The border patrol was supposed to be routine. Just another evening of securing our territory, making sure no rogues dared cross into Silver Lake Pack lands. I walked alongside my father, his presence a comforting constant in my life. Even in his advanced years, his steps were steady, his eyes sharp. The former Beta's instincts were still razor-edge.

"Stay alert, Emily," he murmured, his gaze scanning the treeline. "Something feels off tonight."

I nodded, inhaling deeply. The forest usually smelled of pine and earth, but tonight there was something else—something feral and wrong.

Then I saw them. Yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness, at least seven rogues emerging from the shadows. My wolf stirred within me, sensing danger before my human mind could process it.

"Rogues!" I shouted, my voice carrying through the night air.

Everything happened so fast after that. The rogues charged, their matted fur and wild eyes marking them as long-time outcasts. Our patrol warriors engaged them, but one massive rogue broke through the line, heading straight for Aden.

My mate stood his ground, but I could see the momentary flicker of fear in his eyes. Before I could move, my father threw himself forward.

"No!" I screamed as my father's body intercepted the rogue's claws.

The sickening sound of tearing flesh filled my ears as the rogue's cursed claws sank deep into my father's chest. The rogue was using dark magic—I could smell it, see it in the unnatural glow of his eyes.

"Father!" I rushed to him as he crumpled to the ground.

Aden finally moved, his face not with concern but annoyance. He kicked the rogue away and leaned down, not to check my father's wounds but to inspect his own clothes for bloodstains.

"Get him back to the pack house," Aden ordered, his voice flat. "And someone clean up this mess."

I expected urgency, panic—anything that showed concern for the man who had just saved his life. Instead, Aden straightened his jacket and mind-linked the pack with clinical detachment: "The old wolf has been injured. Return to base."

---

The pack infirmary smelled of antiseptic and fear. My father lay on the bed, his breathing shallow, the cursed wounds festering despite Allyson's basic treatments.

"We need to get a High Healer," I pleaded, clutching my father's hand. "The wounds are cursed—they won't heal on their own."

Aden leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "We don't have that kind of money, Emily."

"I'll pay," I said immediately. "Use my inheritance, whatever it takes."

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. "What would the pack think if their Luna pays for everything? Besides, bringing in outsiders compromises our security."

My father's hand tightened around mine. His eyes fluttered open, clouded with pain but still sharp with intelligence.

"The Alpha is right," he whispered, though I could see the lie in his eyes. He was trying to protect me, even now.

"I'll handle this," Allyson chimed in, her voice sweet but her eyes gleaming with something I couldn't quite place. "I've been studying the healing rituals for months."

I looked at her hands—they were shaking slightly as she prepared her tools. A normal healer would have steady hands, confident movements. But Allyson had always been... lacking.

"Are you sure?" I asked, unable to hide my concern.

"Of course," she said, exchanging a quick glance with Aden that made my stomach twist. "I'm the pack healer, aren't I?"

---

The ritual began with Allyson chanting words that sounded almost right but weren't quite correct. She crushed herbs between her fingers—herbs I recognized as having properties opposite to what was needed for cursed wounds.

"Wait," I started to say, but it was too late.

The moment the mixture touched my father's chest, something went terribly wrong. Instead of healing, the magic recoiled violently. My father's body arched off the bed in agony.

"Stop!" I screamed, trying to pull Allyson away.

But Aden held me back. "Let her work," he growled.

My father's eyes found mine across the room. Through his pain, he reached out with trembling fingers. I broke free from Aden's grip and rushed to his side.

"Emily," he gasped, his voice barely audible. "Listen... about Aden..."

His eyes held mine, filled with a warning I didn't fully understand.

"Father, please," I begged as his breathing grew more labored.

"The Alpha..." he whispered, blood bubbling at his lips. "Not what he seems..."

His final words died on his lips as his body went still. I felt it the moment his soul left—a hollow emptiness where his presence had always been.

I looked up to see Aden standing by the door, arms crossed, watching with detached curiosity as if observing an experiment rather than witnessing a death. Allyson stood beside him, her expression a mixture of relief and triumph that chilled me to my core.

In that moment, as I held my father's cooling body, something inside me began to crack—the first fracture in what would soon become a complete shattering of my world.

The Moon Goddess requires all wolves to receive a Moonlight Burial. It's sacred law—the only way our souls can reach her realm. Without it, we're condemned to wander as restless spirits, lost between worlds.

I sat beside my father's body, gently brushing his silver hair. The pack house was quiet, most members keeping their distance from death's presence. Only I remained, whispering final words to the man who had raised me, who had sacrificed everything for me.

"I'll make sure you reach her, Father," I promised, my voice breaking. "The Moon Goddess will welcome you home."

The door burst open. Two of Aden's enforcers entered, their expressions blank but their intent clear.

"Alpha has ordered the body removed," one announced.

My wolf stirred within me, grief transforming into rage. "On what grounds? He deserves a proper Moonlight Burial!"

"Alpha's orders," the second enforcer repeated, avoiding my gaze.

I stood, placing myself between them and my father's body. "I am still Luna of this pack, and I command you to stand down."

Their eyes flickered with uncertainty, but only for a moment. The first enforcer's radio crackled.

"Bring her to me," Aden's voice came through, cold and commanding.

---

Aden's office smelled of leather and power—a scent that once made me feel safe but now turned my stomach. He sat behind his massive desk, fingers steepled beneath his chin.

"You wanted to see me, Alpha?" I kept my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me.

"Emily." He gestured to the chair across from him. "We need to discuss your father's... arrangements."

"My father deserves a Moonlight Burial," I said immediately. "It's his right as a former Beta."

Aden's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Rights are privileges in this pack, Emily. Privileges I decide."

He slid a folder across the desk. Inside were legal documents—property deeds to my family's ancestral lands. The last piece of independence I had left.

"Sign these," he said casually, as if discussing the weather. "Transfer the Northern Territory rights to the pack, and I'll ensure your father receives a proper burial."

My hands trembled as I reached for the papers. "You're blackmailing me? Over my father's soul?"

"I'm offering you a choice." Aden leaned back, perfectly at ease. "Sign, and he finds peace. Refuse..." He shrugged. "There's always the Rogue Lands. I hear the scavengers there appreciate fresh meat."

The Rogue Lands—where soulless exiles rotted, where even the Moon Goddess's light couldn't reach. The threat was clear: sign, or condemn my father's soul to eternal darkness.

"You're a monster," I whispered.

"And you're practical." He pushed a pen toward me. "Your father raised you better than to let emotion cloud judgment."

I took the pen, my vision blurring with tears. Each signature felt like carving out a piece of my heart.

---

As I left his office, voices drifted from the conference room down the hall.

"She actually signed it," Allyson's voice, tinged with amusement. "I thought she'd put up more of a fight."

"Emily's predictable," Aden replied. "Too loyal, too trusting. Always has been."

"Well, she's been useful," Allyson said. "But honestly, I'm tired of her whining. When are you going to tell her?"

"Patience." Aden's voice lowered. "She's still a useful stepping stone. But once we've extracted everything we need..."

"The pack will be better off with a real Luna," Allyson finished.

I pressed myself against the wall, my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. Not just a mate who didn't love me—but one who saw me as nothing more than a tool to be discarded.

---

A week after the funeral, Allyson cornered me in the pack house kitchen.

"You look terrible," she said, her concern as fake as her smile. "All this grief must be affecting your health."

"I'm fine," I replied curtly, trying to move past her.

"Aden's worried." She blocked my path. "He's ordered a mandatory health check-up. Can't have our Luna falling ill, can we?"

"Aden doesn't care about my health," I muttered.

"Oh, but he does." Allyson's smile widened. "Especially now. Come on, it'll only take a minute."

She led me to the infirmary, where she had prepared a syringe filled with clear liquid.

"What's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just a vitamin booster." She tapped the needle. "You've been under so much stress lately. I'm worried you might have developed a latent blood disease."

Before I could protest, she grabbed my arm. "Alpha's orders, Emily. Don't make this difficult."

The needle slid into my vein, sending a burning sensation through my body. As the liquid entered my bloodstream, a strange numbness spread through me.

"What did you—" My words slurred as darkness crept into the edges of my vision.

Allyson's face was the last thing I saw clearly, her expression no longer hiding the malice beneath.

"Just a little something to help you relax," she whispered as I collapsed onto the examination table. "You've been so tense lately."

The last coherent thought I had before consciousness slipped away was that I should have trusted my instincts—that something was very, very wrong.

Pain tore through me like liquid fire. I awoke screaming, my body convulsing as if electricity coursed through my veins. The infirmary ceiling swam above me, blurry through tears I didn't remember crying.

"Emily, calm down," Allyson's voice cut through my agony, her hands pressing on my shoulders. "You're going to hurt yourself."

I tried to speak, but another wave of pain crashed through my abdomen, stealing my breath. Something was wrong—terribly wrong. I could feel it deep inside me, a burning sensation that seemed to be eating me alive from within.

"What did you do to me?" I gasped, finally finding my voice.

Allyson's expression shifted to practiced concern. She smoothed back my hair with gentle fingers that made my skin crawl.

"You had a reaction to the vitamins," she said softly. "I had to perform an emergency procedure to save your life."

"Emergency procedure?" I tried to sit up, but my body felt hollow, violated. "What procedure?"

Her eyes flickered with something—triumph? Pity?—before she leaned closer.

"I'm so sorry, Emily," she whispered, her breath hot against my ear. "The infection had spread further than I thought. There was nothing I could do to save your womb."

The words hit me like physical blows. "My womb? What are you talking about?"

"Concentrated wolfsbane poisoning," she said, her voice dropping even lower. "Someone must have exposed you to it. I managed to save your life, but..." She shook her head sadly. "You'll never be able to carry pups."

I stared at her, unable to process what she was saying. Wolfsbane? Barren? This couldn't be happening.

"You're lying," I whispered.

Allyson's mask slipped for just a moment, revealing the satisfaction beneath. "I'm afraid not. You should be grateful I acted quickly."

---

The whispers started the next day.

"Poor Luna," they said, not bothering to lower their voices when I passed. "The Moon Goddess cursed her."

"I heard she can't have pups," someone else murmured.

"It's because of her father's failures," another added. "The Alpha's been patient, but..."

I kept my head high, though each whisper felt like a knife twisting in my chest. My wolf whimpered inside me, sensing the shift in the pack's attitude.

"Emily," Allyson approached me in the hallway, her smile sympathetic. "How are you feeling today?"

"Like I've been poisoned," I replied coldly.

She laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Oh, you're still so dramatic. Come, let's get some tea."

I refused to move. "What have you been telling them?"

"Telling who?" Her eyes widened innocently.

"The pack. About my... condition."

A shadow passed over her face before she recovered. "Only what they need to know. That you're unwell, and that perhaps the Moon Goddess has her reasons for everything."

Through the pack mind-link, I could feel the whispers spreading like wildfire. Allyson had been busy, planting seeds of doubt, turning my private trauma into pack gossip.

"They're saying I'm cursed," I said flatly.

"Some people will always find reasons to talk," she replied, her voice dripping false sympathy. "But the Alpha stands by you."

---

Three days later, I stood in the Great Hall, surrounded by the entire pack. Aden had called an unexpected gathering, and the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on.

"Brothers and sisters of Silver Lake," Aden's voice boomed across the hall. "We gather today to address an important matter."

He stood on the raised platform, every inch the powerful Alpha. Beside him, Allyson smiled serenely, her hand possessively on his arm.

"Our pack has always valued strength and continuity," he continued. "A pack needs an heir to secure its future."

My stomach twisted as his eyes found mine across the crowd.

"Emily," he called, gesturing me forward.

The crowd parted as I walked to the platform, my legs somehow supporting me despite feeling like water. Something was terribly wrong. I could feel it in the air, in the way the pack watched me with a mixture of pity and judgment.

When I reached him, Aden took my hand, his touch cold and formal.

"It is with great regret," he announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the hall, "that I must inform the pack of our Luna's condition."

He turned to face me directly, his eyes hard as flint.

"I, Alpha Aden, reject you, Emily, as my Luna and mate."

The formal words of rejection hit me like physical blows.

"You are a dry branch that bears no fruit," he continued, the ancient phrase echoing in the silent hall.

The mate bond between us snapped with an audible crack that only I could hear. Pain exploded through my chest, radiating outward until every cell in my body screamed in agony.

I gasped, doubling over as the bond—the connection I had cherished despite everything—died within me.

Through tears of pain, I saw Allyson step forward, her hand sliding possessively into Aden's as the pack watched in stunned silence.