"Watch me." The words hung in the air between us like a challenge thrown down before the Moon Goddess herself.

Elliott's eyes flashed gold—his wolf rising to the surface. The Alpha authority that had once made me feel protected now felt like a noose tightening around my throat.

"Victoria." His voice dropped to that dangerous octave that made lesser wolves submit. "You will not take this to the Council. That is a direct order from your Alpha."

The command hit me like a physical blow, my pregnant body doubling over as the Alpha compulsion tried to force my submission. My wolf snarled and fought against the invisible chains, her fury giving me strength even as pain lanced through my skull.

"No!" The word tore from my throat, raw and defiant. "My sister deserves justice! She deserves—"

"She deserves to rest in peace," Elliott cut me off, his tone growing colder by the second. "Not to have her memory dragged through Council proceedings based on the desperate ramblings of a suicidal girl."

I staggered backward, my hand instinctively going to my swollen belly as the baby kicked frantically in response to my distress. "Desperate ramblings? She named him, Elliott. She named Jaxson Barnes. Your precious Delilah's brother."

Something flickered across his face—guilt, maybe, or fear. But it was gone so quickly I might have imagined it.

"You're hysterical," he said, and the clinical detachment in his voice made my blood run cold. "Grief can make people see things that aren't there, believe things that—"

"Don't you dare." My wolf was fully present now, lending steel to my voice despite the tears still streaming down my face. "Don't you dare dismiss her pain like it meant nothing."

Footsteps echoed in the hallway above us—pack members drawn by the sound of their Luna screaming. I could hear their worried murmurs, their confusion at the scent of death and rage drifting up from the basement.

"Elliott?" Delilah's voice drifted down the stairs, sickeningly sweet with false concern. "Is everything alright? The whole pack can hear—"

She stopped abruptly as she reached the bottom step, taking in Sarah's lifeless form and my tear-stained face. For just a moment, I saw something in her expression—not shock, but calculation. As if she were rapidly weighing her options.

"Oh my goddess," she breathed, one hand flying to her throat in a perfect display of horror. "Sarah... what happened?"

"Your brother happened," I snarled, and watched her face go carefully blank.

"Victoria," Elliott warned, but I was past caring about his warnings.

"She left a letter," I continued, my voice growing stronger with each word. "She told me everything. What Jaxson did to her. How he said no one would believe her because of who his sister was."

Delilah's eyes darted to Elliott, and I caught the look that passed between them. Understanding. Conspiracy. My mate and his chosen mate, united against me.

"A letter written by someone in the depths of mental illness," Delilah said softly, moving to Elliott's side with practiced ease. "Elliott, you can't possibly believe—"

"I believe my sister," I said, my voice echoing off the stone walls. "And so will the Council of Alphas."

"No." Elliott's voice cracked like a whip. "You will not shame this pack with baseless accusations. You will not drag us into a scandal that could destroy everything we've built."

The Alpha command slammed into me again, stronger this time, and I felt my knees buckle. But my wolf rose to meet it, her rage burning away the compulsion like fire consuming dry grass.

"A weak Alpha who can't control his own mate will lose the pack's respect," Delilah murmured, so quietly I almost missed it. But I saw how Elliott's jaw tightened, how his shoulders straightened.

"Ryan!" Elliott's voice boomed through the pack house, carrying the full weight of his Alpha authority. "Get down here. Now."

Heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs as his Beta appeared, taking in the scene with wide, shocked eyes. "Alpha? What... what happened to Sarah?"

"Our Luna," Elliott said, the word dripping with disdain, "has decided to spread malicious lies about pack members. She's suffering from grief-induced hysteria and needs to be contained until she comes to her senses."

Ryan's eyes darted between Elliott and me, confusion and horror warring in his expression. "Alpha, I don't understand. What lies?"

"Arrest her," Elliott commanded, and I felt my world tilt on its axis. "For insubordination and disturbing the peace."

"Elliott, no," I whispered, but my mate's face was stone.

Ryan hesitated, his loyalty to his Alpha warring with his obvious discomfort. "Alpha, she's pregnant. She's your mate. Surely—"

"She's a threat to pack stability," Elliott cut him off. "Do as I command, Beta. Now."

My wolf threw herself against my ribcage, desperate to shift, to fight, to protect our unborn pup. But the silver chains Ryan reluctantly produced would make shifting impossible, and we both knew it.

As the cold metal closed around my wrists and ankles, burning like liquid fire against my skin, I met Elliott's eyes one last time.

"You'll regret this," I whispered. "When the truth comes out—and it will—you'll regret choosing her over me."

But Elliott had already turned away, his arm sliding around Delilah's waist as they climbed the stairs together, leaving me chained in the basement with my sister's body and the dying echoes of my shattered heart.

The silver burned like liquid fire against my wrists, each link of the chain searing deeper into my flesh with every passing hour. I hung suspended in the pack house tower, my swollen belly pulling at my spine while my arms screamed in agony above my head. The metal had long since eaten through the first layer of skin, and now blood trickled down my arms in thin, crimson streams.

*Elliott,* I called through our mate bond, my mental voice cracking with desperation. *Please, our pup... I can feel something's wrong. The cramping won't stop.*

Silence. Cold, devastating silence where there should have been warmth, concern, love. The mate bond that had once thrummed with his presence now felt like an empty cavern, echoing only my own pain back at me.

*Elliott, please!* I tried again, my physical voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper. *Remember when you first felt the baby kick? You cried. You said it was the most beautiful moment of your life. Don't let our child die because of your pride.*

Nothing. Not even acknowledgment that he could hear me screaming for him across the bond that was supposed to unite our souls.

Another cramp seized my abdomen, this one so violent it made me cry out. The baby's movements had grown frantic hours ago, then gradually weaker. Now, I could barely feel the flutter of life that had once brought me such joy.

Footsteps echoed on the tower stairs, and for a moment, hope flared in my chest. Maybe Elliott had come to his senses. Maybe—

"Well, well." Delilah's voice drifted up from below, sickeningly sweet. "How are we feeling, Luna?"

She appeared at the top of the stairs, immaculate as always, not a hair out of place. Her eyes swept over my burned, bleeding form with satisfaction rather than horror.

"Come to gloat?" I managed, my voice barely audible.

Delilah circled me slowly, like a predator savoring a wounded prey. "Actually, I came to thank you. You've made this so much easier than I expected."

"Made what easier?"

"Getting rid of you, of course." She stopped directly in front of me, her perfect smile never wavering. "Do you know how long I've been working on Elliott? Months of careful whispers, gentle suggestions, planting seeds of doubt about the whole 'fated mate' nonsense."

My wolf stirred weakly, trying to summon rage, but the silver had drained too much of our strength.

"You see," Delilah continued, examining her manicured nails, "Elliott is a practical man. And I convinced him that fated mates are just Moon Goddess superstition—romantic fairy tales that have no place in real pack politics. A chosen mate who understands the complexities of leadership? That's so much more valuable."

Another cramp hit, and I doubled over as much as the chains would allow, gasping.

"Oh, and I told him how fated mates often go insane during pregnancy. The hormones, the mystical bond—it's all too much for weak female minds to handle." Her laugh was like breaking glass. "When you started ranting about my poor brother, well... it just proved everything I'd been saying."

"Your brother is a rapist," I whispered.

"My brother is a red-blooded male who took what was offered," she snapped, her mask slipping for just a moment. "Your sister was always throwing herself at unmated males. She got what she was asking for."

Rage gave me strength I didn't know I still had. "She was innocent! She was pure and kind and—"

"She was weak," Delilah cut me off. "Just like you. Elliott sees that now. He sees that I'm the strong Luna this pack needs, not some whimpering girl who can't handle a little discipline."

Blood was pooling on the floor beneath me now, some from my wrists, some from... somewhere else. The metallic scent mixed with something sweeter, more terrifying.

"Enjoying the view from up there?" Delilah asked, following my horrified gaze to the growing puddle. "Don't worry. Elliott's already planning the funeral. Such a tragedy—the Luna's grief-induced hysteria caused her to lose the heir. Of course, we'll need a new Luna quickly. Someone stable. Someone who can give the pack strong pups."

She turned to leave, pausing at the top of the stairs. "Oh, and Victoria? He can't hear you anymore. I convinced him to block the mate bond completely. Said it was the only way to resist your 'manipulation.' Sweet dreams."

As her footsteps faded, I felt something inside me break that had nothing to do with physical pain. Below, I could hear pack members moving through the halls, their voices carrying up to my prison.

"This isn't right," someone whispered.

"She's our Luna," another voice protested. "Pregnant with the heir. How can he—"

"Quiet," came the sharp response. "You want to end up beside her?"

But the whispers continued, spreading like wildfire through the pack house. Even as my world crumbled around me, even as I felt my pup's life slipping away, I clung to that small spark of rebellion growing in the darkness below.