The message arrived while I was reviewing the spring territorial surveys—work Jacob's office had promised to handle and hadn't touched in three weeks.

Maren's voice came through the mind-link, tight and careful. *Luna. There was an incident at the regional gathering.*

I set down my pen. "What kind of incident?"

*Alpha Quinn. He… he said things. About you. In front of the other Alphas.*

I waited. The silence stretched.

*He called you 'the Luna no Alpha wanted.' He said a wolfless female was never fit for the title. That Jacob finally corrected his mistake.*

I closed my eyes. My wolf stirred, a low snarl building in my chest.

"Who laughed?" I asked.

Maren hesitated. *Most of them, Luna. Not Alpha Garren. Not the Blackfen representative. But the others…*

"Send me the full transcript."

*Yes, Luna.*

The mind-link went quiet. I sat there in the cold safe house, staring at the territorial survey maps spread across my desk. Maps I'd drawn myself. Borders I'd negotiated personally.

The Luna no Alpha wanted.

My wolf snarled again, louder this time. I pressed my hand flat against the desk and breathed through it.

The transcript arrived by nightfall. I read it twice. Then I folded it carefully and added it to the dossier.

---

Jacob's formal declaration came three days later.

I was cataloging the alliance renewal dates when Jovie brought in the notice. He set it on my desk without a word.

It was signed by Jacob's Beta. Official pack letterhead. Formal language.

*Adele Mercer is relieved of all Luna administrative duties pending a formal review of her conduct. All allied communications are to be redirected to the Alpha's office effective immediately.*

I read it once. Then I set it down and picked up my tea.

"He doesn't know what he just did," I said quietly.

Jovie leaned against the doorframe. "No. He doesn't."

I took a sip. The tea was cold. "How long before the first inquiry arrives?"

"Already here. Three packs. They want to know who's managing the spring surveys."

"And Jacob's office?"

"Can't answer. They don't have the schedules. They don't have the contact lists. They don't even know which territories are up for renewal."

I almost smiled. Almost.

"Let it stall," I said. "Document every inquiry. Every delay. Every failure to respond."

Jovie nodded and left.

I opened my ledger and started a new page. At the top, I wrote: *Diplomatic Infrastructure Collapse—Timeline.*

Then I pulled out a separate sheet of paper and began drafting a message.

---

I addressed it to Darian, the Lycan King's Beta.

I'd met him twice before—once at a Continental border summit, once during a routine diplomatic rotation through the region. He was quiet, observant, the kind of wolf who noticed everything and said very little.

I kept the message brief. Professional.

*Beta Darian,*

*I am writing to inform you that Ironveil Pack's defensive posture has been compromised by internal resource diversion. I am preparing a formal report on the matter for regional security review. If the Lycan Crown's observer wishes to attend the upcoming pack assembly, there may be information of relevance to broader territorial stability.*

*Respectfully,

Adele Mercer

Luna, Ironveil Pack*

I didn't ask for help. Didn't plead. I simply informed him that something was happening, and that he might want to see it firsthand.

I sealed the message and handed it to Jovie. "Courier. Direct to the Lycan observer post. No pack channels."

He took it without question.

Darian's reply arrived the next morning. One line.

*Attendance confirmed.*

I marked it in my ledger. Then I began preparing a second dossier—one not meant for the pack council.

This one was for the Lycan Court.

---

The announcement came exactly one week later.

Jovie brought it in just after dawn. His face was grim.

I looked up from the dossier I'd been assembling all night. "What is it?"

He handed me the notice.

It was formal. Sealed with the Alpha's mark. Addressed to the entire pack.

*Full pack assembly called. Purpose: Announcement of a new Luna for the Ironveil Pack.*

I read it three times. The words didn't change.

My hand moved to my neck, to the bandage still covering the split mate mark. The wound had stopped bleeding days ago, but it hadn't healed. Dessa said it wouldn't. Not while the bond was degrading.

Jovie was watching me. Waiting.

"When?" I asked.

"Tomorrow night. Full moon."

I set the notice down. My wolf was pacing now, restless and angry. She wanted to tear something apart. I wanted to let her.

But not yet.

I stood up and straightened my jacket. "Prepare the secondary evidence copies. All of them."

Jovie's eyes widened slightly. "You're going."

"Yes."

"Luna—"

"If I don't attend, I forfeit my claim to this pack. Everything I built. Every alliance I brokered. Every warrior I trained." I looked at him. "I've never forfeited anything I earned."

He nodded slowly. "I'll have everything ready."

He left. I sat back down and opened the ledger.

Inside the front cover, tucked carefully between the pages, was the healer's document. The one confirming my pregnancy.

I pulled it out and looked at it for a long moment. Six weeks. A life growing inside me that Jacob didn't know about. That he would never know about.

I slipped it back into the ledger and closed the cover.

Then I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and began writing the final section of the Lycan Court dossier.

By the time the sun set, it was finished. Sixty pages. Every diversion. Every theft. Every compromised defense. Every lie.

I sealed it in a leather case and set it beside my chair.

Tomorrow night, Jacob would stand before the pack and announce his new Luna.

And I would be there.

Waiting.