Chapter 18 Chapter 18
ELIJAH’S POV
I couldn’t sleep.
No matter how many times I turned on the bed, the restlessness wouldn’t stop. My chest felt tight, like I was being strangled by something invisible. I kept seeing her face.
Anna.
She didn’t believe me. She thought I was lying when I told her Damon was dangerous. Maybe she was even with him right now, talking to him, smiling at him the way she used to smile at me.
My hands clenched. The thought burned my veins. Damon wasn’t just dangerous—he was the devil himself. When he set his eyes on someone, he didn’t stop until they were dead. And if he said he would kill her, then he would.
I sat up and rubbed my face, trying to calm down. The moonlight from the window came into the room, painting everything pale and cold. I didn’t want to admit it, but fear crawled inside me. Not for myself—never for myself—but for her.
Then another thought struck me.
Amanda.
She hadn’t returned all day. She left this morning after what happened in the kitchen—after she saw Anna and me together—and she hadn’t come back since. I told myself she was fine, maybe with her friends or sulking somewhere.
But hours had passed. Where was she?
I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
She was my Luna. She was also my duty and responsibility. Even if my heart wasn’t hers, I owed her love and care as Alpha.
That was what a leader did.
Still… I couldn’t even bring myself to touch her since the coronation. Every time I looked at Amanda, I saw what I’d lost. I saw Anna.
I stared at the door, debating if I should go find Amanda—or if I should go check on Anna instead. My chest ached at the thought of her. She had looked so angry earlier, and maybe she was right to be. I could have waited. I could have delayed the coronation, chosen her instead. But I didn’t. I chose what was best for the pack.
Maybe I was selfish after all.
Before I could stand up, the door opened.
Amanda walked in, laughing softly. Her dress shimmered in the moonlight. She looked happy—too happy for someone who’d spent the whole day avoiding me.
I frowned. “Where have you been?”
She stopped laughing but still smiled. “I was outside with my real friends who wouldn't betray me with a man. You were worried about me?”
“Of course I was,” I answered quietly. “You disappeared all day.”
Her smile widened and she let out a fake chuckle. “You care, Alpha? That’s so sweet.”
I didn’t respond. I was genuinely worried, though maybe not in the way she wanted me to be. After everything that happened earlier, after she saw me and Anna together in the kitchen, I thought she’d be furious or heartbroken.
But this… this was strange.
Amanda stepped closer, her eyes glimmering with mischief. “You look unhappy, Elijah. What happened? Couldn’t sleep?”
“I’ve had a long day,” I muttered. “You?”
“Oh, mine was fun,” she said, brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder. “I heard something… interesting.”
I glanced up. “What?”
She tilted her head, pretending to think. “It's about your precious maid.”
My heart skipped. “Anna?”
Amanda smirked. “Yes. You remember her, right? The one you almost ruined your life for.”
I felt my muscles tighten. “What about her?”
Amanda moved closer until she was standing right in front of me. Her perfume was strong, sweet, choking. “I heard she slept with Damon. Everyone in the Pack is calling her a whore already.”
I froze.
The words hit me like a blow.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me. One night. That’s all it took. Your brother and your little maid. Guess she couldn’t resist the hybrid charm.”
“That’s not true,” I replied quickly, shaking my head. “Anna wouldn’t—”
Amanda interrupted, her voice dripping with mockery. “Wouldn’t she? All the girls in the pack want Damon so badly. Why do you think she would be any different? Why do you have so much faith in that whore?”
My throat went dry.
My pulse roared in my ears.
“No,” I whispered. “Anna wouldn’t do that.”
Amanda chuckled. “You men are all the same. You think love makes someone pure. Wake up, Elijah. Anna's not innocent. She’s playing you, and I hate to see it.”
I tried to laugh it off at first. I told myself it was ridiculous. Anna was angry, yes. Hurt, yes. But not the kind of person to… sleep with Damon. She would never have sex with my brother.
But then, a part of me broke. What if she did? What if that’s why she didn’t believe me when I told her he was dangerous? What if that’s why she defended him?
It made too much sense now.
Something inside me snapped.
The anger came fast, flooding through me like fire. The jealousy was worse. The thought of Damon touching her—kissing her—made my stomach twist in pain.
For a moment, I didn’t care about anything else. I didn’t care if she lived or died.
She had betrayed me.
I clenched my jaw, forcing back the urge to growl in anger. Amanda’s eyes softened slightly. Maybe she could feel it—the shift in me. The moment my heartbreak turned into something colder.
She reached for my arm. “Elijah,” she whispered. “You have me. You don’t need that bitch.”
I looked at her, at the woman who was my Luna in name but nothing more. And maybe it was the pain, maybe it was the jealousy, but I didn’t push her away this time.
Instead, I pulled her closer.
Her eyes widened for a second, then she smiled, her hands finding my chest. She tilted her head, inviting me.
I didn’t think or feel.
I just kissed her.
It was harsh, desperate, nothing like the warmth I once knew. Amanda kissed me back, her hands curling around my neck. She tasted like wine and victory, and I hated it—but I didn’t stop. I wanted to forget. I wanted to burn the memory of Anna out of my mind.
I deepened the kiss until the world blurred. For a few seconds, all that existed was anger and noise and the pounding of my heart.
When we finally broke apart, Amanda smiled, breathless. “See? You don’t need Anna when you have me right here as your Luna.”
I stared at her, my chest rising and falling fast. My throat felt raw, but I forced the words out anyway.
“I don’t care what happens to her anymore.”
Amanda’s smile widened again, satisfied.
But deep down, I knew. I was lying to myself. Because even as I said it, the image of Anna wouldn’t leave me. Her eyes, her laugh, her tears—burned into me like a wound that refused to heal.
Still, I turned away, letting the anger harden. If Damon wanted to kill her, let him. Maybe I was the fool for ever thinking I could save her. And with that, I finally stopped fighting the darkness inside me.
I didn’t care what happened to her anymore.