The Sacred Luna

Chapter 18

(Sanya's POV)

The room spins, and I have to grab the back of a chair to steady myself for a second, because I can't believe what I'm hearing. I can't believe he's still obsessed with finding out Aaron's name.

So obsessed, he's threatening to marry another woman right in front of me. And the worst part? The woman he's threating to marry is none other than Maya.

The same Maya, who I now realize has been waiting for this moment since the day she showed up at our reception and revealed my past to him.

Is this what she was after?

To become Tyron's wife?

"You can't marry her," I say, my voice high-pitched and frantic. "You're already married to me!"

"Then tell me his name and I promise, I won't marry her," Tyron says, taking a step closer.

His ice-blue eyes bore into mine with an intensity that makes me want to look away. But I force myself to hold his gaze because I refuse to cower, to back down and submit to him.

Not this time. Not after everything I've been through.

I shake my head. "I can't."

"Fine. If that's what you want." Tyron says, and the smile on his face widens, becomes more predatory, like he knew I'd refuse and he's been counting on it. "But Maya here saw your lover before. She'll describe his appearance and my painter will draw his picture."

A thin man in his forties steps out from behind him. And I hadn't even noticed him standing there until now.

Gray-streaked hair pulled back in a small ponytail, he holds a large sketchpad and a piece of charcoal.

He sets up his materials on a small table in the living room, adjusting the pad so it's at the perfect angle. His expressionless face makes it clear he's going to do the job he's been hired for without getting involved in the drama unfolding around him. My heart starts pounding so hard it drowns out everything happening around me.

This is it.

This time, Tyron is going to find out Jake is the man he's been looking for, and nothing will stop him from taking his life.

Maya begins describing Aaron, her voice loud and confident, almost gleeful. "He's tall," she says, her eyes fixed on the painter, making sure he's getting every detail. "About six-one, maybe six-two. Dark brown hair, a few strands falling over his forehead in a natural way."

The painter's hand moves across the paper, quick strokes that begin to form a shape, a head, shoulders.

"His eyes are also dark brown," Maya continues, and she's warming to her subject now. Her hands gesturing as she speaks, painting a picture with her words that the artist is translating onto paper. "But they have these flecks of gold in them when the light hits them just right. And his build is lean but athletic, like a runner's build, not bulky like the warriors in the pack. But strong in a quiet, understated way."

My legs start to shake. Then my knees buckle and I fall to my knees.

The impact sends a jolt of pain through my legs but I barely notice. My entire world is collapsing around me, everything I've been fighting for about to crumble to dust right before my eyes.

This is it. Aaron will be exposed. Tyron will kill him, and I can already tell it won't be quick or merciful.

No, it'll be brutal. And public. And set up to humiliate me as much as it destroys Aaron.

Seeing me so shaken, rage flickers in Tyron's eyes, then fades as quickly as it appeared. A cold smile curves his lips in its place.

The painter draws quickly, his hand moving with practiced efficiency across the paper, adding details, shading, bringing the face to life with each stroke of charcoal.

I want to look away but I can't. I'm frozen in place, watching my worst nightmare come to life before my eyes.

Finally, after what feels like forever but is probably only minutes, the painter holds up the finished portrait. Turning it so everyone in the room can see.

I close my eyes, already seeing the worst come to be.

I have to warn Aaron.

He has to escape before he falls in Tyron's hands.

Filled with resolve, I open my eyes and push to my feet. But before I can edge towards the stairs, the room erupts in shocked gasps and confused murmurs.

I stop, and instinctively look at the portrait. And blink, once, twice, certain my eyes are playing tricks on me. The stress and fear must've finally driven me to hallucinations.

But I'm not the only one who's confused.

Everyone in the living room, servants and family members alike frozen in place. Their mouths hanging open as they try to process what they're seeing. Even Tyron has the same expression on his face.

Ice-blue eyes and sandy blond hair rendered in charcoal with surprising accuracy. The portrait the painter drew isn't Aaron's face.

It's Tyron's.

But how this is possible? Maya described Aaron. Her description wasn't wrong. So how did the portrait become Tyron's face?

Tyron grabs the portrait from the painter's hands, his movements sharp and violent. And he stares at it as if waiting for it to transform. As if he looks at it long enough the image will shift and change into the face he was expecting to see.

Then he turns his gaze to Maya, and the rage in his eyes is so terrifying, everyone in the room take an instinctive step back. "You don't even know what he looks like and you claim you can help me?"

"But I do!" Maya protests, her confidence is cracking, her voice rising in pitch as panic sets in. Her perfectly made-up face flushes with embarrassment and confusion as looks at the portrait, then Tyron, then back at the portrait again. "I know exactly what Aaron Knight looks like. We went to college together! I don't know why the portrait turned out this way. Maybe this painter is a fake! That has to be it! He doesn't know a thing and claims to be a famous artist!"

"Enough!" Tyron hurls the portrait at her, and it hits her right in the chest before falling to the floor. The charcoal smudging across the white lace of her wedding dress, leaving dark streaks that look like wounds. "This is a famous painter well known throughout the region. How dare you slander him? Get out of my sight this instant, and don't come back to my pack unless you have accurate information for me!"