The screen's glow illuminated the technician's pale face as his fingers trembled over the keyboard. I stood behind him, my hand instinctively cradling my belly as if I could shield our pup from the truth unfolding before us.

"Luna, I—I'm so sorry," he stammered, eyes fixed on the monitor. "I didn't know what was on these servers."

"Neither did I," I whispered, my voice surprisingly steady despite the earthquake happening inside me. "But we need to know more."

Aria growled within me. *Dig deeper. We deserve to know everything.*

The Omega—his name was Marcus, I suddenly remembered—nodded with surprising determination. "I can decrypt the cloud account if you give me a few minutes."

I glanced toward the door. "How long?"

"Five minutes, tops."

I nodded, moving to stand guard by the entrance. My heart hammered against my ribs as I listened for any approaching footsteps. Five minutes could feel like an eternity when you were betraying your Alpha.

"There," Marcus whispered, his voice tight with tension. "I'm in."

The monitor flickered, revealing a digital treasure trove of betrayal. My fingers curled into fists as Marcus navigated through folders labeled with dates and locations.

"Look at this," he said, pointing to a series of notifications. "Whenever her stress levels spiked above normal, Alpha Christopher would receive an immediate alert."

I leaned closer, watching as he clicked on one such instance. A timestamp from three weeks ago showed Sylvie's heart rate suddenly elevating. Within minutes, Christopher had ordered a private healer to her apartment.

"He never called healers for me," I said, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "Not even when I collapsed after the pack run last month."

Marcus's hands hesitated over the keyboard. "I'm sorry, Luna."

He clicked on another folder labeled "Gifts." My stomach lurched as images of purchase receipts filled the screen—designer clothes, jewelry, even a weekend getaway to a luxury cabin in the mountains.

"All paid from pack accounts," Marcus noted quietly. "Not his personal funds."

Of course not. Why waste his own money on his mistress when he could use our pack's resources?

"There's more," Marcus said, his voice dropping even lower as he opened a folder labeled "Communications."

My breath caught as dozens of mind-link transcripts appeared on screen. I recognized Christopher's digital signature immediately, alongside Sylvie's.

*My love, your aura feels unsettled today. I'm sending calming agents to your office.*

*Sylvie: Thank you, Christopher. Your concern means everything to me.*

*Just a few more months. Once the heir is born, everything changes.*

I scrolled faster, my eyes burning as I read their intimate exchanges. Then one message stopped me cold:

*Once Tessa delivers the pup, I'll use my Alpha command to force her rejection. The bond will break, and you'll take your rightful place as Luna.*

Sylvie's reply came moments later: *I'll be waiting, my Alpha. Our pups will rule this territory together.*

The room tilted around me. My legs threatened to give way as Aria howled in silent agony within me.

"He planned this," I whispered, my voice hollow. "All along."

Marcus looked physically ill. "Luna, I—"

"I need a copy of everything," I cut him off, my mind suddenly crystal clear. "Can you download it all?"

He nodded quickly, inserting a flash drive into the computer. "It'll take a few minutes."

I stood frozen, staring at the evidence of my mate's betrayal while the drive copied file after file. Each percentage point felt like another nail in the coffin of my marriage.

---

I returned to our quarters—no, Christopher's quarters—with the flash drive burning a hole in my pocket. The weight of what I'd discovered pressed down on me like a physical force.

Aria paced restlessly within me. *We need to protect ourselves. And the pup.*

"I know," I murmured, running my hand over my belly. "We will."

The door opened, and my mother-in-law glided in with her practiced smile and another tall glass filled with greenish liquid.

"Time for your daily smoothie, dear," she said, setting it down on the coffee table. "I added extra supplements today."

I lifted the glass, pretending to take a sip while watching her over the rim. For the first time, I noticed how her eyes tracked my movements—not with concern, but with calculation.

As she turned away, I caught a whiff of something beneath the fruit scent—something metallic and repulsive that made Aria recoil violently.

*Wolfsbane,* my wolf snarled. *She's poisoning us.*

I set the glass down, my hand trembling slightly. "Thank you," I said, forcing a smile. "It's delicious."

She beamed, patting my hand. "I'll leave you to rest then."

As soon as the door closed, I grabbed a sterile sample vial from my medical kit and carefully poured a small amount of the smoothie into it. The rest went straight down the drain.

Holding up the vial to the light, I could see tiny flecks of something that didn't belong in any health drink.

"What have you been putting in these, Mother?" I whispered to the empty room.

The answer was clear—and terrifying.

I woke to darkness, my body feeling heavier than it had the day before. The sunlight filtering through the blinds seemed too bright, too harsh. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes, noticing how my Luna aura—once vibrant and commanding—now flickered weakly around my fingertips.

"You're fading," Aria whimpered inside me. "We're both fading."

I struggled to sit up, my limbs protesting even this small effort. Five months pregnant, and I felt like I was carrying the weight of the entire pack on my shoulders. Or perhaps it was the weight of Christopher's betrayal pressing down on me.

"We need to see the data," I murmured, reaching for my pack datapad on the nightstand.

The screen illuminated my pale face as I navigated to my medical dashboard—the one Christopher had assured me would monitor my health and the pup's development. The numbers stared back at me, perfectly normal. Perfectly healthy.

Perfectly lies.

"No," I whispered, zooming in on the vitals. "This can't be right."

My heart rate was listed as 72 beats per minute. Steady. Normal. But I could feel it racing in my chest, far faster than the screen indicated.

Aria growled. *He's manipulated the data. We're trapped in his digital cage.*

I scrolled through the dashboard, checking each measurement. Blood pressure. Oxygen saturation. Aura strength. All showing optimal readings while I sat here, weak and trembling.

"He's been altering my medical records," I realized aloud, my voice hollow. "Making sure I wouldn't see the truth."

The truth that I was dying. The truth that our pup was in danger.

I set the datapad down, my decision crystallizing. "We need outside help. Someone who isn't loyal to him."

---

"The quarterly facility inspection is a Luna duty," I announced to the pack administrator the next morning, keeping my voice steady despite the effort it cost me. "I'll be conducting it today."

The young Beta nodded quickly. "Of course, Luna. Would you like an escort?"

"No need," I replied, offering a smile that didn't reach my eyes. "I prefer to conduct inspections personally."

It was a lie—I'd never shown interest in facility inspections before—but my Luna status granted me the authority to roam the pack house freely. Including the medical wing.

I made my way through the corridors slowly, conserving my strength. Each step felt like walking through water, but I forced myself forward. The pack clinic was at the far end of the east wing, conveniently empty during midday shifts.

Except for Dr. Nathan Oliver, who remained in his office regardless of schedule.

"Luna Tessa," he said, rising from his desk as I entered. His eyes narrowed slightly at my appearance. "You don't look well."

"Lock the door," I whispered urgently.

His expression shifted from professional concern to alarm as he complied. "What's going on?"

I pulled the flash drive from my pocket first. "Everything you need to know about Christopher's betrayal is on here." Then I placed the vial of smoothie sample on his desk. "And everything you need to know about why I'm dying is in there."

Nathan's hands trembled slightly as he accepted both items. "Luna, if this is what I think it is—"

"It is," I cut him off. "And I need your help."

---

The blood test took twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of silence broken only by the hum of medical equipment and Nathan's occasional muttered curses.

I sat on the examination table, watching his face grow increasingly grim as he analyzed the samples.

"This is..." he began, then stopped, shaking his head. "This is wolfsbane, Luna. Trace amounts, but consistent with long-term exposure."

The room seemed to tilt around me. "How long?"

"Weeks, based on these levels." Nathan's voice was tight with controlled anger. "Who's been giving this to you?"

"My mother-in-law," I whispered. "In her special smoothies. For the pup's development."

Nathan's hands clenched into fists. "This isn't just poisoning—it's attempted murder. Of you and the heir."

"She wants me gone," I said, the pieces falling into place. "She wants Sylvie to take my place. To bear Christopher's pups instead of mine."

"The former Luna has violated every medical and pack law," Nathan said, his professional demeanor cracking to reveal genuine disgust. "And the Alpha—your mate—he's been covering it up."

I nodded slowly, one hand resting protectively over my belly. "Can you help me?"

Nathan met my gaze, his eyes filled with determination and something else—something that looked remarkably like loyalty to me rather than to his Alpha.

"I took an oath to protect all pack members," he said firmly. "And I intend to honor it."

As he spoke, I felt something shift within me—a spark of hope igniting where there had been only darkness.

But first, we needed a plan.

The fluorescent lights of Nathan's clinic cast harsh shadows across his face as he studied the results of his deeper investigation. I sat perfectly still on the examination table, my hands clasped tightly in my lap to hide their trembling.

"It's worse than we thought," Nathan said, his voice barely above a whisper. He turned his computer screen toward me, displaying a complex web of altered data streams. "Christopher hasn't just been monitoring you through the watch. He's been actively manipulating your medical records."

I leaned forward, my eyes tracing the digital trail of deception. "How long?"

"Months," Nathan replied, his professional demeanor cracking to reveal genuine outrage. "Since before you conceived. He's been systematically erasing any evidence of the wolfsbane poisoning and your deteriorating health."

Aria howled within me, a sound of such profound betrayal that I felt my heart might shatter. But something else rose alongside the pain—something cold and calculating that spread through my chest like ice water.

"Show me," I demanded, my voice steadier than I expected.

Nathan nodded, navigating through layers of hacked databases. "Here—your actual blood work from last month. And here's what he's displaying on your public medical dashboard."

The discrepancy was stark. My real results showed dangerously elevated toxin levels and a weakening aura. The falsified records portrayed perfect health.

"He's been gaslighting me," I whispered. "Making me question my own body."

Nathan's eyes met mine, filled with a mixture of professional concern and something deeper—something that looked remarkably like respect. "Luna Tessa, I've taken an oath to protect all pack members. But right now, I'm choosing to protect you above all else."

In that moment, something shifted within me. The grief that had threatened to consume me crystallized into something harder, sharper—an Alpha-mate fury that burned away my tears and left only cold determination.

"Then help me destroy him," I said, my voice deadly calm.

---

"He won't let you leave," Nathan said later that evening as we huddled in his private office, the door locked and windows covered. "Not while you carry his heir."

I placed a protective hand over my belly, feeling the slight swell beneath my fingers. "The pup is his blood tie to power."

"Exactly," Nathan confirmed, his voice tight with tension. "As long as you carry the Alpha heir, Christopher's territorial possessiveness will prevent you from ever leaving the pack alive."

Aria paced restlessly within me. *We need to break his control.*

"But if I lose the pup..." I began, the thought sending a wave of genuine anguish through me.

"Not actually lose," Nathan clarified quickly. "But if he believes you have..."

The plan formed between us in moments of silent understanding.

"We fake a miscarriage," I whispered, the words feeling strange on my tongue. "Something so traumatic that his Alpha control over me shatters completely."

Nathan nodded slowly. "It would give you the cover you need to finalize your revenge."

"And protect the pup," I added firmly.

---

Over the next two weeks, I became the perfect picture of a deteriorating Luna. Each morning, I accepted my mother-in-law's poisoned smoothie with a grateful smile.

"Thank you," I would say weakly, watching her eyes track my movements with calculating precision.

As soon as she left, I would carefully pour most of the toxic liquid into a sealed container for evidence, only pretending to sip enough to maintain appearances.

"Luna Tessa?" Marcus, the Omega IT technician, appeared at my door one afternoon, his expression carefully neutral. "I've completed the data transfer you requested."

I ushered him inside quickly, closing the door behind him. "Show me."

His hands trembled slightly as he connected his tablet to mine, transferring gigabytes of stolen data. "Everything you need is here—Christopher's illegal surveillance network, the inter-pack privacy breaches, and evidence of financial embezzlement."

I scrolled through the files, my heart racing at the extent of Christopher's crimes. "This is enough to bring down an Alpha."

"More than enough," Marcus confirmed. "The Lycan Council would strip him of his title immediately."

I nodded slowly, studying the massive dossier we'd compiled. "And Sylvie?"

"She's been complicit," Marcus said, pulling up evidence of her knowledge and participation. "But there's something else—her father is using her as a pawn to gain access to our pack's technology."

I smiled thinly. "Of course he is."

Behind the scenes, while playing the role of the sickly, fading Luna, I had been meticulously building my case against them all. Every night, after Christopher left for his "business meetings" with Sylvie, I would review the evidence with Nathan and Marcus, piecing together the full scope of their betrayal.

Soon, very soon, I would be ready.

But first, I needed to convince Christopher that he had lost everything—including his heir.