Two

CHAPTER TWO

CALISTA’S POV

The first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was the pounding in my head.

I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above me, trying to remember where I was, but nothing came to mind.

I pushed myself up and immediately froze.

This wasn’t my room, I looked around in confusion, noticing the unfamiliar bed, the small table beside it, and the clothes scattered on the floor.

My heart began to beat faster.

What happened last night?

I tried to remember, I remembered the bar, I remembered drinking, I remembered walking into a room, I remembered seeing a man but everything after that was a complete blur.

I looked down at myself and my heart dropped when I realized what had happened.

I had slept with someone.

A stranger. My hands began to shake as I pulled the blanket closer around myself.

I had never been with a man before, I had been saving myself for years, even though I knew Axton might never look at me the way I looked at him and  now I had lost my virginity to someone whose name I didn’t even know.

A wave of panic rushed through me.

I slowly turned my head toward the other side of the room.

There was a man standing in front of the mirror with his back facing me.

He was already dressed.

I couldn’t see his face, but something about his height and the way he stood made my heart pound even harder.

“Please…” My voice came out weak.

The man didn’t move.

“Who are you?”

Still nothing.

I swallowed nervously and tightened my grip on the blanket. “Please, can I see your face?”

For a few seconds, he remained completely still, then  he slowly turned around.

My breath caught in my throat, my  eyes widened.

I covered my mouth with both hands as shock ran through my entire body.

No! This couldn’t be real.

Standing in front of me was the last person I expected to see.

Alpha Axton.

The man I was supposed to watch become my sister’s mate tomorrow.

The man whose life I had saved, the  man who now looked at me as if I were the worst person in the world.

His face was cold, unreadable, and completely different from the man I had imagined when I secretly dreamed about him.

He stared at me for a long moment before speaking. “How calculating are you, Calista?”

I couldn’t speak.

He took a slow step toward me “I must commend you for the hard work you put into this plan.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

His expression didn’t change. “You waited until the night before my mating ceremony, when my future Luna disappeared, then you found your way into my room.”

“No.” I shook my head immediately. “I didn’t plan anything.”

“Of course.” His voice was filled with disbelief.

“I swear, I didn’t know this was your room. I was drunk. I couldn’t even see properly.”

He stared at me coldly. “Then tell me where Eira is.”

My heart sank. “I don’t know.”

His jaw tightened. “Where is she, Calista?”

“I don’t know where she is!”

He stepped closer and grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him. “Stop lying to me.”

“I am not lying!”

“You have always wanted to be with me.” His words made my chest tighten. “Now you have gone far as getting rid of  Eira .”

“No,” I whispered. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

How could I explain something I couldn’t even remember?

“I…”

The word barely left my lips, and I lowered my eyes for a moment as I struggled to gather enough strength to speak.

“She is my sister.”

“Your stepsister.”

I slowly looked back at him, my eyes already filled with tears as I tried to make him understand what I could barely explain myself.

“She is still my sister, Axton, and I would never hurt her.”

“Then where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

My voice came out weak and trembling, and I quickly swallowed as the tears blurred my vision.

“I don’t know where she is. I didn’t see her, I didn’t hurt her, and I don’t know where she went. I swear I am telling you the truth.”

Axton continued staring at me for several seconds, his face giving away nothing as he listened to my words, and when he finally turned away, there was no sign that he believed anything I had said.

“The mating ceremony is tomorrow.”

I wiped the tears from my cheeks with trembling fingers, still trying to understand why he was suddenly talking about the ceremony when Eira was missing.

“What does that have to do with this?”

He turned his cold eyes back toward me.

“You will replace her until she’s back”

My heart seemed to stop as I stared at him, unable to believe that he could say something like that so calmly. “No…”

The word came out weakly, almost like a plea.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “You heard me.”

“I can’t.”

My voice trembled as I shook my head, tears continuing to fall down my cheeks.

“You can.”

“Please ”

Axton walked toward me again, his movements slow and deliberate, and when he stopped in front of me, he reached out and lifted my chin, forcing me to look directly into his cold eyes. “Isn’t this what you have always wanted?”

I struggled to breathe as I stared at him, my heart pounding painfully against my chest.

“To become my Luna?”

Tears slipped down my face, and when I finally managed to speak, my voice was so weak that it almost disappeared between us.

“Not like this.”

His expression remained cold, and his fingers stayed beneath my chin for another moment before he finally released me. “I don’t care what you wanted or how you planned this.

Then he walked out, leaving me alone in the unfamiliar room with tears running down my face.

I had spent years dreaming about becoming Axton’s Luna.

But now that the dream was finally within my reach, I had never felt more terrified in my life.