I didn't knock on Paxton's office door. After what had just happened on the training grounds, courtesy seemed like a luxury I could no longer afford.

He looked up from his desk as I burst in, his expression shifting from surprise to wariness in the span of a heartbeat. The late afternoon light streaming through his windows cast harsh shadows across his face, making the angles seem sharper, more predatory.

"Elaine, I know you're upset, but—"

"Seven years," I cut him off, my voice trembling with barely contained rage. "Seven years I've been your mate, and you want me to throw it all away for her?"

Paxton set down his pen with deliberate precision, his Alpha mask sliding into place. "This isn't about Gabriella. It's about doing what's right for the pack."

"Don't." The word came out like a whip crack. "Don't you dare try to make this about pack duty when we both know what this is really about."

His jaw tightened, and I saw a flicker of something—guilt, maybe—cross his features before he buried it. "I don't know what you're implying."

"I'm not implying anything. I'm asking you directly." I stepped closer to his desk, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Are you still in love with Gabriella?"

The silence stretched between us like a taut wire. Outside, I could hear the distant sounds of pack life continuing—children playing, warriors training, the normal rhythm of our world that suddenly felt like it was crumbling beneath my feet.

"It's complicated," he finally said, and those two words shattered something inside me that I hadn't even realized was still whole.

"Complicated." I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Seven years of marriage, and my feelings are complicated?"

"That's not what I meant—"

"Then what did you mean, Paxton?" My voice rose, all pretense of calm Luna composure abandoning me. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've been waiting seven years for an excuse to get rid of me so you can go back to your precious chosen mate."

He stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "You're being dramatic. This is about Marcus Nelson's life, about doing what's right—"

"What's right?" The words exploded out of me. "What's right is honoring the mate bond the Moon Goddess gave us! What's right is—" I stopped, my breath catching as a terrible thought occurred to me. "How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you been seeing her behind my back?"

The color drained from his face, and I knew. God help me, I knew.

"Elaine—"

"How long, Paxton?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair, his composure finally cracking. "It's not what you think. There have been... moments. Times when we've talked, when old feelings—"

"Other women." The words came out flat, emotionless. "There have been other women too, haven't there?"

His silence was answer enough.

I felt something inside me die—not dramatically, not with fanfare, but quietly, like a candle being snuffed out. Seven years of devotion, of healing his wounds, of believing in our bond, and all along he'd been...

"How many?" I whispered.

"Elaine, please—"

"How many, Paxton?"

He looked away, unable to meet my eyes. "It doesn't matter. They didn't mean anything."

"But Gabriella does." It wasn't a question.

When he didn't deny it, I felt the last piece of my heart turn to ash.

I turned and walked toward the door, my legs feeling like they belonged to someone else.

"Where are you going?" he called after me.

"Away from you," I said without looking back.

I stepped into the hallway and nearly collided with Beta Ryan Mitchell. He took one look at my face and his expression shifted to one of uncomfortable recognition.

"Luna, I—"

"You knew." It wasn't a question. The way he couldn't meet my eyes, the way his shoulders hunched—everything about his posture screamed guilt.

Ryan's face flushed red. "It wasn't my place to—"

"You all knew." The realization hit me like a physical blow. "The entire pack knew my mate was cheating on me, and no one thought to tell me."

"Luna, please understand—"

"Understand what?" My voice cracked. "That I've been living a lie for seven years? That while I was healing pack members and playing the perfect Luna, everyone was laughing behind my back?"

"No one was laughing," Ryan said quickly. "We all respect you, Luna. What the Alpha does... it doesn't change how we feel about you."

But his words felt hollow, meaningless. I pushed past him, desperate to get away, to find somewhere I could breathe.

I made it to the pack house kitchen before Gabriella found me.

"Elaine," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I heard raised voices. I hope you and Paxton worked everything out about my father."

I turned to face her, and the smug satisfaction in her eyes made my blood boil.

"You planned this," I said quietly.

"I don't know what you mean." But her smile gave her away.

"Your father's accident. This whole sob story about needing me to mate with him. You orchestrated all of this to break up my bond with Paxton."

Gabriella's mask slipped, revealing the calculating woman beneath. "Oh, Elaine. Sweet, naive Elaine. Did you really think Paxton loved you? You were convenient—a healer who could patch him up after his battles. But love?" She laughed, the sound sharp and cruel. "He's been coming to me for years. In my bed, whispering about how he never stopped loving me, how mating with you was just... practical."

Each word was a dagger, but I forced myself to stand tall, to not give her the satisfaction of seeing me crumble.

"You want to know what he said last night?" she continued, stepping closer. "He said he'd been looking for a way out of your bond for years. My father's accident was just the perfect excuse."

The kitchen walls seemed to close in around me, the familiar space suddenly feeling foreign and hostile. Seven years of my life, reduced to convenience and practicality.

The pack house main hall had never felt so suffocating. Word traveled fast in our tight-knit community, and by evening, it seemed like every member of the Silvermoon Pack had gathered to witness what they probably thought would be my inevitable surrender to Paxton's demands.

I stood at the top of the grand staircase, looking down at the sea of faces below. Paxton waited near the fireplace, his Alpha posture commanding even as uncertainty flickered in his dark eyes. Gabriella hovered beside him, her tear-stained face a masterpiece of calculated vulnerability. Beta Ryan shifted uncomfortably near the door, while other pack members whispered among themselves, their voices creating a low buzz of anticipation.

The golden light from the chandelier cast dancing shadows across the walls, but all I could focus on was the weight of their expectations pressing down on me like a physical force.

"Well?" Paxton's voice cut through the murmur, his Alpha tone demanding an answer. "Have you made your decision, Elaine?"

I descended the stairs slowly, each step deliberate and measured. The soft click of my heels against the marble echoed through the suddenly silent hall. When I reached the bottom, I didn't move toward him. Instead, I turned to face the assembled pack, my hands steady at my sides despite the storm raging inside me.

"You want me to choose a new mate," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the room. "Fine. I'll choose."

Gabriella's face lit up with triumph, but I wasn't finished.

"However," I continued, letting my gaze sweep across the crowd, "I'll choose on my own terms. Not yours, Paxton. Not yours, Gabriella. Mine."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. Paxton's jaw clenched, his Alpha aura flaring with displeasure. "Elaine, this isn't a game. Marcus Nelson needs—"

"Marcus Nelson is not my responsibility," I cut him off, my voice sharp as a blade. "I've spent seven years healing this pack's wounds, mending your injuries, sacrificing my own needs for everyone else's. But I will not sacrifice my dignity."

Gabriella stepped forward, her blue eyes wide with desperate fury. "But my father—"

"Will have to find another solution." I met her gaze steadily, watching her perfect composure crack. "I'm done being manipulated by your tears and his politics."

The pack members exchanged glances, some nodding in understanding while others looked confused. Sarah, the she-wolf from the training grounds, stepped forward slightly, her expression supportive.

"If I'm going to choose a new mate," I announced, my voice growing stronger with each word, "it will be someone I select. Someone who might actually value what I have to offer instead of seeing me as a convenient tool."

Paxton's face darkened, his Alpha authority bristling at being challenged so publicly. "You can't just pick someone random, Elaine. The mate bond requires—"

"Requires what? Love? Respect? Fidelity?" My laugh was bitter. "Because clearly, those weren't requirements for you."

The accusation hung in the air like smoke. Several pack members shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting between us. Ryan looked like he wanted to disappear entirely.

"Where are you going?" Paxton demanded as I turned toward the door.

"To the pack hospital," I said without looking back. "If you want me to choose a new mate so badly, then that's exactly what I'm going to do. Tonight."

The walk to the hospital felt like moving through a dream—or perhaps a nightmare. The evening air was crisp against my skin, carrying the scent of pine and the distant sound of wolves calling to each other in the forest. My footsteps echoed off the cobblestone path, each one taking me further from the life I'd known and deeper into an uncertain future.

The Silvermoon Pack Hospital was a modern building nestled among the trees, its clean lines and large windows designed to bring healing and hope to our injured. I'd spent countless hours here over the years, working alongside our medical staff to save lives and mend bodies. Tonight, it would serve a very different purpose.

Dr. Elena Foster looked up in surprise as I pushed through the main doors. Her graying hair was pulled back in its usual practical bun, and her kind eyes immediately filled with concern.

"Luna Elaine? What brings you here so late? Is someone injured?"

"In a manner of speaking," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. "I need to see your current patients, Elena. The male wolves, specifically."

Her eyebrows rose in confusion. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Are you looking for someone in particular?"

"I'm looking for my new mate."

The words dropped between us like stones into still water. Elena's face went pale, her hand instinctively reaching for the desk behind her as if she needed support.

"Luna, I think perhaps you should sit down. You seem... distressed."

"I'm perfectly fine," I lied smoothly. "Paxton wants me to reject our mate bond and choose someone new. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Show me the recovery ward."

Elena's medical training warred with her obvious concern for my mental state. After a long moment, she sighed and gestured down the hallway. "This way. But Luna, please reconsider. Choosing a mate out of spite—"

"Is exactly what I'm going to do," I finished firmly.

The recovery ward was dimly lit, with only a few rooms occupied. Elena led me past several doors, explaining each patient's condition in hushed tones. A warrior recovering from a training accident. An elder being treated for arthritis. A young wolf who'd shifted wrong and dislocated his shoulder.

And then we reached the last room.

"This one's a bit of a mystery," Elena said, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "Salem Hudson. He was brought in three days ago with severe injuries—silver poisoning, internal trauma, extensive scarring. But his wounds... they're unlike anything I've seen before. And he won't tell us how he got them."

I peered through the partially open door and felt my breath catch. The man lying in the hospital bed was beautiful in a broken, dangerous way. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and even in sleep, his face held an intensity that spoke of hidden depths. But it was his eyes that captured me when they suddenly opened—silver-blue, like moonlight on water, ancient and knowing.

Those eyes met mine, and something electric passed between us. Something that made my healing gift stir to life without my conscious command.

"Him," I said, the word escaping before I could stop it. "I choose him."