Moonlight Deception

Chapter Five: The mix: truth and lies

Amber’s P.O.V.

“Excuse me?“ I was genuinely confused. What did he mean?

“Never mind,” he said dismissively. “Kieran, give us some privacy.” Kieran stared at him with contempt before finally leaving the room.

I think it was then I realized what a plight I was in. I had, against orders from Victor and common sense, gone to spy on the pack of my newly found mate which just the day before had caught me. As if that were not enough, I allowed myself to become distracted and then got caught again. Only that this time, there was no running away from it. Yup, I truly am in deep s**t. How do I even explain it?

“I’m Aiden. You?” That voice. It caused tingles to dance around on my skin. It was husky but at the same time somewhat smooth. Commanding but calming.

“Amber.” I said shyly, looking at everything else in the room but him.

“Look at me.” I did. “Why?”

“Why what?” I asked. I knew what he was asking. And I had been expecting this question immediately. Kieran carried me here. I was simply buying myself time. Time to think of a reasonable lie. A lie anyone would fall for.

Yes. That was it. You see, werewolves are very simple beings. Once they meet their mate, they’ll immediately feel a longing to be with them. Their wolves will yearn for it and eventually, the human side, no matter how distrustful, will eventually succumb to that yearning.

Now throw sympathy into the mix. Create an illusion of vulnerability. The mate will immediately rise to the occasion. Wanting to protect, care and provide for their other half. No matter what, they’ll be there. It may kill them, but they’ll do it anyway. Anything for their soulmate, right?

The answer I needed was a story. A sweet story that can touch the heart. But it couldn’t be fake. It needed to have some element of truth in it. That’s what will evoke sympathy. The good thing was, I had a lot of stories to tell.

“Why were you at the border? Why were you watching us?” He asked.

“I’m sorry.” I looked away and then at him, willing tears to fill my eyes.

“Tell me. I want the truth. If you tell me the truth, I’ll let it go. Tell me. Please,” he begged.

“Just let me go. I swear you’ll never see me again.”

“I can’t. I have a pack that thinks I shouldn’t be their Alpha. And then a rogue wolf shows up, and I let her go because she promises to never appear again? Doesn’t add up, does it?”

“I’m your mate,” I argued.

“That's why you are here. And not locked up in a dungeon and being tortured.”

“You’d torture me?”

“If you weren’t my mate, yes,” he said.

“But I’m your mate.”

“Which is why you are in my office.”

“Okay.”

“So now I need you to explain yourself,” he said. I had the story cooked up in my head. Now I just had to deliver it smoothly. It wasn’t all lies, but it wasn’t all truths either. It was perfect, exactly what I needed.

“I was eating that morning.” I started. “My mom’s pancakes were so good, I could eat a hundred. But I didn’t even get to finish them that morning. Because they came. They destroyed everything. I clutched my mum’s hand as we ran as fast as we could. She was pregnant.”

“My dad followed behind us, my siblings were nowhere to be found. We were getting closer and closer to the border, but my mum just couldn’t anymore. She fell to the ground. She couldn’t go any longer. She asked us to go without her. She told me she loved me. She was resigned to her fate.”

“My dad carried her up, he wasn’t going to let her stay. We continued walking, slower than ever, but at least we were walking. Finally, we could see the border and relief washed over us. But it disappeared when we saw the wolf walking towards us menacingly.”

“We started to walk backwards. My hands were shaking, and I was crying so much. I was only eight. Why did an eight-year-old girl have to go through all this? The growl we heard behind us was unmistakable. We looked to the left and, lo and behold, another wolf.”

“We didn’t bother looking to the right, we knew we were surrounded. My dad put my mum down and shifted. He fought and fought, using all his training and might as a born Beta but there was one more left. Tired and weak, it wasn’t hard for the wolf to tear him apart.” I started crying. These memories I had forced myself to forget were coming back to me, with painful vividness. Collecting myself, I continued speaking.

“I watched as the wolf hooked its teeth into my dad’s neck, biting and yanking away flesh until it was just a pile of remains. I cried, I cried so much. My mummy cried harder. She clutched her chest, hitting it like that was going to alleviate the pain of losing her mate. Then she looked. I wondered, maybe she was going to unleash some crazy power that could defeat them.”

“Nothing of the sort happened. She only stood up and put me behind her. She was going to protect me. I hated how weak I was. I hated how helpless I was at that moment. But I was just a little girl. What was an eight-year-old supposed to do? The wolf lunged at her, knocking her down. She screamed at me to run. Cowardly, I did.”

“But I shouldn’t have looked back. Because when I did, the gruesome sight I saw traumatized me. I’ll never forget the heartless way the wolf killed my mum’s child, the baby she was carrying. “ I paused, the tears were flowing freely now, I couldn’t control them.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.” He said, looking at me with so much sympathy. He held my hands and looked at me as I resumed talking.

“After that day, my life changed. And I started to search. I searched and searched for packs that were willing to take me in. All of them turned me down. I met with a group of rogues, and together we went on that search. And that’s why I was at your border. I was watching you guys, to see if you were somewhat approachable.”

“So you and the rest of the rogues you know are not responsible for any of the attacks we’ve been doing?”

“We can barely eat, let alone fight.”

“I don’t even know what to say. To think that you went through so much at such a young age is disheartening.”

“Will you let me go?” I asked, looking into his eyes pleadingly.

“You are not going anywhere. You are staying here. With me.”