**Elena**

A broad smile spread across my face as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. It wasn't a dream, and it definitely wasn't a hickey. Xavier had marked me.

But what does this mean? Will it all be over now? What will happen with Father, and what would Mortina do?

I slipped back into my nightwear and lay quietly on the couch where we had done it.. I wondered where Xavier was.

The sheets still smelled like him, Vanilla and salt, but his side of the bed was cold.”

Just then, the doorknob turned, and a maid entered.

"My Queen," the maid whispered, avoiding my eyes. "The King insists this room is yours now… ," she said.

"Really? Where is he?" I asked.

"He left the mansion early this morning."

"Alright, that's fine. Thank you."

I mumbled to myself in awe, "Wow, Xavier has actually forgiven me. Everyone knows how much he loves this room, the previous Alpha's room, and now he’s giving it to me."

But why did the maid avoid my gaze..

I got curious and a part of me wanted us to share the room together. So I took out my phone and dialed his number.

The line rang once. Twice. Three times. My thumb lingered over ‘end call’—had last night meant nothing? Or was he already regretting it?”.

No. I won't think negatively.

An hour later, I stood in front of my old home, I had not visited Father in a while and I needed to tell my step mother that there was no need for the Spray scent anymore.

I planted a soft kiss on his forehead as I tried to hide the tears and smiled.

Father had been like this for three years, bedridden and unable to talk . Sometimes he would write things on paper but other times his written words would be illegible.

“Hey Dad, how have you been? I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come see you; a lot has happened, and I don't even know where to start”.

He made a slight gesture, encouraging me to begin wherever I wanted.

“Well, the good news is that I’m married to Xavier. However, Helena is nowhere to be found, and Mortina had to make me wear her scent. It turns out Xavier never received the pregnancy report I sent.”

I said all this while sitting on the floor, my head resting on his lap. A warm tear hit my arm. Father hadn’t cried in years.”. I turned my gaze to look at him.

“Father, oh my goodness,” I said as I wiped away his tears. He was finally responding to me after a long time.

He gestured with his finger toward the notepad on the mirror dresser, which he always did whenever he had something important to communicate.

I hurriedly grabbed it and placed the pen in his hands, watching carefully as he wrote. I was trying to make out what he was putting down.

Then it became clear: “HELENA IS…”

“Helena is what, Father?” I asked, but he stopped writing. “What are you trying to tell me, Father?”

Our moment was interrupted by Mortina. “Still playing devoted daughter? He can’t even remember your name.’”

“Let the man be, Elena. Why are you disturbing him?”..She continued

“I’m not disturbing him; he’s my father, Mortina,” I replied, rolling my eyes. For some reason, my confidence seemed to rise up.

Mortina crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, eyeing me as if I were something stuck to her shoe.

“I didn’t realize you were back to playing house,” she said coldly. “Or did Xavier throw you out already?”

I stood up and brushed dust off my dress. “I came to visit Father. That’s not a crime, is it?”

Mortina clicked her tongue and walked into the room. “That man barely recognizes you anymore. But if you enjoy talking to walls, who am I to judge?”

She began adjusting the curtains as if she owned the room,which, in a way, she did now.

“I just wanted to ask…” I hesitated, observing her movements and choosing my words carefully. “A while ago, I sent a medical report to Xavier. Did you, by any chance, take it?”

“What report?” she asked.

“Nothing serious,” I replied quickly, forcing a light chuckle..

Why did I even bring up the reports?..

Her eyes narrowed. “You seem very invested in what Xavier sees and doesn’t see. Did something happen between you two?”..

My stomach twisted. “No. Like I said, it's nothing serious.”

And, I won't be needing the Spray scent anymore. I said.

Mortina gave me a thin smile. “Don’t get any ideas, Elena. You’re only standing where Helena was meant to stand. And once she’s back, you’ll fade like smoke.”

I clenched my fists behind my back.. “That would never happen.”

“ Oh please, She said, rolling her eyes. “Besides if you wouldn't be needing it, Xavier would have made the announcement. Just stop being delusional. I'll have the spray scent ready incase you come back crying”. She shot back.

After giving me a suspicious look, she left the room.

I turned back to my father, who now looked exhausted from trying to write. I sat beside him and whispered, “I’ll find out what you were trying to say. I promise.”

I returned to the mansion, but Xavier still wasn’t back. The room felt cold.. His scent had faded slightly, and that scared me more than I expected.

Where had he gone? And why hadn't he called?.

Just then I heard footsteps approaching. His scent followed.

But he made a statement that didn't go down well with me. Or did I hear wrong?.

**Elena**

"There's no need to come out, Helena," he said, his voice low but clear.

What did he mean by "Helena"?

“Xavier, what are you talking about?” I asked, trying to step out of the room to make sure I heard him correctly.

“I won’t repeat myself...” he interrupted, blocking my movement. “If you’re going to come out, you better be in your mask. And I won’t tolerate this newfound closeness towards me.”

I pinched my skin to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Reality struck me, and I realized I wasn’t.

The memories of last night flashed back, and I recalled that Xavier had come in drunk.

But how could he not remember anything? And my voice? Did he not notice it?

At this point, I let myself fall to the floor, my face buried in my arms. Why was the Moon Goddess testing me?.

I stood up slowly, careful not to make a sound. He was still standing just outside the door, his back to me, but I could hear the shift in his breathing, like he was battling something inside himself.

"Why do you keep calling me Helena?" I asked, my voice soft but steady, still hidden behind the half-closed door.

He paused. "Because that’s who you are," he said bitterly. "Don’t play dumb with me."

"I’m not playing anything." My voice cracked before I could stop it. "What happened last night... it wasn’t a game."

There was silence..

"You think I’d forget that easily?" he finally said. "Whatever happened last night..if anything happened, it was a mistake. You crossed a line."

My hand gripped the edge of the door. "I didn’t force you, Xavier. You touched me first."

He inhaled sharply. "I was drunk. You should’ve known better. I don’t need you trying to replace her."

Replace her?.

The words stabbed deeper than they should’ve.

"Do you always confuse women in your bed, or just the ones you claim to hate?" I whispered, voice tight.

He didn’t answer.

And that silence?.

It shattered me more than any insult could.

"Why did you tell the maid I should have the room?"

There was a beat of silence. Then his voice, cold and sharp.

"So you heard that?"

I didn’t respond. Just waited.

He scoffed, low and bitter. "Your presence sickens me."

My heart clenched.

"I could still smell you there," he added, voice laced with disgust. "You rubbed yourself all over my space like you belonged. I just needed it cleared. Needed it rid of you."

I swallowed hard..

So that was it.

Not guilt. Not pity.

Just disgust.

I turned away from the door, the tears already sliding down. My fingers fumbled for the mask and pulled it over my face, tight, suffocating. Hiding everything I didn’t want the world to see.

Maybe… maybe Mortina was right all along.

Maybe I really was the problem.

Unwanted.

A mistake.

I closed the door, locking it behind me. My legs gave way, and I dropped to the floor like a rag doll.

You should’ve known better, Elena.

You were never meant to be seen. You were never meant to be loved.

You were just the fill-in, the shadow of someone else’s life.

The weight on my chest grew heavier until I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up slowly, my legs trembling beneath me. I made my way to the bathroom, my hand trailing along the cold wall like I needed something to ground me.

The mirror reflected a stranger. Puffy eyes. A cracked smile.

Who are you kidding, Elena?.

I opened the small drawer beneath the sink, pulled it out, one thing I had barely touched for a long time.. I wasn’t even sure why I had kept the pill.

It had been a stupid idea, something Lauren had begged me to throw away after Father’s accident.

But I didn’t.

And now, it felt like it had been waiting for me.

I stared at the tiny capsule in my palm. It was barely the size of a fingernail, but it looked heavier than the world itself.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the silence, though I wasn’t sure who I was apologizing to, Father, Xavier, Lauren, or maybe even myself.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub, the pill rolling between my fingers. Just one, I told myself. Just enough to sleep through the ache. Just enough to quiet the noise in my head.

But my hand didn’t stop at one.

Two… then three.

Maybe I didn’t care anymore.

Maybe I was tired of pretending.

I swallowed them dry. The bitterness stuck to my throat, and I leaned back, staring up at the ceiling like it held answers.

Minutes passed, maybe seconds. Time blurred. My limbs felt heavy..

Then—

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, quick and sudden. My vision blurry, colors bleeding together like spilled ink.

I couldn't breathe. I reached for the sink, knocking over the toothbrush holder as my knees gave out.

I collapsed to the floor.

The cold tiles bit into my skin, but all I could focus on was the burn spreading through my chest, like fire had bloomed in the center of me.

My fingers scraped against the floor, searching for something, anything, to hold on to.

But there was nothing.

Just silence.

And pain.

**Xavier**

The sudden silence bothered me. Why was she quiet?

“Why should I care?” I muttered as I walked past the room. Oh, who was I kidding? I entered the room, searching for her or maybe it was just another stunt by her.

A different yet familiar scent engulfed me. “Helena?” I called out. The sound of shattering glass was my only response.

I stepped into the bathroom and saw her lifeless body lying on the cold tiles.

“What the hell did you do?” I raised my voice as she struggled to mumble something beneath her breath.

The scent I had perceived when I entered had changed. She smelled nothing like Elena.

There were scattered pills on the floor.

“Did she try to kill herself?” I thought as panic set in.

“Get the car ready and call Nick,” I instructed the guards. Although her face was neatly covered by the mask, I could see that her eyes had turned red.

We arrived at the hospital in just a few minutes.

“I’ll take it from here, Your Highness,” Nick said.

“Wait!” I called out to him. “Don’t take off the mask, and do whatever you can to save her.”

Why did I even say that? Nevertheless, I watched as he and the other nurses rushed her into the emergency room.

My heart was racing, as if I was about to lose a part of myself. But why did Helena’s actions bother me?

No, I refused to get conflicted. My heart belongs to Elena; it’s just sympathy, I told myself, trying to justify my feelings.

“My King, I think you should return to the mansion, as it's quite late,” Nick said, bringing me back to reality.

“How is she?” I asked, searching for a positive response.

“She’s stable now. Thank the Moon Goddess you brought her in time; who knows what might have happened otherwise?”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, a knot forming in my stomach.

“It turns out she took an overdose of sleeping pills, and it affected her,” he explained. “She also seems to be under a lot of stress. I suggest she take things easy. But for now, she’s safe, so you can head back,” he continued.

“Can I see her?” I blurted out.

“You know what, never mind. I’ll send someone in when day breaks. Thank you, Nick,” I said, tapping his shoulder as I left.

But a part of me wanted to stay by her side. However, I felt like I would be betraying Elena. I couldn’t do that.

I considered leaving it alone. Let her heal and let everything bury itself in the past.

But something wouldn’t let me. A small, sharp feeling kept digging into me, like a splinter under the skin.

It wasn’t just the overdose. It wasn’t just the guilt.

It was her eyes. The fear I saw that night when she thought she would lose me. The way she flinched, as if she expected pain instead of touch.

Helena would never have looked at me like that. She wasn’t afraid of anything, least of all me.

I closed my eyes, fists clenched.

So why had she been so scared?

The way she moved, the way she smelled, even the way she trembled when I was too close... it didn’t add up.

It wasn’t Helena.

I knew it. I had known about it for a while now.

But if it wasn’t her... if it was Elena...

Then why the hell was she hiding? Who made her?

And worse, why didn’t she trust me enough to tell me the truth?

A bitter taste coated my tongue.

I needed answers. No more second-guessing. No more lying to myself.

At dawn, I was going back. And this time, I wasn’t leaving until I knew everything.

******

The sky was still dark when I pulled up to the hospital.

I didn’t wait for anyone. I moved through the hallways like a ghost, my footsteps soundless, my heart louder than ever.

Nick saw me and nodded silently, stepping aside.

I pushed open the door to her room.

There she was.

Lying still, like a broken doll someone had tossed aside. The soft beeping of the machines was the only proof she was still breathing.

My chest tightened.

I walked closer, stopping at the edge of the bed.

Her mask was still on, covering most of her face, but her messy, loose hair spilled across the pillow. Her hands were small and fragile. A bruise formed near her wrist where the IV was.

Should I remove the mask..No, I'm sure there's a reason why she's doing this to me.

I reached out without thinking.

My fingers brushed hers, cold and delicate.

She flinched in her sleep.

That tiny, helpless movement shattered something inside me.

What had been done to her?

Who had done this?

I curled my hand into a fist, pulling it back before I could do something stupid.

I wanted to demand answers. I wanted to shake the truth out of her. But one look at her face, at how pale and tired she looked, made me realize...

I couldn’t.

Not now.

She needed rest. She needed safety. No more questions. No more fear.

I pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down.

I would wait.

She stirred a little, a soft whimper escaping her lips.

I froze.

Without thinking, I reached out again, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead.

"You're safe," I whispered, the words barely audible even to myself.

She calmed almost instantly, her breathing evening out.

I sat there, watching her.

Protecting her.

Even if I didn’t know why. Even if she never told me.

I kept my thoughts to myself.

For now.

But this time, I wasn’t going to let it go.

I would find out the truth, even if it meant tearing down every lie she had built around herself.