The Scorned Luna-Chapter 114: The Way I Look
As Sofia sat huddled on the floor, the coldness of the room slowly began to fade as Damien’s voice echoed gently in her mind. He didn’t push her for answers. Instead, he simply began to talk.
"Remember that summer at the creek, Sofia?" His voice was soft, nostalgic. "You tried to catch a frog and ended up falling face-first into the mud. You came up looking like a swamp monster, but you were still trying to look dignified. I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my sandwich."
A small, unexpected laugh slipped from Sofia’s lips. She wiped a tear away with her palm.
"You didn’t just laugh, Damien. You took a picture and threatened to show the whole school."
"And I never did," he reminded her gently. "I kept it in my wallet for a year because I thought you looked cute, even with mud in your hair."
For a moment, the silence of the mansion didn’t feel so terrifying. Through the link, Sofia felt a flash of the boy she had once known—the one who had been her best friend, the boy she had actually loved.
"I wish things never went wrong between us, Sofia," Damien continued, his voice deeper now, filled with regret. "For years I imagined a whole life with you. I used to sit in the back of class and plan our future. I thought about our marriage... our kids. Tiny, stubborn little things that would look exactly like you. They’d be adorable—and they’d definitely have your fire."
Sofia closed her eyes and rested her head against the door.
For a moment, she could almost see it.
A life without all this pain.
"I wanted to take you on a honeymoon to the coast," Damien continued, his thoughts drifting like a dream into her mind. "I wanted you even before I knew we were fated mates. I wanted you just because you were you. I wish I could turn back the hands of time, Sofia. I’d go back to the day before everything broke. I would have talked it out with you rather than hating you in silence."
A fresh tear rolled down Sofia’s cheek. "Damien... I don’t know who you saw that day, but it wasn’t me," she whispered. "And I’m going to prove it. I’ll prove that the person you saw wasn’t me."
A long silence followed, but it wasn’t cold. The bond between them, once filled with pain, now felt like a warm thread connecting her to the world outside the room.
"Go to sleep, Sofia," Damien whispered. "I’m going to stay right here in the link. If anything comes up... you alert me."
"Thank you, Damien," she whispered back, her voice thick with exhaustion.
As she crawled back into the bed, she didn’t feel alone. She fell into a light sleep, and for the first time in days, in the face of her dreams, she saw a younger Damien holding her.
The morning sun bled through the heavy velvet curtains, casting long, golden streaks across the room. Sofia blinked her eyes open, feeling a strange lightness in her chest that hadn’t been there for days.
"Good morning, Sofia."
Damien’s voice was the first thing she heard, vibrating softly against her subconscious. It wasn’t the harsh, demanding tone of a dominant Alpha, but the gentle greeting of the boy she used to know.
"Morning," she whispered into the empty room. "Thank you for last night, Damien. I... I really needed that."
"No problem," he replied, his presence lingering for a moment like a warm touch. "I’m still here if you need me. Stay safe today."
With a quiet breath, Sofia ended the mind link.
She showered quickly, the hot water washing away the lingering tension of Alaric’s touch. She dressed in one of the clothes Alaric had brought... a corporate velvet blue gown. She tied her hair into a simple ponytail, trying to look as little like Elizabeth as possible.
When she stepped out of her room and headed downstairs, she found Alaric waiting at the base of the staircase.
He looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw was shadowed with stubble, and he looked as if he hadn’t blinked an eye throughout the night.
He straightened up the moment he saw her, his expression a mixture of guilt and desperate longing.
"Sofia," he said, his voice gravelly. "I’ve had the car brought around. I’ll drive you to work."
Sofia stopped a few steps above him, her grip tightening on her bag. Every instinct told her to turn and run, to call a taxi, to walk—anything to avoid being trapped in a small space with him. But she looked at the guards standing by the door and the grim set of Alaric’s shoulders. She knew she wouldn’t win this fight.
"Fine," she said, her voice harsh and cold. "But we don’t talk. You drive, I sit. That’s it."
Alaric winced at her tone, but he nodded quickly, almost gratefully. "Whatever you want, Sofia. Just let me get you there safely."
The walk to the black SUV was silent. Alaric opened the door for her, his hand trembling slightly, but he didn’t try to touch her. As he pulled out of the long, winding driveway of the estate, Sofia stared out the window, watching the iron gates recede.
The silence in the car was suffocating. Alaric kept glancing at her, his mouth opening as if to speak, then closing again when he saw the hard set of her profile.
Finally, as they neared the city limits, Alaric couldn’t help himself. "Sofia, about last night... I am a man possessed by ghosts, I know that. But I swear to you, I would never truly hurt you. My wolf... he’s confused. He sees a second chance where he should see a new beginning."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Sofia asked, finally turning to look at him. "That your ’wolf’ thinks I’m a reincarnated version of your dead wife? That makes it worse, Alaric. It means you aren’t even looking at me when you touch me."
Alaric gripped the steering wheel so hard the leather groaned. "I am looking at you. That’s the problem. I’m looking at you and I’m seeing everything I lost and everything I want at the same time."
"Then you don’t love me, Alaric," Sofia said, her voice shaking but certain. "You never did."
The car swerved slightly as Alaric’s foot jerked on the pedal. He straightened the wheel, his knuckles tight as he stared at the road ahead. "How can you say that? I have done everything to prove my love for you."
"You’ve done everything to recreate a memory!" Sofia cut him off, her frown deepening. "If I had walked out of Damien’s car and I had brown eyes and black hair, would you have even looked at me twice? If I didn’t have her face, would you be sitting here telling me your wolf is ’confused’?"
Alaric remained silent, his chest heaving as he fought for an answer that didn’t sound like a lie.
"You love the way I look, Alaric. You love that I can fill a hole in your life. But you don’t know the first thing about Sofia," she continued, her voice dropping to a pained whisper. "You don’t know my favorite color, you don’t know what I’m afraid of, and you don’t care. You’re in love with a ghost, and you’re just using my body to house her."
"That’s not true," he rasped, finally looking at her as they pulled up to a red light. The pain in his eyes was deep; Sofia was never going to believe he actually did love her. "I feel a connection to you that transcends just a face, Sofia. My wolf calls to you."
"Your wolf calls to a mate he lost five years ago," Sofia snapped back, leaning away from him toward the car door. "And the fact that you can’t tell the difference between a fated soul and a coincidence is what makes you dangerous. You don’t love me, Alaric... you just love my appearance."
The light turned green. Alaric didn’t argue further, but the atmosphere in the car turned freezing. He realized that regardless of what he said, the shadow of Elizabeth stood between them, and he was the one who had put it there.
As they approached the factory building, Sofia caught a glimpse of a familiar figure standing by the entrance. Her heart skipped a beat. It was Damien. He was leaning against a pillar, looking pale and exhausted, but his eyes were fixed on Alaric’s car.
