The lavender scent clings to my skin like a second layer, artificial and cloying. I hate it. It's Lainey's scent, not mine, but that's the point. I'm supposed to be her tonight.

My hands shake as I stand at the altar, the Pierce Pack house looming behind me like a fortress. Hundreds of wolves watch from the shadows, their eyes glowing in the torchlight. I can feel their judgment, their curiosity. They're wondering why their Alpha agreed to this political mating with the Wood Pack's daughter.

If only they knew the truth.

Alpha Sebastian Pierce stands across from me, and I can't bring myself to meet his eyes. He's everything the rumors promised—tall, broad-shouldered, with a presence that makes the air feel heavier. His dark hair is pulled back, revealing a face carved from stone. Cold. Ruthless. The kind of man who kills first and asks questions never.

The kind of man who will execute me the moment he realizes I'm not Lainey.

"Avery Wood." His voice cuts through my panic, and I flinch. He used my real name. Does he know? My heart hammers against my ribs. "Do you accept this bond?"

I force myself to nod. My voice comes out barely above a whisper. "I do."

His jaw tightens. For a moment, I think he's going to call it off, expose me right here in front of everyone. Instead, he steps closer, and the world narrows to just the two of us. His hand cups the back of my neck, tilting my head to expose the marking spot.

"This will hurt," he says, and there's something strange in his tone. Almost... gentle?

Before I can process it, his teeth sink into my neck.

Pain explodes through me, white-hot and all-consuming. I bite down on my lip to keep from screaming, tasting copper. The mate bond snaps into place like a chain wrapping around my soul, binding me to him in ways I don't understand. Through the agony, I feel his wolf—massive, ancient, powerful—brush against my consciousness.

And then he freezes.

His teeth are still in my neck, but everything about him has gone utterly still. I can feel his wolf's confusion, its sudden alertness. Oh God. He knows. He knows I'm not Lainey. The scent-masking herbs weren't enough.

This is it. This is where I die.

But instead of ripping my throat out, Sebastian completes the mark. His tongue soothes the wound, sealing the bond, and when he pulls back, his eyes lock onto mine. They're not cold anymore. They're burning with something I can't name—possession, maybe, or fury, or something darker.

"Mine," he says, so quietly only I can hear.

The word sends a shiver down my spine. Not fear, exactly. Something else.

The pack erupts in howls of celebration, but I barely hear them. Sebastian's hand is still on my neck, his thumb brushing over the fresh mark. His expression gives nothing away, but I can feel the tension radiating off him.

He knows. And he's letting me live.

Why?

---

They bring me to the Luna's quarters, and I keep waiting for the guards to drag me to the dungeons instead. But they don't. The room is beautiful—far nicer than anything I've ever had at the Wood Pack. Silk curtains, a massive bed, furniture that probably costs more than my mother's medical bills.

I don't touch any of it. I sit on the edge of the bed, my neck throbbing, and wait for Sebastian to come kill me.

He doesn't come that night. Or the next.

When I finally see him again, it's in the pack house dining hall. He walks past me without a word, his face a mask of ice. In front of the other wolves, he treats me like I'm invisible. He barks orders at the staff, discusses territory disputes with his Beta, and never once looks in my direction.

But that night, a healer arrives at my door with salves for the marking wound. The best in the pack, she tells me. Alpha's orders.

I don't understand.

Days turn into weeks. Weeks into months. Sebastian maintains his cold distance in public, but the small gestures continue. The finest food appears at my door. Guards are stationed outside my quarters—not to keep me in, I realize, but to keep others out. When I venture into pack business, trying to make myself useful so they won't throw me out, no one stops me.

I become the Silent Luna. I organize food drives for the lower-ranking wolves. I memorize the names of every pup in the pack. I manage logistics while Sebastian expands our territory, and slowly, impossibly, the pack starts to accept me.

But I never forget that I'm living on borrowed time.

---

Three years later, I'm still waiting for the axe to fall.

The pack dinner is in full swing, wolves laughing and drinking around the long tables. I'm picking at my food, trying to stay invisible like always, when I hear it.

"The Luna can't even shift," a Delta named Marcus sneers from across the table. "What kind of mate is that for an Alpha like Sebastian? Wolfless and weak."

The table goes quiet. My face burns, but I keep my eyes down. I've heard worse.

"She's probably not even his real mate," Marcus continues, emboldened by the silence. "Just some political—"

The temperature in the room drops.

Sebastian's Alpha aura slams into Marcus like a physical blow. The Delta's face goes white, his body convulsing as he struggles to breathe under the crushing weight of Sebastian's dominance. Chairs scrape as wolves scramble back, their heads bowed in submission.

"Say another word about my mate," Sebastian says, his voice deadly calm, "and I'll rip your tongue out myself."

Marcus collapses, gasping. Sebastian doesn't even look at him. His eyes find mine across the table, and for the first time in three years, I see something other than ice in them.

Something that looks almost like... protection.

My heart stutters. I don't understand. I've never understood.

Why does he keep saving me when he should want me dead?

The guards at the border mind-link me before I see her.

'Luna, there's a situation at the eastern gate. Your sister is requesting entry.'

My sister.

I haven't heard those words in three years. Three years of building something here, of earning respect one small act at a time, of pretending I belong. And now Lainey's back.

My hands freeze over the supply ledgers I've been reviewing. The pen slips from my fingers, leaving an ink blot across the page like a wound.

'Let her in,' I reply, keeping my mental voice steady. 'Escort her to the main hall.'

I should tell Sebastian. But he's in a council meeting with the Betas from the northern territories, and I can handle my own sister. I've been handling her my whole life.

Except I haven't, have I? She's the one who's always handled me.

I smooth down my silk dress—deep blue, expensive, nothing like the rags I wore at the Wood Pack—and make my way to the main hall. My reflection catches in the hallway mirror. I look like a Luna now. Hair pinned up, posture straight, the mark on my neck visible and healed.

I look like everything Lainey was supposed to be.

She's waiting in the center of the hall when I arrive, and the sight of her steals my breath. She's thinner than I remember, her dress worn at the edges, her hair less glossy. But she's still beautiful. Still Lainey.

Derek Henry stands behind her, and he won't meet my eyes.

'Avery.' Lainey's voice drips honey, but her eyes are cold. 'Look at you. Playing dress-up in my life.'

I don't flinch. I've learned not to. 'This is my life, Lainey. You gave it to me, remember?'

'Gave?' She laughs, sharp and bitter. 'You stole it. You knocked me out and took my place at that altar. You stole my mate, my pack, my destiny.'

The lie is so smooth, so practiced, that for a second I almost believe it myself. Almost forget that she's the one who forced me into this, who threatened to let Mom die if I didn't go through with it.

'That's not what happened.'

'Isn't it?' She steps closer, and I smell desperation under her perfume. 'Look at you, Avery. Silk and jewels and a mark on your neck. Meanwhile, I've been struggling to survive with a mate who can't even keep his pack fed.'

Derek flinches behind her, but says nothing.

'I want to see Sebastian,' Lainey continues. 'I want to explain what you did. I want my life back.'

'Sebastian knows exactly what happened.' The words come out stronger than I feel. 'And he's busy.'

'Too busy for his true mate?' Her smile is poison. 'I don't think so.'

Before I can respond, she sweeps past me toward Sebastian's office. I follow, my heart hammering, but she doesn't go to his office. She turns toward the archives instead.

'Lainey, you can't—'

'I'm family, aren't I?' She throws the words over her shoulder. 'Surely I'm allowed to visit the archives. To see the Former Luna. Unless you're afraid of what I might find?'

I am afraid. But I can't show it.

The Former Luna's quarters are in the east wing, and Lainey navigates there like she's been planning this route for months. Maybe she has. When we arrive, Sebastian's mother is taking tea in her sitting room, and her face lights up when she sees Lainey.

'Lainey Wood. What a lovely surprise.'

I stand in the doorway, invisible again. Just like always.

Lainey sinks into a curtsy, all grace and charm. 'Former Luna Pierce. I've been hoping to speak with you. About family matters. About the truth.'

The Former Luna's eyes flick to me, then back to Lainey. 'The truth?'

'About the night Sebastian nearly died.' Lainey's voice drops, intimate and confiding. 'The rogue attack, five years ago. I was there. I'm the one who saved him.'

My blood turns to ice.

'I donated my blood,' Lainey continues, pulling papers from her bag. 'Rare healer blood. The only reason he survived. I have the infirmary records right here.'

She spreads documents across the Former Luna's table. They look official. They look real.

They're lies.

I'm the one who donated blood that night. I'm the one who nearly died giving Sebastian what he needed to survive. But I did it anonymously, through Elena Cross, because I was nobody. Just the Alpha's bastard daughter, worthless and wolfless.

And now Lainey's stealing even that.

'This is remarkable,' the Former Luna breathes, studying the papers. 'You saved my son's life.'

'I did.' Lainey's voice breaks perfectly, tears shimmering in her eyes. 'And then Avery stole my reward. She took my place at the altar. She took everything that should have been mine.'

The Former Luna's gaze shifts to me, and I see it happening. See her belief crystallizing into something hard and cold.

'Is this true, Avery?'

My throat closes. I want to scream that it's all lies, that I'm the one who saved Sebastian, that I've given everything to this pack. But the words won't come.

Because I don't have proof. I never kept proof.

And Lainey does.

'I think,' the Former Luna says slowly, 'we need to have a very serious conversation about who truly belongs at my son's side.'

The pawn broker's shop smells like dust and regret. I stand at the counter, Mom's locket heavy in my palm. It's the only thing I have left of her—silver, tarnished, with a tiny photo of us inside from when I was five. Before everything went wrong.

'How much?' I ask.

The broker examines it through his jeweler's loupe. 'Two thousand. Maybe twenty-five hundred if you're lucky.'

It's not enough. The gala needs at least ten thousand to make the right impression on the rival Alphas. But it's a start, and I've already liquidated everything else I own that has any value.

'I'll take it.'

He counts out the bills, and I watch Mom's face disappear into his drawer. I'm sorry, I think. But you'd understand. You always understood about sacrifices.

I sell three more pieces over the next week—a bracelet, earrings, a ring. Things I've collected over three years as Luna, gifts from pack members who thought I mattered. By the time the gala arrives, I've scraped together enough to cover the catering, the decorations, the musicians. Everything Sebastian needs to broker peace without depleting our war funds.

I don't tell him. He'd refuse the money, and we can't afford his pride right now.

---

The gala is beautiful. Crystal chandeliers cast rainbow light across the ballroom. Wolves from five different packs mingle, their territorial instincts held in check by the promise of alliance. I watch from the sidelines as Sebastian works the room, his presence commanding even among other Alphas.

He's magnificent. And I'm the shadow in the corner, making sure the servers don't run out of wine.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' the Master of Ceremonies announces. 'We have a special acknowledgment to make.'

My stomach drops.

Lainey glides onto the stage, her dress shimmering like moonlight. She's been here all week, playing the gracious guest, and I've felt her watching me. Waiting.

'I want to thank you all for coming,' she says, her voice carrying across the room. 'This treaty represents hope for all our packs. And I'm honored to have contributed to making tonight possible.'

No.

'I donated my personal jewelry collection to fund this event,' she continues, pressing a hand to her heart. 'Family heirlooms, passed down through generations. But peace is worth any price.'

The room erupts in applause. Wolves nod approvingly. Even the rival Alphas look impressed by her 'sacrifice.'

My hands clench at my sides. I want to scream that she's lying, that those were my things, that Mom's locket is probably already melted down for scrap. But Sebastian catches my eye across the room, and something in his expression stops me.

Don't, his look says. Not now.

So I stand there and smile while Lainey accepts praise for my sacrifice. While she basks in gratitude that should be mine. While she takes and takes and takes, just like always.

The treaty gets signed an hour later. Five packs, united against the rogue threat. It's everything we needed.

And it cost me the last piece of my mother.

---

Sebastian's study is dark when he summons me after the gala. He's standing by the window, his back to me, tension radiating from every line of his body.

'You paid for tonight,' he says. Not a question.

I don't answer. There's no point.

He turns, and his eyes are blazing. 'You sold your mother's locket.'

'The treaty—'

'Don't.' His voice cracks like a whip. 'Don't tell me about the treaty. Tell me why you let her take credit. Why you stood there and smiled while she stole from you. Again.'

'Because the treaty mattered more than my pride.'

'Your pride?' He crosses the room in three strides, backing me against the desk. 'This isn't about pride, Avery. This is about survival. Weakness gets wolves killed. Do you understand that?'

I flinch. 'I'm not weak.'

'Then stop acting like it.' His hand slams down on the desk beside me. 'Stop letting people walk over you. Stop sacrificing yourself for wolves who don't deserve it. You think that makes you noble? It makes you a target.'

The words hit like claws. 'So I should be more like Lainey? Take credit for things I didn't do? Lie and manipulate?'

'You should be more like a Luna.' His face is inches from mine now, his breath hot against my skin. 'You should command respect, not beg for it.'

'I never begged—'

'You beg every time you stay silent.' His hand moves to my throat, not squeezing, just resting there over my mark. 'Every time you let her win.'

My heart hammers against my ribs. His thumb traces the mark he gave me three years ago, and heat floods through me. For a moment, I think he's going to kiss me. His eyes drop to my lips, his body pressing closer.

Then he pulls away like I burned him.

'Get stronger, Avery,' he says, his voice rough. 'Or you won't survive what's coming.'

He leaves me there, shaking and confused, wondering if he was trying to protect me or telling me I'm not enough.

Wondering if there's even a difference anymore.