But Liv released me. She used the momentum of my push to lean backward?—
"You'll always be a loser, Serenity."
Liv fell from the cliff before my horrified eyes. Just before she disappeared, I saw her lips form those words.
Then Elias's anguished roar echoed from behind me: "LIV!"
I turned stiffly. A black car had stopped on the beach. Elias was sprinting toward us, shouting as he ran. His eyes were filled with shock, rage—and hatred for me.
Realization hit me. I knew exactly what this looked like to an outsider. I scrambled to explain. "No! I didn't push her—she jumped!"
Believe me, Elias.
"Believe me, please believe me…"
I jolted awake, cold sweat soaking my nightgown. I had been talking in my sleep.
The bitter taste of old memories still lingered. The clock on the wall read 3 p.m. It had been twenty hours since Elias hadn't come home.
I called for Lizzie. "Has Elias come back?"
The hope in my voice met her expression—and that was my answer.
Not just that day. For many days after, Elias didn't return.
No calls. No messages. He might as well have vanished.
I called him constantly, but it was always busy. If the pack's operations hadn't been running normally, I might have worried something had happened to him.
But that didn't ease my mind. Elias had stayed out before, but never for so many days without a word.
And something else was strange: the women who usually came to flaunt their relationships with him had also disappeared. Elias wasn't with me, and he wasn't with them either. It was like he had suddenly become a monk—yet I had lost all trace of him.
Finally, I couldn't sit still anymore.
I went to the door and was stopped by the two guards assigned to watch me.
"Luna," they said—the title respectful, the tone anything but—"you're not allowed to leave the mansion."
"Then tell me where Elias is right now."
"Sorry. We can't say."
"Did Elias order you to keep it secret?" I pressed. "Did he specifically tell you not to tell me?"
"No, the Alpha gave no such order. But—" But I'm the last person Elias wants to see. I read it in their eyes.
"Listen." I clenched my fists, using every ounce of strength to maintain my dignity. "If Elias didn't directly order you, you have no right to refuse. I may be confined to this mansion, but I am still his Luna. I have the right to know the truth!"
The two guards exchanged glances, then answered reluctantly. "The Alpha has been staying at the northern villa these past few days."
"What's he doing there?"
"He's…taking care of a patient."
A patient?Some instinct told me I wouldn't like the answer.
"What patient?"
