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."

Debra's POV:

The silence that followed his words was absolute. It was so thick I felt I could choke on it. My father stared, his mouth agape. Marley’s perfectly painted smile froze on her face, cracking like cheap porcelain. Alpha Gareth looked like he'd been punched in his ample gut.

I was the most stunned of all. I twisted in my chair to look up at Ezekiel. He stood behind me like a formidable shadow, a guardian I never knew I had. His silver eyes met mine, and in their stormy depths, I saw a silent command: *Trust me.*

"Claimed?" my father finally managed to choke out, his voice a strangled whisper. "By whom?"

Ezekiel’s hand came to rest on my shoulder. His touch was light, yet it sent a jolt of warmth and security through my entire body. It was an anchor in the storm my life had become.

"By me," he stated simply, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. His voice held no room for argument. It was the voice of an Alpha who was used to being obeyed without question.

Marley was the first to recover. "That's impossible!" she snapped, her voice losing its honeyed tone and turning sharp. "There has been no ceremony, no announcement! You can't just—"

"I can," Ezekiel interrupted, his voice dropping to a dangerously low growl. The sheer power in that sound made the crystal glasses on the table tremble. "And I have. The Moon Goddess blessed this union the moment I laid eyes on her. I am simply formalizing what fate has already decreed."

He was lying. I knew he was lying. We weren't mates; if we were, the bond would have snapped into place the moment we met. There would have been an undeniable pull, a recognition in our souls. I had felt a spark, yes, but not the all-consuming fire of a true mate bond.

But no one else in this room knew that. He was using the most sacred law of our people, the will of the Goddess, as a shield. For me.

"This is an outrage!" Gareth bellowed, finally finding his voice and heaving his bulk to his feet. "We had an agreement, Logan!"

My father looked frantically between the two Alphas. On one hand, the boorish but wealthy Alpha Gareth. On the other, the terrifyingly powerful and respected Alpha Ezekiel, whose Black Moon Pack was one of the strongest in the region. It was no contest.

"I... I was not aware of this development, Gareth," my father stammered, already backpedaling.

"Debra is my future Luna," Ezekiel stated, his grip on my shoulder tightening possessively. "Any prior arrangements are now void. Unless, of course," he added, a predatory smile touching his lips as he looked at Gareth, "you wish to challenge me for her."

The threat hung in the air, heavy and lethal. Alpha Gareth’s blotchy face went pale. Challenging an Alpha of Ezekiel's caliber was suicide. He sputtered for a moment, then sank back into his chair, defeated.

Ezekiel then turned his piercing gaze on my father. "I will be taking my mate back to my pack tomorrow at dawn. I trust her belongings will be packed and ready."

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

My father, the Alpha of Silver Ridge, the man who had confined me to my room and tried to sell me off, just nodded meekly. "Of course, Alpha Ezekiel. Of course."

Ezekiel looked down at me. "Come," he said softly. "You've had enough of this farce."

He held out his hand. Without a second of hesitation, I placed my own in his. His fingers wrapped around mine, strong and warm. He pulled me gently to my feet and, without a single glance back at my stunned family, led me out of the dining hall.

As we walked through the corridors of the house I grew up in, a thousand questions swirled in my mind. Why was he doing this? What did he want from me?

But one thing was clear. This stranger, this powerful Alpha I had met only once, had shown me more kindness and protection in the span of five minutes than my own father had in years. For the first time since my mother died, I didn't feel completely alone.