Chapter 68: Not The Same Kind

Hecate POV

The door closed behind Maddox, and the silence rushed in to fill the space where his warmth had been.

I stood alone in the washroom, the echo of his footsteps fading down the corridor, the distant sound of the crowd calling him back to his duties. My lips still tingled from his kisses. My skin still burned where his hands had touched me. My heart was a war drum in my chest, beating out a rhythm I did not want to hear.

I turned back to the mirror.

The woman who stared back at me was not the woman I had been three years ago. Dark hair. Dark eyes. A face that belonged to a stranger. But beneath the mask, beneath the magic, beneath the carefully constructed walls, Samantha was still there. Still hurting. Still hoping. Still terrified of what she had become.

I gripped the edge of the basin and forced myself to breathe.

The ceremony was about to begin. Maddox would be standing on the platform, his arms raised to the moon, his voice calling down the Goddess. The young wolves would be gathered in their circle, their hearts open, their hopes high. And I would be there, watching from the shadows, pretending to be a woman I was not.

I splashed cold water on my face and dried it with a cloth. I smoothed my gown, tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and lifted my chin.

I was Hecate. I was strong. I was not afraid.

The door creaked open behind me.

I tensed, expecting Maddox to have returned, expecting some excuse, some stolen moment, some whispered promise. But the reflection in the mirror showed me a different face.

Golden hair. Cold eyes. Crimson gown.

Carmen.

"I have been looking for you," she said, stepping into the washroom and closing the door behind her.

My blood went cold. My hands tightened on the basin. I forced my expression to remain neutral, blank, uninterested. But inside, something dark and ancient was waking up. The wolf. The witch. The woman who had been betrayed by this viper three years ago.

I had not expected to see her here. I had not prepared myself for this confrontation. And now she was standing behind me, her smile sharp, her eyes scanning me the way a cat scans a bird.

"How can I help you, Luna Carmen?" I asked, my voice steady, almost bored.

Carmen approached slowly, her heels clicking on the stone floor. She stopped a few feet away, close enough to be intimate, far enough to be threatening.

"I wanted to speak with you. Privately." She tilted her head, studying my face. "About a personal matter."

I turned to face her, keeping my back straight, my hands relaxed at my sides. "I am listening."

Carmen clasped her hands before her, her expression shifting into something softer, almost vulnerable. But I knew her too well to be fooled. The vulnerability was a mask. The softness was a weapon.

"You are a healer," she said. "A woman of medicine and magic. You understand the body in ways that most of us do not."

"I have some knowledge, yes."

"Then perhaps you can help me." Carmen stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Blackthorn is my pack by inheritance. I am its Luna. But you know how things are for infertile Lunas. The whispers. The pity. The questions."

I said nothing. I let her words hang in the air.

"Alpha Erebus has begun to ask why I have not conceived in three years," Carmen continued, her jaw tightening. "Three years, Hecate. And nothing. Not a single pregnancy. Not even a false hope."

Ah. So this was what plagued her. The Goddess's punishment, delivered not in fire or flood, but in the one thing Carmen valued above all else. Power. And power, in a wolf pack, flowed through bloodlines.

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to spit in her face and tell her that the Moon Goddess had cursed her womb for her cruelty, for her ambition, for the way she had stolen her own sister's mate and thrown Samantha away like garbage.

But I did not. I could not. Hecate did not know Carmen. Hecate had no reason to hate her.

"That sounds difficult," I said, keeping my voice neutral. "But I am not sure what you expect me to do about it."

Carmen's eyes gleamed. "You are the queen's healer. You have access to treatments, potions, magic that others do not. I am willing to pay. Generously."

"I see." I tilted my head, pretending to consider. "And what makes you think that I can help where others have failed?"

"Because I have heard things about you, Hecate." Carmen's smile returned, sly and knowing. "Things about the Midnight Pack. About the magic that flows through its healers. I am not a fool. I know that you are more than you appear."

I held her gaze, giving nothing away. "I will consider your request. But I make no promises."

"That is all I ask." Carmen inclined her head, then hesitated. Her eyes drifted to the door, then back to me. "You seem familiar, you know. There is something about your eyes. The way you look at me. I cannot quite place it."

My heart lurched. "Perhaps you have seen me in passing. The castle is full of servants and healers. We all look alike to nobles."

Carmen laughed, a light, tinkling sound. "Perhaps." She turned to go, then paused with her hand on the door. "You are in a hurry to return to the ceremony, I see. Eager to throw yourself into the king's arms?"

I went still.

Carmen glanced back at me, her smile sharp. "Come now, Hecate. We are both intelligent women. Do not insult me by pretending. I saw the way he looked at you. I saw the way you looked at him." She shrugged. "I am not judging you. In your position, I would aim just as high. And the queen is a cripple. She does not deserve such a powerful mate."

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

"We could be allies, you and I," Carmen continued, her voice silky. "You have his attention. I have influence across the Seven Packs. Together, we could achieve great things."

She thought we were the same. She thought I was another ambitious woman willing to climb over anyone to reach the top. She had no idea who she was speaking to. No idea that the woman standing before her had once called her sister.

"Luna Carmen," I said, stepping closer to her. Close enough to see the flecks of gold in her cold eyes. Close enough to smell the perfume she had worn since we were girls.

She smiled, expecting agreement.

I leaned in, my voice barely a whisper.

"I hope your womb never conceives a single child," I said. "I hope you live a long, empty life surrounded by everything you ever wanted, and still feel nothing. I hope you die alone, with no one to mourn you, and that the Moon Goddess laughs when you beg for mercy."

Carmen's smile froze.

I stepped back, straightened my gown, and walked past her to the door.

"Enjoy the ceremony," I said, and left.

---

The courtyard was packed.

Guests had spilled out of the great hall and gathered beneath the open sky, their faces upturned toward the full moon. The light was brighter than usual, almost silver, casting long shadows across the grass. The air hummed with anticipation.

I slipped through the crowd, keeping to the edges, finding a place near the back where the shadows were thick and no one would look twice. My heart was still pounding from my encounter with Carmen. My hands were still trembling.

But I forced myself to breathe. To focus. To be Hecate.

On the raised platform at the center of the courtyard, Maddox stood with his arms raised to the sky. The moonlight caught the gold in his eyes, the crimson of his coat, the pendant at his throat.

And then his gaze found mine.

Across the crowd, across the distance, across the lies and secrets and years of pain, he looked at me. His eyes were deep and meaningful, full of hope and longing and something that looked almost like love.

He had kissed me in the washroom. He had whispered that he wanted the Goddess to bind us as mates. He had looked at me as if I were the answer to every prayer he had ever whispered.

I held his gaze.

I did not look away.

Around us, the crowd fell silent. The musicians lowered their instruments. The torches flickered, and the moonlight grew brighter, almost blinding.

The ritual had begun.

And somewhere in the darkness above, the Moon Goddess was watching.