Ghosts and Lies - 2
1111 Words
"I survived. Barely. After that, I made sure I'd never be helpless again. Learned to fight. To track. To survive."
"What pack?"
"Does it matter? They're gone."
Something shifted in Marcus's expression. Sympathy, maybe.
Or suspicion.
"Which pack, Sera?"
"Why?" I kept my voice level. "So you can verify my story? Check if I'm telling the truth?"
"So I can understand why you're really here."
We stared at each other.
The forest was silent around us. No birds. No wind. Just the two of us and the truth hanging in the air between us like a blade.
"Moonvale," I said finally.
The truth, wrapped in misdirection.
"I was from Moonvale Pack."
Marcus went very still.
"Moonvale." He said it slowly. Like he was testing the weight of the word. "The pack that was destroyed five years ago. The one that"
"Burned to the ground. Yes."
"That attack was brutal. We heard about it even here." His voice was quiet now. "They said there were no survivors."
"They were almost right."
Marcus's eyes widened. I watched realization dawn across his face like a slow horror.
"Sera, that attack was led by"
"I know who led it."
I cut him off before he could say Kade's name. Before he could make me hear it out loud, spoken by someone else, made real in a way it hadn't been when it was just my memories and my nightmares.
"I know exactly who was responsible."
"Then why?" He stopped.
I could see it clicking into place behind his eyes. All the pieces are falling together.
"Oh shit." His voice was barely a whisper. "Oh, s**t. You're here for revenge."
I didn't confirm it.
Didn't deny it.
Just stood there and let him see the truth.
Marcus ran a hand through his hair. He looked torn, loyalty warring with horror on his face.
"You need to leave. Right now. Before this goes any further."
"I can't."
"The mate bond isn't."
"It's not about the bond," I lied.
My voice came out harder than I intended.
"I've spent five years tracking the people responsible for my pack's destruction. Five years of preparation. I'm not walking away now."
"Kade didn't," Marcus started, then stopped. Shook his head. "You need to talk to him. Let him explain what actually happened."
"What's there to explain?"
I stepped closer. Let him see the rage I'd been keeping carefully locked away.
"I saw it with my own eyes. I watched from the cellar as he led the raid. As my parents died because of him."
"Sera, please. You don't understand."
"Don't I?" Another step. "Tell me, Marcus. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me Kade wasn't there that night. Tell me he didn't lead his warriors into my territory and burn it to the ground."
Marcus's silence was answer enough.
"That's what I thought." I turned away. "Are we done with the tour?"
"You can't do this," Marcus said quietly. "Whatever you're planning"
"I'm not planning anything. I'm just trying to survive." I threw his own words back at him. "Isn't that what you all keep telling me to do?"
"By lying to him? By pretending the bond means something when you're really just here to make him pay?"
His words hit like a punch to the chest.
Too close. Too accurate.
"Take me back to the house," I said.
"Sera"
"Now."
We walked back in silence.
The air between us was thick with unspoken accusations, heavy with the weight of what he knew and what I'd admitted.
When we reached the house, Marcus grabbed my arm.
Not hard. Just enough to stop me.
"I won't tell him," he said. "Not yet. But you need to figure out what you really want here. Because the bond isn't going to let you go through with this."
He held my gaze. Made sure I was listening.
"And when Kade finds out the truth and he will find out it's going to destroy him."
"Maybe he deserves to be destroyed."
Marcus flinched like I'd hit him.
"And maybe you deserve to know the whole story before you damn him."
He left before I could respond.
I stood there, hands shaking. Could feel the foundation of my plan cracking beneath me like ice.
This was getting too complicated.
Marcus knew. Which meant I had to accelerate the timeline. Had to find proof, had to
"Sera!"
Kade's voice. Urgent. Close.
I turned.
He was striding toward me across the lawn, his expression shifting from worry to relief as he saw me. He reached me in a few long strides, hands coming up to cup my face.
"Thank god. I've been looking everywhere for you." His thumb brushed across my cheekbone. "Are you okay? Marcus said you went out, but I couldn't feel you through the bond and I thought"
He stopped.
Eyes searching mine.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Nothing. Everything. I was standing here letting him touch me like I was precious when I should be driving a knife into his heart. I was feeling guilty for lying to the man who'd destroyed my entire world.
But I couldn't do it.
Not yet.
"I'm fine," I managed. "Just tired."
He didn't believe me. I could see it in his eyes, feel it through the bond, this pulse of concern and confusion and the desire to fix whatever was wrong.
"Come inside," he said gently. "I need to tell you something."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"My parents are coming to visit. They want to meet you."
Of course they do.
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
Perfect. Just perfect.
"And Lydia will be there too," he added. His voice went tight. "Her father is coming with mine. Pack politics."
It just kept getting better.
"Can't wait," I said flatly.
Kade's hands dropped from my face. "I know this is a lot. I know you didn't ask for any of this. But they're my family, and"
"It's fine. I'll be there."
"Sera"
"I said it's fine."
I walked past him into the house.
Left him standing there looking lost and confused, and hurt.
Upstairs, I locked myself in my room and finally let myself break down.
Slid down the door and pressed my forehead to my knees. Tried to breathe through the tightness in my chest, the burning behind my eyes, the way my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Tomorrow I'd meet the family of the man I was supposed to destroy.
Tomorrow I'd sit across from them and smile and play the role of grateful mate.
Tomorrow I'd take another step closer to the revenge I'd spent five years planning.
So why did it feel like I was the one being destroyed?
- Writer
