The tray slipped from my fingers, crashing to the floor with a sound that echoed my shattering world. Tea splashed across the hardwood, staining the expensive rug Jonathan had brought back from a neighboring territory as a gift for our second anniversary.

"You took my eyes?" I repeated, my voice stronger now, rising with the horror of my realization.

Silence answered me. Then Jonathan's footsteps approached, measured and calm as always.

"Clean this up," he ordered, his tone so casual he might have been commenting on the weather. "And be more careful next time."

I felt a small hand brush against mine—the child, Jonathan's daughter with Victoria—and jerked away as if burned. The touch of the girl who now saw the world through my stolen eyes was more than I could bear.

"Don't touch the broken pieces, Elara," Victoria said sharply. "Let the Omega handle it."

Omega. The lowest rank. From Luna to Omega in three days.

I knelt, feeling for the broken shards with trembling fingers, cutting myself in the process. Blood mingled with tea on the floor as I gathered the pieces, each one a fragment of the life that had been stolen from me.

Later, alone in my bare servant's quarters, I sat on the edge of the thin mattress, cradling my bandaged hands. The room was cold, stripped of any comfort or dignity. Just like me.

*Are you there?* I called silently into the void where my wolf had once lived. *Please... answer me.*

Only silence greeted me. A profound, crushing silence that confirmed what I'd suspected since waking in darkness—my wolf was gone. Not just dormant or weakened, but completely severed from me. The sacred bond that defined a werewolf's very existence had been cut as surely as my eyes had been taken.

Tears slid down my cheeks, but I made no sound. I couldn't risk Jonathan or Victoria hearing my breakdown. I needed to think, to understand, to find a way out of this nightmare.

I stood carefully, extending my arms to feel the dimensions of my prison. Seven steps from the bed to the door. Three steps across. A small dresser with two drawers containing the plain clothes of an Omega. A sink in the corner with a cracked mirror I would never see again.

Moving to the door, I pressed my ear against it, listening for any movement in the hallway beyond. Hearing nothing, I opened it slowly, wincing at the slight creak of hinges that needed oiling.

The hallway stretched before me, a path I would need to memorize if I had any hope of navigating this new, dark existence. I counted steps, trailing my fingertips along the wall, mapping every doorway, every corner, every obstacle in my path.

Twenty-three steps to the main staircase. Fourteen steps down. A right turn, then thirty-seven steps to the kitchen. From the kitchen, nineteen steps to the dining room. Twenty-six to the main room where I'd dropped the tea service.

I continued my silent exploration, building a mental map of the pack house that had once been my home, now my prison. Each room held memories—Jonathan's study where he'd first told me he loved me, the sunroom where we'd spent lazy Sunday mornings, the garden terrace where he'd asked me to be his mate. All lies. Every moment, every touch, every whispered promise—calculated deception.

As I rounded a corner near Jonathan's study, voices drifted through the partially open door. I froze, pressing myself against the wall beside a heavy tapestry depicting the Shadowmere Pack's founding.

"The Moon Goddess ceremony is in three days," Jonathan was saying. "All pack leaders are expected to attend."

"Will you take *her*?" The voice belonged to Garrett, Jonathan's Beta, his tone dripping with disdain when referring to me.

"No," Jonathan replied firmly. "Victoria and Elara will accompany me to the neutral territory. The Omega stays here."

"And if she tries to escape while you're gone?" Garrett asked.

Jonathan's chuckle sent ice through my veins. "She won't get far. Blind, wolfless, and completely alone—where would she go?"

I pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle my breathing. Three days. The Moon Goddess ceremony would be held on neutral territory—ground where no single Alpha's power ruled supreme. If I could somehow convince Jonathan to take me along, it might be my only chance to escape this nightmare.

But first, I needed to survive until then. And somehow, I needed to make Jonathan believe I had accepted my fate.

I spent the night rehearsing my lies, perfecting the tremor in my voice, the slump of my shoulders. By dawn, I was ready. Broken. Defeated. Exactly what Jonathan needed to see.

My fingers traced the wall as I counted steps to his study. One, two, three... twenty-seven. The door was slightly ajar, and I could smell his cologne—sandalwood and cedar, once comforting, now nauseating.

I knocked softly.

"Enter," his voice commanded, the Alpha tone reverberating through me despite the absence of my wolf.

I pushed the door open, keeping my head bowed, my bandaged hands clasped before me. "Alpha," I whispered, the title bitter on my tongue.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked, his tone clipped. Papers rustled as he continued whatever work I'd interrupted.

"I..." I let my voice break, swallowing hard. "I wish to attend the Moon Goddess ceremony."

Silence. Then the creak of his leather chair as he leaned back. "And why would I allow that?"

I sank to my knees, the ultimate posture of submission. "The Moon Goddess has taken much from me, but I still wish to honor her. To show the other packs that despite my... condition, Shadowmere Pack remains strong and united."

His footsteps approached, and I fought not to flinch when his fingers tilted my chin up. "You think I don't see through this?"

"I have nowhere to go," I whispered, injecting truth into my lie. "No wolf, no sight, no family who would believe me over an Alpha. I just want to feel the moonlight one more time."

His thumb brushed my cheek, a mockery of tenderness. "You always were clever, Mia. Too clever for your own good."

I remained silent, heart hammering. Had I overplayed my hand?

"Very well," he said finally. "You may attend. It will indeed show the other packs my... benevolence."

Relief flooded through me, but I kept my face carefully blank. "Thank you, Alpha."

"One more thing," he added, his grip on my chin tightening painfully. "If you attempt anything foolish, I will ensure your brother suffers for it. Understood?"

I nodded, bile rising in my throat. "Understood."

---

That afternoon, Jonathan made a show of my "recovery" during the morning pack run. I stood beside him on the pack house steps, feeling dozens of eyes on me as he addressed the gathered wolves.

"As you all know, Luna—" he paused, correcting himself with theatrical regret, "—Mia has suffered greatly. Yet her devotion to our pack and the Moon Goddess remains unbroken. She will join us at tonight's ceremony as a testament to Shadowmere's strength."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I could feel their pity, their curiosity, their judgment. Some knew the truth, I was certain. Others believed whatever lies Jonathan had fed them about my "accident."

"Such courage," Victoria commented beside me, her voice dripping with mockery only I could hear. "Though I wonder how you'll manage the journey without tripping over every twig."

I smiled thinly. "I'm sure you'll be there to catch me if I fall, Luna."

Later, as the pack dispersed to prepare for the journey, I slipped back to my quarters. I had mere hours to prepare. The ceremony would be held at the ancient stone circle in the neutral territory between the five major packs. I needed to memorize every detail of the journey there, every possible escape route.

I ran my fingers over the spare linens I'd stolen from the laundry, tearing them into strips. Each one I knotted carefully, creating markers I could identify by touch. With painstaking care, I tucked them into my pockets.

As the pack members bustled about, loading vehicles and preparing for the ceremonial journey, I moved through the corridors, discreetly pressing my fingertips to walls, doorframes, banisters—leaving the faintest trace of my scent. A breadcrumb trail I could follow by smell, even without my wolf or my sight.

"Time to go," Jonathan's voice startled me as I finished marking the path to the rear service entrance. "Remember our agreement."

I nodded, heart racing with fear and desperate hope. Tonight would be my only chance. If I failed, I knew with bone-deep certainty that Jonathan would ensure I never had another opportunity.

As his hand closed around my arm, guiding me toward the waiting vehicles, I wondered if I was walking toward freedom or my final doom.