Katarina POV:

Three days later, I walked.

It hurt. Every step sent a jolt of lightning up my thigh, but the silver was gone, and the bone had mostly knit. I refused the wheelchair. I refused the crutches.

Tonight was the Pack Charity Auction. It was the social event of the season. Every high-ranking wolf from the neighboring territories would be there.

Alessandro had sent a message earlier: I will pick you up at 7. Wear the blue dress. It's modest.

I looked at the blue dress hanging in my closet. It was high-necked, long-sleeved. It was the dress of a dutiful, invisible wife.

I took a pair of scissors and shredded it.

At 7:00 PM, Alessandro's car idled in the driveway. I did not go out.

Instead, I called Mark.

"Gamma," I said. "Escort me."

Mark arrived at my door in five minutes. When he saw me, he stopped dead. His mouth opened slightly.

I was wearing red.

It was a gown of blood-red silk, backless, with a slit that went up to my thigh-the injured one. I wore no bandages. The faint, pink scar from the surgery was visible, a badge of survival.

"Luna," Mark breathed. "You look... dangerous."

"Good," I said. "Let's go."

We arrived at the venue separately from the Alpha. When I walked in, the room went silent.

The red dress was a scream in a room of polite pastels. I held my head high, my arm linked with Mark's. I saw heads turn. I smelled the confusion and admiration of the other wolves.

Then, the doors opened again.

Alessandro entered. Aria was clinging to his arm.

She was wearing white. A flowing, lacey thing that looked like a wedding dress.

The audacity took my breath away. She was parading as the Luna.

Alessandro saw me. His eyes widened. He scanned the red dress, the exposed skin. His nostrils flared. He was angry. Possessive. But mostly angry that I had disobeyed.

He marched Aria over to the head table, seating her in my chair.

I didn't make a scene. I simply walked to the table, pulled out the chair next to Mark, and sat down.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the auctioneer announced. "Tonight's final item. The Heart of the Blue Moon."

A hush fell over the crowd.

A staff member brought out a velvet case. Inside sat a necklace. A massive blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds. It was said to be blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. It was a traditional gift for a Luna.

"Oh, Alessandro!" Aria squealed, loud enough for half the room to hear. "It matches my eyes! I want it!"

Her eyes were brown.

Alessandro smiled at her, that savior smile. "Anything for you, princess."

"Bidding starts at one hundred thousand," the auctioneer said.

"Two hundred," Alessandro called out, raising his paddle.

"Three hundred," a voice said.

It was me.

Alessandro whipped his head around. "Katarina? What are you doing?"

"I like the necklace," I said coolly. "Four hundred."

"Stop this," Alessandro hissed. "You're embarrassing me."

"Five hundred thousand," I said to the auctioneer.

"One million!" Alessandro shouted. The room gasped.

He was bidding against his own wife. Using Pack funds to buy a Luna's necklace for a Rogue mistress.

"One point five million," I said calmly.

"Two million!" Alessandro roared. He looked at me with pure hatred. "Stop it, Katarina."

"Three million," I countered.

"Five million!"

The room was buzzing. This was madness. Five million could build a new hospital wing.

"Six million," I said. I raised my paddle.

The auctioneer looked at his screen. He frowned. He tapped a few keys.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Luna De Luca," the auctioneer stammered. "Your bid is... rejected."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"The payment method linked to your paddle... it's been declined. Code Red. Alpha Override."

I looked at Alessandro.

He was smirking, holding his phone. He hadn't frozen the Pack accounts-he couldn't do that without a Council vote. But he had used his Emergency Alpha privilege to lock my personal access, citing 'mental instability.' It was a nuclear option, one that would trigger an audit later, but right now, it crippled me.

"It seems my wife has forgotten her place," Alessandro announced to the room. "She is a bit... unstable lately."

He turned to the auctioneer. "Five million. Sold."

He walked up to the stage. He took the necklace.

He didn't bring it to me.

He walked back to the table, stood behind Aria, and clasped the heavy sapphire around her neck.

"Beautiful," he whispered.

Aria beamed, touching the jewels. She looked at me and smirked. It was a victory lap.

The humiliation burned hotter than the silver. Everyone was staring at me. The rejected Luna. The woman whose husband just publicly replaced her.

I didn't run. I didn't cry.

I stood up.

I walked over to their table. I leaned down, bringing my lips close to Alessandro's ear.

"Enjoy the necklace, husband," I whispered. "It will look beautiful around her neck when I rip it off."

I turned and walked out. The silence in the room was deafening.

But inside me, the silence was breaking.

Deep in my soul, Winter opened one icy blue eye.

Katarina POV:

I stayed in my room for two days.

Alessandro thought I was sulking. He thought I was broken.

I was working.

I didn't need to drill holes in the walls; I wasn't an amateur. I used the security override codes Mark had 'accidentally' left in the file to activate the dormant surveillance nodes in the East Wing.

I sat in front of my laptop, watching the feeds.

Camera 4: The Kitchen.

Aria walked in. The shy, stuttering girl was gone. She walked with a swagger.

"You!" she pointed at a young Omega maid. "This soup is trash. It's cold."

"I'm sorry, Miss Aria, I can heat it-"

Aria slapped the bowl out of the maid's hand. Hot soup splattered over the girl's apron.

"Lick it up," Aria sneered. "That's what dogs do, isn't it?"

The maid started to cry, bending down to clean the mess. Aria laughed and kicked the girl in the ribs.

I recorded it. Save to Folder: Evidence.

Camera 2: The Alpha's Study.

Alessandro was pacing. Aria was sitting on the desk, swinging her legs.

"The Elders are asking questions about the five million, Alessandro," he said, running a hand through his hair. "My father is furious."

"Tell him it was an investment," Aria said, examining her nails. "Or tell him to mind his own business. You're the Alpha, aren't you? Or is your daddy still in charge?"

Alessandro stopped. "Don't speak about my father like that."

Aria hopped off the desk. She walked over to him, softening her face instantly. She became the victim again.

"I'm sorry, baby. I just hate seeing you stressed. You're so strong. You deserve to do whatever you want." She kissed his chest. "You saved me. Remember?"

Alessandro deflated. The savior complex kicked in. "I know. I know."

The door to my bedroom burst open.

I slammed the laptop shut.

Alessandro stood there. He looked disheveled.

"You've been in here for two days," he said. "Get dressed. The Rossi Pack is hosting a dinner. We have to go."

"I'm not feeling well," I said coldly. "Perhaps Aria can wear the Luna's sash tonight? She seems to enjoy my jewelry."

"Stop it," he snapped. "You're coming. I need you to... I need you to look perfect. Like usual."

"Perfect," I repeated. "That's all I am to you. A prop."

I stood up, walking toward him. "You know she's lying, Alessandro. You know her parents aren't dead. I found her records. They live in Ohio. She has credit card debt. She's not a tragic orphan."

Alessandro looked away. "I know."

I froze. "You know?"

"I know some of it is... exaggerated," he admitted. "But she had a hard life, Katarina. She needs me."

"She is manipulating you!"

"She makes me feel needed!" he shouted. "You? You don't need anyone. You're perfect. You're rich. You're strong. You never cry. You never ask for help. Being with you is like being with a... a mirror. It's exhausting."

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a cruel whisper. "You don't need me, Katarina. But she would die without me."

I stared at him. The man I had loved since I was sixteen.

"You are pathetic," I said. "You don't want a mate. You want a pet."

His phone buzzed. He checked it. His face softened.

Aria: I'm scared of the thunder. Please come hold me.

It wasn't even raining.

"I have to go," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He tossed it onto the bed.

"Wear that tonight. It's an apology."

He left.

I opened the box. It was a silver bracelet. Thin. Cheap. The kind you buy at a mall kiosk.

"An apology," I scoffed.

I threw the bracelet into the trash can.

Then, I sat back down at my laptop. I plugged in a USB drive.

I pulled up a new audio file I had intercepted an hour ago. It was a phone call between Aria and a contact named "Rico."

Audio Playback:

Aria: "He's such an idiot, Rico. I have him wrapped around my finger. He spent five million on a necklace! I'm going to pawn it next week."

Rico (Male voice): "Good girl. Get the cash. And the codes to the vault. Then we leave."

Aria: "I know. I just have to get rid of the Ice Bitch first. The saddle didn't work. I need something stronger."

I gripped the USB drive. My knuckles turned white.

"You want something stronger, Aria?" I whispered, my eyes glowing a faint, icy blue. "I'll give you something stronger."

Next week was the Alpha Summit. Every leader in the region would be there.

It was the perfect stage for an execution.

Katarina POV:

The annual Alpha Summit was a display of teeth and diamonds.

The ballroom of the Grand Hotel smelled of expensive champagne, roasted venison, and the overwhelming, musk-heavy scent of fifty different Alphas marking their territory. It was a suffocating mix of ego and power.

I walked in alone.

Alessandro was somewhere ahead, likely parading Aria around like a prize poodle. I didn't care. I wore a gown of midnight blue velvet, heavy and regal. Around my neck hung the De Luca family heirlooms-emeralds that had belonged to Alessandro's grandmother. They were cold against my skin, grounding me.

I held my head high. I was the Luna. Even if my husband treated me like furniture, the blood of the White Wolf demanded I show no weakness.

"Luna De Luca," a deep voice purred.

I turned. Antoine, the Alpha of the French lycan faction, bowed low over my hand. He ignored the empty space beside me where my mate should have been.

"You look formidable tonight, Katarina," Antoine said, his eyes lingering on the emeralds. "Like a storm waiting to break."

"The storm has already broken, Antoine. I'm just the aftermath."

He chuckled and moved on. I took a glass of sparkling water, scanning the room.

That was when I smelled it. Synthetic vanilla.

Aria appeared from behind a pillar near the terrace doors. She wasn't wearing white tonight. She was wearing gold. It was flashy, tight, and completely inappropriate for a summit of this caliber.

She waved me over.

I shouldn't have gone. But the smirk on her face suggested she held a knife, and I needed to know how sharp it was.

I walked to the secluded corner, my cane-a sleek ebony stick I used for my healing leg-clicking softly on the marble.

"What do you want, Aria?" I asked. "Is your allowance gone already?"

"You think you're so smart," Aria hissed, her voice dropping the sweet act. "Freezing the accounts. Recording my calls."

My heart skipped a beat. She knew about the bugs? No, she was guessing. She was fishing.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, keeping my face blank.

"It doesn't matter," she said. She pulled a phone out of her clutch. "Because I have something that trumps money."

She tapped the screen and shoved it in my face.

The video was grainy, shot in low light. It was from two years ago.

It was me.

I was in the master bedroom, curled on the floor, sweating, my hair matted to my forehead. I was in Heat.

The biological Heat is a sacred, agonizing time for a female wolf. It is when our bodies demand a mate to breed. It strips away logic and leaves only raw, aching need. It is private. It is holy. It is meant only for the eyes of a Fated Mate.

In the video, I was reaching out to the person holding the camera.

"Please," the video-Katarina moaned, her voice broken and desperate. "Alessandro... please... it hurts. Just touch me. Please."

The camera shook as Alessandro laughed. Not now, Katarina. You look ridiculous.

Aria pulled the phone back. She was grinning.

"Imagine," she whispered, leaning in. "The Ice Queen, the perfect Luna, begging like a common bitch in heat. What would the Elders think? What would the press say?"

The blood drained from my face. My hands turned to ice.

"He gave that to you?" I whispered. "That is... that is a violation of the Mate Bond."

Sharing images of a mate's Heat was a crime in the old laws. It was the ultimate betrayal of intimacy.

"He thinks it's funny," Aria shrugged. "He showed it to me the first night we slept together. Said he wanted me to see what a 'desperate' woman looked like."

She checked her nails. "Here is the deal. You go to the podium tonight. You announce that your health is failing. You step down as Luna. You name me as your successor."

"You are insane," I breathed.

"You have five minutes," she said, tapping her watch. "Or I send this to every tabloid in the city."

I looked across the room. Alessandro was laughing with a group of Betas, holding a drink. He looked over, saw Aria cornering me, and quickly looked away.

He knew.

He wasn't just letting it happen. He had armed her.

The pain in my chest wasn't heartbreak anymore. It was the sensation of a chain snapping.

My wolf, Winter, stood up in the back of my mind. She shook off her slumber. She threw back her head and let out a soundless roar that vibrated through my very bones.

No more, Winter growled.

"Five minutes," Aria repeated.

I looked at her. I looked at the phone.

"No," I said.