Chapter 143

Lucian’s POV

“No,” I said quickly. “I couldn’t be.”

Early in our marriage, Aria and I had tried rather enthusiastically to have children, but we never managed to succeed in getting Aria pregnant. Eventually, I came to the realization that we couldn’t get pregnant, for one reason or another.

Likely, our mating bond just wasn’t strong enough.

She must have found love with someone else, and through that bond of love, became pregnant with twins.

It still hurt, thinking of Aria finding love with some unknown male. But I swallowed down that pain, trying to focus. I needed to discover just who this person was, so I could make them be a part of their children’s lives. Those kids deserved a father.

“It’s not me, Mom,” I told her. “It can’t be. We tried and…” I cut myself short. “It’s not me.”

Both of my parents gave me strange looks, like they didn’t quite believe me. Short of giving them more specific details, I didn’t know how to convince them.

The truth was Aria hadn’t been intimate in a long time before then…

At least, not that I recalled…

There was one night when I had been drinking that was hazy, and I had some foggy memories of holding her and kissing her, but when I tried to grab at those memories, they always slipped away from me.

Aria acted the same afterwards, and I tried not to give anything away. Eventually, I just assumed that I had dreamed it.

No, it made much more sense if she had found comfort in the arms of someone else.

After changing the subject, my parents and I continued to talk cordially for a time. Then, the phone rang. My mom went to answer it. A moment later, she returned.

“Lucian, it’s for you. It’s your Beta.”

Ben knew I spent this day every week at my parents’ place. I’d done this enough times now for this to be a well-established routine. For him to call meant that there had to be some kind of emergency happening.

I rushed to the phone and held it to my ear. “Ben, what’s going on?”

“Dr. A is giving a press conference,” Ben said. “At the hotel downtown.”

Aria.

I hadn’t told Ben Aria’s secret identity, but I had made clear to him that I wanted to be kept in the loop on any breaking news about Dr. A or Aria. Ben was a good Beta, and following through on that now without question.

“Any idea what’s going on?” I asked.

“No,” Ben said. “But there are some whispers she might be planning on revealing her true identity.”

I froze in place, startled by the word.

For Aria to reveal herself to the entire pack was a brave choice, but also a dangerous one. There were those in the pack who still sided with Sheila in the events of the past. They still did not like Aria, even after her public perception had mostly shifted positively.

“Which hotel?” I asked. I had to get down there, and fast.

Aria’s POV

“Your support has influenced many of my endeavors over the past several years,” I said into the bouquet of microphones affixed to the end of the podium.

Out in the seats, I watched the curious faces of the reporters and the nobles who Jasper had invited just to watch their faces fall when they were to discover the truth.

“So I think it only fair that you all know the real me, the woman behind the mask,” I said. With trembling hands, I reached up and released the ties of my mask.

“Let down the disguise,” I told my wolf in my mind.

“Are you sure about this?” she whispered back.

“We are done hiding in the shadows,” I said.

Slowly, I felt the shift inside of myself, as my wolf Luna removed the disguise she had placed on me. My normal scent returned and my hair lightened. At the same time, I lowered my mask, and faced the crowd as the true me.

Recognition flickered over the faces of almost everyone at once. Camera flashes blinded me for a time, but even through the bright popping lights, I could see the shocked faces of those who had mistreated me in the past.

Jasper was right. It was worth it to see their dumbfounded expression as they tried to mentally connect how the Luna they had despised was actually well-regarded and praised Healer. As Dr. A, I had even treated a few of them.

In the back of the room, I noticed Lucian step in through the doors. Why was he here? Did he want to support me?

I couldn’t be sure. His eyes darted around the room, looking at the people present. He was tense like he expected something.

Maybe I should have expected it too.

One of my dissenters, a middle-aged women whose kids I had helped heal through a genetic disease, rose before the others could recover.

“You lying bitch,” she snapped, seemingly having forgotten how I saved two of her children’s lives as Dr. A. “Can’t you all see how this is all some big scam? I doubt she has a medicine degree. She’s only ever been after our money!”

I was blown away by the mental gymnastics required to make that type of assertion. Yes, I had charged all of them while I was there Healer, but nothing outlandish.

Another of my dissenters, an elderly man pushed himself up to his feet. “You are a disgrace of a Luna! And now one as a Healer as well! I can’t believe I could have been so foolish as to want you to have treated me!”

“Where’s your medical degree?” Another shouted, their face twisted with anger. “Show us your credentials!”

How outrageous. They had all come to me for treatment when my identity had been concealed. They’d even sent me thanks and gifts afterwards because I had done such a good job curing them. Yet their hatred of me as their Luna seemed to overwhelm their memories. They were healthy now, what did they care how they became that way?

My fingers tightened on my mask. Maybe this revelation had been a mistake after all. More than ever I wanted to return to the safety of Moonglow, where everyone knew Aria and Dr. A were synonymous, and no one cared.

Worse, Lucian was now here to witness this mockery. Everything felt out of control now. I wanted to run away but I didn’t want to be a coward. The truth was out there now; there could be no mistaking it.

Yet, right as my muscles started to tense, and my fight or flight instinct started to tell me to flee, Lucian stepped forward from the back of the room. He walked along the aisle down the side of the room with long, purposeful steps.

The reporters, who had been documenting the scene, spotted him at once. Those cameras flashed again, as the video cameras turned to capture his approach.

“Show us your credentials!” another woman cried.

As he walked by her, Lucian snapped, “Sit down, Mrs. Martin.”

The woman, realizing the Alpha King was addressing her, immediately closed her mouth and sat down.

As Lucian neared the front of the room, he turned to address everyone.

The dissenters still tried to talk over him, but Lucian, clearly running out of patience, shouted, “That’s enough!”