Elara POV

I needed to bleed. Not from the edge of a blade, but from the burn of exertion.

I needed to replace this suffocating emotional agony with brutal physical exhaustion.

Driven by a manic energy, I went to the training grounds.

The obstacle course loomed high above me-a daunting series of ropes, walls, and platforms designed for seasoned Warriors.

I wasn't a Warrior. I was bred to be a delicate noble daughter. But today, my wolf demanded action. She demanded release.

I climbed.

The rough hemp rope burned my palms, tearing at skin unused to such labor. Sweat stung my eyes, blurring my vision.

From the corner of my eye, I saw them.

Kael and Lyra.

He was "teaching" her archery. He stood flush behind her, his chest pressed firmly against her back, his large hands guiding hers on the bow.

It was intimate. It was revolting.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I focused on the high-wire traverse. I hooked my harness in and pushed off.

The wind rushed past my ears. For a fleeting second, I felt free.

Then-SNAP.

The sound was like a gunshot tearing through the silence. The main support cable gave way.

Gravity claimed me.

I fell twenty feet, crashing into the hard-packed earth with the weight of a stone.

The impact knocked the air from my lungs in a violent wheeze. A sickening crack echoed from my leg.

Pain. White-hot, blinding, nauseating pain.

I gasped, clawing at the dirt, trying to inhale, but my chest felt crushed. Through the haze of agony, I looked toward the archery range.

Kael had turned at the sound.

But he wasn't looking at me.

He was looking at Lyra, who had covered her ears and buried her face in his shirt, acting terrified by the noise.

"It's okay, shh," I saw his lips move. His hand stroked her hair.

He was comforting her.

He didn't come. He didn't run to his Mate who was lying broken in the dirt.

My wolf howled a mournful, dying sound inside my mind.

Get up, I told myself. Do not let them see you cry.

I dragged myself across the dirt.

My broken leg dragged behind me, a dead weight of fire. I clawed at the ground, inch by inch, fingernails breaking against the rocks, moving toward the infirmary.

"Help," I croaked, but the sound was weak. No one heard. Or no one cared.

Finally, Pack Healers ran out. They lifted me onto a stretcher, their faces pale.

"This cable..." one Healer muttered, examining the frayed rope. "This was cut. There are silver traces on the fibers."

Silver.

A wolf's weakness. It burned the skin and prevented healing. Someone had sabotaged the rope with a silver blade.

Later, in the medical wing, I lay in a haze of painkillers.

Kael finally came.

He stood at the foot of the bed, looking annoyed rather than worried. Like I was a chore he hadn't finished.

"You shouldn't have been on the advanced course," he said coldly. "You're clumsy."

He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't smell the silver burn on my hands or the scent of my distress.

That night, half-asleep, I heard voices in the corridor.

"You put too much silver on the blade, Lyra," Kael's low voice drifted in. "If she dies, the Council will investigate."

"I just wanted to scare her," Lyra giggled, the sound light and cruel. "Besides, she needs to learn her place. That silver wire was expensive."

"She won't die," Kael said dismissively. "It will just teach her who the real Luna is."

My eyes snapped open in the dark.

He knew.

He knew she sabotaged the rope. He knew she used silver-a lethal weapon against our kind-and he allowed it.

He was protecting her attempted murder.

The final thread of my love for him didn't just break. It incinerated into ash.

I stared at the ceiling, the pain in my leg throbbing in rhythm with my heart. But the pain in my chest was gone.

It was replaced by a cold, hard void.

I closed my eyes.

No more pain, I promised my wolf. Only power.

Elara POV

Three weeks.

That was how long it took for the bone to knit and the bruises to fade.

My leg had finally healed, though no thanks to the Pack's infirmary. It was the high-grade elixirs shipped discreetly from my family that did the work.

Tonight was the Charity Auction-a playground for the rich, the powerful, and the pretenders.

I didn't walk in with Kael.

I walked in with Liam.

Beta Liam.

He was the heir to the Crescent Pack, a rival faction notorious for their immense wealth and cutting-edge technology. He stood at the entrance, a figure of dark elegance, and offered me his arm.

"You look like war, Elara," he murmured, his gaze lingering appreciatively on the sharp, violent cut of my crimson dress.

"I feel like it," I replied, my voice steady.

We took our seats at a VIP table directly opposite Kael and Lyra.

Lyra was draped in white silk, posing like a fragile, innocent flower. Beside her, Kael's eyes narrowed instantly, locking onto Liam's hand where it rested possessively on the back of my chair.

The tension was thick enough to choke on.

The auctioneer stepped into the spotlight, unveiling the final item of the night.

"The Tear of the Moon Goddess."

A collective hush fell over the room. It was a sapphire necklace, the gems glowing with an inner light, rumored to enhance the spiritual bond between Fated Mates.

Lyra gasped, her hand flying to her throat. "Oh, Kael... it's breathtaking."

"Bidding starts at fifty thousand," the auctioneer announced.

"One hundred thousand," I said, raising my paddle before the words had fully left his mouth.

Kael's head snapped toward me. His glare was lethal. "One hundred and fifty."

"Two hundred," I countered, not blinking.

Lyra leaned into Kael, her voice pitched just loud enough to carry. "Sister really wants it. Maybe we should let her have it... even though it would look so much better on a Luna."

Kael's jaw tightened. He couldn't let the challenge slide. He needed to prove Lyra was the true queen of this court.

"Three hundred thousand."

"Five hundred thousand," I said calmly.

The room gasped. Whispers erupted like wildfire. This was an insane amount for jewelry, even for wolves.

"One million," Kael growled.

He stood up, buttoning his suit jacket with deliberate, predatory slowness. "And as Alpha, I am hereby freezing the assets of the Elara family accounts held within the Blood Moon banking system."

The room went deathly silent.

He was using his Alpha authority to cut off my financial lifeline in the middle of a public auction.

"Payment is required immediately upon winning," the auctioneer stammered, looking at me with wide, nervous eyes.

I checked my phone. A notification flashed across the screen in red:

Account Status: FROZEN.

"Looks like you can't pay," Kael smirked, the cruelty in his eyes dancing. "The necklace goes to Lyra."

He strode up to the stage, authorized the transaction with the Pack's unlimited funds, and clasped the sapphire chain around Lyra's neck.

She beamed, fingering the cold jewels, and looked at me with a triumphant, pitying smile.

"It fits her better anyway," Kael announced to the silent crowd. "Jewelry is for those who shine."

Humiliation burned hot across my cheeks. The crowd whispered behind their hands.

The rejected mate. The broke heiress.

Liam stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"I will pay for her," he declared, his voice booming.

"Your money is no good here, Beta Liam," Kael snapped, turning his back on us. "This is a Blood Moon event. Our banking firewall rejects all outside transfers. You know the rules."

He had rigged the system. He wanted to crush me completely, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back.

I stood up.

I didn't cry.

I didn't run.

I looked Kael dead in the eye, channeling every ounce of my bloodline's pride.

"Enjoy the necklace, Lyra," I said, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

She blinked, confused.

"It looks like a collar on a dog."

I turned on my heel and walked out, head held high. Liam followed close behind, his presence a solid wall at my back.

Outside, under the pale moonlight, I paused and looked back at the illuminated hall where they were celebrating my defeat.

"He thinks he owns the world," I muttered, the anger simmering in my gut.

"He owns a small piece of land," Liam said, his voice deep and dangerous beside my ear. "We can buy the rest."

I looked up at the moon, making a silent vow.

"Alpha Kael," I swore into the night.

"Your arrogance is your epitaph."

Elara POV

After the auction, I didn't just withdraw; I became a ghost in my own home.

I locked the doors. I barred the windows. I refused visitors.

But I wasn't wallowing. I was working.

I utilized the surveillance tech Liam had slipped to me-micro-cameras and audio bugs no larger than a housefly.

I planted them everywhere. I hid them in the molding of Kael's office. I tucked them beneath the leaves in the garden. I secured one inside the vent in Lyra's room.

I became the spider sitting at the center of the web, waiting for a fly to twitch.

Kael didn't tolerate my silence for long. He barged into my room two days later.

He didn't knock. He didn't ask. He just used his Alpha strength to shatter the lock mechanism.

"You're embarrassing the Pack," he growled, pacing the length of my room like a caged tiger. "Hiding away like a wounded animal."

"Get out," I said calmly, watching him through the mirror of my vanity.

He stopped behind me, his gaze locking onto my reflection. His eyes softened, but it was a performance-a practiced, oily softness designed to disarm.

"Elara, look. I know the auction was... harsh. But I have to maintain order. Lyra is fragile. You are strong. You can handle it."

He put his hands on my shoulders. The weight of them made my skin crawl. I flinched.

"I can make you Luna," he whispered, his voice dropping to a seductive hum. "But you have to accept Lyra. She is my family. She is part of me."

"Family?" I laughed, a dry, brittle sound that scraped against my throat. "Kael, are you stupid? Or just blind?"

He frowned, his mask slipping. "What?"

"She's not your sister. You don't smell the heat on her? You don't smell the Mate scent she masks with that cloying vanilla perfume?"

Kael stiffened as if I'd slapped him. "Don't be disgusting. She is my ward."

"She is your mistress," I corrected, my voice turning to ice. "And you want me to be the trophy wife while she warms your bed."

"She is my priority!" Kael shouted, slamming his hand on my vanity table. The force of the blow sent a spiderweb fracture shooting across the mirror. "Lyra needs me. You have everything. Why are you so selfish?"

Selfish.

Before I could answer, his eyes glazed over. The tell-tale sign of a Mind-Link.

"I'm coming, Lyra," he whispered, his anger instantly replaced by servitude.

He looked at me one last time, sneering at the damage he'd caused. "Clean this up."

He left. He ran to her like a trained dog because she probably broke a nail.

I looked at the cracked mirror, my reflection fractured into a dozen pieces.

I looked at the necklace on my dresser-a cheap ruby pendant he had given me for my birthday years ago. It was the only gift he had ever bothered to buy me.

I picked it up. The metal felt cold and heavy in my palm.

I walked to the fireplace.

I threw it into the flames.

I watched the metal blacken, curl, and finally melt into nothingness.

Turning away from the fire, I pulled out my tablet. The screen flickered to life.

The hidden camera in Lyra's room showed her laughing on the phone, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

"He's such an idiot," Lyra was saying, her voice dripping with amusement. "He actually believes I'm sick. I just didn't want him to talk to that bitch."

I hit Record.

"I will make you lose your reputation," I whispered to the screen, my finger tracing her digital face. "I will strip you bare."