CHAPTER 28: DECIDING FATE

She didn’t let either Alpha Dawn or me speak before she pulled me away. I couldn’t even utter a word as she dragged me from Alpha Dawn. My lips were sealed in terror.

I turned to catch Alpha Dawn’s reaction and couldn’t believe I saw him smirking over the rim of his champagne flute as he sipped gently, watching his Luna drag me away.

Bastard.

Did he set me up? Maybe he knew the Luna had brought me a dress and deliberately made me disregard her. Sneaky bastard.

Whatever it was, I had to be ready to face the music.

The Luna led me down the stairs, blending with the crowd. Many recognized me as the woman Alpha Dawn had introduced as his breeder; only a few did not. Those who recognized me waved, smiled, and even offered small compliments, agreeing with Alpha Dawn that I was indeed beautiful. But that wasn’t my worry.

The Luna, dressed in a sleeveless, stretch, open-back black dress, swept past bodies and people who recognized her as the Luna and paid their respects by bowing. Some were fawning; others whispered to each other, "The Alpha is so lucky. She is so beautiful."

Indeed, he is.

She is gorgeous — the body of a model, the physique of a model, and the face of a goddess. She could easily pass as a model-star with multiple deals.

Still, that bastard is not content and wants whatever he wants with me? If I were in his shoes — God forbid — would I wish to kill such a gorgeous woman just to satisfy a fling? He is such a psychopath.

The Luna didn’t seem pissed as she led us into a room. The room had a table adorned with a variety of mouth-watering dishes. A man who looked to be in his late seventies sat at the head of the table, munching on grilled deer meat. He was dressed in a well-tailored two-piece suit. His salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back neatly. He wore sunglasses.

"Mr. Crowe, your daughter is here."

My whole world stopped spinning.

He looked up from his grilled deer meat and paused for a second.

"Come closer," he said, staring ahead of him.

I looked to the Luna, who passed me a sweet smile; her red lipstick made the smile even more frightening.

With shaky legs, I moved closer to him. He stretched out his hand, signaling for me to take it. I did, feeling the texture of his suit.

He was blind, I noticed — hence the sunglasses.

"Your hand," his fragile voice began, my heart pounding, "it’s still as soft as always."

I breathed.

"My daughter. How have you been?"

The Luna leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, "He thinks you are his daughter. Don’t worry; he would not know a thing."

I swallowed and watched the man.

The Luna rounded the table and sat beside him, grabbing a fork to take a bite of the spicy crab meat.

"Have a seat," she said. "We have a lot to discuss."

I nodded and sat across from her.

"Eat. You must be hungry," the Luna said, munching on the crab meat.

I shook my head. "I’m fine."

"You did not wear the dress I gave you," she said, sipping wine from her cup.

I adjusted. "I wanted—"

"It’s fine. You don’t have to explain. I understand."

She does?

"I had a change of plan, but don’t worry — you are still useful to me regardless."

Mr. Crowe ate in silence behind us, oblivious to our conversation. I studied him.

"Don’t worry about him. He won’t remember a thing from this night."

"So, you said you have a new plan?" I finally asked.

"Yes," she said, stabbing her fork into a shrimp and taking a bite. "We will go somewhere tomorrow. But before that, I want you to know this is a life-and-death mission, and any mistake from you or me will cost both our lives."

I frowned. "What is the mission about?"

"You’ll find out soon enough. Do not let anyone know we had this conversation. If the Alpha learns of it, he will suspect what I’m trying to do, and there would be a bloodbath."

"Bloodbath?"

"As he mentioned during his opening speech earlier, this event marks the third year since the peace and alliances between all packs in the region. Any slip of the tongue from you can make that break. Do you understand?"

No. I did not. This sounded so tedious. How should I get myself into something that might not only get me in trouble but also put all the packs in the region at risk?

"And what if I say no?"

She paused, dropping her fork on the plate. "Simple. You face the consequences. And let me remind you of the said consequence in case you’ve forgotten: death. Execution. Omegas pretending to be elites always face death. In addition, I’ll say you seduced the Alpha to have sex with you by pretending to be an elite, and that would also cost you your loved ones. Everyone in your family tree will be wiped out. Think wisely."

I thought wisely and deeply as I sneaked back to my room.

I was so lost in thought that my head began to pound.

I avoided Alpha Dawn until I realized he probably didn’t care. He had watched his Luna drag me away, fully aware that she could have killed me if she wanted to. He probably thinks I’m dead by now. I really hope he maintains that energy. But knowing him, he’ll come crawling back the moment he finds out I’m alive.

Later that night, I slipped into my room, planning to retire to bed and silence all the thoughts running through my head.

When I switched on the light, my soul nearly left my body—someone was sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

"Sable?" I echoed. "How did you get here?"

She rose to her feet, a smile spreading across her face. "I know of a plan that can make us swap."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You said we should swap the last time I came here, right?"

I did recall saying that. I nodded.

"So, I know someone who can make it happen. You’ll wear my face, and I’ll wear yours. She’s a witch—a friend of my grandmother. She’s very powerful. The spell would work in minutes."

"So... you want us to swap faces?"