Chapter 5 The Truth
FIONA/CIARA
I deleted the message before Lucien could see it.
My hands shook as I slipped the phone back into my pocket. The words kept repeating in my head. The girl is gone. Now there's nothing standing between you and Lucien's mark.
Ciara had known about my death. Had maybe even ordered it.
And now I was living in her body.
"Ciara?"
I looked up. Lucien was watching me from a few steps ahead. Richard and Rita had run ahead to press the elevator button.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Fine, just tired."
He studied my face for a moment longer. Then nodded. "Let's get you home."
The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside. Rita grabbed my hand. Her small fingers wrapped around mine and squeezed gently.
"Don't be sad, Mummy."
I looked down at her. At her big eyes and worried expression. This child thought I was her mother. She trusted me, loved me.
But I wasn't her mother. In fact her mother might be my true murderer, which meant they were my enemies.
"I'm okay, sweetheart," I said softly.
The elevator descended in silence.
Lucien parked in front of the house and we got out. Richard and Rita ran ahead to the front door. A woman in a grey uniform opened it before they reached it.
"Welcome home, Alpha," she said with a small bow. Then her eyes shifted to me. "Luna."
Again. So I really was a Luna now.
I followed Lucien inside. The entryway alone was bigger than my entire apartment had been. Marble floors. A chandelier that probably cost more than I'd made in my entire life. A sweeping staircase that led to the upper floors.
I hadn't had time to notice these things when coming out before since I'd been panicking about this transmigration but now I could.
"Margaret will prepare some tea," Lucien said to me. "Why don't you rest in the sitting room while I get the children settled."
"Okay."
Margaret led me down a hallway to a room with comfortable couches and more floor-to-ceiling windows. She gestured for me to sit.
"I'll bring the tea shortly, Luna," she said, then left me alone.
I sat on the couch and tried to process everything when my phone buzzed again.
I pulled it out slowly.
Another message from the same unknown number.
"WHY AREN'T YOU RESPONDING? CALL ME IMMEDIATELY."
My finger hovered over the call button. Whoever had sent these messages knew about my murder. Might have ordered it. I needed to know who they were.
I pressed call.
It rang twice before someone answered.
"Finally," a man answered. "I was starting to think something had happened to you."
I didn't recognize the voice. "Who is this?"
Silence on the other end.
"Ciara? Is this some kind of joke?"
"Who are you?" I repeated.
"What do you mean who am I? I'm your father."
My breath caught. Ciara's father. The one who'd sent the message about me being gone.
"I don't remember," I said carefully. "I had some kind of accident and lost my memory."
Another long silence.
"Lost your memory," he repeated.
"Yes."
"Does Lucien know?"
"Yes. We just came from the hospital."
I heard him take a deep breath. "What did the doctor say?"
"That it might be temporary. That my memory could come back within twenty-four hours."
"I see." His tone had shifted. "And what exactly do you remember about the girl?"
My chest tightened. "What girl?"
"Don't play games with me, Ciara. Fiona. The wolfless orphan your sister was supposed to handle. Do you remember anything about that?"
My vision blurred at the edges. My sister was supposed to handle it.
Shania.
Ciara's sister was Shania.
"I don't remember."
"Good. Keep it that way. The less you know right now, the better. We'll talk when your memory returns."
"Wait..."
But he'd already hung up.
I sat there staring at the phone. Pieces were clicking together in my head. Terrible pieces that made everything worse.
Ciara was Shania's sister. Ciara's father had ordered my death. They'd done it to clear the way for Lucien to mark Ciara.
But why? Why would killing a wolfless orphan matter to any of them?
The door opened and Lucien walked in.
I shoved the phone back in my pocket.
"The children are with their tutor. How are you feeling?"
"Confused," I said honestly.
He sat down on the couch across from me. "Don't worry, it'll be okay, just give it time. We'll get through this together."
I stared at him.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why haven't you marked me?"
His expression shifted. "Who told you that?"
"The doctor mentioned it. Said most Alphas mark their wives right away, but you haven't."
Lucien was quiet for a long moment. "It's complicated."
"I have time."
He stood and walked to the window, looking out at the gardens. "We married for political reasons. An alliance between our families. I respected you. Cared for you. But I wasn't in love with you. Never have."
The words should have hurt, but I wasn't really Ciara, so I didn't care.
"And you can't mark someone you don't love?"
"I can. But I didn't want to. Marking is permanent. Forever. I didn't want to bind myself to someone when my heart was somewhere else."
My chest tightened. "Where was your heart?"
He turned from the window and looked at me with an expression I couldn't read.
"With someone I couldn't have," he said quietly.
Before I could ask more, Margaret appeared in the doorway with a tea tray.
"Thank you, Margaret," Lucien said.
She set the tray down and left.
Lucien poured two cups. Handed one to me. I took it but didn't drink.
"I should let you rest, you've had a difficult day."
He started toward the door.
"Lucien?"
He stopped and turned.
"The person you loved. The one you couldn't have. What happened to them?"
His jaw tightened. "She died."
Then he walked out.
I sat there holding the tea cup, my mind racing.
Lucien had loved someone who died. Someone he couldn't have. And now he was married to Ciara but refused to mark her because his heart was somewhere else.
My phone buzzed again.
I pulled it out.
A new message. Different number this time.
"FATHER TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR MEMORY. DON'T WORRY, SISTER. I'LL COME VISIT IN TWO DAYS AND HELP YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING. THE WEDDING IS IN TWO WEEKS. I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO MEET BALE PROPERLY. —SHANIA"
What?
