Everything happened so fast.

One moment Milana was screaming accusations, the next she was lunging toward me with silver claws extended. I saw the deadly gleam of the forbidden weapons—silver, toxic to our kind, outlawed in pack conflicts for generations.

"You think you can just take what's mine?" she shrieked, her face contorted with jealousy and rage.

Time seemed to slow as I realized I couldn't dodge in time. The silver claws arced through the air, aimed directly at my face. I braced myself for the impact, unable to move fast enough.

Then a blur of motion intercepted her attack.

"AALIYAH!"

Lucian's roar echoed across the clearing as he threw himself between us. I heard the sickening sound of silver piercing flesh, saw his body jerk as the claws raked across his back and shoulder instead of finding their intended target.

"No!" The scream tore from my throat as Lucian collapsed against me.

Blood bloomed across his shirt—dark, poisonous silver-tinted blood that sizzled where it touched his skin. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils as the silver poison immediately began spreading through his system.

"Lucian!" I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands hovering helplessly over his wounds. "Why did you—"

His eyes met mine, amber fading to hazel as the silver weakened him. "Always... protect... my Luna."

Behind us, chaos erupted. Alejandro's shocked voice cut through the commotion: "Silver claws? Are you insane?"

Even he seemed horrified by Milana's violation of our most sacred law. The use of silver in pack conflicts was taboo—a line that, once crossed, could never be uncrossed.

But I couldn't focus on anything except Lucian's labored breathing, the silver poison spreading visibly through his veins in dark, spiderweb patterns.

"Healers!" I screamed, my voice carrying across the territory. "I need healers NOW!"

Lucian's hand found mine, gripping with surprising strength despite his injury. "Aaliyah..."

"Don't talk," I ordered, tearing strips from my ceremonial dress to press against his wounds. "Save your strength."

My Luna instincts took over—calm, focused, and utterly determined. I positioned him carefully to minimize the silver's spread, remembering everything I'd learned about treating silver wounds.

"Stay with me," I whispered, my tears falling onto his face as I worked. "You can't leave me now."

Something shifted in his expression—surprise, perhaps, or realization. "Aaliyah... I think..."

"Don't think," I interrupted, pressing harder against the wounds. "Just stay with me."

The pack healer arrived in a blur of motion, immediately taking charge of Lucian's treatment. I refused to move from his side, my hands still covered in his blood.

"This is beyond a contract," I heard myself saying, the words tumbling out between desperate breaths. "You're my mate—my true mate."

Lucian's eyes widened, then drifted closed as the healer worked. But not before I saw the truth reflected there—he felt it too.

---

"The use of silver claws is punishable by exile," Elder Catherine announced, her voice echoing through the emergency council session convened in the great hall.

I sat beside Lucian's bed, refusing to leave even for this meeting. Through the open door, I could hear the council's deliberations—the shock and outrage in their voices as they addressed Milana's attack.

"Attempted murder of a Luna is an offense against all packs," another elder added. "Against the Moon Goddess herself."

Milana stood in the center of the room, wrists bound with silver chains that prevented her from shifting or fleeing. Her eyes remained defiant despite her circumstances.

"She stole everything from me," she spat, glaring in my direction. "She doesn't deserve to be Luna."

"That's not for you to decide," Elder Catherine replied coldly. "The Moon Goddess chooses our mates and Lunas."

I felt Lucian stir beside me and turned my attention back to him. His breathing had steadied, though the silver poisoning would take days to fully clear from his system.

"You should rest," he murmured, his voice still rough with pain.

"So should you," I replied, squeezing his hand gently.

Through the door, I could see Alejandro being questioned by the council. His face had gone pale as he realized the full extent of Milana's actions—and his own implication in enabling her behavior.

"Alpha Wells," Elder Catherine was saying, "your pack's repeated violations of sacred law cannot go unpunished."

I turned away from the sight, focusing instead on Lucian's face. My Luna aura flared around us—a protective glow that several pack members commented on with amazement.

"I've never seen a Luna's aura so strong," whispered a young pack member who had been assigned to assist with Lucian's care.

"She's not just protecting him," another replied softly. "She's healing him."

I didn't know if that was possible—if a Luna could actually heal her mate with her aura. But as I sat beside Lucian, my hand in his, I felt something powerful flowing between us—something far beyond the terms of our contract.

"What happens now?" Lucian asked quietly.

I met his gaze, seeing in it a question that went far deeper than the immediate crisis.

"Now," I said firmly, "we face whatever comes together."

As if in response to my words, my Luna aura flared brighter, enveloping us both in its protective glow.

The great hall fell silent as Elder Catherine rose to her feet, her weathered face solemn as she prepared to deliver the council's judgment. I sat beside Lucian's bed, which had been moved to the side of the room so he could witness the trial despite his injuries. His hand rested in mine, warm and steady despite the silver poison still working its way out of his system.

Milana stood in the center of the circular chamber, silver chains binding her wrists. Her once-proud posture had crumbled, but defiance still blazed in her eyes as she glared at me.

"Milana Lopez," Elder Catherine's voice echoed through the hall, "you stand accused of multiple violations of our most sacred laws."

The evidence mounted like a tidal wave—testimony from pack members who had seen her sneak into the Luna quarters, fingerprints on my ceremonial gown, and finally, the silver claws themselves, displayed in a glass case for all to see.

"The use of silver weapons against a Luna is an offense against all packs," Elder Catherine continued, her voice hardening. "Against the Moon Goddess herself."

I watched Milana's face as her schemes were laid bare. The systematic way she had worked to undermine me, to desecrate sacred traditions, to steal what wasn't hers to take.

"By unanimous decision of the combined councils," Elder Catherine pronounced, "you are hereby exiled as a rogue for fifteen years."

A collective gasp rippled through the gathered witnesses. Fifteen years—it might as well be forever. No pack would take her now. She would live alone, hunted, unwanted.

"This is your fault!" Milana screamed, lunging toward me only to be yanked back by the guards. "You stole everything from me!"

I met her gaze steadily. "I took nothing that wasn't freely given. You lost everything because of your own actions."

As they dragged her away, her screams echoing down the corridor, I felt no satisfaction—only a hollow sadness for what could have been.

---

"Aaliyah, please."

Alejandro's voice was barely recognizable, stripped of its usual arrogance. He stood at the entrance to Lucian's recovery chamber, his face pale and drawn.

"You need to leave," I said firmly, not looking up from where I was changing Lucian's bandages.

"I need to apologize," he insisted, taking a step closer. "What happened—what Milana did—it's my fault."

Finally, I raised my eyes to meet his. The Alpha I had once agreed to mate was a shadow of himself now, his aura diminished, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"You enabled her," I said quietly. "You knew what she was doing."

"I didn't think—" he began.

"That's the problem," I interrupted. "You didn't think about anyone but yourself."

Lucian stirred beside me, his eyes opening to find mine. The simple gesture—seeking me first—said everything about where his priorities lay.

"Aaliyah, I know I've lost you," Alejandro said, his voice breaking. "But I need you to know how sorry I am."

I turned back to Lucian, gently brushing hair from his forehead. "Your apology means nothing to me now."

Alejandro flinched as if I'd struck him. "Is there anything I can do? Anything to make amends?"

"Leave," I said simply. "And never come near us again."

As he turned to go, shoulders hunched in defeat, I felt the last threads of our past relationship finally snap and dissolve.

---

The silver poison had finally cleared from Lucian's system, leaving him weak but healing. I'd barely left his side for three days, using my Luna powers to speed his recovery.

"You should rest," he murmured, watching me adjust his pillows.

"I'm fine," I replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "The healer says you'll be back to normal in a few more days."

He reached up to touch my face, his fingers tracing the curve of my cheek. "You've been using your Luna powers for me."

I nodded. "They work better than anyone expected."

"Because you care," he said simply.

The truth of his words hung between us, breaking down the last walls we'd maintained.

"This isn't part of our contract," I admitted softly. "What I feel for you... it's more than an alliance."

His eyes darkened, pupils dilating as he processed my confession. "Aaliyah..."

"I know we started this for strategic reasons," I continued, my heart racing. "But somewhere along the way, it became real."

Lucian's hand tightened around mine, his grip suddenly fierce. "When I thought she might hurt you—when I felt the silver claws—all I could think was that I couldn't lose you."

The raw honesty in his voice stripped away the last of my reservations.

"Our contract was supposed to be about territory and power," I whispered.

"And now?" he asked, his voice rough with emotion.

"Now it's about us," I replied, leaning forward until our foreheads touched. "About what we choose together."

His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close despite his injuries. As our lips met in a kiss that felt like coming home, I knew with absolute certainty that this was where I belonged—not because of a contract or an arrangement, but because my heart recognized its mate.