I went to the pack station to report my husband was missing, "My husband Drake Thornhill… he’s missing! Please help me. It's been five days." My voice shook, and my blind eyes felt like they were betraying me, not seeing what everyone else could.

The officer gave me a weird look, "Ma’am… you said your husband is Drake Thornhill? What’s your name again?"

"My name is Chloe Thornhill." My fingers twisted the hem of my hoodie. "Is there any… news about him?"

He frowned and slammed a hand on the desk. "Chloe? Ma’am, you need to tell us your real name. This isn’t a game!"

I froze. “I am Luna Chloe Thornhill.”

"Little blind girl, don’t think just because you look like someone you can fool anyone!"

My stomach dropped, and I felt my chest tighten. The officer turned to an LED screen, I heard the reporter's voice and my heart literally stopped.

"Everyone in the city knows that to celebrate Luna Chloe's pregnancy, Alpha Drake Thornhill gifted her a retreat in the mountains, a pack ceremony worth millions. Her social posts are everywhere, nine grids a day, and the wolves can’t stop talking about her."

And then there he was, my Drake, on the screen saying: "This New Year, I just want my mate safe, happy, and strong."

Her voice—Chiara’s—laughed behind him, sweet and soft, and it hit me like ice water straight to my veins. My face went pale, my stomach dropped. Chiara. Not me.

Five years ago, I lost my sight in a pack accident, and he was shattered. Everyone said no alpha would ever stay with a blind mate. Everyone whispered and plotted and… replaced me.

They found her, this Chiara, a girl who looked like me. And they sent her to him.

I remember the night he found out. My Drake, red-eyed and shaking, ready to rip her apart with his own hands. "Get out! My heart belongs to Chloe and only Chloe! Anyone else disgusts me!"

He drove to the infirmary at night, held me close, let his hot tears fall on my shoulder. "Baby, we’ll get our bond tomorrow. You’ll be mine, officially, my mate, my mate for life."

Everyone knew he loved me. Hated Chiara. But now she was the one smiling at him, wearing my face, claiming my place.

What happened? Did he… forget me? Was I just… erased?

I tried to find him, to scream at him with my own two hands, to shake some truth into him. And then… a billboard fell out of nowhere.

Pain exploded across my skull, darkness swallowing me, and before I passed out, I heard my drive's voice. "Luna!"

And then everything went black.

…

When I opened my eyes, the white light hit me so hard I had to squeeze them shut. Pain shot through them, sharp and burning, and I thought maybe I’d never see again. But then, slowly, painfully, the world came into focus. I blinked and blinked until it all made sense. I could see. I could really see.

But before I could even take in the room, I heard voices outside the heavy door.

“Alpha, how much longer are you going to let Chiara pretend to be Luna Chloe? It’s been five whole years.”

I froze. That was Beta Kieran. Drake's right hand.

“I don’t know either." My alpha’s voice followed, rough and sharp. “Back then, the old elders of the pack refused to let me mate a blind wolf. I loved Chloe too much. I lied. I said her eyes were healed, and I… I let Chiara take her place.”

“You’re still doing this, Alpha? All those elders are gone. Why are you still hiding the truth?” Kieran pressed.

Drake’s voice cut him off, sharp with irritation. “Chiara’s pregnant.” He hesitated, then softened. “And I… I don’t know, after all this, after pretending, I feel like I… I can’t breathe without her. I can’t… not have her close.”

“What?” Kieran’s voice cracked with disbelief. “Alpha! You’re saying you have feelings for her? For Chiara? Haven’t you forgotten that her brother caused the accident? That she… that he blinded Chloe? That your mate was living in darkness forever because of them?”

Drake growled low, warning, almost animalistic. “Stop it, Kieran! Chiara had nothing to do with her brother’s sins. I already locked him away. He’ll never see the pack again.”

“You’re just covering it all up, Alpha! Luna stays hidden, she can’t go out, there’s no signal here in the mountains. She lives in your glass house you built for her, safe, pampered, blind to everything. She’ll never know what you did. But if she ever did…” Kieran’s voice fell, heavy with fear.

I pressed my palm to my mouth, tears stinging my eyes. My body felt frozen, cold like the winter snows that blanketed the valley outside. Everything Drake had made for me, every gesture, every plan, it felt like a trap now.

I reached for the stack of portraits on the bedside table. Each one was hand-drawn by him, each one a memory he’d preserved.

The first showed me tending to him when we were stranded on a desert hunt, his leg broken, and I had stayed with him for days and nights.

The third showed him scaling a cliff in the middle of a snowstorm to bring me a rare mountain herb, panting, bleeding, just so I’d see he’d come for me.

Another showed him bringing an entire pack of wolves from the northern clans just to perform for me under the full moon, because I loved the moonlit dances of our kind. One of the last portraits even showed the glass house he’d designed, warm and safe, made for a blind mate, everything perfect for me.

And in every one, his eyes glowed with something I wanted once. Something I had believed in. Something I now hated.

He knelt in one painting, whispering, “Mate, from now on, I’ll be your eyes. You will be the only one in my heart. Only you, Chloe.”

I stared at them all, the lies, the fakes, the love poisoned by secrets, by Chiara, by his lies. My hands shook, and I forced a smile that felt bitter in my chest.

One by one, I set the portraits on fire, the smoke curling up and turning the glass house’s spring air into ash. I threw them all onto the bed, watching the flames roar and consume everything.

‘Drake, your love is twisted. Your alpha’s protection is tainted. I don’t want it. I don’t want you. I won’t be caged in your lies anymore.’

The fire alarm blared, shrill and unrelenting, echoing through the halls like my heartbeat.

Why did I ever let him own me? Why did I let myself believe in an alpha who could lie like this?

After that, I ran out into the chaos, coughing, my chest tight, and found a battered phone booth at the roadside. My hands shook when I dialed the number I’d been holding onto for years.

“Alaric… do you still mean it?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “That I can come back to the pack anytime within five years?”

There was a pause, and then that deep, low, cello-like voice rolled through the receiver. “Of course, my beloved Arianne. Every northern wolf in the pack has been waiting for you. They’re all asking when their favorite she-wolf is coming home.”

I pressed the receiver harder to my ear, trying to steady my voice. “But my… my identity. The paperwork. It takes three days to sort. And I can’t exactly cross state lines quietly. Drake… he won’t let me leave, I know him.”

His voice softened, “How do you plan to leave New York without him noticing? You know him, Chloe. Drake is territorial. Possessive. He’d know the moment you stepped a foot outside the glass house gates.”

I swallowed hard. “Then… I’ll make sure he only gets my corpse.” The words felt hollow, but at least they burned with the truth. If he could let Chiara pretend to be me, then I could vanish from his life entirely.

And then it happened. Warm, large hands wrapped around my waist, pressing me tight against someone. My breath caught.

“Wife,” Drake’s voice trembled as he buried his head in my shoulder. “Thank God! Thank God you’re alive. If anything had happened to you… I wouldn’t even want to live. I… I can’t—”

I froze, my mind screaming at me to push him off, to run, but I couldn’t.

“Luna, the fire. Are you okay?” Kieran’s voice cut in, tense and urgent. “Alpha went in after you. You couldn’t see, and he insisted on risking himself. That chandelier—if it fell, it would have—”

“Kieran, stop!” Drake growled, a low rumble that made my chest ache. “She’s safe. That’s all that matters. I don’t care about the chandelier, I don’t care about anything else.”

I could feel the weight of him on me, and the smoke stung his eyes, his skin smelled like ash, his clothes were torn, burned in places. I gasped, my heart pounding, and I hated him for it. I hated that he’d risk his life for me when he’d let Chiara live in my place.

And then I saw her. Chiara. She stepped out from the smoke, pristine in white, pulling her suitcase, elegant and deliberate. My stomach twisted.

“Alpha Thornhill,” she said softly. Her voice calm, almost mocking.

Drake stiffened, then let go of me reluctantly. He smoothed his hair and turned to her. “Honey… a business partner’s here. Just um, wait a second.”

He stepped toward her, took her hands in his, and signed with careful, deliberate motions. “Chiara, why did you come alone? Didn’t I say I’d come tonight to stay with you and the pups? I wanted to be here with you, to make sure you were safe.”

Chiara’s hands moved in response, her sign language precise, full of tension. “I missed you, Drake. I wanted to come and make things right… to atone for what I’ve done to Chloe. I… I know I’ve wronged her, and I wanted to help her.”

Drake shook his head slowly, almost like he was in pain. “No. No, Chiara. You haven’t wronged her. I’ve wronged both of you. I made you carry a life that was never meant to be yours under my lies. I forced you into a position that wasn’t fair and I hid the truth from Chloe, from both of you, because I… because I couldn’t face the consequences.”

He pressed his forehead to hers, whispered, “I couldn’t let her know, and I couldn’t let you leave. I thought, I thought I was protecting everyone, but I was just protecting myself. And now…”

Chiara’s lips moved again in sign language. “Drake… I only ever wanted to make this right. To protect the baby, to protect her. You’re the one who carried this all alone.”

He kissed her, soft but agonized, eyes almost overflowing with something I couldn’t name. Then he signed again. “I’ve already chosen the names. The boy will be Draken. The girl will be Chanelle.”

I felt my chest collapse. My alpha. My mate. And yet everything I believed in, everything I trusted, was falling apart in front of me.

Why did love have to be this cruel?

Around this time last year, I found out I was pregnant. I thought maybe… maybe things would finally be ours.

Drake had been over the moon. He booked out the whole hot spring resort, told me we’d have the entire place to ourselves.

And then he picked up a phone. I could hear a girl crying on the other end, faint, but I could hear it. My heart twisted in a way I didn’t understand.

He kissed my belly, soft, warm, and whispered, “Wife, there’s an emergency at the pack. Just wait for me, okay? I’ll be back.”

I believed him. I waited. A whole day, a whole night, just sitting there, hoping, praying. But instead of Drake, there was an avalanche. Snow burying everything. And our child… our little wolf pup, gone. I got miscarriage.

I saw him later. Touching Chiara’s belly, the same way he had touched mine. The same way he’d whispered to me, the same way he’d promised he’d protect us. And I smiled bitterly, the edges of my heart cutting like glass. Because the only person trapped that winter was me.

Then I heard him talking to her. “Honey, I’ve been tied up with the pack. I hired a nutritionist to make sure you’re taken care of while I’m busy.”

His hand covered hers, his eyes soft and doting, like she was the only mate that mattered.

“Hello, Miss Brightman,” she said, shy and sweet, and my chest twisted. Miss Brightman. Not Mrs. Thornhill. Not mine.

Drake frowned for a moment, and then he just… let it go. Didn’t correct her, didn’t even flinch.

I clenched my fists in my lap, fingertips digging into my palms, trying not to scream. Trying not to shatter right there.

And then he draped a wool coat over my shoulders, “It’s cold out. Come on, let’s go home, honey.”

I froze, and through the corner of my eye I saw Chiara nod, and he leaned down and kissed her, soft, lingering, like he’d been waiting to do it forever.

That evening...

I watched him in the kitchen, always careful, thoughtful. He’d serve me my soup, gently, like he’d done a thousand times before. But then he’d turn and wipe sauce from Chiara’s lips, smiling down at her, laughing warmly, as if she was everything he’d ever wanted.

“Silly girl,” he signed, “how can you be this cute?”

I lowered my head, my lips tasting the soup, my eyes burning, and I couldn’t cry. I wanted to. I tried to. But I couldn’t. Because I knew him. I recognized that movement. That look in his eyes. That care. That love.

And then it hit me. All of it. All the warmth, all the touches, all the promises he’d given her. He’d really… fallen for her.

And I was nothing.

After dinner, my private pack doctor came again, like he always did and checked my eyes.

“Alpha Thornhill, Dr. Peterson couldn’t make it today, so I came instead. I reviewed her records, and honestly… if she keeps taking the proper treatment, there’s a really high chance her eyesight will come back.”

I stood outside the door, quiet, listening. My chest felt heavy for no reason.

What would it even change… if I could see? Would I see him choosing her more clearly? Would I see every lie right in front of me?

Inside, there was a pause. Then Drake spoke. Calm. Flat.

“No.”

The doctor sounded confused. “No…? Alpha, I don’t think you understand. This is a good thing. She can recover, she can—”

Drake cut him off, his voice colder now. “Didn’t Peterson tell you? For the past five years, I’ve only had him prescribe the most basic tonics. Nothing more.”

The doctor went quiet. “You mean… you’ve been holding back her treatment on purpose? Alpha, that’s… that’s not right. She deserves to know. She deserves a chance.”

Drake exhaled, low and irritated. “And if she sees everything, what then? Have you thought about that? What happens to Chiara? What happens to her when the truth comes out?”

“Alpha, with all respect, your mate’s life should come first,” the doctor insisted. “You can’t just keep her in the dark because it’s convenient for you.”

“It’s not convenient. It’s balanced.” Drake’s voice dropped, dangerous now. “I’m keeping things stable. I’m protecting both of them. You don’t get to question that.”

My hand tightened around my ring. My fingers shook.

So this whole time… he knew. He knew I could’ve seen again. And he chose to keep me blind.

Why…? Was I really that easy to control? That easy to hide away?

A sharp crack echoed in my ears. I didn’t even realize I’d forced the ring off until pain shot through my finger. Blood slipped down between my fingers, warm and sticky.

I ran. I didn’t even know where, just back to my room, my whole body shaking so hard I couldn’t breathe.

I knocked into the table, and the framed wedding photo fell to the floor.

In it, Drake leaned forward, pressing a soft, sacred kiss to my forehead. His eyes were full of devotion. Like I was everything.

“Why…” I whispered, staring at it. “Why did you lie to me like this…?”

My tears hit the floor before I could stop them. And then I started laughing. Loud, broken, ugly.

“Hahaha… Drake… you’re amazing. You really are.” My stomach twisted, and I doubled over, gagging, bitter liquid rising in my throat. “You planned everything… didn’t you? Every day I am scared, confused… thinking I was broken… that was all you.”

I cried until there was nothing left. Then I picked up the photo, pulled it out of the frame, and shoved it into the shredder.

The machine chewed through it slowly, the sound sharp and final.

And it felt like something in my chest was being shredded too. Every memory, every moment, every time he said he loved me.

Gone.

“Honey… what are you doing?”

I didn’t even turn around. I just gathered the torn pieces, white and lifeless now, and dumped them into the trash.

“It’s nothing,” I said, my voice dry, empty. “Just… a corrupted file. Didn’t need it anymore.”

Drake stepped closer. “Corrupted? Let me see that.” He frowned slightly, staring at the shredded pieces. “Why does this look familiar… Chloe, what exactly did you—”

Before he could finish, the door opened.

“Drake,” Chiara’s voice came soft, gentle, like she belonged here more than I ever did.

He turned instantly. Just like that. Like I didn’t exist.

She walked in holding a bouquet of strong-scented white lilies, smiling shyly. “I brought these… I thought maybe she’d like them.”

Drake’s eyes softened right away. “You shouldn’t be walking around too much. What if something happens to you or the pup?”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice light. “I just wanted to do something nice.”

He took the bouquet from her and turned to me, placing it in my arms. “Here. For you.”

“Happy birthday, Miss Brightman,” Chiara added softly.

The scent hit me hard. Too strong. Too suffocating. I started coughing, over and over, my chest tightening. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn’t stop them.

Drake frowned. “What’s wrong? Are you allergic? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Chiara suddenly came up behind me and covered my eyes with both hands, laughing softly like this was some kind of game.

“Come on, come on, just a few more steps,” she said, gently but firmly pushing me forward. “Don’t peek, okay? I prepared something special for you.”

I didn’t fight her. I just let myself be led. What was the point anymore?

“Alright… ready?” she said, voice bright. “Surprise!”

She let go.

And I saw it.

On the white marble table was raw meat, still dripping with blood, foam clinging to it like it hadn’t even been cleaned properly. The vegetables were burnt black, like they’d been left too long over the flame.

For a second, I just stared.

Was this a joke…? Or was I the joke?

Chiara suddenly gasped and slapped her forehead. “Oh no! I totally forgot. Miss Brightman can’t really see, right? I didn’t think about how this would look…”

She stopped mid-sentence and covered her mouth, like she realized she messed up.

Drake immediately reached for her hands, his movements quick, reassuring, signing gently to her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Chloe won’t mind something like this. She’s not that sensitive.”

Not that sensitive.

Chiara lowered her head, her fingers trembling as she signed back. “Why does it feel like I can’t do anything right? I just wanted to do something nice for her, but I kept messing up… I’m useless.”

Drake shook his head, his expression soft, almost pained. “You’re not useless. Stop saying that. You’re doing your best, and that’s enough. You don’t need to be perfect.”

She sniffed, then looked up again. “I… I also made a mango cake for her. I thought something sweet might make her happy.”

Drake turned to me, his eyes full of that same gentle look I used to believe in. “Wife, come on. Don’t just stand there. She worked hard on it. At least try a bite, okay?”

I didn’t move. My hands clenched slowly at my sides.

I felt so tired. So, so tired.

“Drake,” I said quietly, “Do you even remember what today is?”

He froze. “What do you mean? It’s your birthday, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not.”