Fake Heiress True Luna (Irina) novel Chapter 32

<Chapter 32: Lies and More Lies

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Chapter 32: Lies and More Lies

Irina’s POV

Even though I was acting all tough, I was scared of what would happen next. Aiden had seen my book; he could tell Serim, and I could kiss my freedom goodbye.

“Irina, don’t,” he choked out, his voice stripped of all Alpha authority, raw and pleading. “Don’t say that. Please.”

It was the first time I heard him use that tone with me.

“Alpha Keaton, you should return to the party. If I may ask for one favor, it is for you not to tell my Alpha about my ledger.” It was not a plea; if he told me no, I would run tonight.

One day wouldn’t make a difference to them, but it would to me.

“Irina, please,” He grabbed my hand again, forcing me to look at him, but I kept my eyes on the hallway. “Let me explain my side, if you still want me gone… I’ll help you escape. I won’t take you to Shadow Pack, but I don’t want you to roam around the forest. The rogues will get to you.”

My eyes, against my will, flickered from the empty hallway to his face. The raw pleading there was undeniable. This wasn’t a tactic. This was desperation.

“Seems like he learned his lesson,” Theia mumbled under her breath.

“Let’s see if he has a good explanation for the woman he came with,” I reminded her.

We may not have felt the cheating pains, but bringing someone else to the pack where your mate is might be the worst tactic ever.

He didn’t make me jealous; the only thing he achieved was making me angry, and even more so with his macho attitude because another Alpha showed interest in me.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Before we continue this conversation. Tell me who Debbie

is?”

“She is Ethan’s cousin,” He explained. “I asked her to come because I don’t want what happened with Julie to happen again.”

Okay, that’s a good explanation.

“You are forgetting the most important part, Irina,” Theia said. I wondered what-“He hasn’t apologized for calling you Omega in front of her.”

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< Chapter 32: Lies and More Lies

True…

“Why did you call me omega if she isn’t your lover?” I questioned next.

Aiden’s shoulders slumped. “I’m stupid. Insecure and held a grudge for too long for something I’m not even sure was true,” he admitted.

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I squinted my eyes. It was time for me to know why the hell Aiden Keaton had hated me for

years.

I locked the door again as I turned to talk to him. “What grudge?” I asked, my voice low and steady. “What could I have possibly done to make you hate me on sight?”

Aiden looked away, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Shame rolled off him in waves, so potent I could almost taste it. “My father died, but I never held a big funeral like the rest of the packs. I didn’t want anyone to know what had happened to me because I hate it when people look at me with pity.”

I could understand that feeling, but I still don’t understand what that had to do with me.

“Lancer and Serim went to my pack to form an alliance shortly after he died. I’m sure Lancer was aware of my feelings for you, because he told me you and he would marry you as soon as you turned eighteen.”

What?! I’m not sure what I’m more surprised about: the fact that he admitted he liked me before all this mess happened, or the fact that Lancer lied and told him I was going to marry

him.

“I had a crush on him,” I admitted lowly, and I saw him wince. “But that was it. I would never, ever marry someone as soon as I turned eighteen if they weren’t my mate.”

“I know that now. I can see it, but at that moment, I got jealous. I didn’t want to believe what he said, so I waited until the next event, the Harvest Moon you held here, in Blue Moon,” Aiden continued without mentioning my previous crush on Lancer.

I tried to recall what happened during that time, but nothing came to mind.

“I kept looking for you, but of course, you were extremely busy as the Alpha’s daughter. I heard some omegas comment on how you and Lancer were going to be the power couple of the region. They said you were already picking out names for your pups.” He let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “And then I saw you. You were across the clearing, and you looked… happy. You were smiling at something he said. And I just… broke. I convinced myself that Lancer was telling the truth. That you were in love with him, that my feelings would not

matter.”

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“You got mad because of that?!” I wanted to slap him.

I was a freaking kid! And even if I had said that, it was stupid to help me because I liked Lancer. There is no way I can forgive him.

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Aiden shook his head. “I was cold to you because of that, but what made me change was when I heard you tell your friends

you would choose Lancer over anyone. Even your own fated mate, because you thought fated mates were not always right.”

My mouth hung open. I don’t even remember when I said that.

“I know you may find it stupid, but I couldn’t believe you would disregard the Goddess’s gift so easily. I was furious and wanted an explanation from you, which is why I caged you during the Alpha Gathering of that year.”

I’m so confused.

I’m not sure what happened, but I’m certain that wasn’t me because I got sick during that Gathering.

“I wanted to ask you if what Lancer had said was true. I wanted to know if you truly thought he was the one and only for you. I didn’t care if you didn’t reciprocate my feelings, but I didn’t want you to suffer the same way my stepmother did, and I knew that if Lancer found his fated mate, he would not be loyal to you.

“When you passed to the pack house, I grabbed your hand and hid you in a closet. I told you how worried I was, but you just… laughed.” He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. “You told me I was being childish, and what happened with my father was unfortunate, but it was not the norm. It proved he wasn’t a strong Alpha and deserved it.”

“WHAT?!”

“That wasn’t us.’

”

“I know! I would never say something like that to anyone!”

“You said you didn’t care who your fated mate was. They were overrated, and if it were me, you wouldn’t hesitate to reject me.”

A cold, sickening realization began to dawn on me, cutting through the confusion and the lingering anger. “Aiden,” I said slowly, my voice barely a whisper. “I wasn’t at the Harvest Moon celebration. It was the first time I got sick. My parents were taken aback because I was supposed to be an Alpha’s daughter, and yet I came down with a fever.”

His head snapped up, his eyes wide with dawning horror. “What?”

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“I was not there, Aiden, “I continued, the pieces clicking together. “I was sick, the doctors could never tell me what happened, but now that I know I’m an omega, it makes sense. Either way, I was not there; whoever you spoke to was not me. I would never, ever say something like that. I wasn’t aware of what happened to you. The first time I heard about the relationship between your father and stepmother was the last time I was in Shadow Pack.”

The color drained from Aiden’s face. He looked like a man who had just watched his entire world collapse. “But… I saw you. I spoke to you. It was your face… your voice…”

“My face?” I questioned. “Aiden, you did not speak to me. You can ask Serim if you don’t trust

me.”

The silence that followed was absolute, a void sucking all the sound and air from the room. Aiden stared at me, his expression shifting from horror to a gut-wrenching, dawning comprehension. It was a truth more devastating than any lie.

“Who lied to me?” He asked that question more to himself than to me, but I still felt the need

to answer.

“I don’t know, someone who must have known about your family,” I replied.

Apart from Julie and a few omegas, nobody else came to mind. Only they wanted to destroy me, but Julie hadn’t appeared in my life yet, and the other omegas just hate me now because I fell from my Alpha’s daughter position, and now they can hurt me.

He looked up at me, his grey eyes swimming in a sea of torment. “I spent years hating you because I thought you were a spoiled little girl who couldn’t comprehend someone else’s pain. I thought you made fun of me and were ready to throw the Goddess’s gift to the trash.”

“So,” I said, my voice eerily calm. “It was all a lie. Every reason you had to despise me.”

He didn’t answer; instead, he did something I never expected to see Aiden, or any other Alpha for that matter, do.

Kneel.

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