Alyssa POV:

The knock on my door wasn't a request; it was a demand.

"Luna Alyssa," a young Omega squeaked from the hallway. "The Alpha... he ordered that your belongings be moved."

I opened the door. The Omega, a girl named Sarah who I had once protected from bullies, couldn't look me in the eye.

"Moved where?" I asked.

"The basement," Sarah whispered.

Before I could respond, the sound of high heels clicking on the hardwood floor announced their arrival. Brianne strutted down the hall, and beside her was a girl who looked like a porcelain doll.

Debbi.

She was petite, with big, innocent doe eyes and blonde curls. But as a wolf, I focused on one thing: her scent.

Every wolf has a unique scent. Brennan smelled like rain and pine. I used to smell like wildflowers before the silver poison masked it. Debbi smelled... sweet. Sickly sweet. Like vanilla syrup trying to mask the scent of something rotting.

"Oh my," Debbi said, covering her mouth. "Is this the room? It has such a lovely view. Brennan said I would love the morning sun here."

"It's perfect for you, Debbi," Brianne cooed. She looked at me with a smirk. "Pack your trash, Alyssa. The future Luna needs space."

"I am still the Luna," I said, straightening my back. I tried to push my aura out, to assert dominance, but my wolf was deep in a coma. Nothing happened.

Brianne laughed. It was a cruel, barking sound. She reached out and snatched the wolf-tooth amulet hanging around my neck—a gift from my father.

"Oops," she said, tossing it into the trash bin. "Clutter."

"Don't touch that!" I lunged forward, but my bad leg gave way. I stumbled.

Debbi stepped forward, pretending to help, but her heel came down hard on my fingers.

Crunch.

"Ah!" I cried out, yanking my hand back.

"Oh no!" Debbi shrieked, throwing herself backward onto the floor. "She attacked me! Help! Brennan!"

It was a performance so calculated it made my blood run cold.

Within seconds, the air pressure in the hallway dropped. A growl vibrated through the floorboards. Brennan came sprinting around the corner, his chest heaving.

"Debbi!" He fell to his knees beside her.

"I tried to be nice," Debbi sobbed, burying her face in his chest. "I just wanted to say hello, and she... she pushed me! She tried to claw my eyes out!"

Brennan looked up at me. His eyes were flashing gold—his wolf was near the surface.

"I didn't touch her," I said, cradling my throbbing hand. "She stepped on me."

"Liar!" Brianne shouted. "I saw it! She's jealous, Brennan! She's crazy!"

Brennan stood up. He didn't even look at my hand, which was swelling rapidly. He was blind to the distress rolling off me—the scent of his Mate in pain. He only saw the tears on Debbi's face.

"You have forgotten your place," Brennan said, his voice cold as ice. "I thought letting you stay in the house was mercy. I see now that mercy is wasted on you."

"Brennan, please," I begged. "Use your senses. Smell the air. She's lying."

"The only thing I smell is your jealousy," he spat. "Get her out of my sight. Put her in the containment cells."

"The cells?" I gasped. "That's where we keep Rogues."

"Exactly," Brennan said. He scooped Debbi up into his arms, treating her like she was made of glass. "Do you remember the Pack laws, Alyssa? 'Harm to the Alpha's Chosen is treason.'"

He turned his back on me.

Two warriors grabbed my arms. They dragged me backward. I watched Brennan carry another woman into the bedroom that was supposed to be ours, the bedroom where we had marked each other.

They threw me into the basement cell. The floor was cold concrete. The air smelled of mold and old blood.

I sat in the darkness, clutching my broken fingers. In the corner, illuminated by a sliver of light from the high window, I saw something.

It was a framed photo, glass cracked, discarded in a pile of junk. It was from our Mating Ceremony. Brennan was looking at me with such adoration.

I crawled over to it. I touched the glass, cutting my finger. A drop of blood fell onto Brennan's smiling face.

"You promised," I whispered to the photo. "You promised to cherish me."

But promises, I was learning, were just words spoken by liars.

Alyssa POV:

The basement door creaked open. The heavy, metallic scent of iron and rust wafted in.

Brennan walked down the stairs, followed by Brianne and Debbi. Debbi had a bandage wrapped around her wrist—a wrist I hadn't even touched.

"My father built this Pack," I said, my voice hoarse from the damp air. "You drag his daughter into the dungeon?"

"Your father was a weak man who let outsiders walk all over us," Brennan replied. He stopped in front of the cell bars. "Debbi told me about your threats. About how you plan to use your father's old connections to stage a coup."

"What?" I looked at Debbi. She hid behind Brennan, peeking out with a triumphant smirk. "I never said that."

"She's afraid, Brennan," Debbi whimpered. "She said because she can't give you pups, she'll make sure no one else can."

It was a brilliant lie. It targeted Brennan's deepest insecurity: his fear that he was only Alpha because he married me, not because he was strong.

"Open the gate," Brennan ordered the warrior guarding the door.

The metal gate swung open. Brennan walked in. The small cell felt instantly claustrophobic.

"The Pack laws are clear," Brennan said. "Physical punishment for harming the future Luna."

"She is not the Luna!" I screamed. "I am!"

Brennan stared at me, his expression unreadable, almost bored. He turned to Brianne.

"Handle it," he said coldly. "Make sure she understands her position."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the cell, pulling Debbi with him. He didn't look back.

"No," I pleaded, reaching through the bars. "Brennan, don't leave me with her!"

The heavy door at the top of the stairs slammed shut.

Brianne smiled. It was a predator's smile. She pulled a small pouch from her pocket.

"He's gone, Alyssa," she whispered. "And now, we can have some fun."

She signaled the warrior to hold my arm against the wall. She dipped her fingers into the pouch and pulled out a pinch of glittering dust.

Silver filings.

"Brennan said punishment," Brianne said, her eyes gleaming with malice. "He didn't specify the method."

"Brianne, please," I begged. "We were sisters."

"You killed Marco," she hissed.

She pressed the silver dust into the cuts on my palm.

A scream tore from my throat. It felt like he had pressed a branding iron into my flesh. The silver sizzled as it touched my blood. Smoke rose from my hand. The pain was blinding, white-hot, shooting up my arm and into my chest.

I slumped against the wall, sobbing, cradling my burning hand.

Brianne wiped her hands on a handkerchief and dropped it on the floor. "Let that be a reminder."

She turned and walked up the stairs, the lock clicking behind her.

I was alone in the dark. The silver in my hand continued to burn, a relentless fire.

I looked at the handkerchief she had dropped. It was one I had embroidered for Brennan for our first anniversary. It had a little wolf stitched in the corner.

With my good hand, I took a lighter from my pocket—one I kept for lighting candles during prayer to the Moon Goddess.

I flicked the flame. I held it to the fabric.

I watched the little embroidered wolf catch fire. The fabric curled and blackened, turning to ash.

"Burn," I whispered, the pain in my hand fueling the rage in my heart. "Burn it all down."

I realized then that I had been holding onto hope. I had been holding onto the idea that my Mate was still in there somewhere. But he wasn't.

Brennan was gone. And I was done being the victim.

Alyssa POV:

Two days passed in the darkness. My hand was a mess of blistered, blackened flesh. The silver prevented it from healing, keeping the wound raw and weeping.

"Get up," Sarah, the Omega, whispered through the bars. "They want you upstairs for dinner."

"I'm not hungry," I rasped.

"Please, Luna," Sarah begged, tears in her eyes. "Brianne... she said if you don't come, she'll stop paying for your mother's life support at the human hospital."

My blood ran cold. My mother. She had been in a coma for a year after a rogue attack. The Pack fund paid for her care. It was my right as a Pack member.

"Okay," I said, struggling to my feet. "I'm coming."

The dining room was brightly lit. The smell of roast beef filled the air, making my empty stomach cramp. Brennan sat at the head, Debbi to his right. My seat—the Luna's seat—was empty.

"Sit," Brennan said, gesturing to a folding chair set up in the corner, away from the table. Like a dog.

I sat.

"Debbi has prepared a soup," Brianne announced. "She's so domestic. Unlike some people."

Debbi stood up, holding a large tureen of steaming soup. She walked around the table, serving everyone. She came to me last.

"Here you go, Alyssa," she said with a sweet smile.

She tipped the ladle.

Scalding hot liquid splashed over my chest and my bad leg.

"Ah!" I threw myself backward, the chair tipping over. I hit the floor hard. The soup soaked into my clothes, burning my skin.

"Oh my god!" Debbi shrieked, dropping the ladle. "I'm so sorry! The ladle... it slipped! Are you okay?"

She looked at Brennan. "I'm so clumsy! I think a splash hit my arm!"

Brennan was out of his chair in a flash. He rushed past me—past his wife writhing on the floor in agony—and grabbed Debbi's arm.

"Let me see," he said frantically. There was a tiny red mark, barely visible. "We need to get ice."

"Brennan..." I groaned from the floor. My skin was blistering. The heat triggered the silver poison in my leg, sending spasms of pain through my body.

He looked down at me with pure annoyance. "Stop making a scene, Alyssa. It was an accident."

"It burns," I whispered.

"Get up," he snapped.

I tried, but my leg wouldn't support me.

"I command you to kneel," Brennan's voice boomed.

The Alpha Command slammed into me. My body jerked upright, forcing me onto my knees despite the pain.

"Apologize to her," he ordered. "Apologize for startling her."

"No," I gritted out. My wolf, deep inside, stirred. She hated this. She hated him.

Resisting the Command felt like my brain was being squeezed in a vice. Pressure built behind my eyes. Warm liquid trickled from my nose—blood.

"Do it," Brennan growled.

"I... apologize," I choked out, the words tasting like ash. I stared at the floor, refusing to look at the woman smirking above me.

That night, the fever took me.

The silver in my hand and the burns on my chest overwhelmed my immune system. I woke up in the Pack infirmary, shivering uncontrollably.

Brennan was there, sitting in a chair. For a second, he looked worried.

"You're awake," he said. "The doctor said the infection is spreading."

"Do you care?" I asked weakly.

He looked away. "You are still Pack."

His phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, and his expression softened instantly.

"It's Debbi," he said, standing up. "She's having nightmares about the soup incident. She needs me."

He walked to the door.

"Brennan," I called out.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"If you walk out that door," I said, "you will never see me again."

He hesitated. For one heartbeat, I thought he might stay.

"Get some rest, Alyssa," he said. And then he left.

I closed my eyes. The tears didn't come. I was done crying.

The door opened again. It was Dr. Evans. He was an older wolf, one of the few who still respected my father.

"He's gone?" Dr. Evans asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Good," the doctor said. He locked the door and pulled a folder from under his coat. "I received a message from Carroll. The boat is ready. But we need to move now."

"I can't walk," I whispered.

"You won't have to," Dr. Evans said. "But Alyssa... once we do this, there is no going back. You will be a ghost."

"I'm already a ghost in this house," I said. "Make me disappear."