Chapter 13: The Woman Behind the Lie

Isla's POV

Three weeks had passed since I arrived at the Laurel Healers' Guild.

In those three weeks, I had barely thought about Damien.

At least, that was what I told myself.

The truth was that sometimes, in the quiet hours before dawn, I still reached instinctively for the bond that was no longer there.

And every time, I found nothing.

It hurt less now.

That was enough.

I had thrown myself into my research, spending twelve-hour days in the Guild's ancient laboratories.

My work on regenerative moon herbs had progressed faster than I had expected.

Evelyn had even asked me to present my findings to the Guild Council.

For the first time in my life, I wasn't someone's future Luna.

I was simply Isla.

A healer.

A researcher.

And I was beginning to like the woman I was becoming.

One afternoon, I was examining an ancient energy crystal when Evelyn suddenly entered the laboratory.

"Isla, we need to talk."

I looked up.

"What happened?"

She placed a sealed envelope on the table.

"This arrived from North America."

My fingers froze.

I knew exactly where it had come from.

"I don't want it."

"You should read it."

"If it's from Damien, I don't care."

Evelyn studied me for a moment.

"It's not from Damien."

That made me look up.

"Then who?"

"The Blackwood Pack Council."

My heart tightened.

I reluctantly opened the envelope.

Inside was a formal report.

My eyes moved across the first page.

Seraphina's medical records had been falsified.

The Moon Sickness diagnosis was fraudulent.

The fertility compound had been administered weeks before Damien's first mark.

And there was more.

The report stated that Seraphina had been pregnant before the supposed life-saving marking ceremony.

My fingers tightened around the paper.

I already knew most of this.

But the final page made my blood run cold.

The father of Seraphina's child was not Damien.

I read the sentence twice.

Then a third time.

The original paternity analysis had been concealed from the Alpha.

The child wasn't Damien's.

My chest tightened.

All those sacrifices.

All those arguments.

All the pain.

Damien had destroyed our relationship for a child that wasn't even his.

I should have felt satisfaction.

Instead, I felt strangely empty.

Evelyn watched me carefully.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes."

I folded the report.

"What happened to Seraphina?"

"She's under investigation."

"And Damien?"

"He has withdrawn his recognition of her as his mate."

I nodded.

"Good."

Evelyn hesitated.

"There's something else."

"What?"

"Damien has requested permission to visit the Guild."

My expression changed immediately.

"No."

"I expected you'd say that."

"I don't want to see him."

"I told him that."

Relief washed through me.

Then Evelyn added quietly, "But he said he isn't coming to ask you to return."

I looked at her.

"Then why is he coming?"

"He wants to apologize in person."

I laughed softly.

"He had five years to apologize."

Evelyn nodded.

"That's what I told him."

I turned back toward my research.

"Tell him no."

"I will."

But that evening, another message arrived.

Not from Damien.

From Chloe.

"Isla, you need to know this before you decide anything."

A photograph was attached.

It showed Damien standing outside the Blackwood Pack House.

He looked nothing like the Alpha I remembered.

His clothes were disheveled.

His face was thinner.

His eyes looked exhausted.

Under the picture was a message.

"He stepped down from the Luna succession ceremony. The Council has suspended Seraphina's privileges. But that's not the important part."

Another photograph appeared.

This one showed a man being escorted into the pack's detention center.

My eyes narrowed.

"Who is that?" I typed.

Chloe replied immediately.

"Seraphina's uncle."

I stared at the image.

Then another message arrived.

"He confessed that they planned the entire thing."

My pulse quickened.

"What exactly did they plan?"

"Everything. The fake Moon Sickness. The false medical records. The pregnancy story. Even the reason Damien believed he owed Seraphina his life."

I went still.

The reason he owed her his life.

I remembered how many times Damien had repeated those words.

"She saved me."

"I owe her everything."

"I can't let her die."

What if that had been a lie too?

I immediately called Chloe.

"Tell me everything."

"According to her uncle, Seraphina arranged the rogue attack five years ago."

My blood ran cold.

"What?"

"She knew Damien would be there. She deliberately led the rogues toward him."

I stood up so quickly that my chair fell backward.

Five years ago.

The Blood Moon.

The attack that nearly killed Damien.

The night I had nearly torn my soul apart saving him.

I had always believed Seraphina had saved him first.

But if this confession was true...

She had caused the attack.

And then she had made Damien believe she was his savior.

"Isla?" Chloe's voice came through the phone.

I couldn't answer.

My hands were shaking.

Everything suddenly made sense.

Seraphina hadn't entered Damien's life by accident.

She had been planning this for years.

And I had been the obstacle she needed to remove.

"Chloe," I finally whispered.

"Yes?"

"Send me the confession."

"Already did."

I opened the file.

There were dozens of pages.

Names.

Payments.

Messages.

Medical records.

Everything.

The final page contained a statement from Seraphina herself.

"I only needed Isla out of the picture. Once Damien believed he owed me his life, he would never refuse me."

I stared at the sentence.

Then I slowly closed the document.

For months, I had wondered whether I had overreacted.

Whether I had been too harsh.

Whether I should have trusted Damien more.

Now I knew.

I hadn't been paranoid.

I hadn't been cruel.

I had simply been deceived.

But there was one thing I still didn't understand.

Why had Seraphina gone to such lengths to destroy me?

What did she really want from Damien?

And why had she been planning it for five years?

Evelyn walked into the room again.

"Isla, the Council has sent another message."

I looked up.

"What now?"

She placed a small black box on the table.

"They recovered this from Seraphina's private room."

I opened it.

Inside was an old photograph.

My breath caught.

It showed Damien and Seraphina together five years ago.

But that wasn't what shocked me.

On the back of the photograph was a handwritten date.

The same date as the Blood Moon attack.

And beneath it were six words.

"Phase One: Separate Isla from Damien."

I stared at the photograph.

This hadn't started recently.

It had started five years ago.

And suddenly, I realized something terrifying.

My entire relationship with Damien might have been built on a lie.