Kacie POV:

The livestream had done its job. The entire Blood Moon Pack now saw me as the villain, the insecure Omega who bullied the pack's darling.

The next evening, we were summoned to the Moon ancestral estate for a family dinner. Cedric's parents, the former Alpha and Luna, lived there. They were traditionalists who valued bloodline above all else. To them, I was a nobody, an orphan with no known lineage.

Dinner was a torture session.

The dining room was dimly lit by chandeliers, the table set with heavy silver cutlery. Silver was dangerous to werewolves-it burned on contact and prevented healing-but high-ranking families used it to show their resilience and status. We wore gloves, of course, but the threat was always there.

Jayden was seated next to Cedric. I was seated opposite them, like an outsider.

"Jayden, dear, you look thin," Cedric's mother, Carol, cooed. "You need to eat more. The soup was made specially for you."

"Thank you, Luna Carol," Jayden beamed. She looked at Cedric. "Do you remember when we used to catch fish in the Forbidden Creek? You promised you'd always catch the biggest one for me."

Cedric smiled, a genuine, warm smile that I had never received. "I remember. You fell in the mud."

They laughed. It was a shared history, a bond of time that I couldn't compete with.

"Kacie," Carol said sharply, her tone changing instantly. "Pass the tureen. Don't just sit there."

I stood up, my legs trembling slightly. The Wolf's Wither was making me weaker by the day. My coordination was off. I reached for the heavy porcelain bowl of steaming fish soup.

As I walked around the table to serve Jayden-because apparently, the servants weren't enough-Jayden leaned back in her chair.

"You know," she whispered, low enough that only my enhanced hearing could catch it over the clatter of forks. "Cedric told his mother that once you produce an heir, he'll divorce you. He said he can't stand your scent. It smells like desperation."

My heart stopped. The bowl slipped from my numb fingers.

But Jayden was faster. With a subtle, vicious jerk of her elbow, she slammed her arm into the falling porcelain.

Crash!

Hot soup splattered everywhere.

"Ah!" Jayden wailed, clutching her forearm. Blood-bright red and alarming-welled up instantly where the shard had sliced her.

"Jayden!" Cedric roared. He was out of his chair in a blur of motion.

He shoved me aside. I stumbled, my hip hitting the heavy oak table hard.

"She burned me!" Jayden cried, burying her face in Cedric's chest. "And she tried to cut me with the shards!"

"I didn't!" I gasped, holding my bruised side. "She... she did it herself! It fell!"

"Enough!" Cedric's father, the old Alpha, slammed his fist on the table. "You clumsy, malicious girl!"

Cedric examined Jayden's arm. It was a superficial cut, but to a wolf, any injury was an insult. He turned to me, his eyes blazing with fury.

"You are unbelievable," he snarled. "You try to disfigure her in my parents' home?"

"Cedric, listen to me," I begged. "She whispered to me. She provoked me!"

"Lies!" Jayden sobbed. "I was just asking for some bread!"

Cedric scooped Jayden up into his arms, treating her like she was made of glass. "I'm taking her to the clinic. Mother, make sure she," he jerked his head at me, "doesn't leave this room until I decide her punishment."

He didn't look back. He carried another woman out of the room, leaving his wife standing in a puddle of soup, surrounded by hostile in-laws.

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking uncontrollably.

Serenity, I called out to my wolf. Are you there?

There was no answer. Just a faint, static fuzz in the back of my mind. My wolf was dying. She was giving up.

I looked at the grandfather clock in the corner.

26 Days.

Time was running like sand through my fingers, and I had nothing to show for it but bruises and soup stains.

Kacie POV:

I sat in the cold water of the shower, letting it run over the bruise on my hip. It wasn't healing. Normally, a werewolf would heal from a bruise in minutes. Mine was turning a dark, ugly purple.

I heard the front door slam. They were back.

I turned off the water, wrapped myself in a towel, and walked into the bedroom.

Cedric was there. But he wasn't alone. Jayden was standing in the middle of our bedroom, looking around with a critical eye.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, clutching the towel tighter.

"The doctor said Jayden needs constant monitoring tonight," Cedric said, not meeting my eyes. "The shock could trigger her heart condition."

"So she stays in the guest room," I said.

"The guest room is dusty. It aggravates her allergies," Jayden said, smirking.

"She will stay here," Cedric stated. "In the master bedroom."

"And where do I sleep?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.

"There's a perfectly good sofa in the study," Cedric said.

Something inside me snapped. It wasn't a loud snap. It was the quiet sound of a tether finally breaking.

"No," I said.

Cedric looked at me, surprised. "What did you say?"

"I said no. This is my territory. This is my room. If you want to play nursemaid to your mistress, you do it somewhere else. Or better yet," I walked to the closet and pulled out a suitcase. "I'll leave."

"You aren't going anywhere," Cedric growled, stepping forward. "You are my Luna. You stay where I put you."

"I am not your Luna!" I screamed, throwing the suitcase onto the bed. "I am a prisoner! I am a punching bag! I am a broodmare!"

I pointed a shaking finger at Jayden. "And she? She reeks of Wolfsbane and deception. Can't you smell it, Cedric? Under that cheap perfume? She smells like a liar!"

Jayden's eyes went wide. She let out a gasp, clutching her chest. "Cedric... I can't breathe... she's scaring me..."

"Stop it, Kacie!" Cedric shouted.

"I want a divorce," I said. The words hung in the air, heavy and final. "I reject you, Cedric Moon."

The room went silent.

Rejection was painful. Even saying the words caused a sharp pain in my chest, like a hook tearing at my heart. Cedric flinched, his hand going to his chest.

"You don't mean that," he whispered.

"I do. I reject you as my Mate."

Jayden saw Cedric wavering. She knew she had to act. She let out a shriek and bolted for the balcony door.

"I can't take this! I'm causing too much trouble!" she cried, throwing the doors open and leaping off the second-story balcony into the night.

"Jayden!" Cedric yelled.

He looked at me, his eyes full of hate. "If anything happens to her in those woods... if the Rogues get her... I will never forgive you."

His body contorted. Bones cracked and reshaped. Fur sprouted from his skin. In seconds, a massive, midnight-black wolf stood where my husband had been. Shadow, his wolf, snarled at me, baring inch-long fangs.

Then, he leaped off the balcony, chasing after her.

I walked to the open doors. The night air was freezing. I watched the two shapes disappear into the dark forest line.

I looked up at the sky. The moon was a sliver of silver, indifferent to my pain.

I looked down at my chest. The rune was glowing brighter now, the heat uncomfortable.

22 Days.

"You can have him," I whispered to the empty night. "I don't have enough time left to fight for someone who doesn't want me."

Kacie POV:

The next morning, the house was silent. But it wasn't empty.

I walked into the kitchen to find my favorite mug-a yellow ceramic one with a painted sun-in the trash can, broken.

Jayden was at the stove, wearing Cedric's oversized dress shirt. It hung off her shoulders, exposing the fake bandage on her arm. She was humming.

The scent of the house had changed. My lavender detergent, my vanilla candles-they were gone. Replaced by that cloying peach scent. She had sprayed it on the curtains, the rugs, everywhere. She was scent-marking my territory.

A wave of nausea hit me, sharp and sudden. I grabbed the counter, swallowing back bile. It wasn't just Jayden's perfume. It was my body revolting against something. Or changing.

"Good morning, Kacie," she said cheerfully, flipping a pancake. "Cedric is in the shower. He was so exhausted after last night. The chase... really worked up his appetite."

She emphasized the word appetite with a suggestive lick of her lips.

I pressed a hand to my stomach. It felt... different. Tighter. But I ignored it, blaming the stress and the Wither.

"Where are my things?" I asked.

"Oh, Cedric had the maids move them to the guest wing," she said. "He agreed that I need the master suite's energy to heal. The Feng Shui is better."

She walked over to me, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You should just give up. He doesn't want you. He never did. You're just a placeholder until I'm ready to take the Luna title."

"He can't make you Luna," I said, my voice steady despite the shaking of my hands. "Not while I'm alive."

Jayden smiled, a cold, reptilian smile. "Exactly."

Cedric walked in then, hair wet, a towel around his waist. He walked right past me, went to Jayden, and kissed her on the forehead.

"Breakfast looks good," he said.

"Cedric," I said. "We need to talk about the divorce papers."

He slammed his hand on the counter. "Stop with the drama, Kacie. There will be no divorce. Tonight is the Alpha Summit Gala. You will attend. You will stand by my side. And you will smile."

"I can't pretend anymore," I said.

"You will," he said, his voice dropping into that dangerous Alpha tone. "Or I will cut funding to that orphanage you care so much about."

My blood ran cold. The orphanage where I grew up. The only family I had.

"You wouldn't," I whispered.

"Try me."

That evening, I stood in front of the mirror in the guest room. I wore a dress of deep midnight blue velvet. It was the traditional color of the Moon Pack Luna.

I picked up a framed photo from the dresser. It was a candid shot of Cedric and me from the day we signed the marriage certificate. He wasn't smiling, but I was looking at him with so much hope.

I took the photo out of the frame. I walked to the fireplace in the corner of the room.

I struck a match.

I watched the flame curl the edges of the paper. I watched my own smiling face turn to ash, then Cedric's.

"Kacie Moon is dead," I whispered to the flames. "There is only the White Wolf now."

I didn't feel sadness anymore. I felt a cold, hard resolve.

I finished getting dressed. I didn't put on the Moon family crest brooch. Instead, I put on a simple silver locket my mother had left me.

I walked downstairs. Cedric was waiting in his tuxedo. Jayden was there too, wearing a flashy red dress that clashed with the pack colors.

"That dress," Jayden whined, pointing at my blue velvet. "Cedric, I wanted to wear blue. It brings out my eyes."

Cedric sighed. "Kacie, change. Let Jayden wear the blue."

"This is the Luna's ceremonial dress," I said calmly. "Only the Luna can wear it. Unless you plan to announce my deposition tonight?"

Cedric hesitated. He knew the pack laws.

"Fine," he muttered. "Let's go."

As we walked to the car, I trailed behind them. I watched Cedric open the door for Jayden, helping her in with gentle hands. He let the door close, leaving me to open my own.

I looked at the moon hanging low in the sky.

18 Days.

I touched the locket at my throat. Inside was a small, folded piece of paper with a list of things I wanted to do before I died.

1. Find my Mate. (Crossed out)

2. Be kissed in the rain.

3. Ride the Ferris Wheel at midnight.

"Soon," I promised myself. "Just a little longer."