Lies Beneath the Moonlight

Chapter 7: The Lie His Mother Built

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Kane did not remember the walk back to the Blackwood estate.

He remembered only fragments: the moon hanging pale above the trees, his fists opening and closing at his sides, and Selene's mother's words repeating in his head.

"Ask your mother."

By the time he reached the estate, his wolf was clawing beneath his skin.

Ilsa was in the sitting room arranging bonding invitations when Kane entered. She looked up with a smile that vanished the moment she saw his face.

"Kane? What happened? Is Vivra all right?"

"Who is Harlan?"

The invitation in Ilsa's hand slipped to the floor.

That was enough.

Kane stared at her. "You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"Kane, I can explain."

"Then explain."

His voice was quiet. That frightened Ilsa more than shouting would have.

She slowly sat down. "You were eighteen. You had just been chosen for the Northern Stronghold. It was the greatest opportunity our bloodline had received in generations."

"And Selene?"

Ilsa closed her eyes.

"She had just been diagnosed."

Kane's jaw tightened until it hurt.

"You knew she was dying."

"The healers said she might not survive the year."

"So you hired a man to kiss her."

"I was trying to save your future!"

The room exploded with Kane's roar. A glass cabinet rattled against the wall.

"My future? You made me believe the woman I loved had betrayed me!"

Ilsa began crying. "If you had known, you would have stayed. You would have thrown everything away for her."

"That was my decision to make."

His mother flinched.

"You stole it from me."

Kane's voice broke on the final word.

He remembered the three days outside Selene's door. He remembered begging her for one honest sentence. He remembered throwing their rings at her feet.

All that time, she had been sick.

All that time, his mother had known.

"Did she agree immediately?" he asked.

Ilsa looked down.

"Answer me."

"No."

"What did you say to her?"

Ilsa's silence made his stomach twist.

"What did you say?"

"I told her that an Alpha couldn't spend his life caring for a dying mate. I told her the pack needed you. I told her that if she truly loved you, she would let you go."

Kane turned away because he could no longer look at her.

Eighteen-year-old Selene had been told she was dying and, before she had even learned how to fight for herself, someone had convinced her that loving him meant disappearing.

"Seven years," he whispered.

Ilsa stood. "Kane, I thought she would die quickly. I never imagined she would survive this long."

He looked back at her so sharply that she recoiled.

"Do you hear yourself?"

Ilsa covered her mouth.

"She survived, Mother. She fought for seven years. And because of your lie, she fought alone."

"I paid for some of her treatments anonymously."

Kane laughed once. There was no humor in it.

"You think that makes this better?"

"I was trying to help."

"You visited her yesterday and asked her to disappear again, didn't you?"

Ilsa went still.