The morning light filtered through the tall windows of the packhouse as I made my way toward the parlor. My heels clicked against the polished hardwood floors, each step purposeful and measured. Seven years of building this pack alongside Drew had taught me to move with the confidence of a Luna, even if I remained unmarked.

I pushed open the heavy oak door, ready to remind Drew about the corporate meeting that would determine our next business expansion. The words died on my lips as I took in the scene before me.

Drew sat hunched over a workbench, his powerful frame bent with an intensity I hadn't seen in months. But it wasn't directed at pack business—it was focused entirely on Lana Bell.

The Omega stood beside him, her delicate fingers tracing the edge of an ornate silver tool. Her scent—that cloying, sweet fragrance that seemed to intoxicate my mate—hung heavy in the air.

"These silver tools were meant for the Luna," I said, my voice steady despite the knot forming in my stomach. "They're heirlooms from your mother's collection."

Drew didn't even look up. "Lana needs them for the restoration work. These are delicate pieces that require precision."

I watched as he handed her another tool—a rare lunar-silver carving instrument that had been passed down through generations of Lunas. My fingers curled into fists at my sides.

"We have a meeting with the investors in thirty minutes," I reminded him, stepping closer. "The expansion of the commercial district depends on this deal."

"Reschedule it," Drew said dismissively, finally glancing up. His eyes held none of the warmth they once reserved for me. "Lana's work is more important right now."

I felt my wolf stir restlessly within me, a low growl building in my chest. Seven years of fighting side by side, of building this pack from nothing, and now he couldn't even spare me a moment of his attention.

---

Later, I cornered him in his office, away from Lana's influence.

"What's happening to you?" I demanded, closing the door behind me. "You're neglecting the pack. The businesses. Everything we've built together."

Drew leaned against his desk, arms crossed. "I'm still handling pack matters."

"You're handling Lana," I shot back. "Nothing else seems to matter anymore."

Before he could respond, a soft knock interrupted us. Lana stood in the doorway, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she whispered, her voice trembling. "But I need to speak with Alpha Drew."

"Go ahead," Drew said immediately, his entire demeanor softening.

Lana stepped into the room, her gaze darting between us. "I was just working on the restoration pieces when..." She paused, a tear sliding down her cheek. "When Luna Evelyn came by earlier and said I had no right to be using the Luna tools."

My jaw dropped. "That's not—"

"She said I was overstepping," Lana continued, her voice breaking. "That I should remember my place as an Omega."

I felt Drew's aura shift before I saw it—the crushing weight of his Alpha power filling the room. My wolf cowered instinctively.

"Is this true?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

"No! I never—"

"Enough!" Drew's Alpha tone slammed into me like a physical blow. "You will back off and let Lana do her work."

I staggered back, shocked by the force of his command. In seven years, he had never used his Alpha voice on me.

---

Three days later, I was summoned to the pack treasury room. The moment I entered, I knew something was wrong. The air was thick with the scent of broken crystals and Lana's cloying perfume.

Lana stood in the center of the room, surrounded by shattered pieces of the sacred Moon Goddess crystals—ancient artifacts worth more than gold to our pack.

"I didn't do it," she cried, tears streaming down her face as Drew entered behind me. "She attacked me when I confronted her about the tools!"

Drew's eyes darkened as he surveyed the damage. The crystals—our pack's most precious treasures—lay in glittering shards across the floor.

"Evelyn," he growled, his voice barely human. "Explain this."

"I didn't touch her or the crystals," I said firmly, though my heart raced with dread. "This is a setup."

Lana clutched at Drew's arm. "She's lying! Look at her scent all over the room!"

I hadn't even noticed the faint trace of my scent among the wreckage—a nearly impossible feat considering I hadn't been in this room for weeks.

Drew's Alpha aura exploded outward, crushing me beneath its weight. My knees buckled as he grabbed my arm, his fingers digging painfully into my flesh.

"Guards!" he roared. "Take her to the dungeon!"

Two Delta warriors appeared instantly, seizing my arms. I struggled against them, but Drew's command held me immobile.

"Drew, please," I gasped as they dragged me away. "You know I wouldn't do this."

His eyes met mine for a brief moment—cold, unrecognizing, and filled with disgust.

"Lock her in the silver cell," he ordered. "No one speaks to her until I decide what to do with her."

The last thing I saw before they pulled me through the door was Lana's face—her tears gone, replaced by a triumphant smile that chilled me to my core.

The silver-lined walls of the dungeon seemed to pulse with malevolent energy, each breath I took feeling like fire in my lungs. My skin blistered wherever it came into contact with the toxic metal—a special precaution Drew had ordered for my "protection." The irony wasn't lost on me. Silver didn't protect wolves; it tortured them.

My wolf, Luna, thrashed wildly within me, her howls of betrayal echoing through my mind. *Seven years*, she whimpered. *Seven years of loyalty, and he locks us in silver*.

"It's not real," I whispered, trying to soothe her. "He'll realize his mistake. He has to."

But even as I spoke the words, I knew they were hollow. The Drew I'd loved—the one who'd fought beside me through rogue attacks and pack challenges—was gone, replaced by a stranger whose eyes only lit up for Lana.

The sound of approaching footsteps made me stiffen. The dungeon door creaked open, and Drew's imposing figure filled the doorway. For one wild moment, hope surged through me. He'd come to release me, to apologize...

"Evelyn." His voice was cold, detached. "You've had time to think about your actions."

I pushed myself up, ignoring the searing pain as silver residue burned my palms. "Drew, please listen to me. Lana is manipulating you. She broke those crystals herself—"

"Enough!" His Alpha tone slammed into me like a physical blow, forcing me back against the wall. "You will apologize to Lana for your jealousy and petty attacks."

My wolf snarled, urging me to fight back, but the silver weakened us both. "Jealousy? Is that what she's telling you?"

"Lana has shown nothing but grace under your harassment," Drew continued, stepping closer. His eyes—once warm amber—were now hard as flint. "She understands that as Alpha, I need to make decisions for the pack's benefit."

"And I don't?" I whispered, incredulous. "I've been by your side for seven years, building this pack from nothing!"

Drew's expression didn't change. "You've been useful. But your recent behavior has been... unstable."

I stared at him, searching for any flicker of the mate I'd known. There was nothing.

---

Three days passed in agonizing slowness. The silver cell leached my strength, leaving me trembling and weak. My wolf had grown quiet, conserving what little energy remained.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor—too light to be Drew's. I tensed, expecting guards with food or water.

Instead, Lana's face appeared at my cell door, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Comfortable?" she asked, her voice honey-sweet. Gone was the trembling vulnerability she showed around Drew. This was the real Lana—calculating, cold, and utterly without remorse.

"What do you want?" I managed, my throat parched.

"Just checking on our former Luna." She smiled, leaning against the bars. "Oh, did I forget to mention? Drew's agreed to let me wear his mother's silver pendant. The one meant for you."

I lunged forward instinctively, only to be thrown back by the silver's burning touch. Lana laughed, the sound like breaking glass.

"Careful, Evelyn. You're not as strong as you think." She glanced over her shoulder, ensuring we were alone. "The guards are loyal to me now. Amazing what a few tears and a sad story can accomplish."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, hating the tremor in my voice.

Lana's eyes narrowed. "Why? Because you don't deserve him. You never did. A low-born nobody who got lucky with a mate bond." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I'll be Luna by the time he's done with you."

"And when he discovers your lies?"

"He won't." Her confidence was chilling. "Men like Drew see what they want to see. And what he wants to see is me."

---

While Drew was away managing pack business, Lana made her move.

I watched through the small window in my cell door as she slipped into the dungeon's control room, her movements precise and deliberate. She spoke briefly with the guards, her voice too low to hear, but their nods told me everything I needed to know.

Hours later, the packhouse erupted in chaos. Shouts echoed down to the dungeon—Lana had vanished from the gardens while working on the restoration pieces.

"Find her!" Drew's roar shook the very foundations of the building.

I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what was happening. This was no random abduction—this was Lana's master plan.

The next morning, a Delta warrior rushed into the control room, holding something in his hand. "Evidence from the garden, sir! Footprints leading to the east boundary!"

I strained to see what he held—a small brass button, distinctive and familiar. My brother's jacket. The one he always wore when working on pack projects.

Lana's scent was nowhere on it—she'd been careful about that—but my family's scent was unmistakable.

The trap was perfect. And I was powerless to stop it.

The packhouse erupted into chaos as news of Lana's disappearance spread like wildfire. I could feel the vibrations of running feet and panicked voices through the silver-lined walls of my dungeon cell. My wolf, Luna, stirred weakly within me.

*Something's happening*, she whispered, her voice faint from our prolonged exposure to silver.

I pressed my blistered palm against the small window in my cell door, straining to see what was happening in the corridor. The guards were gone—called away to search for the missing Omega, no doubt.

"They'll find her hiding somewhere," I murmured, knowing full well that Lana wasn't missing at all. This was her plan, perfectly executed.

Heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor—too heavy to be anyone but Drew. My heart lurched painfully in my chest as he appeared in the doorway, his face contorted with rage and something else—something that looked almost like fear.

"Where is she?" he roared, his Alpha aura exploding outward with such force that I was thrown back against the wall.

I struggled to stay upright, my legs trembling beneath me. "Drew, please—"

"She's gone!" His eyes were wild, unfocused. "And they found this in the garden!"

He thrust his hand toward me, and I saw what he held—a small brass button. My brother's jacket. The one Lana had carefully planted.

"That's my brother's," I whispered, horror washing over me as I realized how thoroughly I'd been set up.

"Your family," Drew snarled, his voice dropping to something inhuman. "You ordered them to take her, didn't you? To hurt her because you couldn't stand seeing me with someone else!"

"No!" I cried, my voice breaking. "Drew, you know me better than that!"

But there was no recognition in his eyes—only a manic, terrifying fury that I'd never seen before. He strode forward and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me to my feet.

"Where is she?" he demanded, his face inches from mine. "Tell me now!"

"The evidence is fake," I gasped, tears streaming down my face as silver residue burned my skin. "Lana planted it. She's manipulating you!"

Drew's grip tightened painfully. "You're the one who's been lying to me from the start."

With a savage motion, he dragged me from the cell, ignoring my cries of pain as silver dust clung to my clothes and skin. My legs barely supported me as he pulled me through the corridors of the packhouse, past shocked pack members who quickly averted their eyes.

"Alpha," one of the guards began, "the silver—it's dangerous for her—"

"Silence!" Drew roared. "She's responsible for Lana's disappearance!"

He pulled me outside, the bright sunlight momentarily blinding after days in darkness. A black SUV waited, engine running. Drew shoved me into the backseat and slammed the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked, clutching the door handle as the vehicle lurched forward.

Drew's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, cold and unrecognizable. "Somewhere we can have a private conversation."

The drive was a blur of pain and fear. We left the main pack grounds behind, heading toward the mountains where our newest commercial development was underway—a massive construction project perched on a cliff edge, still months from completion.

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, watching Drew's knuckles whiten on the steering wheel.

"Because you leave me no choice," he replied, his voice eerily calm now. "If your family has harmed one hair on Lana's head..."

The threat hung unfinished between us.

The construction site loomed ahead, skeletal steel beams rising against the sky. Workers stopped to stare as Drew parked and yanked me from the vehicle. Delta warriors appeared from every direction, forming a tight perimeter around us.

"Take her to the main platform," Drew ordered. "And prepare the crane."

My blood ran cold as I realized where he was taking me—to the unfinished observation platform that jutted out over a hundred-foot drop.

"Drew, please," I begged as they forced me toward the platform. "Whatever you think I've done—"

"Save your breath," he cut me off. "Your family will be joining us soon."

As if on cue, a second vehicle pulled into the site. My heart stopped as Marcus and Ryan emerged, dragging two figures between them.

My mother—fragile, wolfless, her gray hair whipping in the wind—and my brother, his face twisted in confusion and fear.

"Mom!" I screamed, lunging forward only to be restrained by the Delta warriors. "Drew, they have nothing to do with this!"

But Drew was beyond reason now, his eyes fixed on my family with cold determination.

"Bring them up," he ordered. "It's time for a family reunion."

The wind howled around us as we ascended the unfinished platform, high above the valley below. My mother's face was pale with terror, her human-weak heart clearly struggling with the stress.

"Drew," she pleaded, her voice thin and reedy. "Whatever Evelyn has done—"

"Silence!" he roared, his Alpha tone making everyone flinch. "You'll all learn what happens when you cross me."

My brother's eyes met mine, confusion giving way to dawning horror as he realized what was happening.

"This is insane," he whispered. "Evelyn would never—"

"Shut up!" Drew snarled, turning to the crane operator. "Prepare to lift them."

The massive construction crane loomed overhead, its steel cables swaying slightly in the mountain breeze. My mother trembled violently beside me, her human heart clearly struggling with the terror.

"Drew," I pleaded, my voice breaking. "Not my family. Please."

But the Alpha I'd loved for seven years was gone, replaced by a stranger whose eyes held nothing but cold determination and madness.