Debra's POV:

Two days passed in a blur of suffocating silence. I was a prisoner in my own home, the four walls of my room closing in on me. Vicky brought my meals, her face etched with worry, but we barely spoke. There was nothing to say. The truth of my situation was a heavy, unspoken weight between us.

On the third morning, there was a light knock on my door before it swung open. It wasn't Vicky.

It was Marley.

She glided in as if she owned the place, which, I supposed, she now did. She was dressed in a simple but elegant silk robe, her blonde hair falling in perfect waves over her shoulders. She looked rested, happy, and radiant. She looked like everything I wasn't.

"Good morning, stepdaughter," she said, her voice bright and cheerful. "I thought I'd come and see how you were settling in."

I remained silent, sitting on the edge of my bed and staring out the window.

"Still pouting?" she sighed dramatically, wandering around my room, her fingers trailing over my belongings. "You know, your father is very disappointed in you. He had such high hopes for us to be a real family."

Her words were laced with poison. Ivy growled low in my mind. *Lying bitch.*

Marley stopped in front of my mother's old vanity. "This whole wing is so… dated," she mused, picking up a silver-backed brush that had belonged to my mother. "Your mother's taste was rather plain, wasn't it? I'm thinking of redecorating. Something more modern. More… me."

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Get out," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

She turned to face me, a slow, malicious smile spreading across her lips. "Oh, I will. But I wanted to give you something to think about while you're cooped up in here."

She walked closer, her porcelain doll face turning ugly with her sneer. "Your father and I were talking last night. We agree that it's time you were mated. A girl your age, with your… temperament, needs a firm hand."

A cold dread washed over me.

"Perhaps to someone… older," she continued, her eyes gleaming. "More established. Alpha Gareth of the Stone Creek Pack, for example. He's a widower, looking for a new Luna to bear him some heirs. He's a bit rough around the edges, of course, but he would certainly teach a rebellious she-wolf some manners."

Alpha Gareth was sixty years old, notorious for his cruelty and for the mysterious deaths of his first two wives.

My blood ran cold. This wasn't just about humiliation anymore. This was a threat. She wanted to get rid of me, permanently.

"You wouldn't," I breathed, my voice trembling. "My father would never—"

"Your father," she interrupted, "wants peace. He wants a happy wife. And right now, you are the biggest obstacle to my happiness. Do you understand?"

*Let me out, Debra!* Ivy shrieked in my mind. *Let me tear that smug look off her face!*

But I was frozen, trapped by her words and the terrifying realization of my powerlessness.

She smiled, satisfied with my horrified reaction. "I'm so glad we had this little chat. You think about it."

With a final, triumphant glance, she turned and swept out of the room, leaving the door ajar. I was left shaking, the world tilting on its axis. She wasn't just trying to replace my mother. She was trying to destroy me.

Later that evening, Vicky snuck in with my dinner tray. She closed the door quietly behind her and rushed to my side.

"I heard her," Vicky whispered, her eyes wide with fear. "I heard her talking to her servant about Alpha Gareth. Debra, this is serious."

"I know," I choked out.

"We have to do something," she said, her voice urgent. She looked around nervously before leaning in closer.

"There might be… one small bit of good news," she said, her voice barely audible. "One of the kitchen staff who served the Alphas the other night… she said Alpha Ezekiel of the Black Moon Pack asked about you. He asked your name."

The memory of him—the storm-gray eyes, the scent of pine, the steadying grip of his hands—flashed in my mind. It was a tiny, flickering spark in an overwhelming darkness. But right now, it was all I had.

Debra's POV:

The spark of hope Vicky had given me was quickly extinguished by the crushing reality of the next few days. My father didn't come to see me. He sent no word. It was as if I had ceased to exist, an inconvenient memory locked away in a dusty corner of the pack house.

Marley, on the other hand, made her presence known. Workmen started arriving in the wing. The sound of hammering and furniture being moved echoed from down the hall. I knew, without having to see it, that she was making good on her promise. She was erasing every last trace of my mother. Each thud of the hammer felt like a blow against my own heart.

On the fifth day of my confinement, Vicky came in looking more agitated than I had ever seen her.

"He's here," she whispered, setting my lunch tray down with a clatter. "Alpha Gareth. Your father invited him for dinner tonight."

Panic seized me, cold and sharp. "Tonight?"

"They're in your father's study right now," she confirmed, wringing her hands. "Debra, your father… he's going to agree to it. I can feel it."

Ivy was pacing frantically in my mind, a caged wolf sensing the hunter's approach. *We have to get out of here. Now!*

"There's nowhere to go, Ivy," I thought back, despair washing over me. I was the daughter of an Alpha, but I had no power, no allies. To run would be to become a rogue, hunted and alone.

"I have to talk to him," I said, standing up. "He's my father. He has to listen to me."

"He won't see you," Vicky said, her voice full of pity. "He gave strict orders."

"I don't care," I retorted, a desperate fire igniting in my gut. I would not be sold off like cattle. I would not let Marley win.

I strode to the door and flung it open. The two guards my father had posted outside immediately moved to block my path.

"I need to see my father," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Alpha's orders, miss. No one is to leave this room," the taller guard said, his face impassive.

"This is my life we're talking about!" I cried, my voice cracking. "Please!"

They didn't budge. They were loyal to their Alpha, not to his daughter.

Defeated, I slumped back into my room. The hours ticked by, each one a step closer to my doom. As the sun began to set, I heard footsteps approaching. My heart leaped, hoping it was my father coming to his senses.

But it was Marley who appeared in the doorway. She was dressed for dinner in a stunning crimson gown that made her look like a blood-red rose.

"Your father has requested your presence in the dining hall," she announced, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "Alpha Gareth is very eager to meet his potential bride."

She wanted me to be there. She wanted to watch me be paraded in front of that monster. She wanted to savor her victory.

A strange calmness settled over me. It was the calmness of someone with nothing left to lose.

"Alright," I said, my voice eerily flat.

Marley looked surprised for a moment, then her smile widened. "Excellent. Do try to make yourself presentable."

She left. I stood in the middle of my room, my mind racing. I wasn't going to be a lamb to the slaughter. If I was going down, I was going down fighting. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, my eyes were shadowed, and I was still in the simple dress I'd been wearing for days.

Perfect.

I didn't bother to change. I didn't brush my hair. I walked out of my room, past the stunned guards, and headed for the dining hall. I was going to show Alpha Gareth exactly what kind of bride he was getting.

Debra's POV:

I walked into the grand dining hall with my head held high. The long table was set with the pack's finest silver and crystal, gleaming under the light of the chandeliers. My father sat at the head of the table, with Marley at his right. On his left sat a man I could only assume was Alpha Gareth.

He was even more repulsive than the rumors suggested. He was a bloated, greasy man with small, piggy eyes that roamed over me with a possessive gleam. A wet smile stretched across his thick lips, revealing yellowed teeth. The scent of stale sweat and something rotten, like old meat, clung to him.

My father’s face tightened with fury when he saw my disheveled appearance. Marley, however, looked delighted. This was exactly the humiliation she had hoped for.

"Debra, darling," Marley cooed, her voice dripping with false concern. "You look… unwell. Are you feeling alright?"

"I've never been better," I said, my voice clear and cold. I walked to the table and took the empty seat directly across from Alpha Gareth.

"So," Gareth said, his voice a gravelly rumble. He didn't take his eyes off me. "This is the filly. A bit wild, Logan, but I like a challenge."

My father forced a tight smile. "She has a strong spirit, Gareth. She'll make a fine Luna for a strong Alpha."

The words were a betrayal so profound it left me breathless. He was selling me. He was actually selling me.

I picked up my water goblet, my hand surprisingly steady. "Tell me, Alpha Gareth," I said, meeting his lecherous gaze without flinching. "Is it true what they say about your first two wives? That they were both prone to… accidents?"

The room went dead silent. Gareth's greasy smile vanished, replaced by a dark scowl. My father shot to his feet, his chair scraping loudly against the marble floor.

"Debra!" he roared, his Alpha power washing over the room, demanding submission.

But I was beyond his control now. The bond between father and daughter had been irrevocably broken. His power felt like a distant wave, strong but unable to touch me.

I ignored him and kept my eyes on Gareth. "I'm just curious. As your potential bride, I feel I have a right to know what I'm getting into."

Gareth's face turned a blotchy purple. "You insolent whelp—"

Before he could finish, a new voice, calm and dangerously smooth, cut through the tension.

"Perhaps the young lady simply has high standards."

Every head turned towards the entrance of the dining hall.

Standing there, framed by the grand archway, was Alpha Ezekiel of the Black Moon Pack. He was dressed in impeccable black, his powerful frame exuding an effortless authority that made both my father and Alpha Gareth shrink in their seats. His stormy silver eyes were fixed on me, and for a split second, I saw something flicker in their depths—something that wasn't pity, but… approval.

"Alpha Ezekiel," my father stammered, his anger instantly replaced by shock and deference. "We… we were not expecting you."

"I was just leaving, but I heard raised voices," Ezekiel said, his gaze sweeping over the scene, taking in my appearance, my father's rage, and Gareth's sputtering fury. "I hope I'm not interrupting pack business."

"Not at all!" my father said quickly. "We were just… discussing Debra's future."

Ezekiel's eyes returned to me. "Is that so?" He took a slow step into the room. "And what future have you planned for the Alpha's daughter?"

My father hesitated, glancing nervously at Gareth.

It was Marley who answered, her voice like honey. "Alpha Gareth has graciously offered to form an alliance with our pack through a mating with Debra."

Ezekiel’s gaze shifted to Gareth, a look of utter contempt on his handsome face. He looked Gareth up and down as if he were something unpleasant he'd found on the bottom of his shoe.

Then, he did something that changed everything. He walked past my father, past Marley, and stopped right behind my chair.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he said, his voice a low, possessive growl that sent shivers down my spine.

"She's already been claimed."