Lies Beneath the Moonlight Chapter 07
(Kane’s POV)
The next morning, Kane left the healing house before Vivra woke up. He wrote her a note – a lie – saying he had to go handle some things for the ceremony.
But he didn’t go handle anything for the ceremony.
He got in his car and drove. He drove through the pack territory, past the old oak tree, past the Moon Spring, past the house where he had grown up. He drove in circles for an hour. Then he parked outside Selene’s house.
He sat there for a long time with the engine off, staring at the front door.
Seven years ago, he had stood at that door for three days and three nights.
He had pounded on the wood until his knuckles bled. He had screamed until his voice gave out. “Selene! Come out! Tell me why! Who is he? Who is the man I saw you with?”
She never came out. She just stood behind the second-floor window, watching him through the glass, crying.
He didn’t understand then. He thought her tears were guilt. He thought she was crying because she had been caught.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
He got out of the car. He walked to the door. He raised his hand to knock.
Then he stopped.
What am I doing? I have Vivra. I have a pup on the way. I have a bonding ceremony to prepare for. Selene has a fiancé. Selene is getting married. Selene doesn’t need me.
He lowered his hand. He turned to walk away.
The door opened behind him.
Mary stood in the doorway. Her face was hard – harder than he had ever seen it. She looked older, too. More tired. There were dark circles under her eyes and new wrinkles around her mouth.
“What do you want?” she said.
Kane swallowed. “I want to see Selene.”
“She’s not here.”
“Then where is she?”
“None of your business.” Mary started to close the door.
Kane blocked it with his hand. “Please. Auntie. Just let me see her. I need to talk to her.”
Mary looked at him for a long moment. Her eyes were red. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line.
“You pushed her yesterday,” she said. “You kicked her chair and shoved her into a table. She hit her head on the floor. She was bleeding, Kane. I had to take her to the healer.”
“I know. I know, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking – I just saw Vivra on the ground and -”
“And you believed her. You believed her over Selene. You always believe everyone over Selene.” Mary’s voice cracked. “Seven years ago, you believed she cheated on you. You didn’t ask her side. You didn’t give her a chance to explain. You just believed the worst.”
Kane opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“Now you want to see hier?” Mary shook her head. “She doesn’t need you anymore. She doesn’t need anyone. Just leave her alone.”
She slammed the door.
She doesn’t need you anymore.
Kane stood there for a full minute, staring at the closed door. Then he walked back to his car. He sat in the driver’s seat and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
He called the Beta.
“Where is Selene?” he asked. No greeting. No small talk. Just the question.
The Beta was silent for a long time. “Kane, let her go.”
“Tell me where she is.”
“Why? So you can hurt her again? You’ve already done enough damage.”
“I just need to see her. I need to apologize.”
The Beta sighed. “She’s sick, Kane.”
Kane’s blood went cold. “Sick? With what?”
Another long pause. Then the Beta said, “Silver poisoning.”
The words hit Kane like a physical blow. He felt them in his chest, in his stomach, in his throat. Silver poisoning. The incurable disease. The one that turned wolves into skeletons covered in silver lines. The one that killed them slowly, painfully, over years.
“No,” he said. “That’s not possible. She just broke a bone. She said -”
“She never broke a bone.” The Beta’s voice was quiet. “She’s been sick for seven years, Kane. Seven years. The day you left for the North, she was already dying.”
Kane’s hands slipped off the steering wheel. He sat there, staring through the windshield, his mind blank.
Seven years. She had been dying for seven years. And he had hated her. Cursed her. Left her. He had pushed her wheelchair. He had watched her bleed. He had walked away with another woman in his arms.
“Where is she?” he whispered.
The Beta hesitated. Then he told him. A healing house on the edge of the Northern territory. Six hours away.
Kane started the car. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. He didn’t leave a note for Vivra. He just drove.
He drove through the Dark Forest, the mountain pass. He drove through the frozen plains where nothing grew and the wind never stopped howling. He held the moonstone in his palm the whole way – the one Mary had returned to him and he drove.
At three in the morning, he reached the healing house.
It was a gray stone building on a barren stretch of ice. No trees. No grass. Just snow and wind and the distant howl of wolves from some other territory.
He ran inside.
The reception area was small and dimly lit. A tired-looking nurse sat behind a desk.
“Selene Winter,” Kane said. His voice was hoarse. “Which room?”
The nurse checked her records. “We don’t have anyone by that name.”
“Please. I know she’s here. I drove six hours – please.”
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry, sir. She’s not in our system.”
Kane’s heart sank. He turned to leave, his mind already racing with where to go next.
Then a voice came from the hallway behind him.
“Kane?”
He spun around.
Mary stood there. Her hair was white – completely white, not just gray – and her face was thin and hollow. She was holding a plastic water cup. She must have come out of a patient’s room to get a drink.
She looked at Kane. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Auntie,” Kane said. His voice broke. “Please. I know everything. I know about the silver poisoning. I know about the fake cheating. Please let me see her.”
Mary stared at him for a long, long time. Then her face crumbled. She nodded.
“Follow me,” she said.
