Chapter 142 Cole's Deception
POV: Luna
Morning came too soon.
I'd barely slept, my mind churning with doubts and fears.
Combat training was mandatory despite the lockdown. The Headmaster wanted everyone prepared in case Victoria's clan tried something.
Cole was teaching. Of course.
I steeled myself and entered the training room.
He saw me immediately, his expression unreadable.
"Pair up for drills," he announced.
I expected him to partner with me like always.
Instead, he paired me with a freshman. Someone completely inexperienced.
"Luna, you're with James. Work on basic defensive forms."
"That's beneath my skill level," I said.
"Do it anyway."
His tone was cold. Commanding.
Nothing like the Cole I'd known.
Or thought I'd known.
I worked with James, who was sweet but clueless. The drills were boring. Pointless.
Across the room, Cole was working with Victoria's people again.
Even after everything, he was still connected to them.
Nova caught my eye and mouthed, "What the hell?"
I shrugged. I had no idea what Cole was playing at.
After class, my friends cornered me.
"He's doing it again," Aria said. "Favoring Victoria's people. Undermining you."
"I know."
"Why?" Nova asked. "If he loves you like he claims, why keep helping them?"
"Maybe he doesn't love me. Maybe it was all an act."
"Or maybe he's in deeper than we thought," Sienna suggested. "Maybe he can't get out even if he wants to."
"That's his problem, not mine."
But even as I said it, part of me worried.
What if Cole was trapped? What if he needed help?
No. I couldn't think like that. Couldn't let sympathy cloud my judgment.
That afternoon, I was studying with Lyric in the library when she showed me something.
"Look at this," she said, pulling up old Academy records on her tablet.
"What am I looking at?"
"Cole's enrollment records. He transferred here five years ago. From where, do you think?"
"I don't know."
"Thornheart Academy. Victoria's family school."
My stomach dropped. "He went to school with them?"
"Not just school. He was part of their elite combat program. Trained specifically to be a clan enforcer."
"An enforcer? That's not possible. Cole's not—"
"Look at the photos."
She showed me images from old yearbooks.
Cole, younger but recognizable, standing with Victoria and her clan. All wearing matching uniforms.
All looking like soldiers.
"This doesn't prove anything," I said weakly.
"Luna. He's been connected to them from the beginning. Before he even met you."
"But he transferred schools. Left them."
"Or they sent him here. As a plant."
The implications hit me like a truck.
What if Cole had been working for Victoria's clan all along? What if meeting me, dating me, bonding with me had all been planned?
"I think I'm going to be sick," I muttered.
Lyric squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry. I know this is hard."
"Hard doesn't cover it."
I left the library in a daze.
Everything I'd believed about Cole was crumbling.
I needed air. Space to think.
I headed to the roof, my usual spot when things got overwhelming.
Someone was already there.
Liam.
"Sorry," I said. "I'll go."
"Don't. There's room for both of us."
I sat beside him, staring at the sunset.
"Bad day?" he asked.
"The worst."
"Want to talk about it?"
"I found out Cole's been lying about everything. He went to school with Victoria. Was trained by her family. Probably sent here specifically to get close to me."
"That's rough."
"That's my life apparently. Everyone lies to me."
"I haven't lied to you."
"You admitted your family sent you here to recruit me."
"I admitted it when you asked. I didn't hide it. That's different from lying."
He had a point.
"Why are you so honest?" I asked. "Everyone else plays games. You just say what you're thinking."
"Because games are exhausting. And life's too short to waste time on manipulation."
"Your family must love that."
"They hate it actually. Think I'm too naive. Too trusting."
"Are you?"
"Probably. But I'd rather be naive and genuine than calculating and fake."
We sat in silence, watching the sun disappear.
Then Liam said, "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"When I first got here, I had a mission. Recruit Luna Eclipse. Report back to my family. Simple."
"And now?"
"Now I couldn't care less about the mission. All I care about is you. Keeping you safe. Making you happy." He looked at me. "That's not manipulation. That's just truth."
My mark pulsed warm agreement.
"I want to trust you," I said. "But I'm scared."
"I know. And I'm not asking you to trust me blindly. I'm asking you to give me a chance to prove myself."
"How?"
"Ask me anything. Test me. Push me. I'll show you I'm genuine."
"Okay. Question. If your family ordered you to betray me, would you?"
He didn't hesitate. "No. I'd refuse the order and face whatever consequences came."
"Even if it meant being disowned?"
"Even then. You're my mate, Luna. That bond is more important than family politics."
Through the mate bond, I felt his absolute certainty.
He meant it. Every word.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"For what?"
"For being honest. For being here. For being you."
He smiled. "Anytime."
We sat together until stars appeared.
For the first time in days, I felt peaceful.
Later that night, I was walking back to my dorm when I heard shouting.
Cole's voice. And Victoria's.
I followed the sound to an empty classroom.
The door was cracked open. I could see them inside.
"This wasn't the deal!" Cole was saying.
"The deal changed when you got emotional," Victoria shot back.
"I'm not going to help you hurt her!"
"You already have. You've given us everything we need. Her schedule. Her weaknesses. Her bonds."
"I gave you that information to protect her! Not to help you attack her!"
"Naive boy. Did you really think we'd just let the Eclipse Wolf walk away? She's too valuable."
"She's a person! Not a weapon!"
"She's both. And soon, she'll be ours."
My blood ran cold.
Cole shook his head. "I'm done. I'm telling her everything. Warning her about your plans."
"You'll do no such thing."
Victoria raised her hand. Dark magic swirled.
Cole tried to move, but he was frozen in place.
"You're going to disappear for a while," Victoria said. "Until this is over. By the time anyone finds you, the Eclipse Wolf will already be ours."
"You can't—"
But she could.
The dark magic wrapped around Cole, pulling him into shadows.
He vanished.
I burst into the room. "What did you do?"
Victoria turned, completely unfazed. "Luna. How long have you been listening?"
"Long enough. Where's Cole?"
"Somewhere safe. Where he can't interfere."
"Bring him back. Now."
"Or what? You'll fight me? Please. You're outnumbered and outmatched."
Her clan appeared from corners of the room. At least eight of them.
I was surrounded.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
"I told you. Your power. Your mark. Everything."
"You can't just take Eclipse power."
"Maybe not permanently. But we can use you. Force you to open otherworld gates. Channel ancient magic. All sorts of useful things."
"I'll never help you."
"You will. Because if you don't, everyone you care about dies. The princess. Your pack. Even Liam."
"You're bluffing."
"Am I?" She gestured, and images appeared. Magical projections.
Selene in her suite. My friends in the common room. Liam on the roof.
All being watched by Victoria's people.
"One word from me, and they all die. So you'll cooperate. Or you'll watch them fall."
I wanted to fight. Wanted to unleash Eclipse power and tear this room apart.
But she had too much leverage.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked quietly.
"Come with us. Quietly. No alerting your pack. No calling for help."
"And if I do, you'll leave them alone?"
"For now."
Not a real promise. But the best I was going to get.
"Fine. I'll come."
Victoria smiled. "Smart girl."
Two of her clan members grabbed my arms.
They led me out of the classroom, through hidden passages I didn't know existed.
We ended up in the old dungeons beneath the Academy.
They shoved me into a cell and locked the door.
"Wait!" I shouted. "What about your side of the deal?"
"I said I'd leave them alone for now. I didn't say how long now would last."
She left, taking her clan with her.
I was alone in the dark.
I tried the pack bonds, but something was blocking them. Dark magic interfering with my connection.
I tried my Eclipse power, but the cell was warded against it.
I was trapped.
And no one knew where I was.
I sat in the darkness, trying not to panic.
Then I saw it.
A piece of paper slipped under the door.
I grabbed it and read by the faint light from my mark.
Luna,
I'm sorry. For everything. I never meant for it to go this far.
Victoria has me trapped too. But I managed to get this note to you.
Trust no one. Not even me. Everyone has agendas.
But know this: whatever I've done, I did because I thought it would protect you.
I was wrong.
Find a way out. Warn your pack. Stop Victoria before she uses you to open the otherworld gate.
I love you. Even if you don't believe it anymore.
\- Cole
I stared at the note, emotions warring inside me.
Cole had betrayed me. But he'd also tried to protect me in his own twisted way.
Did that make him a villain or a victim?
I didn't know.
All I knew was that I needed to escape.
And fast.
Because Victoria's plan, whatever it was, involved the otherworld.
And that meant danger not just for me, but for everyone.