The wolfsbane burned through my skin like liquid fire, but I refused to cry out. My eyes remained locked on Colton as he knelt beside Chloe, his hands gentle on her trembling shoulders. The contrast between his tenderness toward her and his indifference to my pain was a knife twisting in my chest.

"Colton," I said through gritted teeth, my arm throbbing with each heartbeat. "I need medical attention."

He didn't even look up. "Beta James will see to it."

Selene growled within me. *Our mate is choosing her over us.*

"Chloe," Colton murmured, his voice soft in a way it hadn't been with me for weeks. "You're safe now. No one will hurt you here."

The pack warriors shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting between us. Some looked confused, others embarrassed. None dared speak.

"I want her removed from the grounds," I demanded, my Luna authority cutting through the murmurs. "Now."

Colton's head snapped up, his eyes flashing with irritation. "Enough, Rosalie!"

"Enough?" I repeated, disbelief coloring my voice. "She deliberately spilled wolfsbane on me!"

"It was an accident," Chloe whimpered, burying her face in Colton's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I'm just so scared around crowds."

Colton's arm tightened around her as he stood, lifting her effortlessly. The protective gesture made my stomach turn.

"Your lack of compassion for a traumatized wolf makes you unworthy of Luna status," he declared, his Alpha tone pressing against my consciousness.

The words hit like physical blows. Selene whimpered, instinctively submitting to the Alpha command before I could stop her.

I stared at him, at the man who had once worshipped my strength now using his power to humiliate me. "Colton—"

"That's Alpha Colton to you," he corrected coldly.

Before I could respond, a commanding presence cut through the tension. Former Luna Wright—Colton's mother—strode onto the training field, her silver-streaked hair gleaming in the sunlight. The elder wolves behind her formed a solemn backdrop to her approach.

"Mother," Colton acknowledged, his tone instantly deferential.

Former Luna Wright's eyes swept over the scene—my burning arm, Chloe nestled against her son, the shocked expressions of the pack warriors. Her lips thinned into a tight line.

"Release the rogue," she commanded, her voice carrying the rare power of elder wolf authority.

Colton hesitated. "Mother, she's—"

"I said release her." Former Luna Wright's aura flared, actually pushing back against her son's Alpha presence.

To my astonishment, Colton found himself stepping away from Chloe, who stumbled slightly before catching herself.

"Look at what you've become," Former Luna Wright said, her voice carrying across the now-silent training ground. "Ignoring your injured mate for a rogue wolf. Dishonoring our bloodline and pack traditions."

Colton's face paled. "Mother, you don't understand—"

"I understand perfectly." She stepped closer, forcing him to lower his gaze. "I've been watching from the elder pavilion. We all have."

The pack elders nodded solemnly from their positions at the edge of the field.

"You've brought shame to your father's memory," she continued, her voice like ice. "To think our Alpha bloodline has fallen to such weakness."

Selene stirred within me, her pride momentarily soothed by Former Luna Wright's defense.

---

After Pack Healer Elena treated my burn, wrapping my arm in cooling bandages scented with healing herbs, I retreated to our private Alpha-Luna quarters. The pain had subsided to a dull throb, but the emotional wound remained raw.

"Just rest," Elena had advised gently. "The wolfsbane was diluted, but it will still take time to heal completely."

I nodded my thanks and dismissed her, needing solitude to process everything that had happened.

Our private quarters had always been my sanctuary—the one place where pack politics couldn't touch us. As I pushed open the familiar door, Selene suddenly stiffened within me.

*Something's wrong,* she warned.

I paused in the doorway, my Luna senses immediately picking up what had disturbed her. A foreign scent lingered in the air—musky and sharp, with undertones of forest and something artificially sweet.

Chloe's scent.

I moved through the room slowly, following the trail. It led to the walk-in closet where Colton kept his ceremonial robes and formal clothes. There, deliberately rubbed onto his Alpha cloak, were Chloe's scent markers.

"Selene," I whispered, my voice shaking with rage and violation.

But the worst discovery was yet to come. As I turned toward our bed—our sacred mating den—the scent grew stronger. Deliberate streaks of Chloe's markers stained the sheets where Colton and I had shared our most intimate moments.

She had been here. In our most private space.

The invasion was so calculated, so brazen, that for a moment I could barely breathe.

Selene's growl reverberated through my chest. *This is war.*

I paced our quarters, my wounded arm throbbing beneath its bandages. The scent of Chloe's markers permeated our sacred space like a disease I couldn't eradicate. Each breath felt like inhaling poison.

Selene's rage burned through my veins. *She violated our den. Our sanctuary.*

"Rosalie?" Colton's voice came from the doorway. He stood there, his broad shoulders blocking the light from the hallway.

I whirled to face him, my control snapping. "How dare you bring her here?"

His expression darkened. "What are you talking about?"

"Her scent!" I gestured wildly toward our bed. "Chloe's markers are all over our sheets. Our mating den!"

Colton's nostrils flared as he stepped inside, his Alpha senses confirming what I'd discovered. But instead of outrage, his face settled into a mask of irritation.

"She had a severe panic attack after the training incident," he said dismissively. "She needed somewhere safe to rest."

"Safe?" I repeated, incredulous. "There are guest quarters. The infirmary. Anywhere but our bed!"

"You're being paranoid," he snapped, his eyes flashing with annoyance rather than guilt. "She was traumatized by my mother's treatment of her."

"Your mother defended our sacred traditions!" I stepped closer, my voice trembling with fury. "This is our mating den, Colton. The most sacred space for an Alpha and Luna."

"And you're using that sacred space to torment a vulnerable wolf?" His voice dropped into that Alpha tone again, pressing against my consciousness like a physical weight.

Selene whimpered instinctively before I could shield her. "Torment? She deliberately marked our bed!"

"Enough!" Colton roared, his Alpha aura flaring violently. "I can't stand your jealousy anymore."

"Jealousy?" The word felt like a slap. "This isn't jealousy. This is about respect for our bond."

"Our bond?" He laughed bitterly. "What bond? You've been nothing but cold since this whole situation began."

The accusation stunned me into silence. Selene howled in anguish within me.

---

"I need space," Colton announced the next morning, throwing clothes into a duffel bag. "My wolf needs time to process all this... tension."

I stood in the doorway of our closet, watching him pack. "Where will you go?"

"Somewhere I can think clearly." He wouldn't meet my eyes. "The cabin by the eastern border."

The eastern border. Near rogue territory.

"Colton—"

"Don't." He zipped the bag closed with finality. "Every time I try to do what's right for the pack, you make it impossible."

I crossed my arms, fighting back tears of frustration. "What's right for the pack is protecting your Luna. Honoring our mate bond."

He paused at the door, his hand on the knob. For a moment, I thought he might relent. Instead, he sighed heavily.

"I'll be back when you're ready to discuss this rationally."

The door closed behind him with a soft click that echoed like a gunshot in the empty room.

Selene whimpered. *He's gone to her.*

---

Three days passed with no word from Colton. The pack house felt cavernous without him, conversations hushed whenever I entered a room. Former Luna Wright maintained her dignity publicly but squeezed my hand in private, her eyes filled with concern.

On the fourth day, my phone chimed with a pack network notification. I opened it reluctantly, expecting official business.

Instead, I found Chloe's smiling face filling my screen.

"Feeling much better today!" read the caption beneath her photo. She sat propped against pillows in what looked like a cabin interior. "Thank you all for your concerns. Special thanks to my protector for taking such good care of me."

My stomach twisted as I scrolled through the comments. Pack members offered well-wishes, completely unaware of the implications.

But what made my blood run cold was what sat casually draped over the chair behind her—Colton's Alpha jacket, the one he'd worn to our mating ceremony. And on the nightstand beside her, gleaming in the afternoon light, was his Alpha ring.

Another photo showed her wearing his shirt, the collar so large it swallowed her shoulders. Yet another captured her hand resting on what was unmistakably his forearm, his distinctive cedar-and-rain scent markers clearly visible in the background.

Selene snarled within me. *She's flaunting him.*

I scrolled through comment after comment, watching as pack members unknowingly responded to her calculated performance. Each image was perfectly framed to showcase her vulnerability while deliberately including evidence of Colton's presence.

The final post was the most brazen—a selfie taken in what appeared to be a bedroom, with Colton's distinctive scent markers streaked across the pillow beside her head.

"Sleeping better knowing I'm protected," the caption read.

My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped the phone. The psychological warfare had begun, and Chloe was waging it through the very networks that bound our pack together.

Selene's voice echoed through my mind, no longer wounded but resolute. *This ends now.*

Chloe's social media posts spread through the pack like wildfire, each image carefully crafted to inflict maximum damage. I watched from my office as Beta James paced the corridor outside, his usual calm demeanor replaced with barely contained frustration.

"Luna Rosalie," he said, entering without knocking. "We need to address the rumors. The Delta warriors are asking questions about Alpha Colton's whereabouts."

I set down my pen, keeping my expression neutral despite Selene's constant whimpering. "What exactly are they asking?"

"If he's left the territory... if he's with..." James couldn't finish the sentence.

"With a rogue," I completed for him, my voice steady. "You can say it, Beta James. It's not a secret anymore."

James ran a hand through his hair, a gesture of distress I'd never seen from him before. "This is unprecedented. An Alpha abandoning his Luna for—"

"For what appears to be another female," I finished again. "I know."

Gamma Marcus appeared in the doorway, his massive frame filling the space. Unlike James's diplomatic approach, Marcus's anger was palpable.

"The border patrols are in disarray," he reported grimly. "No one knows who's in charge with the Alpha absent. The western rogues are testing our boundaries."

I rose from my chair, straightening my spine. Selene stirred within me, drawing strength from my resolve.

"Then we adapt," I said firmly. "Beta James, you'll take charge of the eastern borders. Gamma Marcus, double the patrols on the west side."

"But Luna—" Marcus began.

"Those are Luna orders," I cut him off, letting my authority fill the room. "We maintain pack stability regardless of personal matters."

James and Marcus exchanged glances but nodded in unison. As they left, I caught fragments of their conversation.

"Never seen a Luna handle crisis like this," Marcus murmured.

"She's stronger than he deserves," James replied.

Their words should have comforted me. Instead, they only highlighted how thoroughly Colton had betrayed not just me, but our entire pack.

---

Three days later, a courier arrived at my office door.

"Luna Rosalie," he said with a respectful bow. "I have a delivery for you. Marked urgent and confidential."

I accepted the small package, noting the absence of a return address. "Thank you."

Once alone, I carefully unwrapped the brown paper. Inside was a flash drive and a stack of glossy photographs.

Selene growled a warning. *Be careful.*

With trembling fingers, I inserted the flash drive into my laptop. The screen flickered to life, displaying dashcam footage timestamped from two nights ago.

The video showed a clearing bathed in moonlight. Two wolves moved through the frame—one large and silver-gray, unmistakably Colton's wolf form. The other was smaller, with lighter fur that seemed to glow in the darkness.

Chloe.

They circled each other slowly, their movements intimate and deliberate. The larger wolf nuzzled against the smaller one, their bodies entwining in a dance that made my stomach turn.

"No," I whispered, but the footage continued.

The wolves shifted positions, their movements unmistakably mimicking the sacred bonding ritual that should only occur between fated mates.

I ejected the flash drive with shaking hands and turned to the photographs. They were stills from the video, printed with cruel clarity. One image showed Colton's wolf form pressed against Chloe's, their fur mingling in the moonlight. Another captured them sharing breath, their noses touching in the most intimate wolf greeting.

Selene howled in anguish within me. *He betrayed our bond. He let her touch what's ours.*

I stared at the images, each one a dagger to my heart. The sacred bonding ritual—something Colton and I had shared only once, on our mating night—desecrated for a rogue wolf who craved what wasn't hers.

"Get out," I whispered to the empty room, but Selene heard me.

*Reject him. Now.*

Something broke inside me then—not with a crash, but with the silent finality of a thread pulled too tight for too long. I felt Selene retreat deep within my consciousness, erecting a wall that severed our mind-link from my end.

The sudden silence in my head was deafening.

---

"The Pack Council will convene in one hour," I announced to Beta James, my voice devoid of emotion.

James looked up sharply from his desk. "On what grounds, Luna?"

"On grounds of mate betrayal and violation of sacred pack law." I placed the photographs on his desk, spreading them out like evidence in a trial.

His face paled as he examined them. "These are—"

"Irrefutable," I finished. "Please inform the Council members that I request an emergency session to formally petition for mate rejection."

James's eyes widened. "Luna Rosalie, are you certain? Once initiated, the rejection cannot be undone."

I met his gaze steadily. "My wolf has already made the decision for me."

As I turned to leave, James called after me. "What about Alpha Colton? He should be present for—"

"He forfeited his right to be present when he chose her," I replied, my voice cutting through the air like ice.

Selene's wall remained firm within me, blocking any trace of our mate bond. For the first time since Colton and I had been paired, I felt truly alone in my own skin.

And strangely, beneath the pain, a flicker of something else—relief.