Luna’s Vengeance: A Rejected Mate’s Return

CHAPTER 10 – A Child in the Dark 2

The sincerity in his voice hit her like a slap. She didn’t want to believe him, but the rawness in his eyes unsettled her. There was something about the way he looked at her, as if he, too, had been blindsided by the revelation.

Savannah searched his eyes for any sign of deceit, but she found none. His pain was real. And it mirrored her own.

“I swear, Savannah, I didn’t know,” Colton repeated, stepping closer to her. His hand reached out, brushing against her arm, and the simple touch made her heart lurch. “If I had, you would’ve been the first to know.”

Savannah stood frozen, torn between the need to believe him and the suffocating weight of the whispers. The silence between them stretched, thick and heavy.

Finally, she whispered, “Then why was it kept from me?”

Colton looked away for a moment, his jaw clenched. “I don’t know,” he said softly, his voice quieter now. “But I’ll find out. I’ll make sure you have the answers you deserve.”

Savannah swallowed hard, the emotions swirling inside her threatening to break through. She turned on her heel and walked toward the door, but before she could open it, Colton’s voice stopped her.

“Savannah, wait.” She turned back to find him watching her, his expression pleading. “Don’t let this tear us apart.”

The pain in his eyes almost broke her, but she steeled herself. “I can’t keep living in the dark, Colton. Not anymore.”

With that, she walked out of his office, leaving the door open behind her, the weight of the unanswered questions pressing down on her chest.

The wind outside howled, a constant, eerie wail that rattled the windows and carried the chill of the night into the room. Colton’s quarters were dim, lit only by a single lantern on his desk. The shadows seemed to stretch further than they should, clinging to the walls as if they, too, were aware of the tension hanging in the air.

Savannah didn’t knock. The door swung open with a creak, and she stormed in, her breath sharp with the cold and the raw emotion swelling inside her. Colton looked up from his papers, surprise flashing across his face before it hardened into something unreadable.

“I overheard something tonight, Colton,” she said, her voice sharp, trembling with a blend of anger and hurt. “A child. My child.”

The words landed heavily between them. Colton’s eyes widened, his hand freezing in midair as he reached for a bottle of ink. His gaze flickered from her to the desk and back again. For a long, drawn-out moment, silence filled the space between them, thick and suffocating.

Savannah’s heart pounded in her chest, her pulse ringing in her ears. She could see the flicker of emotion in Colton’s eyes—surprise, confusion, and maybe even something darker, but it was quickly masked by a blank facade. Still, she saw it. The hesitation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Colton said slowly, his voice low and steady, but there was an edge to it. His posture, once casual, now stiffened. “What child?”

“The whispers,” she shot back, stepping forward, her fists clenched at her sides. “I heard them tonight—behind the trees. They were talking about my child, Colton. A child hidden away to protect my bloodline. Is it true?”

His gaze flickered toward the window, the lamplight catching his face in jagged angles, casting shadows across his features. He ran a hand through his hair, the same way he always did when he was on edge. But there was something different this time—he wasn’t looking at her, not fully.

Savannah could see it then. The truth was there, tucked away beneath layers of hesitation, but Colton’s expression was too guarded for her to know what was real. A sharp pang of betrayal gripped her heart. Was he lying to her? Had he kept something so important from her?

“I don’t know what you overheard, but I swear to you, I’ve never heard of any child,” Colton finally spoke, his voice strained, a raw edge creeping into it. “If I had, you would’ve been the first to know. You have to believe me.”

Savannah shook her head, her frustration rising, the doubt clawing at her. “You expect me to believe that?” she demanded, her voice shaking with the force of it. “You think I’d come here, knowing what I heard, and just let you brush it off like it’s nothing?”

Colton took a step toward her, his expression faltering for a brief moment before he regained control. “I would never keep something like that from you,” he said, his voice softer now, but still firm. “I swear on everything I’ve fought for, Savannah, I didn’t know about this child. And if I had, I would’ve told you. I’m not hiding anything from you.”

His words hung in the air, heavy with emotion, and for a moment, Savannah almost believed him. Almost.

But the whispers kept echoing in her mind, the words they’d spoken—the child, hidden for her bloodline. What did that mean? Why would someone keep something like that from her? Was Colton telling her the truth, or was he protecting someone else?

“Then why the secrecy?” she pressed, her voice tight, each word like a knife cutting deeper into her own doubt. “Why keep something so vital from me? If it’s true, if there’s a child I never knew about, then why? What was the point?”

Colton closed his eyes for a brief moment, as though gathering his thoughts, then opened them, his gaze intense. “Because I never knew,” he repeated, the rawness of the words piercing through the mask of his calm. “I never knew about the child, Savannah. You think I would hide something that important from you?” His voice cracked with the weight of the years between them. “You think I could live with myself, knowing you had a child, and I kept that from you?”

Savannah felt a wave of conflicting emotions crash over her. The pain in his voice was real. The raw hurt that bled through was something she couldn’t ignore. She took a step back, trying to process his words, but the storm inside her only intensified. What was she supposed to believe?

She wanted to trust him. Gods, she wanted to. But the thought of someone—anyone—keeping such a secret from her twisted something deep within her.

“Then who?” she demanded, her voice shaking with frustration. “Who would keep that from me? Who’s lying, Colton?”

Colton didn’t answer right away. He ran a hand over his face, his jaw tightening, his eyes darting to the wall as if searching for something. He was torn, and for the first time in their tumultuous history, Savannah could see it clearly: Colton wasn’t just a man hiding behind his Alpha title. He was a man caught in a web of secrets, too.

“I don’t know, Savannah,” he said, his voice low. “But I swear to you, if I did know, I would’ve told you. I’m not hiding anything from you. Not this time.”