Avenging Luna
Chapter 44: Ghost From The Past (II)

Chapter 44: Ghost From The Past (II)

Drake’s POV:

As Lucas finished speaking, I felt a wave of anger and confusion crash over me. Alpha Vanvil was killed the night Lily came to our pack. The ones chasing her, apparently from the Blood Moon Pack, were on a mission to avenge him. I could barely believe it. Leila had asked me to destroy that very pack, yet she hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me that she’d already taken down their Alpha. Why was she so bent on giving me half-truths? Why didn’t she trust me?

I was furious. We’d mated, marked each other, and yet she was still hiding her true identity from me. The mark, which should have been a symbol of our trust and bond, was now a bitter reminder of her secrets. She was no ordinary wolf—of that, I was certain. But how could a mere wolf, even one as remarkable as Leila, kill an Alpha and escape unscathed?

I mulled over the facts as I headed back to the car where Leila was waiting. My mind was a whirlwind of questions and doubts. Even if she had poisoned or weakened him somehow, Alpha Vanvil was no pushover. He was ruthless, and it was unlikely he’d go down without a fight—without at least inflicting some kind of injury on his attacker. But that night, when I found Leila, she was untouched, unscathed. Just who was she? And how powerful was she, really?

Bitterness gnawed at me as I entered the car. Leila greeted me with a soft smile, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. I was too angry, too lost in the maze of half-truths she had woven around us. She tried to talk to me, asking what Lucas had said, but I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The distrust was too raw, the realization that she’d been hiding something so significant from me too painful.

I replayed every moment in my mind as I drove us back to the pack house. The way she had easily defeated a Beta during training, without even trying hard. How she’d held her ground against me, an Alpha, during our sparring sessions. Her scent when she was in heat—it had been so strong, so intoxicating, that it had drawn even mated wolves. And now, the knowledge that she had killed Alpha Vanvil without losing so much as a drop of blood. How could a little she-wolf like Leila, my mate, take down one of the most feared Alphas in our world without so much as a scratch?

The anger simmered beneath my skin as we reached the pack house. Without a word, I led Leila to my office, where I knew we wouldn’t be disturbed. The walls were soundproof, offering us the privacy we needed for this conversation. I could feel her tension as she followed me, her steps hesitant, as if she sensed the storm brewing within me.

Once inside, I closed the door firmly behind us and turned to face her. My voice was cold, sharper than I intended. "Did you kill Alpha Vanvil?"

Leila’s eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t deny it. She tried to downplay the act, her words careful and measured as she spoke of how difficult it had been. But I knew she was lying. I had spent enough time with her to notice the subtle tells—the way her nose twitched ever so slightly when she was embarrassed or lying. She might have been able to fool others, but not me.

"Leila," I said, my voice heavy with frustration, "you’re not telling me the whole truth. I know you. You’re holding back, giving me only what you think I need to know."

She looked away, her hands twisting nervously in front of her. The sight made my heart ache, but I couldn’t let this go. Not when so much was at stake. "I’ve always trusted you, Leila. Haven’t I proven that I’m worthy of your trust? Why won’t you tell me the truth?"

Her eyes flicked back to mine, a storm of emotions swirling within them—fear, doubt, and something else I couldn’t quite place. "Drake, it’s not that simple..."

"Not that simple?" I repeated, incredulous. "We’re mates, Leila. We’re supposed to share everything, yet you keep shutting me out. Even after we’ve marked each other, you still won’t let me in. What are you hiding that you can’t trust me with?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again, clearly struggling with what to say. I could see her mind working, trying to find the right words, the right excuses. It was infuriating. The bond between us should have made it easier for her to confide in me, but instead, it felt like there was an ever-widening chasm between us.

I took a deep breath, trying to rein in my frustration. "You’re not a normal she-wolf, Leila. I’ve known that for a while now. But what I don’t understand is why you won’t just tell me the truth. You defeated a Beta like it was nothing, you held your own against me, and now I find out you killed Alpha Vanvil—one of the most ruthless Alphas there is—and you did it without so much as a scratch. How?"

Leila’s gaze dropped to the floor, and for a moment, I thought she might finally tell me. But when she looked up again, there was a familiar guardedness in her eyes. "Drake, I... I can’t."

"Can’t?" The word came out harsher than I intended, but I couldn’t help it. "Or won’t?"

Her silence was all the answer I needed. She wasn’t going to tell me. Not now, maybe not ever. The realization cut deeper than I expected. I had thought—hoped—that after everything we’d been through, after marking each other, she would finally trust me enough to share her secrets. But I was wrong.

My mind raced, trying to piece together what little I knew. She was stronger, faster, and more resilient than any she-wolf I’d ever encountered. Her scent during heat had been potent enough to attract mated wolves, something that was unheard of. And now, the fact that she had taken down Alpha Vanvil, a feat that should have been impossible for a wolf of her size and stature... It didn’t add up.

"Leila," I said, my voice softer this time, almost pleading, "whatever it is you’re hiding, it’s driving a wedge between us. I don’t care what you are—I just need to know. Please, trust me."

For a long moment, she didn’t say anything. Then, finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "Drake, I want to trust you. But... there are things you don’t know, things that could change everything."

"Then tell me," I urged, stepping closer. "Let me decide if it changes anything."

She shook her head, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I’m scared, Drake. Scared that if you knew the truth, you’d hate me."

"Hate you?" The thought was absurd to me. "Leila, I could never hate you. You’re my mate."

Her lips trembled, and for a moment, I thought she might finally break, might finally let me in. But then she pulled back, her expression hardening. "There are things better left unsaid, Drake. Things that could hurt you, hurt us. Please, just trust me when I say I’m doing this for us."

I wanted to scream, to shake her, to demand she stop protecting me and just tell me the truth. But I could see the resolve in her eyes, the stubbornness that told me no amount of pleading or pushing would make her budge.

Frustrated, I turned away, running a hand through my hair. "Leila, this isn’t over. I’ll give you time, but I won’t wait forever. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to tell me everything. Because if you don’t... I don’t know if we can make this work."

Her sharp intake of breath was the only indication that my words had hit their mark. I didn’t look back at her as I opened the door and stepped out, leaving her alone in the office. My heart was heavy, and as I walked away, I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever she was hiding was going to come back to haunt us both.

Leila’s POV:

The door clicked shut behind him, and the weight of the situation pressed down on me like a boulder. Drake’s words echoed in my mind, the threat of losing him if I didn’t come clean ringing in my ears. I had always known that this day would come, that the secrets I harbored would eventually become too much to bear.

But I wasn’t ready to face the consequences yet. I wasn’t ready to tell him that I was the daughter of an Alpha, that my parents were the very ones who had destroyed his family. How could I tell him that the woman he loved was tied to the worst day of his life?

The truth was a double-edged sword, and I was caught in its sharpest point. No matter what I did, someone would get hurt—either Drake, with the truth, or me, with the lies that were slowly unraveling. And then there was Raphael... If he recognized me, he could expose everything, and I would lose Drake forever.

My thoughts churned, panic rising as I realized just how precarious my situation had become. The half-truths I had fed Drake were no longer enough to keep him at bay. He was piecing things together faster than I could hide them.

And now... I was running out of time.