The ritual chamber was carved from black stone, ancient symbols etched into walls that had witnessed countless ceremonies. But none like this. None where a mate was dragged against her will, where an Alpha's command would be used to murder his own heir.

"Reid, please!" I clawed at the stone floor as he pulled me toward the altar. "This is your pup! Our pup!"

But he wasn't listening. His eyes were fixed on Karina, who lay on a smaller table nearby, her breathing shallow and labored. Dr. Webb bustled around her, checking her pulse, adjusting the mystical apparatus that would steal my life force.

I shifted partially, my wolf surging forward in desperation. Claws extended from my fingertips, and I raked them across Reid's forearm. He hissed but didn't release me.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," he growled, blood seeping through his shirt.

"Harder?" I laughed, the sound sharp and broken. "You're murdering our child!"

"We can have another—"

"No!" The word tore from my throat. I twisted in his grip, my partially shifted form giving me extra strength. For a moment, I broke free.

I ran for the door, my claws scrambling against stone, but Reid was faster. His hand caught my ankle, and I went down hard, my chin cracking against the floor. Stars exploded behind my eyes.

"I didn't want it to be like this," Reid said, hauling me upright. His voice was thick with something that might have been regret. "But Karina is dying now. Right now."

I spat blood. "So is your pup!"

His jaw tightened. "Enough."

Then he did the unthinkable.

Reid's Alpha aura exploded outward, but this wasn't the warm dominance I'd felt during our mating. This was something else entirely. Something cold and crushing and absolute.

"Submit," he commanded, and his voice carried the full weight of his Alpha power.

The Alpha Tone hit me like a physical blow. My wolf, already weakened by pregnancy hormones, crumpled under the assault. My partially shifted form melted back to human, my claws retracting, my strength draining away like water through a sieve.

No. No, no, no.

I tried to fight it, tried to move, but my body was no longer mine. My muscles went slack against my will. My arms fell to my sides. Even my voice died in my throat, though tears streamed down my face in silent protest.

"I'm sorry," Reid whispered, but his hands were already lifting me, carrying me to the altar. "I'm so sorry, Nora."

Sorry. He was sorry as he strapped leather restraints around my wrists. Sorry as he secured my ankles. Sorry as he stepped back and nodded to Dr. Webb.

The Healer's face was pale, his hands shaking as he approached with silver needles that gleamed in the candlelight. "Alpha, perhaps we should—"

"Do it," Reid ordered.

I could only watch, trapped in my own body, as Dr. Webb inserted the first needle into my arm. The silver burned, but I couldn't even flinch. The Alpha command held me frozen, a prisoner in my own flesh.

"The ritual will take approximately ten minutes," Dr. Webb said quietly. "The essence transfer is... intense."

Karina's weak voice drifted from her table. "Thank you, Reid. Thank you for choosing me."

Choosing her. Over me. Over our pup.

The apparatus hummed to life, ancient magic responding to Dr. Webb's touch. I felt it immediately—a pulling sensation deep in my core, like something vital was being drawn out through my very bones.

Golden light began to flow through the silver tubes, my essence made visible as it was siphoned away. With each pulse of light, I felt weaker, emptier, like I was dissolving from the inside out.

But the worst part wasn't the physical drain.

It was the moment I felt something tear inside my womb.

Sharp. Final. Irreversible.

My pup. My baby. The tiny life I'd discovered just hours ago was... gone.

I couldn't scream. Couldn't move. Couldn't even close my eyes as I felt our child slip away into darkness.

Then my wolf—my beautiful, fierce wolf who had been my companion since childhood—let out a sound I'd never heard before. A howl of such pure anguish, such complete betrayal, that it seemed to shake the very foundations of the chamber.

And then... silence.

Not just quiet. Silence. The absolute absence of her presence in my mind.

She was gone too.

Everything went black.

The wolfsbane revelation came three days after I woke up empty.

I was still confined to bed, my body a hollow shell that barely responded to commands. The healers had tried everything—herbs, salves, even ancient chants—but nothing could coax my wolf back from wherever she'd retreated. Dr. Webb said she was dormant, not dead, but the distinction felt meaningless when all I felt was silence where her presence used to sing.

Reid had left that morning for border patrols, his goodbye kiss landing on my forehead like a brand. I didn't react. Couldn't. My emotions had crystallized into something hard and cold, a diamond of rage buried so deep I could barely feel it myself.

Then Karina walked into my room.

She didn't knock. Just glided in wearing a silk robe that probably cost more than most pack members earned in a month, her skin glowing with health, her scent strong and vibrant. Nothing like the dying wolf from a week ago.

"Oh good, you're awake." She perched on the edge of my bed, and I caught it—the faintest whiff of something bitter beneath her natural scent. "I wanted to thank you properly. You know, for saving my life."

I stared at the ceiling. Didn't trust myself to speak.

"The thing is," Karina continued, examining her manicured nails, "I wasn't actually dying. Well, you probably figured that out by now, right? I mean, look at me." She gestured to herself, a smile playing at her lips. "Wolfsbane is fascinating stuff. Just a tiny bit, carefully measured, can mimic all sorts of symptoms. Elevated heart rate, weakened aura, even that 'fading' scent. I had to be so careful with the doses."

Something cracked in my chest. Not my heart—that had already shattered. Something deeper.

"You should've seen your face when Reid dragged you into that ritual chamber." Karina laughed, the sound light and musical. "All that begging. 'It's your pup, Reid! Our pup!' God, it was pathetic."

My fingers curled into the sheets.

"Oh, and speaking of the pup—" She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Dr. Webb gave me the remains afterward. Medical waste, he called it. I flushed it down the toilet. Seemed appropriate, don't you think? Just flushed your little mistake right down the drain."

The diamond of rage exploded into fire.

But I didn't move. Didn't scream. Didn't lunge at her throat the way every cell in my body demanded. Because in that moment of white-hot fury, clarity cut through like a blade.

Karina wanted a reaction. She wanted me broken, hysterical, easy to dismiss as an unstable Luna. She wanted Reid to see me as the problem, not her.

So I gave her nothing.

I turned my head slowly, met her gaze with eyes as empty as I felt, and smiled. "Thank you for telling me."

Her triumphant expression flickered. "What?"

"I said thank you." I pushed myself up to sitting, ignoring how my arms shook. "I needed to know exactly who you are. Now I do."

Karina's eyes narrowed. "You can't tell Reid. He'll never believe you anyway. He chose me, Nora. He'll always choose me."

"I know," I said softly. And I did. That truth had carved itself into my bones during those ten minutes on the altar.

She left shortly after, confusion warring with satisfaction on her face. The moment the door clicked shut, I reached for the burner phone I'd hidden under my mattress—a gift from my brother Samuel during his last visit, "just in case."

My father answered on the first ring.

"Songbird?" His voice was rough with concern. He hadn't called me that since I was a child.

"I need to come home, Dad." The words stuck in my throat. "But I need help. Legal help. The kind that involves treaties and territorial rights."

A pause. Then: "Tell me everything."

I did, speaking in the code we'd developed years ago for sensitive pack business. When I finished, silence stretched so long I thought the connection had dropped.

"That bastard." My father's voice could have frozen fire. "I'm calling Benedict. You remember Prince Benedict?"

"Yes." The Lycan I'd been betrothed to before I chose Reid. Before I threw away everything for a love that turned out to be poison.

"He's been asking about you. Heard rumors." Another pause. "Nora, for this to work legally, you need to be in a public space. Somewhere Reid can't claim absolute territorial authority."

"A Pack Gathering," I whispered.

"Exactly. Can you manage that?"

I looked down at my trembling hands, at the body that felt like a stranger's. "I'll find a way."

Two days later, I walked into Reid's office on legs that barely held me. He looked up from his paperwork, surprise and something like hope flashing across his face.

"Nora. You're up."

"I want to call a Pack Gathering." My voice was steady. I'd practiced in the mirror for hours. "I want to publicly forgive Karina. Show the pack that we're united. That the Luna supports her Alpha's decisions."

Reid stood slowly, studying my face. I kept my expression serene, submissive, everything he wanted to see.

"You'd do that?" His hand reached for mine. I let him take it, let him pull me close, even though my skin crawled. "Nora, I knew you'd understand eventually. We can move past this. We can try again for a pup—"

"Let's heal the pack first," I interrupted gently. "Then we can talk about our future."

He kissed my forehead, and I tasted bile.

"I'll arrange it for tomorrow night," he said. "Full moon. The whole pack will attend."

Perfect.

I smiled up at him, the same empty smile I'd given Karina. "I can't wait."