Jayme POV:

Three days later, I was in France.

My old agent, Sarah—a human oblivious to wolves—found me a gig. Indie film, lavender fields of Provence. Far enough from the Blood Moon that I could breathe without my lungs aching.

I was unpacking in a cramped hotel room when my new burner phone rang. Blocked number.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

The voice was a bucket of ice water. Autry.

"Why are you calling?"

"I asked a question, Jayme!" His voice deepened into the Alpha Command . It used to make my knees buckle. Tell me where you are!

I waited for the compulsion.

Nothing.

The rejection had severed the neurological hook. His voice was just... loud.

"I don't have to answer you," I smiled. "You have no power here."

"Jayme, listen," he sounded panicked. "The council is asking questions. They know you're gone. I need you to sign some NDAs. Just come back for a day."

"Send them to my lawyer," I said. "Oh wait, you fired him. Goodbye, Mr. Villarreal."

I hung up and snapped the SIM card in half.

Downstairs, the crew was gathering.

"Ah, the mysterious beauty!"

A man walked toward me. Tall, messy blonde hair, ocean eyes. T-shirt and jeans, but he moved with the lazy confidence of a predator.

"I'm Kenan," he extended a hand. "Director."

I shook it.

Zap.

Static electricity, warm and pleasant, jumped between us.

And then the scent hit me.

Pine needles. Sea salt. Old parchment.

It was a balm to my frayed nerves. My wolf stirred from her coma, lifting her head to purr.

"I'm Jayme," I breathed.

Kenan held my hand too long. His pupils dilated. He was a wolf. A strong one.

"You have sad eyes, Jayme," he said softly. "Perfect for this role."

We went to the fields. Work was a distraction. Until the wind changed.

Thwup-thwup-thwup.

A sleek black helicopter crested the ridge, bearing the Blood Moon logo. It landed, flattening the lavender.

Autry stepped out. Dark suit, sunglasses, holding red roses like a grim reaper with a guilty conscience.

He ignored the shouting crew and locked onto me.

"Jayme!" he yelled over the rotors. "Get in the chopper. We're going home."

Jayme POV:

"Cut!" Kenan yelled, ignored by the dying engine whine.

Autry marched through the lavender, crushing flowers with Italian leather. His Alpha aura rolled off him in waves, terrifying the human crew.

"I told you to get in," Autry growled, grabbing my wrist. His grip was a shackle.

"Let go!" I yanked back.

"Stop making a scene," he hissed. "The council knows I let a Fated Mate walk. My reputation is bleeding out. You’re coming back to the guest house until I fix this."

"I am not your property!" I shouted. My wolf snarled, and a flash of strange, white-hot heat surged through my veins.

"Release her."

The voice was a low rumble of thunder.

Kenan stepped between us. T-shirt versus suit, but the air around Kenan grew dense.

Autry sneered. "Stay out of this, human. Family business."

Kenan didn't flinch. He grabbed Autry's wrist.

"I said, let go."

Kenan squeezed.

Autry’s eyes went wide. He tried to pull away, but Kenan’s grip was a vice. Autry realized what I had: this "director" wasn't human. And he wasn't weak.

Autry released me, rubbing his wrist. "Which pack? You're interfering with Blood Moon."

"My set," Kenan said flatly. "My actress. You are trespassing."

Autry sniffed the air, smelling Kenan on me from the handshake.

"Replaced me already?" Autry laughed, a cruel bark. "With a Rogue director?"

"Autry! Wait!"

Cassie stumbled out of the chopper, heels sinking into the dirt. She linked her arm through Autry's.

"What is taking so long?" Then she saw me. "Oh. You."

She looked at the cameras, then Kenan. "Wait, is this Midnight Rain ? My father is the main investor for the distribution."

Kenan frowned. "So?"

"So," Cassie smirked, "I want the lead. If Jayme is leaving, the spot is open."

"I'm not going anywhere," I stepped closer to Kenan.

"Actually," Cassie tapped her phone, "I just texted Daddy. Unless you want your funding pulled, cast me. Jayme can be the... stunt double. The dangerous stuff."

Autry didn't stop her. He watched me, waiting for me to beg.

"Fine," I said, voice trembling with rage. "I'll do the stunts. But I'm staying."

"Jayme, you don't have to—" Kenan started.

"I need the money," I whispered. "And I won't let them run me off again."

Two hours later, I stood on a cliff edge. The scene: a jump into a stormy ocean (a water tank).

Cassie, standing off-camera, "accidentally" tripped over the wire. The safety harness jerked early.

I slipped.

I fell toward the concrete edge of the tank.

I braced for impact.

It didn't come.

Strong arms snatched me from the air. A body slammed into the concrete, taking the blow.

I gasped. I expected Kenan.

But the eyes staring down were amber. The scent was chocolate and rain.

Autry. He’d moved with Alpha speed, catching me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, breathless. For a second, the mask slipped, and he was just the boy who used to protect me.

Jayme POV:

Artificial rain poured down, hiding my tears. Autry was on top of me, shielding me. His heart hammered against my chest—a rhythm I knew too well.

His pupils were blown wide. Even rejected, biology is a stubborn thing.

He leaned down, gaze dropping to my lips.

"Jayme," he breathed.

He was going to kiss me. After the humiliation. After treating me like garbage.

I felt sick.

I shoved his chest. "Get off me!"

Autry blinked, looking wounded, as if I were the traitor. He rolled off, groaning.

I scrambled up. Kenan was running over, fury on his face.

"Hurt?" Kenan asked, ignoring Autry. He wrapped a towel around me, his pine scent cutting through Autry's pheromones like a knife.

"I'm fine," I shivered.

"Look at that!" Cassie screeched, snapping photos of Autry on the ground. "My hero! Saving the clumsy help."

That night, my world imploded again.

My phone blew up.

BREAKING: Disgraced Omega Jayme Barnes caught in scandalous orgy with Rogues!

Grainy photos. A woman who looked like me entangled with three rough men in an alley.

User1: No wonder Autry dumped her.

User2: Slut.

"No," I whispered.

I zoomed in. The woman's back was smooth.

I ran to the mirror. On my left shoulder blade sat a crescent birthmark.

It was a setup.

I stormed out, heading for Autry’s villa.

I didn't knock. I shoved the doors open. The guards stepped aside, sensing the murderous intent rolling off me.

"Autry!"

The house smelled of musk, sweat, and post-coital wolves.

I walked into the living room. Autry was buttoning his shirt. Cassie lounged on the sofa in a silk robe, smirking.

Autry looked up. Fresh red scratch marks marred his neck. Cassie's claim.

"Jayme," Autry said, annoyed. "You shouldn't be here."

I held up my phone. "Did you do this?"

He glanced at the screen. Not surprised.

"The PR team thought it necessary," he said calmly. "The council asked why I rejected a Fated Mate. We needed a cause. Moral turpitude was the easiest path."

The room spun. "You... you framed me as a whore? To save your poll numbers?"

"It's just a story, Jayme," he stepped closer. "Nobody takes Rogue rumors seriously. Disappear for a few years. I'll wire more money. Take the blame, and this goes away."

He reached for my shoulder.

Smack.

I slapped his hand away.

"I thought you were a victim of tradition," I whispered. "But you're just rot, Autry. You're a disease."

"Careful, Omega," Cassie giggled.

I turned to her. My vision went white. A surge of ancient, cold power rushed through me.

"And you," I said, my voice sounding doubled, resonant. "Enjoy him. You deserve each other."

I walked out.

"Jayme!" Autry roared. "I command you to stop!"

His command was wind against a mountain.

I walked into the night. I was done being a victim.