The Luna's Comeback

The silver needle glinted under the lights, and I wondered if this was really how it would end.

"I'm sorry, Aria," Dr. Silas Grey said, his weathered hands folding the lab results. "The silver poisoning has progressed too far. You have maybe seventy-two hours."

Three days left to live. I should have cried, Instead, I felt nothing but hollow relief.

"Does it have to be painful?"

Dr. Silas's grey eyes met mine, full of sympathy I didn't deserve. "I can make you comfortable. But we should tell Alpha Declan…"

"No." The word came sharp. "Not yet. I need time to prepare."

He studied me, a twenty-five-year-old Luna who looked forty, with dark circles and a body that had forgotten how to relax. I'd lost fifteen pounds in six months. My auburn hair hung limp past my shoulders.

I looked exactly like someone dying of silver poisoning. Because I had been poisoned. Just not the way everyone thought.

"Aria," Dr. Silas leaned forward. "I've watched you disappear over the past six months. Ever since Selene came back."

Selene Fairchild. Declan's childhood sweetheart. The delicate she-wolf who'd returned with a mysterious illness requiring constant attention. His attention, specifically.

"The tests don't lie," Dr. Silas said quietly. "But silver poisoning doesn't just happen. Someone would have to..."

"I know." I stood, smoothing my simple blue dress. Luna attire. Professional. Unmemorable. Perfect for blending into the background of Declan's life. "Thank you for your discretion."

"What will you do?"

I checked my phone. No messages. Declan hadn't texted in three days. Too busy with Selene's latest crisis.

"I'm going to get my affairs in order," I said. It wasn't even a lie. "Make sure everything is taken care of."

"And then?"

I met his eyes. "And then I'm going to stop dying for people who wouldn't live for me."

The pack house rose before me like a monument to everything I'd failed to be. My Toyota looked pathetic next to the sleek SUVs. Selene's silver Mercedes with the vanity plate: MOON4EVR.

I'd taken the bus to my appointment. My car was in the shop. Declan had been too busy to give me a ride.

But he'd personally driven Selene to her aromatherapy session that morning.

Jenna Martinez burst through the front door, curly black hair bouncing. "If he forgot your anniversary lunch again…" She stopped, looked at me. "Aria. What happened?"

I pulled her to the side garden. "Funny story. I'm dying."

I told her everything. The diagnosis. The timeline. The silver poisoning.

"That's why you've been so calm," she breathed. "You've been planning something."

God, I loved her. In a pack full of people who looked through me, Jenna actually saw me.

"I need your help. But you can't tell anyone."

"What do you need?"

The French doors burst open. Declan strode out, phone pressed to his ear, barely glancing our direction. Six-foot-two of golden-haired perfection that still made my heart skip.

"No, get the blue roses," he said into the phone. "Selene specifically said blue." He finally looked at me, irritation flashing. "Aria, have you seen Selene's medication? The silver label bottle?"

Silver. Of course.

"Medical wing. Third cabinet, top shelf."

"Thanks." Already turning away. "Oh, can you make sure dinner's ready by seven? Selene's having a rough day. She wants your chicken soup. The healing one."

The one that took three hours to make. The one I'd created specifically for him.

"Of course. Anything else?"

He paused. Something flickered in his eyes, concern or guilt? but then his phone buzzed and it disappeared.

"That's all. You're the best." And he was gone.

Jenna looked ready to shift and attack. "How can you be so calm?"

I watched Declan disappear into the pack house, heading to Selene's suite. The suite was bigger than our shared bedroom.

"Because I just realized something. I've been dying for three years. I finally have an expiration date."

Jenna's hand found mine. "What's the plan?"

"I'm going to give them exactly what they want." I pulled out my phone, started texting Dr. Silas. "I'm going to be the perfect Luna. The perfect daughter. The perfect sister. Give everyone everything they've ever wanted from me."

"And then?"

I hit send. "And then I'm going to die."

"This is insane."

"This is survival. I can't just leave. Declan would hunt me as a rogue. Challenge the mate bond severance. But if I'm dead, the bond breaks naturally. No one can challenge death."

Understanding dawned on Jenna's face.

I handed her a folded paper. She read it, eyes widening. "This is comprehensive."

"I've had time to plan." Bank accounts. File transfers. Emergency passport. And at the bottom, one name that made her inhale sharply.

"You know about this?"

"Found out three weeks ago. Ran a genetic test through the medical center database."

Alpha Ronan Nightshade. My biological father. The powerful Alpha whose daughter was kidnapped twenty years ago.

"The Blackwoods know," Jenna said.

"They've known the whole time. Fifty thousand dollar reward. They collected it and kept me anyway."

"Aria…"

"Three days, Jenna. Can you help me?"

She folded the paper and pulled me into a fierce hug. "Always."

I pulled back, squared my shoulders, turned toward the pack house. Time to play the role of a lifetime: the dying Luna who went quietly. They had no idea who I really was.

I was Aria Nightshade, daughter of one of the most powerful Alphas in North America. I could manipulate silver, heal with a touch, command respect.

I'd spent three years pretending to be weak. Human-turned-wolf, they'd called me.

In three days, I'd be dead. And then, I'd finally be free.

Inside, Selene's laughter floated down from upstairs. Declan's warm voice responded.

I headed to the kitchen. Three hours to make soup for the woman poisoning me. The irony wasn't lost on me.

My phone buzzed. Dr. Silas: [Everything is arranged. Are you sure?]

I typed back: [I've never been more sure.]

Another buzz. Blocked number: [Daughter. We've been searching for twenty years. When you're ready, come home. You'll be safe here. - R.N.]

Ronan Nightshade. My father. Home. Such a strange word.

But in three days, maybe I will have one.

I started pulling out ingredients. Chicken, healing herbs,silver sage. I'd make it perfect, because that's what perfect Lunas did.

Three days. Seventy-two hours. The countdown had begun.