Chapter 15: What Was Hidden
1027 Words
Chapter 15: What Was Hidden
Ava's POV…
Hearing her call my name again... something just cracked inside me.
"Let's get you some help," I said, trying to keep my voice steady even though my hands were shaking a little. I lifted her up carefully, feeling how light and frail she'd gotten. It made my stomach twist.
I got her back to the tiny room, helping her lie down on the scratchy mattress. My bag was already half open from earlier, so I grabbed my herbs and started prepping to heal her. My hands were steady, but my heart? Not so much.
Just as I was about to touch her, she grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
I blinked down at her, confused. "You gotta let me heal you," I said quietly.
But she just shook her head a little, her eyes already filling with tears. "Ava… I'm sorry," she whispered, voice cracking all over the place. "I was such a fool."
I froze.
She kept going, even when I didn't say anything. "I thought... I thought if Clara became Luna, it would fix everything. Make me proud. Make us powerful. I thought it would make me strong too... I was wrong."
My throat felt like it was closing up.
I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, or just walk out of there and pretend like none of this ever happened. Instead, I shoved it all down. I forced a tiny, fake smile and said, "You’re not making any sense right now. You’re sick. Let me just heal you, okay?"
I reached for her again, but she caught my wrist, tighter this time.
"No, listen to me, please," she begged. "I know who you are. I know you’re Ava."
I froze, hand half-raised, heart thudding painfully against my ribs.
She swallowed hard. "I don’t deserve to be saved. After everything I did, maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe this is the moon goddess punishing me."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
I didn’t want her pity. I didn’t want her guilt. I didn’t want her sitting there, looking at me like I was the one doing something wrong by trying to help.
"I never hated you," she whispered. "Not really. I was just... jealous. Angry. Clara... she hasn’t found her mate yet. She’s scared. So I took it out on you. I should’ve stopped being a jerk a long time ago."
I couldn’t hold it anymore. Tears blurred my vision as I pulled my hand away and stood up, crossing my arms so she wouldn’t see how bad they were shaking.
"Why?" I whispered. "Why did you all hate me so much? After everything... after everything I did for you?"
She closed her eyes, like she couldn't even look at me.
"I was wrong," she said again, voice breaking completely. "I'm sorry."
I turned away from her, swiping at my eyes angrily. I hated how messy this felt. How complicated. I hated that I still cared what she thought. I hated that part of me still wanted her to say she loved me. That I was enough.
"There's something else," she said after a long second.
I glanced back at her, wiping my nose on my sleeve like a little kid. "What?"
She looked terrified. She pressed a shaking hand against her forehead like even saying it out loud would kill her.
"The Alpha..." she started, voice barely above a whisper. "He didn't just get sick. It wasn't natural."
I stared at her, frowning. "What are you talking about?"
She sucked in a shaky breath and forced herself to meet my eyes. "Clara... she’s been drugging him. Little by little. Mixing it into his food. Keeping him sick. Making sure he’s weak enough that no one would suspect anything."
My stomach dropped. Like, full on, falling-out-of-my-body dropped.
"What?" I croaked out.
She reached out, grabbing my hand again, desperate. "She didn’t want to kill him outright. People would’ve gotten suspicious. She just needed him weak. So she could take control. She’s been working on making the pack hers for a while now."
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like the whole room shrank down into nothing.
"You have to stop her," Melra said, clutching my hand tighter. "You have to take your mate back. You have to burn everything Clara touched. Get your scent out from her. Make them see the true luna. Take back your place, Ava. Before it’s too late."
I shook my head, stepping back from her like I didn’t even recognize her anymore. This woman — the one who used to hit my head on the wooden bed when I was little, who used to drag my hair hard and tell me I'm a nobody, a wolf-less girl — she was the one who helped tear me apart. And now she was asking me to fix it all?
I didn’t even realize I was crying again until the tears hit my shirt.
I opened my mouth to say something — I didn’t even know what — when her eyes fluttered closed.
"Hey," I said sharply, panic shooting through me. "No. Stay awake. Stay awake, please—"
I shook her gently, calling her name again, louder this time. But she didn’t move. Her hand slipped from mine, landing uselessly on the bed.
"No, no, no," I whispered, trying to shake her again. "Don’t you dare. You don't get to tell me all this and then just—"
The door behind me slammed open so hard it made the walls shake.
I spun around, heart still racing — and there she was.
Clara.
Her eyes wide, mouth hanging open in shock as she stared at me.
For a second, everything went dead silent.
Then Clara screamed — this high-pitched, furious sound that made my blood turn to ice — and I just stood there, staring at her, feeling everything inside me snap like a rubber band pulled too tight.
I didn’t even have to ask.
The way she looked at me, the way she was already moving forward.
I turned my whole body slowly to face her, fists clenching at my sides.
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