The afternoon sun glinted off the polished storefronts lining Silver Moon Pack's luxury district, but I barely noticed the sparkle. As Luna, I'd walked these streets a hundred times, smiling at merchants and nodding to pack members. Today felt different.

"The new boutique has excellent craftsmanship," Ava said beside me, her voice carrying that refined elegance that made everyone respect her. Even after stepping down as Luna, the Dowager Luna commanded more authority than most Alphas I'd met. "The jeweler mentioned they're preparing pieces for the Pack Run ceremony."

I touched my chest absently, where a dull ache had been growing for weeks. The mate bond with Adriel used to feel warm, like sunlight on my skin. Lately, it felt like touching cold metal.

"That's wonderful," I managed, forcing brightness into my tone. "Adriel said the Moonstone Pendant is being polished for the occasion. It'll be beautiful."

Ava's expression flickered—something I couldn't quite read—but she squeezed my hand. "You've been a gracious Luna, Alondra. The pack is fortunate."

Her words should have warmed me. Instead, they made the ache sharper.

We turned the corner toward the high-end jewelry store, and that's when I saw her.

Halle Perry stood directly in our path, flanked by two Beta guards I recognized—Marcus Stone's men. Her blonde hair caught the light like spun gold, and her smile was all teeth. The kind of smile that made my wolf retreat deeper into my consciousness.

"Well, well." Halle's voice dripped honey and venom in equal measure. "The Lunas are gracing us with their presence."

I straightened my spine. "Miss Perry. I wasn't aware you'd be touring the district today."

"Oh, I go wherever I please now." She stepped closer, and I caught her scent—jasmine and something darker, something that made my stomach turn. "Adriel's been very generous with his... permissions."

Ava's hand tightened on mine. "The Alpha grants authority through proper channels, Miss Perry. I'm sure you understand pack protocol."

Halle laughed, the sound sharp enough to cut. "Protocol? How quaint." She reached up, fingers trailing along a heavy silver chain around her neck. The pendant hung beneath her shirt, but the chain itself was ornate, clearly expensive. "Things are changing around here, Dowager Luna. Maybe you haven't noticed."

My wolf whimpered. Something about that chain felt wrong, familiar in a way that made my chest constrict.

"We have business to attend to," I said quietly, trying to step around her. "If you'll excuse us—"

"Actually, you can't go any further." Halle's smile widened. She gestured to the guards, who moved to block the street. "This district is under emergency maintenance. Alpha's orders."

The ache in my chest flared into something sharper. "I wasn't informed of any maintenance."

"Well, you are now." Halle's eyes glittered with something cruel. "The solarium needs structural reinforcement. Very dangerous. We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

I reached for the mind-link, that golden thread connecting me to Adriel. *Adriel, there's a situation in the luxury district. Halle Perry says—*

Nothing. The link felt muffled, distant, like shouting through thick glass.

Ava stepped forward, her Luna aura rising. "Miss Perry, I suggest you reconsider—"

Halle's hand shot up. The guards moved fast, too fast. Rough hands grabbed my arms, and I heard Ava's sharp intake of breath as they seized her too.

"What are you doing?" I tried to pull free, but the guards' grips were iron. "This is—"

"Ensuring your safety," Halle purred. She walked ahead of us, leading the way to a glass-walled structure I recognized—the solarium where rare plants were cultivated. Construction equipment sat nearby, and the air smelled of chemicals and metal. "Can't have our precious Lunas wandering into a hazard zone."

They shoved us through the reinforced doors. I stumbled, catching Ava before she fell. The glass walls rose around us, beautiful and terrible, reflecting our faces back at us.

Halle stood in the doorway, backlit by sunlight. Her fingers played with that silver chain again, and for just a moment, the pendant slipped free of her shirt.

My heart stopped.

The Moonstone Pendant. Our pack's sacred heirloom. The symbol of the Luna's authority.

Hanging around Halle Perry's neck.

"Comfortable?" Halle asked sweetly. She reached for a control panel on the wall. "The ventilation system is quite advanced. They've been using silver dust for the reinforcement work. Fascinating stuff."

Ava's hand found mine, her grip trembling. "Halle, don't—"

The door slammed shut. Locks clicked into place with mechanical finality.

Halle's smile was the last thing I saw before she pressed a button, and the vents began to hiss.

The hissing started soft, almost gentle. Then the mist descended.

Fine particles caught the sunlight streaming through the glass walls, turning the air into a glittering fog. Pretty, if you didn't know what it was. My wolf knew. She howled inside my mind, a sound of pure terror that made my knees buckle.

"Ava—" I reached for her, but the first touch of silver dust on my exposed skin stole my breath.

It burned. Not like fire. Worse. Like acid eating through flesh, burrowing into bone. I looked down at my hands and watched red welts bloom across my palms, blisters rising and bursting in seconds.

I screamed.

The sound echoed off the glass, bouncing back at me from every direction. My wolf whimpered and retreated so deep I could barely feel her presence. The mate bond, that golden thread connecting me to Adriel, flickered weakly in my chest.

Ava collapsed beside me.

"No, no, no—" I dropped to my knees, ignoring the way the silver-laced floor seared through my dress. Ava's face had gone gray, her breathing shallow and rapid. Her eyes rolled back, showing only whites.

The temperature climbed. The midday sun beat down through the glass ceiling, turning the solarium into an oven. Sweat mixed with blood on my blistered skin. The silver dust kept falling, coating everything, suffocating us.

"Ava, stay with me." I pressed my hands to her chest, feeling her heart stutter beneath my palms. Too fast. Too irregular. Her wolf was dying, I could sense it—the silver poisoning severing the connection between woman and beast.

I had to get help.

I threw myself at the mate bond, grabbing that golden thread with everything I had. *Adriel!* I screamed his name mentally, pouring every ounce of desperation into the link. *Adriel, please, your mother—we need help—*

I hit a wall.

Not just distance. Not distraction. A deliberate, solid barrier. He'd blocked me. Blocked our bond.

*Adriel!* I screamed again, clawing at the psychic wall. *Please, she's dying—*

The wall cracked, just slightly. His voice filtered through, cold and annoyed. "Do not disturb me. I am handling Alpha business."

Alpha business. While his mother lay dying on a silver-dusted floor.

Then I felt it—a wave of sensation that didn't belong to me. Pleasure. Raw and unmistakable. A woman's giggle, breathy and satisfied, echoed through the fractured bond.

Halle's giggle.

The wall slammed shut. Complete silence. He'd severed the connection entirely.

I knelt there, hands still pressed to Ava's chest, and felt something inside me crack. Not the bond—that was already broken, had been breaking for months. Something deeper. Something that had been holding me together.

Movement outside the glass caught my eye.

Halle pressed her face to the pane, her expression gleeful. She was laughing, I could see her mouth moving, though I couldn't hear the sound through the reinforced walls. Her hands came up to frame her face, and the chain around her neck shifted.

The pendant swung free.

I froze, despite the pain screaming through every nerve. Despite Ava's failing heartbeat beneath my palms. Despite the silver eating away at my skin.

The Moonstone Pendant.

Pale blue stone set in ancient silver, carved with the symbols of the Moon Goddess. Every Luna of the Silver Moon Pack had worn it for three hundred years. My grandmother had worn it. Ava had worn it. I should have been wearing it.

Adriel had told me it was being polished. That it would be ready for the Pack Run ceremony. That I would wear it with pride.

He'd lied.

He'd given our pack's most sacred heirloom to his mistress. Not just cheated. Not just betrayed the mate bond. He'd symbolically stripped me of my position, handed my authority to another woman, and let her use it to torture me.

To torture his own mother.

Halle tapped the pendant against the glass, her smile widening. She mouthed something. I couldn't hear it, but I could read her lips.

"Mine now."

Ava's heart stuttered again beneath my hands. Her breathing had gone shallow, barely there. The silver mist kept falling, and the sun kept burning, and my mate—my Alpha—was in bed with the woman who was killing us.

I looked down at Ava's gray face, then back at Halle's triumphant smile, then at the Moonstone Pendant gleaming against her throat.

Something shifted inside me. Not breaking. Hardening.

If we survived this—when we survived this—everything was going to change.

Ava's body went rigid beneath my hands.

Not the stillness of unconsciousness. Worse. Her spine arched, muscles locking, tendons standing out like cords beneath her skin. A convulsion. The silver was attacking her heart.

"No." The word ripped from my throat. "No, no, no—"

I grabbed her shoulders, trying to hold her steady, but she thrashed against me. Her eyes rolled back, showing only whites. Foam flecked her lips. The silver dust kept falling, coating her face, her hair, burning through her clothes.

The pillar. There was a support pillar near the center of the solarium, casting a thin shadow. Not much. But something.

I hooked my arms under Ava's and dragged. My blistered hands screamed. The silver-laced floor tore through my dress, searing my knees. I didn't care. I pulled her into that sliver of shade and threw myself over her body.

The silver dust landed on my back instead. On my shoulders. In my hair. Each particle a tiny brand, burning, burning, burning.

My wolf stirred.

Not the frightened whimper I'd felt before. Something else. Something I'd never felt from her in all my years as Luna.

Rage.

Pure, murderous, bone-deep rage.

She didn't retreat. She surged forward, pressing against my consciousness, and for the first time in my life, I heard her growl. Not in fear. In fury.

*Kill,* she snarled. *Kill her. Rip out her throat. Make her pay.*

The violence of it shocked me. My gentle wolf, who'd never challenged anyone, who'd always submitted to pack hierarchy, wanted blood.

I wanted blood.

Ava convulsed again beneath me. Her heartbeat stuttered against my chest, irregular and weak. The mate bond with Adriel was a cold, dead thing, but I could still feel pack bonds, and Ava's was fading. Dimming like a candle in the wind.

"Hold on," I whispered against her hair. "Please, Ava. Hold on."

Footsteps outside. Heavy. Running.

I lifted my head, squinting through the silver haze. Shapes moved beyond the glass—large, dark figures. Not the Beta guards. These were bigger, broader, moving with a predator's grace.

One of them stopped. His head turned toward the solarium.

Then he was running. They all were.

"Stand down!" Marcus Stone's voice, sharp with authority. "Alpha's orders—the solarium is off-limits!"

The lead warrior didn't slow. He was massive, easily seven feet, with shoulders that could break through walls. His eyes—I could see them even through the glass—glowed amber.

Lycan.

"I said stand down!" Marcus moved to block him.

The warrior's hand shot out. He grabbed Marcus by the throat and threw him aside like he weighed nothing. Marcus hit the ground hard, gasping.

The warrior's fist slammed into the glass.

The reinforced wall spiderwebbed. He hit it again. Again. The other warriors joined him, their combined strength shattering what was supposed to be unbreakable.

Glass exploded inward.

Fresh air rushed in, sweet and clean and perfect. I gasped, filling my lungs, feeling my wolf surge with relief.

The lead warrior vaulted through the opening. His eyes found me immediately, then dropped to Ava's convulsing form. His expression went hard.

"Healer," he barked over his shoulder. "Now."

He moved toward us, hands outstretched.

"Wait." My voice came out hoarse, raw. "Don't touch us yet."

He froze. "Luna, you need—"

"Smell us." I shifted, still shielding Ava but exposing our silver-dusted clothes. "All of you. Smell us. Remember it."

The warrior's eyes narrowed. Then understanding flickered across his face. He leaned in, inhaling deeply. His nostrils flared.

"Silver dust," he said. "Wolfsbane traces. And..." His expression darkened. "Jasmine. Expensive perfume. Recent."

"Halle Perry's perfume," I said. Each word hurt. "She locked us in here. She activated the vents. She watched us die."

The other warriors had gathered at the broken wall. The lead warrior gestured them forward. "All of you. Witness this. Smell them. Remember every detail."

They came, one by one, their faces growing grimmer with each inhalation. Six warriors. Six witnesses to attempted murder.

"Now get us to the hospital," I said.

The lead warrior scooped Ava up like she weighed nothing. Another reached for me, but I shook my head. "I can walk."

I couldn't. My legs gave out after three steps. Strong arms caught me, lifted me. The world blurred as we moved, fast, faster than any human could run.

The Pack Hospital materialized around us. White walls. Bright lights. The sharp scent of antiseptic cutting through the lingering smell of silver and jasmine.

"Critical patient!" The lead warrior's voice boomed through the corridor. "Silver poisoning, cardiac distress!"

A woman appeared—tall, dark-haired, with the confident stride of someone who'd seen everything. Head Healer Elena Rivers. I recognized her from pack gatherings.

Her eyes swept over Ava, and her expression went cold and professional. "Trauma room one. Now."

They disappeared through double doors. I tried to follow, but hands held me back.

"Luna, you need treatment too," someone said.

Elena reappeared. "Get her in room two. Full burn protocol. I'll be there in five minutes."

"I need to stay with Ava—"

"You need to let me save her life." Elena's voice was firm but not unkind. "I can't do that with you in the way."

They guided me to another room. Laid me on a bed. Someone tried to clean the silver dust from my skin, and I hissed at the pain.

Elena came in, moving fast, her hands glowing with soft green light. Healer magic. She pressed her palms to my burns, and the pain eased slightly.

"Ava?" I asked.

"Critical. The silver attacked her heart. I've induced a magical coma to slow the poisoning, but..." Elena's jaw tightened. "It's bad, Luna. Very bad."

She reached for a syringe. "This will help you sleep—"

"No." I caught her wrist. "No sedatives."

"Luna, you need rest—"

"I need to be awake." My voice came out harder than I'd ever heard it. "Treat the burns. Nothing else."

Elena studied me for a long moment. Then she nodded and set the syringe aside.

She worked in silence, her magic knitting the worst of the damage. When she finished, she helped me to a chair beside Ava's bed.

Ava lay still, too still, her skin gray beneath the oxygen mask. Monitors beeped steadily, tracking her failing heart.

I took her hand. The skin was cold, papery.

"He will pay," I whispered.

Not a question. Not a hope. A promise.

My wolf growled her agreement, and for once, we were perfectly, terribly aligned.