Chapter 49 Secrets Revealed
NATHAN'S POV
Ryan's face answered Lisa's question before his words could form and the guilt written across his features was unmistakable. He knew. Maybe not everything, maybe not the full extent of Alpha Marcus's involvement, but he knew there were secrets regarding her mother's death.
Lisa's silver eyes filled with betrayal that made my chest ache to witness. Her whole body froze beneath the hospital blankets and her hands clenched into fists tight enough that her knuckles went white.
"Get out," Lisa said, her voice quiet but carrying the Alpha command that could not be disobeyed. "Both of you. Everyone out of this room right now."
Ryan tried to explain, his mouth opening to offer justifications or context, but Lisa's Alpha command forced compliance before he could speak. The power in her voice was absolute and neither Ryan nor I had any choice but to obey despite every instinct screaming to stay.
The medical staff fled immediately, recognizing the danger in an Alpha's fury. Ryan and I moved toward the door with resistance we could not overcome and Adrian followed reluctantly from where he had been standing silent witness to the confrontation.
Outside the medical wing, Ryan collapsed against the wall like his legs would no longer support his weight. His face was pale beneath the bandages on his throat and his eyes held devastation that matched what I felt.
"He told me there were circumstances around her mother's death that could not be revealed," Ryan said, his voice breaking with emotion. "Alpha Marcus swore it was to protect Lisa from information that would destroy her. I thought he meant protecting her from painful details about how her mother died, not that he was actually complicit in murder."
Ryan's hands were shaking and he pressed them against the wall to steady himself. "I should have questioned him more, pushed harder for the full truth. But Marcus was dying and I thought I was honoring his final wishes by keeping his confidence. I thought I was protecting Lisa."
"You kept another secret from her," I said. "Even if it was not entirely your secret to keep, you still chose silence over honesty. Again."
Ryan flinched like I had struck him but he did not argue because we both knew I was right. The pattern was undeniable and Lisa had every reason to feel betrayed by what she just learned.
Adrian stood apart from us, his expression unreadable. "She needs space," he said quietly. "From all of us. This is too much to process with everyone watching and waiting for her decisions."
Emma appeared then, walking down the corridor with a slight limp from her own injuries but looking recovered. She had been Lisa's confidante through everything, the friend who offered support without romantic complications or hidden agendas.
"Let me talk to her," Emma said, looking between Ryan and me with sympathy but also firmness. "She needs someone who is not romantically complicated right now. Someone who does not have secrets or guilt weighing down every interaction."
I wanted to protest but Emma was right. Lisa needed a friend, not suitors competing for her attention or men begging forgiveness for their failures.
Emma entered Lisa's room and closed the door firmly behind her. Through the small window, I could see her approach the bed where Lisa sat with her knees drawn up to her chest. Then Emma pulled the curtain for privacy and we could see nothing more.
Ryan slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Adrian remained standing but his posture spoke to exhaustion and concern. I leaned against the opposite wall and wondered how everything had gone so catastrophically wrong.
Inside the room, Emma found Lisa crying with tears that were not gentle or quiet. Her friend's sobs shook her whole body and the sound of her pain cut through the closed door. Emma climbed onto the hospital bed and held Lisa while she processed that her father, the man she had been trying to honor by becoming Alpha, was involved in her mother's murder.
Hours passed. Medical staff came and went from other rooms but no one disturbed Lisa and Emma. The sun climbed higher in the sky and still the two women remained closeted together.
Finally, as morning light filled the corridors, Emma came out. Her eyes were red from crying alongside her friend but her expression was calm.
"She wants to see all of you," Emma said. "But only to tell you her decision. Do not try to argue or convince her otherwise."
We filed back into Lisa's room. Lisa sat upright in the hospital bed looking exhausted but composed. The tears had stopped and her face held determination that reminded me why she made such powerful Alpha.
"I am leaving Moonstone Pack temporarily," Lisa announced without preamble. "I am accepting Adrian's earlier offer to visit Western Pack for a month. I need distance from this territory, from all of you, from the lies and the complicated history that I cannot see clearly anymore."
"Lisa, please," Ryan started but she cut him off with a raised hand.
"I need to figure out who I am away from everyone else's expectations and secrets," Lisa continued, her voice steady despite obvious pain. "I have spent my entire life reacting to what others have done to me, to decisions made about me without my knowledge or consent. I need space to make choices based on what I actually want instead of what destiny or duty or guilt demands."
"When do you leave?" I asked, though the question felt like swallowing glass.
"As soon as the doctor clears me for travel," Lisa said. "Probably in two days once the worst of these injuries heal. Daniel will serve as acting Alpha while I am gone. You and Ryan will continue your duties as Third and Beta. The pack will function fine without me for a month, this isn't the first time."
Adrian stepped forward carefully. "You are welcome at Western Pack for as long as you need, Lisa. No pressure, no expectations. Just space to heal and think."
Lisa nodded her thanks but her eyes were distant, already separating herself emotionally from all of us.
"I need you all to leave now," Lisa said quietly. "Emma is staying but the rest of you need to go."
We left because she commanded it and because arguing would only hurt her more. Outside the medical wing, Ryan looked destroyed and I felt empty by the fact that Lisa was leaving.
"She is coming back though," Adrian said, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as us. "After a month, she comes back."
But as I walked away from the medical wing, I could not shake the terrible certainty that when Lisa returned from Western Pack, if she returned, she would be fundamentally changed and the relationships we had all broken might never be repaired.