Chapter 2

The silence after my words was sharp enough to cut skin.

Victor stared at me as if I had slapped him in front of the entire pack. Lisa's smile froze, then twisted into something uglier. Around us, the nobles exchanged excited looks. They had come to welcome a king, but public bloodsport was always a better show.

Victor took one step toward me. "You forget your place."

"No," I said, feeling my hidden power stir beneath my skin. "I remember it better than anyone in this room."

For a second, the air changed. A few weaker wolves shifted uneasily, their instincts sensing something they could not name. My royal aura pressed against the seal I had kept around it for five years, a golden fire demanding release.

Victor's eyes narrowed. He felt it too, but instead of understanding, his pride turned it into insult. "You dare use power against Lisa while she carries my pup?"

Lisa gasped beautifully, one hand flying to her belly. "Victor, I'm scared. She hates our child. She's always hated that I can give you what she never could."

The lie slid smoothly from her mouth. Too smoothly.

I smelled that strange male scent again beneath her perfume, and my anger sharpened into cold suspicion. The dates had never felt right. Victor had been away at the northern border when Lisa claimed the pup was conceived, but he had ignored every question I raised. He did not want truth. He wanted an heir, a stronger Luna, and a prettier path to royal favor.

"Your child?" I asked softly. "Are you sure?"

Lisa's face flashed with panic so quickly most people would have missed it.

Victor did not.

But he chose not to see.

His hand shot out and struck my face.

Pain exploded across my cheek. My head snapped aside, and the hall erupted with shocked delight. I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth.

This was the first time Victor had hit me.

The first time in public.

The last time in my heart.

I turned back to him slowly. The man before me no longer resembled the mate who once stood between me and mocking elders. I remembered a winter night three years ago, when a warrior had called Luca a burden during a feast. Victor had grabbed that man by the throat and growled, "Her family is mine. Insult them again, and you lose your tongue."

I had loved him for that.

Now he was the one holding the knife.

"The Moon Goddess made one mistake in my life," Victor said coldly. "She gave me you."

Something inside me cracked.

Lisa laughed under her breath. "A fated mate should be impossible to replace, shouldn't she? Yet look how easily he chose me."

The words hit deeper than the slap.

My wolf rose in pain, claws scraping inside my chest. She had carried Victor's scent for years. She had trusted him. She had curled around his bond like it was home. Now that bond pulsed between us, diseased and trembling.

Victor lifted his chin.

I knew what was coming before he spoke.

"No," I whispered.

For the first time all day, fear broke through my anger. Not fear of losing him. That had already happened. Fear of what his words would do to my wolf.

Victor looked directly into my eyes.

"I, Victor Black, Alpha of the Black River Pack, reject you, Ailin, as my mate and Luna."

The bond shattered.

It did not fade. It did not break gently.

It ripped.

White-hot pain tore through my chest, my spine, my lungs. Every memory attached to him was dragged out with hooks—the first time he kissed my forehead, the night he called me his forever, the morning he promised no one would take my place. My knees hit the floor before I realized I had fallen.

My wolf howled.

Then she went silent.

The silence was worse than pain.

It was a hollow, terrifying absence where half of my soul should have been. I tried to reach for her and found only darkness.

Victor watched me collapse without regret.

Lisa bent slightly, her stolen necklace swinging before my eyes. "Stay down. It suits you."

I pressed one shaking hand against the stone floor. My breathing came in broken pulls. The hall blurred, but I forced myself not to cry in front of them. They could have my blood. They could have my title. They would not have my begging.

"You will regret this," I said, my voice rough.

Victor's expression hardened. "I regret not doing it sooner."

He turned to the guards. "Remove her Luna ornaments. She has no right to wear anything noble."

Two guards seized my arms. Another reached for the silver belt at my waist. I fought them, but the rejection had drained strength from my limbs. My body trembled with every movement, and my wolf remained silent in that awful dark place.

Lisa watched with shining eyes.

"Be careful with the gown," she said sweetly. "Actually, no. Tear it. A servant doesn't need dignity."

The first rip of fabric sounded louder than the crowd.

Something cold settled over my heart.

They thought they were stripping me of power because they did not know power had never lived in silk, silver, or Victor's name.

Beneath my palm, hidden by my bent body, my bleeding thumb pressed against the stone floor.

Slowly, carefully, I began to draw the first line of the royal crest.

If Luca's royal guards were near, they would feel it.

And if Victor wanted a show before the king arrived, I would give him one.