Chapter 1 1

Six months pregnant, I fought to secure a thirty-million-dollar territory for my mate, Alpha Ethan. I came pack house to find him getting intimate with his adopted sister, Tessa, in the council room. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Every head in the room snapped toward me. The air went still. Ethan quickly pulled his hand from Tessa’s shoulder and stood up. "Sophia, you're back early.""Early?" I met his gaze. "I thought my mate might want to know that I just closed the deal on the thirty-million-dollar territory.""Of course, of course." He moved toward me, trying to pull me into a hug. "You've done well." I took a step back. "Am I interrupting pack business?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm. Tessa stood up, a flash of panic in her eyes before she smoothed it over. "Sophia, we were just discussing the future of the pack.""The future?" I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "And does that future involve you taking my place beside him?" The other pack members started exchanging nervous glances. The tension in the room thickened. Ethan’s face hardened. "You're mistaken, Sophia. Tessa has just come of age. We were discussing her new responsibilities within the pack.""And do those 'responsibilities' include receiving your mating mark?""That's enough!" Ethan unleashed his Alpha command. "You're not stable right now. Go to our room and rest." The full force of his command crashed down on me, but my Silver Wolf bloodline allowed me to stand my ground. "No, Ethan. We're settling this right now." Tessa moved to Ethan's side, putting on a wounded expression. "Ethan, maybe I should just leave the pack. Then Sophia wouldn't misunderstand.""No, Tessa." Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "The Blackwood pack is your home. No one is driving you out." He looked at me, his eyes holding none of the warmth of a mate, only the cold authority of an Alpha. "Sophia, for the harmony of this pack, I want you to apologize to Tessa.""Apologize?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Yes. Apologize for your baseless accusations." I looked around the room. Every pack member was staring, waiting for me to submit. A war raged inside me. My wolf snarled at the disrespect, but the thought of the pup in my belly—our future heir—and my father’s hopes for this alliance forced me to submit. Swallowing my pride, I walked to the bar and poured a glass of whiskey. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice tight. I tossed the glass back, the liquid fire searing a path down my throat. "Good," Ethan said, his voice dangerously low. "That was for your apology. Now, for your success... Nine more glasses.""What?" I whispered, disbelieving. "Ten glasses. One for every three million you earned this pack," he said, his voice flat and cruel. "A toast to your success. And a lesson in humility. Now drink." I stared at him. The man I had loved for three years. I poured another glass and drank. And another. And another. By the seventh glass, the room was spinning, my pup stirring restlessly inside me as if sensing the poison. "Isn't that enough?" I gripped the edge of the bar, my knuckles white, just to stay on my feet. "Three more to go," Tessa's voice purred with a hidden glee. "You have to be truly sorry, Sophia." I looked at Ethan, praying he would stop this. He just watched me, his expression cold, waiting for me to continue. The eighth. The ninth. The tenth. I set the glass down, my tongue numb from the alcohol. "Is… is that enough now?" Tessa walked up to me, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Sophia, you know, I've always thought that maybe you and Ethan… just aren't a good fit.""What are you trying to say?""Your mate bond feels so… forced," she said, looking at Ethan with pure adoration. "But Ethan and I, we grew up together. What we have is real, not some chain forced on us by fate." I laughed, the alcohol making it sound hysterical. "So what's your point?""My point is," Tessa said, her voice sharp, "maybe you should consider breaking the mate bond. Let Ethan mark someone who's truly meant for him.""Someone truly meant for him? You mean yourself?""I carry the true blood of the Blackwood Pack," she said, puffing out her chest. "By birthright, I'm a better Luna than some Silver Wolf outsider." I turned to Ethan, waiting for him to shut her down. He didn't. Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a ritual silver dagger, placing it on the bar between us. The same kind of dagger used to sever a mate bond. "Maybe Tessa is right, Sophia," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Perhaps it's time we end this. Peacefully. You could still have a place in the pack, just… in a different capacity." I stared at the dagger, then at him. The humiliation, the poison burning in my gut, the casual cruelty in his eyes—it all converged into a single, chilling realization: this pack was a cage, and this pup was its lock. My tears stopped. A frightening calm washed over me. "You think I need your protection to survive?" I asked, my voice hollow. I picked up the dagger, its silver edge a cold promise against my skin. Instead of turning it on myself, I walked toward the door, clutching it like a lifeline. "Sophia!" Ethan’s voice cracked like a whip. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" I paused at the threshold, not daring to look back. My free hand pulled out my phone. As the cold night air hit my face, I dialed a number I never thought I'd use. "I need a potion," I said, my voice chillingly steady. "One that can end a lycan pregnancy. Immediately."

Chapter 2 2

"Sophia, wait!" Ethan's voice boomed from behind me, his footsteps closing in fast. I didn't stop. I just kept walking toward the parking lot. "Where do you think you're going?" He grabbed my arm, his grip tight. I wrenched my arm from his grasp. "I'm going home.""I'm driving you," he stated, his Alpha tone leaving no room for argument. "It's not safe for you to be out alone." Just then, Tessa came running out of the pack house. "Ethan, wait for me!" she called, breathless as she reached the car, her chest heaving. "I need a ride home, too." Without a second thought, Ethan opened the car door for her. The passenger seat. The Luna's seat. I was left to climb into the back, watching as she buckled her seatbelt like she'd done it a thousand times. Like it was her place to be. As soon as the doors closed, her scent hit me like a physical blow. It wasn't perfume. It was the possessive, territorial scent of a she-wolf, thick with musk and arousal. And it was mingled with Ethan’s own scent. The combination had soaked into the leather, a clear sign they had spent a lot of time in this car… together. It was a violation, a claim staked right under my nose. "We're going to Starmoon Villa first," Ethan said, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. "You drank too much. You need to rest." Starmoon Villa? Our home was on the main pack grounds. I'd never heard of Starmoon Villa. The car headed toward the outskirts of the city, to an area I'd never been to. Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to a secluded, modern villa. "You two head in. I'll park the car," Ethan said. Tessa got out and pulled a key from her purse like it was second nature. She had her own key. I followed her inside. The living room was filled with things for a couple. Matching wine glasses, his-and-her throw pillows, romantic candle holders. But it was the photos on the wall that made my blood run cold. Pictures of Ethan and Tessa, from the time she was fourteen until now. In every one, his arm was around her waist, her body pressed against his, her eyes burning with a possessive heat. In the most recent photo, she was wearing a slinky white nightdress. He was in an unbuttoned shirt. They were embracing right here, in this living room. I never knew this place existed. "Sophia, you look pale," Tessa called down from upstairs, her voice laced with triumph. "Why don't you come up and see the rest?" I followed her voice up the stairs. The master bedroom door was ajar. Through the crack in the door, I watched her slip out of her dress. And there, stark and brutal against the pale skin of her neck, was a fresh mating mark. It wasn't a faint claim, but a raw, brutal bite. The teeth marks were deep, the skin around it still glistening faintly with saliva and blood. A claim made in the heat of passion. A bond forged in betrayal. The blood was still wet. They had mated. Today. While I was out securing their future, they were in this bed, claiming each other... I stumbled back, bile rising in my throat. "Sophia?" Ethan's voice came from downstairs. "What are you looking at?" I hurried back down, trying to keep my face a mask of indifference. "I want to go home.""Of course." He moved toward me, trying to put an arm around me, but I flinched away. "What's wrong?""Nothing. I'm just tired." On the drive back, he was sickeningly sweet, as if trying to make up for something. "Sophia, about tonight… I'm sorry," he murmured, his thumb stroking my knuckles in a gesture that now felt revolting. "Mentioning the bond-breaking… it was a tactic. Just to appease some of the more traditional elders.""A tactic," I echoed, my voice hollow and dead. "Yes. And we'll have a new, official mating ceremony soon," he promised, his eyes full of fake sincerity. "We'll show everyone how strong our bond truly is." I looked at him, at the face I once loved. I could see the faint swelling on his lips, a ghost of the passionate kisses he'd just shared. A new mating ceremony? Three years my wolf has bowed to you, Ethan, I thought, a bitter smile touching my lips. It’s time she learned to stand on her own again.

Chapter 3 3

The next morning, I was packing a bag. If Ethan had chosen Tessa, there was no reason for me to stay in this suffocating house. The door was thrown open. Tessa stormed in, flanked by three pack warriors. She was wearing a tight black dress, the mating mark on her neck on full display. "Sophia, I heard you were leaving?" she asked with false concern. "As the future Luna, I feel it's my duty to inspect what you're taking with you.""Future Luna?" I stopped folding my clothes. "Are you sure Ethan agreed to that?""Of course," she said, walking to my closet and rifling through my things. "He officially marked me last night." She turned deliberately, making sure the warriors got a good look at her neck. They exchanged knowing glances. "Aren't these designer clothes pack property?" Tessa said, holding up my favorite evening gown. "They were bought with pack funds, after all.""That was my Luna gown.""Luna?" She let out a sharp laugh. "What kind of Luna are you? You're just a rejected stray." She walked toward me, her eyes glinting with malice. "Besides, look at the state of you." Her hand shot out and she ripped my robe open. Before I could react, the fabric tore. "Look at those stretch marks," she sneered, her eyes raking over my swollen belly with disgust. "So hideous." The warriors stared. I tried to cover myself. "No wonder Ethan's wolf never accepted your Silver bloodline," Tessa continued her humiliation. "You were never worthy of being the Blackwood Pack's Luna.""Enough!" A feral snarl ripped from my throat, my own wolf roaring with fury. "Get out of my room. Now." In that instant, Tessa let out a theatrical gasp and threw herself backward, landing hard on the floor with a painful-sounding thud. "Ah!" she shrieked, her voice laced with fake terror. "She's using her Silver Wolf power on me!""What?" I stared at her, stunned. "I didn't do anything!""She's trying to kill me!" Tessa pointed at me, tears welling in her eyes. "She's jealous of me and Ethan!" Heavy footsteps thundered down the hall. The door was kicked open and Ethan rushed in. His eyes took in the scene: me, half-dressed and exposed; Tessa, cowering on the floor. Fury ignited in his gaze. "What did you do to her?" he snarled, his Alpha's dominance crashing down on me like a tidal wave. "I didn't—""Silence!" His roar vibrated through the room. "You dare use your Silver Wolf power against a pack member!" His dominance was absolute, pressing down on me until I could barely breathe. "Ethan, please, let me explain—""Explain?" He strode to the nightstand and grabbed a black leather collar. "Since you've forgotten your place, I'll remind you." It was an omega's submission collar. "No…" I backed away, but the pack warriors blocked my path. He roughly clasped the collar around my neck, the silver buckle digging into my skin. "From this moment on, you are an omega," he declared, his voice colder than ice. "The lowest-ranking wolf in this pack. Now," he bit out, his voice laced with ice, "you will apologize to your future Luna." The full weight of his Alpha command crashed down on me, stealing the air from my lungs and buckling my knees. I fought it, my bones screaming in protest, but the force was absolute. "Kneel," he commanded. My knees hit the cold floor with a sickening thud. Tessa got to her feet and stood over me, looking down with a triumphant smirk. "This is where you belong," she purred, running her fingers through my hair as if I were nothing more than a stray dog she'd deigned to notice. "Now, prove your submission." I looked up at Ethan, hoping to see a flicker of regret, something to show he would stop this. He just stared back coldly, as if I were a stranger. "Can't do it?" Tessa's voice was smug. "Then I'll just have to tell Ethan you're still not being obedient enough." Just then, a sharp, tearing pain shot through my abdomen. It felt like my insides were being ripped apart. "Ah…" I doubled over, clutching my stomach. A warm liquid trickled down my thigh. Blood.

Chapter 4 4

I woke up on a bed in the pack's medical wing. White ceiling, the scent of antiseptic, the steady beep of a heart monitor. "You're awake." Ethan was sitting in a chair beside the bed, but his expression was anything but concerned. "My baby…" I instinctively reached for my stomach. "Is still there," he said coldly. "But the doctor said you need complete bed rest." I breathed a sigh of relief, but a cold dread quickly followed. "Why don't you seem worried at all?""Worried?" He let out a cold, humorless laugh. "Sophia, you attacked Tessa. You almost crippled her. Your instability is what I'm worried about.""I didn't attack anyone!""We have proof." He pulled out his phone and played a security video. "The pack's cameras caught everything." The video showed me standing in the room as a silver light flared around me, and then Tessa falling to the ground. But that light… I never summoned it. "This is fake!""Fake?" He scoffed. "Sophia, your energy should be focused on apologizing to Tessa, not making up excuses." Just then, the pack doctor, Dr. Wade, rushed in. "Alpha, we have an urgent situation," he said, his face grim. "It's about Sophia's father." My heart sank. "What about my father?" Dr. Wade glanced at Ethan, hesitant. "Speak," Ethan commanded. "Elder Marcus of the Silver Moon pack was attacked by rogues last night," Dr. Wade said quietly. "He's in critical condition. In the ICU at the city hospital.""What?" I tried to sit up. "Why would rogues attack my father?" Ethan and Dr. Wade exchanged a look. "It may be because…" Dr. Wade paused. "Because the Silver Moon pack is no longer under the protection of the Blackwood pack.""No longer protected?" My voice was a whisper. "Since when?""Since last night," Ethan stated, his voice devoid of any emotion. "After your unprovoked attack on Tessa, I dissolved our alliance." My world crumbled. "I have to go see him." I struggled to get out of bed. "You're not leaving," Ethan said, pushing me back down by my shoulder. "You're in no condition to travel.""That's my father!""I know," he said, his face a cold mask. "But we have more important matters to attend to." The door opened and Tessa walked in. She was wearing a white hospital gown, a bandage wrapped dramatically around her neck. "Ethan, there's something wrong with my wolf," she said weakly. "Dr. Wade says it's because of the shock from the Silver Wolf power yesterday." Dr. Wade nodded grimly. "Her Golden Wolf bloodline is fragile. A shock like that can cause instability. If we don't treat it, the damage could be permanent.""How do we treat it?" Ethan asked, his voice tight with concern. "There is an ancient ritual," Dr. Wade said, hesitating. "A Bloodline Transfer. It would allow us to transfer wolf essence from another to stabilize hers.""What does it require?""A donor with powerful wolf essence." Dr. Wade's eyes landed on me. "Preferably… a pregnant she-wolf. The pup in the womb possesses the purest form of wolf essence." My blood froze in my veins. "You want to take my baby's wolf essence?""We'd only be borrowing it," Tessa said, walking to my bedside. "Don't be selfish, Sophia.""Selfish?" I looked at Ethan, desperate. "You can't be considering this.""If it will save Tessa, it's a risk worth taking," he said, and his words were a knife in my heart. "That's our child!""The pup is still developing. It will recover," he said, his voice clipped and dismissive. "Tessa's health is the priority. And the ritual must happen on the full moon. Which is tonight." Tonight. They had this planned all along. "I don't agree," I said, wrapping my arms protectively around my stomach. "I will not let you harm my child.""This isn't a request, Sophia." Ethan's Alpha command filled the room. "It's an order.""You're insane!""Am I?" he sneered. "You're the one who attacked a pack member. This is your penance." Two pack guards entered and seized my arms. "No… please don't…" But no one was listening. The ritual was held in the pack's sacred chamber that night. Ancient runes glowed on the floor. Tessa lay on one side of a stone altar; I was forced onto the other. Silver chains bound my wrists and ankles. As Dr. Wade began chanting in an ancient tongue, moonlight streamed through a skylight, landing directly on my belly. I could feel my pup squirming inside me, as if it sensed the danger. "Begin," Ethan ordered, standing beside the altar, his face unreadable. A powerful force began pulling something from my core. The pup's kicks grew weaker and weaker. "Stop! Please, I'm begging you, stop!" I thrashed against the chains, but they held fast. "It's almost over," Dr. Wade said, wiping sweat from his brow. Suddenly, a pain unlike anything I had ever felt ripped through me. I felt the life inside me flicker and die. My pup… my baby… When the transfer was complete, color had returned to Tessa's cheeks. Her wolf felt strong and stable. My stomach was silent and empty. I couldn't feel a single flutter of life. "Success," Dr. Wade announced. "The bloodline transfer is complete." Tessa sat up, her face glowing. "I feel so much better, Ethan. My wolf has never felt this powerful." I lay on the cold stone, silent tears streaming down my face. My baby was gone. Its wolf spirit had been stolen, and its life had gone with it. "Sophia?" Ethan walked over to me. "Are you okay?" I looked at him, the man who had just murdered our child. "Okay?" My voice was a raw, broken whisper. "You're asking me if I'm okay?""The pup is a regrettable loss," he said, his tone clinical and detached. "But Tessa's safety was paramount." I closed my eyes, unable to look at his face any longer. Just then, my phone, which had been placed on a nearby table, started ringing. It was the hospital. "Is this Sophia?" a doctor's grave voice said on the other end. "I'm so sorry… your father passed away a few moments ago. He kept asking for you, but… we ran out of time." The phone slipped from my numb fingers. My father was dead. Dead because his pack's protection was gone. Dead because I couldn't get to him. I had lost my child, my father, my everything. As I stumbled from the chamber, a ghost in my own home, their voices drifted from a nearby room through a carelessly open door. "Ethan, what if she... breaks? After losing the pup?" Tessa's voice was laced with fake concern. Ethan's reply was the final nail in my coffin. "A pup can be replaced. Your well-being cannot. Nothing else matters."

Chapter 5 5

Three days later, I buried my child in the pack's small cemetery. A single, tiny headstone read: "Blackwood Baby - Too Soon for This World." My father's funeral was held in the Silver Moon territory. I was the only one there. No one from the Blackwood pack came. They were all "too busy." After the burial, I returned to the pack house to grab my last few things. My life with Ethan had been condensed into two small boxes. I dragged my bags toward the pack's border. The night was cold, the moon just a sliver away from being full again. The loss of my pup's essence had left me weak, and every step was an effort. "Sophia, where are you going?" Tessa's voice came from behind me. I turned to see her holding a silver dagger. "What are you doing with that?""Protection," she said, advancing on me, a dangerous light in her eyes. "Lots of rogues out here. It's not safe for a lone she-wolf.""I'm about to leave pack lands. I'll be fine.""Will you?" She closed the distance between us. "You're a loose end, Sophia," she hissed, the silver blade glinting under the moonlight. "A ghost that will haunt his future. I'm just… tying up loose ends.""I won't tell anyone.""I don't believe you." She raised the dagger. "Besides, Ethan deserves a future free from the shadows of his past." The blade sliced across my arm. Silver poison seared through my veins like fire. "You're insane!" I stumbled backward, my weakened body giving out. "No one will ever know the truth," she said, slashing again, this time across my cheek. Silver poison seared through my skin, twisting my features into an unrecognizable mask of agony. I collapsed onto the snow-covered ground, my blood staining it red. "Help… me…" My voice was barely a whisper. "No one is coming to save you," Tessa sneered, crouching down beside me. "And soon, no one will even be able to recognize you." Just then, headlights cut through the darkness. Ethan's car pulled up. He ran toward us. "What happened?" he yelled, seeing me lying in a pool of blood, my face a mangled mess. "Ethan!" Tessa threw herself into his arms, sobbing hysterically. "A rogue! She attacked me! I had to use my silver dagger to fight her off!" Ethan held her, checking her for injuries. "You're okay. That's all that matters." He looked down at the bloody, mangled thing on the ground, and his expression shifted from shock to pure disgust. It was just another rogue. He didn't recognize me. He didn't even look long enough to try. "Is the rogue dead?" he asked, his voice flat. "I… I think so," Tessa whimpered into his chest. "She was so vicious, I almost…""It's okay. I'm here now," he soothed, stroking her hair. I lay in the snow, the silver poison robbing me of my voice. I could only watch them, helpless. "We can't leave a rogue's body this close to the border," Ethan said coldly. "It'll draw scavengers." He walked over and lifted me into his arms without hesitation. I tried to speak, to tell him it was me, but the poison had paralyzed my vocal cords. He carried me to the edge of the nearby cliff. "Ethan, what are you doing?" Tessa asked from behind him. "Disposing of this rogue," he said, looking down into the dark abyss. "Making sure she disappears. She'll never threaten our pack again." No… please, no… I tried to struggle, but my body was too weak. "I'm sorry," he murmured, not to me, but to the creature he believed me to be—a rabid animal that needed to be put down. "But this is necessary." And then, he let go. I fell, the dark water of the moonlit lake rushing up to meet me. As my consciousness faded, the last thing I heard was Tessa's voice drifting down from the cliff. "Ethan, what should we do with the silver dagger?""Get rid of it. We can't leave any evidence." The impact with the water was a final, cold shock, and then everything went black. —