Chapter 3

I couldn't sleep. My mind raced with the horrifying revelations of the day—Ryan's betrayal, Madison's involvement in the attack on my pack, and the truth about Michael Chen, my real savior who had been lying in a coma for seven years while I lived in ignorant servitude to a fraud.

I tossed and turned in the unfamiliar guest bed, unable to find comfort. The walls of this room felt like a prison now that I knew the truth. Every memory of my time with Ryan twisted into something ugly and false.

"We were blind," Nova whispered within me. "We should have known."

"How could we?" I responded silently. "We were traumatized, manipulated..."

A sudden burning sensation erupted across my right shoulder, precisely where Ryan's marking bite had sealed our mate bond seven years ago. The pain was so intense I gasped, clutching at the scar as it seemed to pulse with heat.

"Nova?" I called internally to my wolf, panic rising. "What's happening?"

Instead of answering, Nova howled—a sound of such primal rage and pain that it echoed through my entire being. The burning intensified, spreading down my arm and across my chest.

Instinctively, I tried to shift. When in distress, returning to wolf form often helped heal and center us. I closed my eyes, reaching for that familiar transformation that had always come so easily.

Nothing happened.

I concentrated harder, desperately calling to Nova, begging her to complete the shift with me.

My skin prickled, my bones ached with the beginning of the change, but then—resistance. Like hitting an invisible wall, the transformation halted halfway. I was caught in an excruciating limbo—not fully human, not fully wolf.

A strangled cry escaped my lips as I collapsed onto the floor, my partially transformed body shaking violently. Sweat drenched my nightgown as the marking scar continued to burn like acid against my skin.

I don't know how long I lay there, fighting against my own body, before a soft knock came at the door.

"Luna Victoria?" Amara's concerned voice filtered through. "May I enter?"

I couldn't answer, could barely breathe through the pain.

The door opened anyway, and Amara rushed to my side, her ancient eyes widening at my state.

"Oh, child," she whispered, kneeling beside me. "Your wolf is rebelling."

She helped me back onto the bed, her weathered hands surprisingly strong as she examined the inflamed marking scar.

"What's... happening to me?" I managed between clenched teeth.

"Your wolf has sensed the false bond," Amara explained, quickly mixing herbs from the pouch she always carried. "Nova is fighting against the marking—she's trying to break it herself."

"Is that... possible?"

"No," Amara said grimly, applying a cooling paste to my shoulder. "Only a formal rejection can truly sever a mate bond. What your wolf is doing is dangerous—she could harm both of you in the process."

The herbal mixture gradually eased the burning, and I felt the partial shift receding, my body returning fully to human form.

"This has been building for some time," Amara continued, her voice low. "Your wolf has likely sensed the wrongness of this bond from the beginning but was suppressed by your gratitude and sense of duty."

"Why now?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Because now you know the truth. Knowledge is power, Victoria. Your wolf is no longer fighting alone."

As the pain subsided to a dull throb, a new determination took its place. I sat up slowly, meeting Amara's concerned gaze.

"I need to document everything," I said. "Build a case against them."

Amara nodded, understanding immediately. "What do you need?"

"A recording crystal," I replied. "And information on where exactly Michael Chen is being treated."

Over the next three days, I became a shadow in my own pack. With the recording crystal Amara provided, I documented Ryan's abuse of power—his casual use of alpha tone to silence questioning pack members, his dismissive treatment of those who served him faithfully.

I followed him discreetly, capturing his secret meetings with Madison in various locations around the territory. Their whispered plans for her pregnancy, their discussions of her supposed illness, their cruel laughter at my continued ignorance.

Each night, my marking scar burned, and each night, Nova tried to shift, only to be blocked by the same invisible barrier. My wolf was growing more restless, more desperate to break free from the fraudulent bond.

"Soon," I promised her as I added another recording to my growing collection of evidence. "Soon we'll be free of them."

What I didn't tell Nova was the growing fear in my heart. If we succeeded in breaking this bond—if I managed to escape Ryan and find Michael—what would I find? A man who had sacrificed everything for me, who had lost seven years of his life while I lived in ignorant servitude to his enemy.

Would he even want me after all this time? Or would I be trading one form of rejection for another?