Chapter 1

After booking the flight, I thought the man and woman inside would stop their little bedroom scene.

By the time I pulled myself together and walked back into the house, I found they'd moved from the bedroom to the living room, locked in a deep kiss, the air thick with the smell of sex.

Damon looked at me with heated eyes, then bit his own lip to keep quiet.

But Celeste wouldn't stop teasing him.

"Damon, relax. Aria's blind. She can't see us."

She whispered it right against his ear, then shot me a sneer full of contempt.

Damon pinched her. "Stop it. Don't let her hear anything wrong."

"Come on, this is kind of exciting."

"We're out. You'll have to grab another one."

Celeste lifted her head and murmured it, her smile wicked as she reminded him. Damon steadied his voice and looked over at me on the opposite couch.

"You want her to get it, or should I?"

Celeste threw me a challenging look as she asked.

"Aria, my throat's a little sore. Can you bring me that box of cold medicine from the coffee table?"

After a moment of hesitation, Damon gave in to Celeste's game.

I kept my face blank and looked toward the voice. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes half-lidded, both arms still wrapped around Celeste, unwilling to let go and walk over.

I bit down on everything I felt, fists clenched tight, and threw a bitter look at the so-called "cold medicine" on the coffee table. It was a box of condoms.

Damon wanted me to hand them their condoms.

Face like death, I acted the part of the blind Luna, feeling along the table until I found the box and carried it over.

"How did your throat get sore? Is it bad?"

I asked the same way I always had, only my voice shook. He didn't catch it.

"It's—it's nothing. I'll take something and sleep it off."

Celeste ran her fingers over him suggestively. Damon shot her a warning look.

His eyes told her to stop, then he took the box from my hand.

"You should rest early. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. I don't want you catching this."

Then Damon lifted Celeste up and carried her toward the guest room, quiet as he could.

Once they were gone, my nose burned and my eyes went red.

Even though I'd already decided to leave him, to let him go, my heart still hurt.

Damon had once told me he'd never lie to me, never betray me, not in a lifetime. In the end, he'd broken that word.

I picked up my phone and called my master.

"Elder Rowan, I'm ready to come home. I'll take your place as Pack Healer."

"Are you sure? Once you come back, you can never leave again. You know Hidden Hollow is sealed off. Outsiders aren't allowed to find us. We're cut off from the rest of the wolf world. Can you really walk away from Damon?"

I answered without hesitation. "I can."

Elder Rowan was quiet for a long moment.

"All right. Come home in seven days."

I'd been the one who couldn't let Damon go. Who hesitated.

Now, he'd made the choice for me.

I glanced at the closed guest room door, the sounds of a man and woman still leaking out.

"I've wasted myself too many years. I have the healer's gift, and I've let it rot. It's time to carry my weight. It's time to help you, Elder."

"Good. You're a true daughter of the Hidden Hollow. You haven't disappointed me. In eight days, I'll have the Pack waiting at the border for you."

"I'll be there on time."

After a few more quiet words, I hung up. The guest room door clicked open and Damon walked in, wearing a white shirt.

His neck and the skin under the half-buttoned collar were covered in bite marks and scratches — marks Celeste had left with her nails. He didn't bother hiding them. As far as he knew, I was blind.

A wave of sickness hit me, sharper than anything I'd ever felt, and I gagged.

Damon saw it and rushed over, worried. The second he got close, all I could smell was Celeste's custom perfume. Damon had spoiled her so thoroughly he'd had a scent-house blend something just for her.

The nausea climbed higher. I shoved him off and kept feeling my way to the bathroom, still playing blind. Even my body was rejecting him now.

I knelt over the toilet and dry-heaved. When it passed, I glanced at the trash can and saw it — a pregnancy test, two red lines. I stared at it a long time. It stared back, like it was laughing at how useless I was.

I didn't know what to feel anymore. I couldn't cry. There was just pain, endless, with nothing else inside it.

Since I'd gone blind, Damon and I hadn't shared a bed in six months. He'd gone to Celeste. Now he'd gotten her pregnant.