even answer, her face hardened into pure business. "Well, get into character. Alpha Romeo could stop by the house to claim his bride any moment now."

Regaining my sight meant nothing to them. I was still just a tool.

"Lora ran away!" I snapped, my chest heaving. "She left you! You won't even welcome me back with a shred of decency, even though I'm here to fix a mess that isn't even mine!"

My mother exchanged a glance with her husband, and then they both burst out laughing.

"How pathetic," my mother said. "Marrying the Alpha is a privilege most girls would kill for. Yet you show up looking like trash and won't even appreciate the opportunity. Go upstairs, get your bags, and dress properly."

"My bags are in my room," I muttered, turning away from their cold faces.

I walked up the stairs to my old bedroom, but when I pushed the door open, my heart sank. The room was completely stripped. Lora's fancy clothes and makeup boxes filled the space. My old bed was gone.

"Looking for your junk?" my stepfather’s voice echoed behind me. He stood at the end of the hall, pointing toward the dark, dusty storage closet under the stairs. 

"We moved your stuff down there months ago. Didn't think a blind girl who ran off needed a real room back here."

I stood in the dim hallway, staring into the cramped, filthy storage room where my few remaining clothes had been tossed into cardboard boxes like garbage. I bit the inside of my cheek, fighting back the hot prickle of humiliated tears. I refused to let them see me helpless.

Downstairs, the front doorbell rang.

"That has to be Alpha Romeo," my stepfather whispered in a panic, scrambling down the stairs to fix his collar.

I slowly walked back down, reaching the living room just as my stepfather yanked the front door open, his face twisting into a desperate, fake smile.

Alpha Romeo stood on the porch.

He was imposing, broad-shouldered, and massive, blocking out the evening light behind him. Dressed in a tailored dark coat, his sharp jaw and piercing dark eyes commanded the entire space the second he stepped inside. The pressure of his Alpha aura made the air in the room turn thin.

My heart thundered against my ribs. Romeo wasn't just powerful; he was terrifying. A cold, dangerous predator. I had escaped Steven's fake love only to jump straight into the clutches of a dangerous Alpha.

"Alpha Romeo!" my mother gasped, bowing her head so fast her voice trembled. "Welcome! We... we were just getting everything ready for you."

Romeo didn't look at my mother. His dark, icy gaze swept past my stepfather and locked directly onto me.

"Is this my bride?" Romeo’s voice was deep, smooth, and laced with authority.

"Yes, Alpha!" my stepfather piped up quickly, stepping over to the storage room door and kicking one of my dusty boxes out of the way. "She was just collecting her things—"

Romeo paused. His dark eyes flicked from the filthy storage closet to my faded clothes, then back to my parents' nervous faces.

He stood at his full height, his aura dropping the temperature in the room to ice.

"Looks like my Luna hasn't been treated very well," Romeo said softly.

The words were quiet, but the contempt in his tone made both my mother and stepfather flinch as if they had been struck. Sweat broke out on my stepfather's forehead. Neither of them dared to utter a single word of excuse.

Romeo turned his body toward me. The terrifying coldness in his eyes softened just a fraction as his gaze ran over my face. He didn't look at my dusty box. He held out a broad, warm hand to me.

"Leave it," Romeo said quietly, his eyes fixed on mine. "You won't be needing any of this garbage. Everything you own will be replaced with new things."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, staring at his long, strong fingers. I placed my palm in his. The moment our skin touched, a spark zipped straight up my arm, making my breath hitch. His grip was firm, warm, and possessively steady.

He guided me out the front door toward his sleek black SUV parked in the driveway. But right as he reached for the passenger handle, Romeo stopped dead in his tracks.

His hand let go of mine, and his entire frame went rigid.

He pulled a black handkerchief from his coat pocket and pressed it tightly over his mouth as a violent, deep cough racked his chest.

I stood beside him in complete silence, my pulse hammering. Through the dark cloth, I saw the damp, thick glint of fresh blood.

The terrifying rumors floating around the territory were true. The ruthless Alpha of Whitestone was coughing up blood. He was dying.

Romeo wiped his mouth, folded the handkerchief away, and acted as if nothing had happened. He opened the SUV door for me, his voice entirely steady once more.

"Get in. We're heading straight to the pack house."

I climbed into the passenger seat, and he shut the door before walking around to the driver's side.

As the engine roared to life and the car pulled away from my childhood home, a cold ball of terror tightened in my stomach. I looked out the window, watching my parents' figures fade into the distance.

Romeo thought he was driving away with Lora. He had no idea that the woman sitting right beside him—the woman he had just claimed as his bride—was actually the neglected, substitute sister.