The door to our private quarters swung open, and Sebastian's tall frame filled the doorway. His dark hair was slightly disheveled from the morning's pack meeting, but his eyes held that familiar twinkle that had first drawn me to him in college.

"Camila," he called, his voice warm with what sounded like genuine affection. "I have something for you."

I looked up from the Luna correspondence spread across my desk. "What is it now? Another charity gala invitation?"

Sebastian crossed the room with that confident stride that still made my heart skip after all these years. In his hands was a large, pristine white box tied with a delicate brown ribbon.

"Open it," he urged, his smile widening.

I set down my pen and took the box, feeling its weight. The familiar orange lining inside made my breath catch.

"Sebastian, is this—"

"An Hermès Birkin," he finished for me, looking pleased with himself. "I know how hard you've been working with the new pack members. Thought you deserved something special."

My fingers traced the emerald-green leather. It was beautiful, undoubtedly expensive, and...

"Thank you," I said, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of my mind. "It's lovely."

Sebastian kissed my forehead. "Only the best for my Luna."

As soon as he left, I stared at the bag more carefully. The emerald-green shade with gold hardware was stunning, but something about it felt... off. I frowned, running my fingers over the leather.

This wasn't my style at all.

I had always preferred classic, understated pieces—the kind that Azaria called "boring." My best friend had been obsessed with this exact shade of green for months, constantly showing me pictures of designer bags in this color.

A cold feeling settled in my stomach.

---

The pack house luncheon was in full swing when I arrived, the new handbag swinging from my arm. Several pack members nodded respectfully as I took my seat at the head table.

"New bag, Luna Camila?" Elena, my personal guard, whispered as she pulled out my chair.

"Just a gift from Sebastian," I replied, keeping my voice light despite the knot forming in my chest.

Azaria arrived moments later, her usual bubbly self. She'd been my rock since I brought her into the pack after rescuing her from that nightmare with her former mate. We'd been inseparable ever since.

"Hey, girl!" she exclaimed, leaning in for a hug. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's fine," I said, studying her face. "I was just admiring my new bag. Sebastian surprised me this morning."

Something flickered across Azaria's features—so quickly I almost missed it. Her eyes darted to the bag, then away.

"Oh, yeah, it's nice," she said, her voice oddly flat.

I inhaled deeply, my Luna senses picking up a sudden spike of anxiety in her scent—sharp and sour.

"Sebastian said it was just to thank me for my hard work," I continued, watching her carefully. "What do you think of the color?"

Azaria's eyes darted around the room. "It's... it's fine. Green isn't really my thing anymore."

But I remembered her excitement just last week when she'd shown me a photo of this exact shade.

"Isn't it the same green you've been wanting?" I asked innocently.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered, then abruptly changed the subject. "Did you hear about the new territory dispute with the eastern packs?"

---

Later that afternoon, I sat alone in my private study, the handbag placed carefully on my desk. Something wasn't right. The way Azaria had reacted, the sudden change in her scent...

I pulled out my tablet and logged into the pack's financial system using my Luna credentials. If Sebastian had bought this bag as a surprise, there would be a record of it.

I scrolled through recent transactions, my heart pounding. And then I saw it—a receipt from Hermès dated three days ago. But instead of one bag, the receipt showed two identical purchases.

Two emerald-green Birkin bags with gold hardware. Bought at the same time.

My fingers trembled as I stared at the screen. This wasn't a random gift. This was planned.

I thought back to all the late nights Sebastian had been working, the mysterious phone calls he'd take in private, the way Azaria had been acting strangely around him.

No. It couldn't be.

But the evidence was right in front of me. Two bags, purchased together. One for me, and one...

I closed my eyes, feeling sick. The other one had to be for Azaria.

My mate and my best friend.

The room seemed to spin around me as I gripped the edge of my desk. I needed more proof. I needed to know for certain.

Because if this was true, everything I believed about my life was a lie.

I paced my office, the emerald-green handbag sitting on my desk like a poisonous snake. Two bags. Two identical purchases. The evidence was right in front of me, but I needed more. I needed to be certain before I acted.

My wolf, Luna, stirred restlessly inside me. *We should confront them now*, she urged.

"No," I whispered, pressing my fingers to my temples. "We need proof they can't deny."

I checked the time. Sebastian would be leading the warriors' training session for another hour. Perfect timing.

Moving with deliberate calmness that belied the storm raging inside me, I made my way to his private Alpha office. The hallway was mercifully empty—most pack members were either at their posts or watching the training session.

I slipped inside, closing the door silently behind me. The scent of Sebastian's pine and cedar cologne hung in the air, mixed with something else—a faint trace of floral perfume that didn't belong to me.

"Where would you hide something, Sebastian?" I murmured, scanning his immaculate desk.

I started methodically, checking drawers and cabinets. Nothing. Then I remembered how Sebastian had always been proud of his clever hiding spots in college.

"He loved hiding things in plain sight," I whispered to myself.

My eyes fell on his desk drawers again. This time, I pulled them out completely, examining the underside. Nothing on the first two. But when I removed the third drawer—the deepest one—something tapped against the wood as it swung free.

A phone. Small, black, and completely different from his regular Alpha phone that was always visible on his desk.

My hands trembled as I reached for it. It was taped to the underside of the drawer with strong adhesive. I carefully peeled it off, noting the protective case—plain black, nondescript.

"Let's see what secrets you're hiding," I said, turning on the device.

A passcode screen appeared. Four digits. I tried our anniversary date. Nothing. His birthday. Nothing.

Then I remembered—his old college anniversary. The day we first scented each other before we officially became mates.

The screen unlocked.

*You're pathetic*, Luna growled inside me. *Using your special day as a password for his affair*.

I swallowed hard and opened his messages. There it was—a fake social media account created exclusively for communication with one person: Azaria.

My finger hovered over the icon before tapping it. Part of me wanted to stop, to preserve whatever innocence I had left. But I couldn't afford that luxury anymore.

The messages loaded, months of conversations revealing themselves in chronological order.

"Miss you already," read one from three weeks ago. "Can't wait until tonight."

"I love how you make me feel," Azaria had replied. "So much better than when I'm around her."

Her. Me.

I scrolled further, my vision blurring with unshed tears.

"She's so naive," Sebastian had written. "Thinks I'm working late again. You're so much more... everything than she'll ever be."

"And she still doesn't suspect anything?" Azaria's message read.

"Not a clue. Camila trusts everyone too easily. It's actually kind of boring how predictable she is."

I forced myself to keep reading, each message more sickening than the last. They mocked my trust, planned their meetings while I was occupied with pack duties, discussed their future together.

Then I saw it—a message from today.

"Meet you at the Regal Cinema at 2. That new action movie starts at 2:15. We'll have plenty of time before anyone notices we're gone."

I checked the time. 12:30. The movie theater was a thirty-minute drive away.

Without hesitation, I grabbed my keys and headed for my car.

---

The Regal Cinema sat on the outskirts of the neighboring human town. I parked across the street, positioning myself where I could see the main entrance but remain unnoticed.

My heart pounded as I waited, watching people enter and exit the theater. What if I was wrong? What if this was all some misunderstanding?

But deep down, I knew better.

At 4:17, the movie ended. Groups of people began filing out of the lobby, laughing and chatting.

Then I saw them.

Sebastian emerged first, his tall frame easy to spot even in the crowd. He looked relaxed, happy—a version of him I rarely saw lately.

Then Azaria appeared beside him, her hand sliding effortlessly into his as if they'd done this a thousand times before.

They walked out together, still holding hands, their heads tilted toward each other in intimate conversation.

I inhaled sharply, and their intertwined scents hit me like a physical blow—Sebastian's pine mixing with Azaria's floral perfume, creating a sickening new scent that made my stomach churn.

Luna snarled inside me, her rage matching my own.

*Kill them both*, she urged.

"Not yet," I whispered, my hands gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. "First, we plan. Then, we strike."

As I watched them walk to Sebastian's car, laughing together as if they hadn't just destroyed everything I believed in, a cold fury settled over me.

They thought I was naive. Predictable. Trusting.

They were about to learn how wrong they were.

I stepped out of the shadows, my heart hammering against my ribs as Sebastian and Azaria walked hand in hand toward his car. The parking lot lights cast harsh shadows across their faces, making them look like strangers—because that's what they were to me now.

"Camila!" Sebastian's voice cracked with shock. He dropped Azaria's hand as if it had burned him, his eyes darting around like a cornered animal. "What are you doing here?"

Azaria's face drained of color, her fingers nervously twisting together. "Luna Camila, I—"

"Don't," I cut her off, my voice steadier than I felt. "Just don't."

Sebastian recovered quickly, his Alpha mask sliding into place. He straightened his shoulders and fixed me with what I now recognized as his most manipulative expression.

"Camila, you're overreacting," he said, his tone shifting to that commanding Alpha resonance that had once made me feel safe. Now it just made my skin crawl. "We were just discussing pack business."

"Pack business," I repeated, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "Is that what you call sneaking away to the movies together?"

"It's not what you think," Azaria interjected, her voice trembling with practiced vulnerability. "We literally just bumped into each other here."

I laughed—a cold, hollow sound that surprised even me. "Bumped into each other? With matching handbags and secret phones?"

Sebastian's eyes widened fractionally before he composed himself. "Camila, you're being paranoid. This is exactly why I didn't tell you about the surprise pack event we're planning."

"Surprise pack event," I echoed, watching as Azaria's eyes flickered with panic before she composed herself.

"Yes," Sebastian pressed on, gaining confidence. "We wanted to organize something special for the pack members who've been working so hard lately."

The lies flowed so easily from his lips. My wolf, Luna, snarled inside me, her rage matching my own.

"Stop it," I said quietly. "Just stop lying."

To my surprise, tears welled up in Azaria's eyes. "Camila, how can you think I would ever betray you? After everything you've done for me?"

I stared at her, this woman I'd saved from an abusive mate, given a home, a position, my complete trust—and she was crying crocodile tears while standing beside my mate.

"Enough," I said, stepping closer. My Luna presence unfurled around me like a cloak, and I watched Sebastian's Alpha aura retreat slightly. "I'm not the naive, trusting fool you think I am."

Sebastian's expression hardened. "What do you want, Camila?"

"Three things," I said, holding up my hand. "First, you sleep in the east wing from now on. Second, no non-official contact with Azaria. Third, she steps down as Beta immediately."

"You can't—" Sebastian began.

"I can," I cut him off. "And I will. Unless you'd prefer I reject you publicly at the next pack gathering?"

The threat hung in the air between us. A public rejection would be a scandal that would rock the entire pack—something neither of us could afford.

"You wouldn't," Sebastian whispered, but uncertainty flickered in his eyes.

"Try me," I replied coldly.

Azaria stepped forward, her tears now flowing freely. "I'll resign. I don't want to cause problems between you two."

Sebastian looked trapped, his jaw working silently before he finally nodded. "Fine. We'll do it your way. For now."

---

The next morning's pack meeting was tense with unspoken undercurrents. I sat beside Sebastian at the head table, our faces masks of unity while our eyes remained cold.

The room fell silent as Azaria stood, her voice quavering with emotion.

"I have an announcement," she said, her eyes glistening with tears that I now recognized as perfectly rehearsed. "After much consideration, I've decided to step down as Beta of Moonridge Pack."

Murmurs rippled through the assembly. This was unexpected—Beta positions were rarely voluntarily surrendered.

"My mental health has been declining," Azaria continued, her voice breaking at just the right moment. "The trauma from my past has resurfaced, and I need to focus on healing."

Sympathetic nods and whispers spread through the room. I watched impassively as Azaria played her part perfectly—the wounded victim needing rest and understanding.

As the meeting adjourned, pack members approached Azaria with condolences and well-wishes. I observed from my seat, noting how Sebastian made his way casually toward her.

And then I saw it—a subtle brush of his hand against hers as they passed each other, so quick anyone else would have missed it.

But I didn't miss it. And as our eyes met across the room, Sebastian's widened slightly in surprise.

He thought he'd won this round. He thought I'd be fooled by their performance.

He had no idea what was coming next.