DUAL POV - LUMA & DRAKE
LUMA
Luma didn't sleep.
Drake lay beside her on the healing table with his arm wrapped around her waist, his breathing deep and peaceful like he didn't have a care in the world. She'd positioned herself against his chest so she could feel his heartbeat. Could feel him alive and warm and completely at peace.
She couldn't waste a second of this not paying attention.
Because tomorrow everything was going to change. Tomorrow she was going to tell him the truth about her father and watch his face transform from love to suspicion to betrayal. Tomorrow the man holding her like she was everything he'd been searching for would start seeing her as a threat instead.
Tonight was all she had left.
Luma memorized the way his face looked in the darkness. The strong line of his jaw. The way his hair fell across his forehead. The slight frown he got even in sleep, like his brain was still working through problems and guilt and the weight of being Alpha. She memorized the way his heart beat against her ear. The way his arm tightened around her even in sleep, like he was afraid she'd disappear.
She memorized all of it because she knew this was the last time.
Hours passed. The darkness outside the chamber windows shifted from deep black to grey to the first hints of dawn. Luma didn't close her eyes once. She just held onto Drake and tried to memorize the feeling of being loved by someone who had no idea who she really was.
By the time the sun started rising, Luma had made her decision.
She couldn't wait for Drake to find out from Sienna. She couldn't let someone else tell him about her father. She had to be the one to control this narrative. She had to tell him herself, show him her research, explain everything before lies could poison the truth.
Maybe he would hate her anyway. But at least he'd hate her for the real reason. Not for some twisted version that Sienna had cooked up to hurt them both.
Luma carefully pulled herself away from Drake. He stirred but didn't wake. She covered him with a blanket and left the chamber.
The pack headquarters was just waking up. Warriors were moving through the hallways, preparing for the day. Nobody looked at Luma. Nobody ever did. She was invisible again, and she used that invisibility to move through the building without being noticed.
She went to the records room that held historical documents about pack families. About sorcerers and dark magic practitioners who'd been documented by the pack over the years. She pulled files until she found what she was looking for.
Her father's name.
Kaelen Cross. A dark sorcerer of significant power. Bonded to a human woman named Sarah. Had one child. Reported missing nine years ago, presumed dead.
Luma gathered all the documents about him. She found research papers he'd written on dark magic theory. She found records of his magical signature. She found evidence of every spell he'd ever cast that the pack had documentation for.
And nowhere in any of it did she find proof that he'd cursed Drake.
That was the point. She needed to show Drake that while her father had been a dark sorcerer, while she was connected to dark magic through blood and training, her father hadn't done this. Someone else had. Someone who'd learned from her father or studied his work or copied his techniques.
Luma gathered everything and walked back to the healing chamber.
She laid the documents out on the table beside Drake's healing supplies. Evidence. Proof. Her entire family history laid bare for him to examine. She was giving him everything. Trusting him with the truth that could get her killed if he decided to report it to the council.
By the time she finished organizing the documents, Drake was waking up.
He sat up slowly, his golden eyes finding her immediately. He looked confused at first, like he was trying to figure out where she'd gone during the night. Then he saw the documents.
His entire body went still.
"What is this?" he asked quietly.
"The truth," Luma said. Her voice was shaking but she didn't look away. "I was going to tell you last night. I was going to show you everything. But I fell asleep in your arms and I realized I wanted one more moment before everything changed."
Drake moved toward the documents. His eyes scanned the pages. His face was unreadable.
"My father was a dark sorcerer," Luma continued. "His name was Kaelen Cross. He died nine years ago under circumstances the pack never investigated. He taught me things about dark magic that most healers don't know. That's why I recognized your curse. That's why my magic could fight it. Not because I sent it. But because I understood the signature."
Drake looked at her directly.
"Did you know he was going to curse me?" he asked coldly.
"No," Luma said desperately. "I didn't even know he was involved until I felt the curse. My father would never have cursed you. He would never have done something so dark and destructive. And these documents prove it wasn't his curse. Whoever cursed you learned from him but they created this themselves."
DRAKE
Drake woke to find Luma gone.
For a second, panic shot through him. Then he saw her standing beside the table with documents spread out in front of her. She looked like she hadn't slept at all. Her eyes were red. Her hands were shaking. She looked like a woman preparing for execution.
She showed him everything.
Drake read through the documents slowly. Her father. A dark sorcerer. Her connection to dark magic. Her entire family history laid bare because she was choosing to trust him with it.
He wanted to trust her back.
But he couldn't ignore the cold feeling in his chest. The part of him that had been trained to be suspicious. The part that remembered his uncle's face when he died. The part that knew betrayal was always possible.
"Did you know he was going to curse me?" he asked, needing to hear her answer.
"No," she said desperately. "I didn't even know he was involved until I felt the curse."
Drake wanted to believe her.
Then there was a commotion in the hallway.
A woman's voice. Sharp and angry and demanding. It came from down the corridor, getting closer. Getting louder. Guards trying to stop someone but failing because that someone was determined to make a scene.
Drake and Luma both turned toward the chamber door.
It burst open and Sienna Cross walked in like she owned the place.
She was dressed perfectly. Hair done. Face painted. Looking like she'd come to the pack headquarters with a purpose. Her eyes went directly to Drake, then to Luma, then back to Drake with a smile that was pure satisfaction.
"Hello, Alpha," Sienna said smoothly. "I see you've recovered. I was so worried about you."
Drake felt Luma's hand reach for his. He didn't pull away but he didn't grip back either.
"Sienna," he said coldly. "This is a private moment."
"I'm aware," Sienna said, walking further into the chamber. "But I have information that simply couldn't wait. James told me you might be interested in why our little healer here could be connected to dark magic."
Luma's entire body went rigid.
"I already know," Drake said. "Luma told me."
Sienna's expression shifted. Her satisfaction cracked just slightly.
"Did she tell you that her father practiced curse magic specifically?" Sienna asked, pulling documents from her bag. "Did she tell you that there are records of him working with sorcerers from rival packs? Did she tell you that Marcus Vale's family has documented connections to your healer's father?"
Drake felt the ground shift beneath him.
"What are you talking about?" Luma asked desperately.
Sienna laughed like it was the most enjoyable moment of her life.
"Your father didn't just teach you dark magic," Sienna said to Luma. "He taught it to others. Including someone in Marcus Vale's pack. Someone who would have access to your father's curse techniques. Someone who would know exactly how to create a curse using the same signature you recognized."
She looked at Drake directly now.
"The healer didn't just recognize the curse because of her father. She recognized it because whoever cursed you learned everything they know from teaching your father taught them. Which means your healer is connected to whoever wanted you dead. Whether she's willing to admit it or not."
The chamber went silent.
Drake looked at Luma and watched her face crumble.
Because Sienna was right.
It wasn't that Luma had cursed him. But she was connected to whoever had. And she'd known it the entire time.