The servant's quarters smelled like bleach and desperation. I knelt on the cold stone floor, scrubbing champagne and my own blood from my hands with a rag that had seen better days. The glass cuts stung, but I welcomed the pain. It was real. It was something I could understand.

The door swung open without a knock.

Ava.

She stood in the doorway like a vision in white—her mating gown was all lace and pearls, probably custom-made in Paris or Milan. The kind of dress I'd once imagined wearing. Her blonde hair cascaded in perfect waves over her shoulders, and her smile was sugar-sweet poison.

"Oh, Estelle." She pressed a manicured hand to her chest, eyes wide with fake concern. "Are you alright? That was such a terrible scene you caused."

I kept scrubbing. Didn't look up. "I'm fine."

"Here, let me help you." She crossed the room in a whisper of silk, kneeling beside me. Before I could move away, her fingers dug into my shoulder—nails biting through the thin fabric of my dress like claws. The pressure was just shy of drawing blood.

I sucked in a breath.

"You should be grateful," she whispered, her voice dropping to something cold and sharp. "Grateful that Kieran is merciful enough to let you serve at our ceremony. Grateful that you're even allowed to breathe the same air as him." Her nails pressed harder. "He's mine now, Estelle. He always was. The Moon Goddess just needed time to correct her mistake."

I jerked away from her grip, my wolf snarling weakly inside me. "Get out."

Ava stood, smoothing her dress with deliberate care. "Clean yourself up. You're bleeding on the floor again." She paused at the door, glancing back with that perfect smile. "Oh, and Estelle? Don't even think about approaching him tonight. Security has orders to remove any... disturbances."

The door clicked shut behind her.

I waited until her footsteps faded before I let the tears come.

---

I shouldn't have gone to the Alpha guest wing.

I knew it was stupid. Reckless. The kind of thing that would get me thrown out or worse. But I couldn't stop myself. The mate bond was screaming inside me, demanding answers, demanding him. My wolf—weak as she was—kept pushing me forward through the darkened corridors.

The moon pendant burned against my palm, the silver warm from my grip. He'd given it to me on my sixteenth birthday, the night my wolf first emerged. "So you'll always have a piece of the moon," he'd said, fastening it around my neck. "And a piece of me."

I had to make him remember.

The guest wing was quiet, lit only by sconces that cast long shadows across expensive carpets. I pressed myself against the wall as voices echoed from a nearby room—pack business, probably. I waited, heart hammering, until the door opened.

Kieran stepped out, alone.

He was adjusting his cufflinks, his profile sharp in the dim light. For a moment, he looked exactly like the boy I'd loved. Then he turned, and I saw the stranger he'd become.

"Kieran." My voice cracked. "Please. Just listen—"

He moved faster than I could track. One second I was standing in the hallway, the next my back slammed against the wall, his hand beside my head, caging me in. His eyes flashed gold—his wolf rising to the surface.

"You don't get to say my name." His voice was a growl, barely human. "You lost that right when you sold us out."

"I never—" I fumbled with the pendant, holding it up between us with shaking hands. "Look. Remember? You gave this to me. You promised we'd always—"

His hand shot out, snatching the pendant from my grip. He held it up to the light, his expression twisting into something cruel. "A trophy of your betrayal. I should have taken it back the night I found out what you really are."

"What are you talking about?" Tears streamed down my face. "I never betrayed you. I never betrayed anyone!"

"Liar." He leaned closer, his breath hot against my cheek. "I remember everything, Estelle. Every. Single. Thing. I remember you handing those patrol routes to the rogues. I remember the money changing hands. I remember your face when you thought no one was watching."

"That's not—that never happened!" My wolf whimpered, confused and hurt. "Kieran, please, you have to believe me—"

But something was wrong. His scent—it should have been cedar and rain, the smell that had always meant home. Instead, there was something else underneath. Something cloying and sickly sweet, like flowers left too long in a vase.

Wolfsbane.

"You're being poisoned," I whispered, the realization hitting me like ice water. "Kieran, someone's been giving you wolfsbane. That's why you can't—"

His hand wrapped around my throat. Not squeezing, but the threat was clear.

"Enough." His eyes were pure gold now, his wolf fully present. "You had your chance to tell the truth three years ago. Now you'll watch me mark my true mate tomorrow, and you'll know exactly what you lost."

He released me, shoving the pendant into his pocket.

"Stay away from me, Estelle. Next time, I won't be so gentle."

He walked away, leaving me gasping against the wall.

And I knew—with horrible, crushing certainty—that the Kieran I'd loved was gone.

The morning air bit at my skin as I stumbled to keep pace with the pack. My human legs burned, muscles screaming with every step while wolves the size of small cars streaked past me in blurs of fur and power.

I wasn't allowed to shift. Omegas ran in human form during ceremonial hunts—a reminder of our place at the bottom of the hierarchy. A reminder that we were less.

Kieran's wolf led the pack, massive and silver-gray, his Alpha aura rolling off him in waves that made my weak wolf cower. Beside him ran a smaller wolf with golden fur that caught the sunlight like spun honey.

Ava.

They moved in perfect sync, their bodies flowing together like they'd been running side by side for years instead of months. My chest tightened. That should have been me. That was supposed to be me.

The forest path narrowed, forcing me closer to the edge where rocks jutted out like broken teeth. I focused on my footing, on breathing, on anything except the bond that kept pulling me toward the silver wolf at the front.

Then Ava's wolf dropped back.

I didn't understand why until her shoulder slammed into my legs.

The world tilted. My feet left the path. I had one heartbeat to realize I was falling before my body hit the embankment, tumbling over rocks and roots that tore at my skin and dress. Pain exploded across my ribs, my shoulder, my face.

I came to rest at the bottom in a heap, tasting blood and dirt.

Laughter echoed from above. The pack elites had stopped to watch, their wolves' eyes gleaming with amusement. Entertainment for the privileged.

Paws thundered on the path. The silver wolf appeared at the top of the embankment, and for one stupid, hopeful second, I thought he'd come to help.

Kieran shifted, his human form replacing his wolf in a ripple of power. He stood there naked and perfect, looking down at me like I was something he'd scraped off his shoe.

"Clumsy," he called down, his voice carrying to the watching pack. "The Moon Goddess punishes weak blood. Maybe if you'd been stronger, you wouldn't keep falling."

More laughter. Ava shifted beside him, and he immediately draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

They left me there.

All of them left me there.

I lay in the dirt until the sound of paws faded, until I was sure they were gone. Then I dragged myself up, every movement agony, and limped back toward the pack house.

---

The Silver Lake gardens were supposed to be neutral ground—a place of peace where visiting wolves could find solace away from pack politics. I stumbled through the ornate gates, desperate for somewhere to hide, somewhere to breathe.

Moon Flowers grew in a secluded corner, their white petals luminescent even in daylight. The sight of them stopped me cold.

Kieran had planted Moon Flowers outside my bedroom window when we were seventeen. "So you can see them every morning," he'd said, dirt under his fingernails and hope in his eyes. "So you'll think of me."

I sank onto a stone bench, my battered body grateful for the rest. The flowers swayed in the breeze, innocent and beautiful, and I hated them for reminding me of everything I'd lost.

Footsteps crunched on gravel.

I looked up to find Kieran standing at the garden entrance, still in his running clothes, dirt smudged across his chest. His eyes locked on the Moon Flowers, and something dark crossed his face.

He crossed the garden in long strides and grabbed the nearest plant, ripping it from the soil with savage force. Roots tore. Dirt flew. White petals scattered like snow.

He moved to the next one. And the next.

"Stop." The word left my mouth before I could stop it.

His head snapped toward me. For a moment, we just stared at each other across the ruined garden, him holding an uprooted flower, me bleeding and broken on the bench.

Then he walked over and threw the plant at my feet. Dirt splattered across my torn dress.

"These were always a lie," he said, his voice flat and cold. "Pretty things hiding poison underneath. Just like you."

I couldn't speak. Couldn't move.

"Tonight," he continued, brushing dirt from his hands with deliberate care, "at the ceremony, I'm going to reject you. Formally. In front of every Alpha in the region." He crouched down, bringing his face level with mine. "I'm going to sever our bond completely, Estelle. No more cursed connection. No more mistakes. Just me and my true mate."

My wolf howled inside me, a sound of pure anguish.

"You'll watch me mark Ava," he said softly, almost gently. "You'll watch me choose her. And you'll know, finally, that the Moon Goddess never meant for us to be together."

He stood, looking down at me one last time.

"Wear something nice. I want you to look presentable when I destroy you."

He walked away, leaving me surrounded by uprooted flowers and the ruins of everything we'd been.

The bridal suite was on the third floor, guarded by two Delta wolves who'd left for lunch rotation ten minutes ago. I'd counted. Timed it. Memorized their pattern while scrubbing floors this morning.

I shouldn't be doing this. If I got caught, they'd throw me out—or worse. But that sickly-sweet scent clinging to Kieran wouldn't leave my mind. Wolfsbane. I was sure of it now. And if someone was poisoning him, if someone was manipulating his memories...

I had to know.

The door wasn't locked. Ava was at the spa with her bridesmaids, wouldn't be back for at least an hour. I slipped inside, my heart hammering so loud I was sure someone would hear it through the walls.

The suite was obscene—all white silk and gold fixtures, like a wedding cake come to life. Ava's luggage sat open on the chaise, designer clothes spilling out in a waterfall of expensive fabric. I moved toward it, my hands shaking.

There. Tucked beneath a layer of lingerie—a leather case, small and discreet.

I pulled it out, fingers fumbling with the clasp. It opened with a soft click.

Vials. At least a dozen of them, filled with dark purple liquid that seemed to absorb the light. My wolf whimpered, recognizing the scent even through glass. Concentrated wolfsbane. Enough to suppress an Alpha's wolf for months. Years, even.

Beneath the vials lay a journal, the pages covered in Ava's precise handwriting. I flipped it open, my eyes scanning frantically.

*Day 47: Increased dosage to 15ml. His wolf is almost completely dormant now. He doesn't question the memory gaps anymore.*

*Day 89: Planted the false scent trail near the rogue border. Made sure his patrol found it. He believes she betrayed him now. Finally.*

*Day 120: The bond is nearly severed. Just need to maintain the dosage until the marking ceremony. Once I'm Luna, nothing can undo it.*

My hands trembled so badly the journal nearly slipped from my grip. Three years. She'd been poisoning him for three years, twisting his memories, making him hate me.

The rogue attack. She'd orchestrated it. All of it.

"Find something interesting?"

I spun around.

Ava stood in the doorway, still in her spa robe, her wet hair dripping onto the carpet. But her expression—there was no surprise there. No shock. Just cold, calculated satisfaction.

"You came back early," I whispered.

"I never left." She closed the door behind her, the lock clicking with a finality that made my stomach drop. "I saw you watching the guards this morning. Saw you counting their rotations." She smiled, and it was the cruelest thing I'd ever seen. "I wanted to see if you'd actually be stupid enough to take the bait."

My fingers tightened around the journal. "You poisoned him. You made him forget—"

"Forget?" Ava laughed, the sound sharp and brittle. "Oh, Estelle. He doesn't remember anything that didn't happen. I just... helped him see the truth." She crossed the room, her movements predatory. "That you were always beneath him. That the Moon Goddess made a mistake pairing a future Alpha with a changeling nobody."

"I'm his mate—"

"You're nothing." She ripped the journal from my hands, her nails scratching my skin. "You were nothing the day you were born, and you're nothing now. I'm the Alpha's true daughter. I'm the one who deserves to be Luna. Not some switched-at-birth charity case who can barely shift."

I backed toward the door, but she moved faster, blocking my path.

"The rogue attack," I said, my voice shaking. "You set it up. You wanted Kieran hurt—"

"I wanted you gone." Her eyes flashed gold. "I wanted him to see you for what you really are. A liability. A weakness." She pulled out her phone, her thumb hovering over the screen. "And now, thanks to your little breaking-and-entering stunt, everyone else will see it too."

"Ava, please—"

She pressed dial.

"Guards," she said sweetly into the phone, her eyes never leaving mine. "I have an intruder in my suite. The Omega girl—Estelle Anderson. She's stolen from me. Attacked me." She touched her neck, and I watched in horror as she dragged her own nails across her skin, drawing blood. "She's dangerous. Unstable. Lock her in the dungeons until after the ceremony. I don't want her anywhere near my mate."

Footsteps thundered in the hallway.

"You can't—" I lunged for the door, but Ava grabbed my arm, her grip iron-strong.

"Watch me," she whispered.

The door burst open. Four guards flooded in, their faces grim and determined. I tried to explain, tried to show them the vials, but Ava was screaming now, playing her part perfectly.

"She tried to poison me! She's insane—she can't accept that Kieran chose me!"

Hands seized my arms. I struggled, my weak wolf snarling uselessly, but it was four against one and I was already injured from the morning's fall.

"The vials," I gasped as they dragged me toward the door. "Check the vials—test them—"

But Ava was already tucking the leather case back into her luggage, her tears perfectly timed, her performance flawless.

The last thing I saw before they hauled me into the hallway was her smile.

Victorious. Poisonous. Absolute.

And I knew—with crushing, terrible certainty—that no one was coming to save me.