Ava POV:

The yacht cut through the waves, leaving a trail of white foam that quickly disappeared into the dark blue. Just like my dignity.

I sat on the stern, staring at the horizon. Up on the flybridge, Harrison was steering, with Brooke laughing beside him. The wind carried their voices, but not their words.

I tried to reach Harrison through the mind-link.

Harrison? Can we talk?

Silence. Not the silence of an empty room, but the silence of a locked door. He was blocking me.

I focused harder. I could feel a hum of activity on his mental frequency. He was linking. Just not with me.

He was mind-linking her .

My stomach twisted. Mind-linking was intimate. It was a merging of thoughts. To do it with someone other than your mate while your mate was sitting ten feet away was emotional adultery.

"Champagne?"

I jumped. Harrison was standing there. He held two crystal flutes.

"Where's Brooke?" I asked.

"Downstairs changing," he said. He sat next to me, offering a glass. "Ava, I know you're upset. But you have to understand the pressure I'm under. The Council is threatening to downgrade our Pack status if we don't deal with the Rogue threat. Brooke is the key."

"So you sleep with the key?" I asked, taking the glass but not drinking.

Harrison flinched. "I haven't slept with her."

Liar. I smelled her on him. It was faint, buried under his cologne, but it was there.

"Drink," he urged, clinking his glass against mine. "To us. To the future."

I looked at him. His eyes were pleading. I wanted to believe him so badly. I wanted the nightmare to end.

I took a sip.

It tasted sweet, crisp... and then it burned.

Not the burn of alcohol. A scorching, chemical burn that clawed at my throat and seized my lungs.

I dropped the glass. It shattered.

I clutched my throat, gasping for air. My limbs felt heavy, like they were filled with lead.

"Har...ri...son..." I choked out.

He didn't move to help me. He just watched, his face an unreadable mask of regret and determination.

"I'm sorry, Ava," he said softly. "The Pack needs a Luna who can shift. A Luna who carries power. Brooke... she's pregnant."

The world spun. Pregnant?

"It's a male," he continued, his voice sounding far away. "A strong heir. I can't have a weak heir, Ava. I can't."

Liquid Wolfsbane. High concentration.

My vision blurred. Darkness encroached from the edges.

"Sleep," he commanded.

I slumped onto the deck, paralyzed but conscious. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak.

He picked me up effortlessly and carried me down the stairs. He bypassed the master bedroom and went to the crew quarters-the brig. He dumped me onto a narrow cot and locked the door.

I lay there in the dark, my body fighting the poison, my heart shattering into a million pieces.

Hours passed. Or maybe minutes. The engine slowed. The anchor dropped.

I dragged myself to the porthole. We weren't at the marina. We were in a secluded cove.

I saw flashes of light from the upper deck. Chanting.

I forced my paralyzed fingers to claw at the door lock. It was useless.

Then, the door opened.

Brooke stood there. She was wearing a long, shimmering silver gown. Around her neck was a pendant-a moonstone set in twisted white gold.

My mother's necklace. The one I had thought was lost in the Rogue attack three years ago.

"Like it?" Brooke asked, fingering the stone. "Harrison gave it to me. Part of the Luna Ceremony."

"It's... mine..." I wheezed.

"Not anymore," she smiled. It wasn't a sweet smile. It was the smile of a predator playing with food. "You're just a placeholder, Ava. A defective Omega who couldn't give him a pup. I'm carrying the next Alpha."

She stepped into the tiny room, the smell of Wolfsbane and vanilla suffocating me.

"You know," she whispered, leaning down, "I told the Rogues which route your mother was taking that day. She screamed quite a bit before she died."

My blood froze.

"Why?" I managed to whisper.

"Because I needed an opening," she shrugged. "I needed the Pack vulnerable so Harrison would be desperate for a Seer. And you... you were just in the way."

She stood up and smoothed her dress. "Enjoy the brig, honey. Tonight is my coronation."

She slammed the door. The lock clicked.

I lay on the floor, staring at the rivets in the metal wall. The grief for my mother, the betrayal of my mate, the poison in my veins-it all swirled together into a vortex of pure rage.

They thought I was weak. They thought I was broken.

But deep inside, past the Wolfsbane and the pain, something snapped. The seal my father placed on my bloodline cracked.

My eyes burned, not with tears, but with a strange, white heat.

You want a monster? I thought. I'll show you a monster.

Ava POV:

Harrison brought me home the next morning. He played the part of the concerned mate perfectly for the crew, carrying me to the car, telling them I had "seasickness."

I didn't fight him. The Wolfsbane was still in my system, making my limbs feel like jelly. I needed to bide my time.

He dumped me in our bedroom and left immediately for the Pack Hospital with Brooke. "Prenatal checkup," he had said, beaming like a proud father.

The moment the front door clicked shut, I dragged myself out of bed.

I needed proof.

I went to his study. The door was locked, but I knew where the spare key was-hidden in the hollow spine of a fake book on the shelf. The Art of War. How fitting.

I unlocked the door and went straight to his desk. I booted up his computer. I knew his password: SilverLakeAlpha1 . His ego was his vulnerability.

I scanned his emails. Nothing. He was careful.

Then I checked the blocked list on the Pack's communication server.

My breath hitched.

Hundreds of messages. All from Dustin. All blocked.

Ava, pick up.

Ava, Dad's research... it's about you.

Ava, don't trust the Seer.

And one outgoing message from Harrison's terminal, sent six months ago, pretending to be me:

Dustin, stop contacting me. You are a Rogue and a disgrace. I never want to speak to you again.

"You bastard," I hissed.

I pulled out my phone. It was smashed from the 'accident' on the boat-another lie. I grabbed the landline on the desk.

I dialed the number I had memorized since childhood.

"Hello?" A gruff voice answered.

"Dustin," I whispered.

"Ava?" His voice cracked. "Is that you? I thought... the message said..."

"It wasn't me. It was Harrison. Dustin, I need help. I need extraction."

"Where are you?"

"Pack House. But I can't leave through the front. The Enforcers are everywhere."

"Listen to me," Dustin said, his voice turning hard. "I have a merc team two hours out. But you need to survive until then. And Ava... Dad's totem. The bone carving. Do you have it?"

"It's in the attic," I said.

"Get it. It's not just a carving. It's a key. It unlocks your seal. You are a White Wolf, Ava. You aren't defective. You're a goddamn weapon."

The line went dead. Harrison must have remote-cut the connection.

I ran to the attic. My heart pounded against my ribs.

I found the old dusty trunk. I threw it open.

Empty.

"Looking for this?"

I spun around.

Brooke stood at the top of the stairs. She was holding the bone totem-a jagged piece of ancient wolf bone covered in runes.

"Give it to me," I said, my voice low.

"It's full of dark magic," Brooke said, tossing it in her hand like a toy. "I can feel it. Your parents were into some sick stuff, Ava. No wonder they died."

"Don't you dare talk about them."

"Your mother was weak," Brooke sneered, stepping closer. "She begged for her life. Did you know that? She begged me to save her children."

Red. My vision went completely red.

I didn't think. I didn't plan. I launched myself at her.

I tackled her to the ground. My hands found her throat. I wasn't shifting, but I felt claws-etheric, sharp claws-extending from my human fingers.

"Die!" I screamed.

Brooke's eyes went wide. For a second, she looked genuinely terrified.

Then, she smirked.

She reached into her purse, which had fallen beside her, and pulled out a heavy silver paperweight she must have stolen from the study.

Crack.

She slammed it into my temple.

Pain exploded in my head. I rolled off her, clutching my bleeding skull.

Brooke didn't get up. She lay back, ruffled her hair, and then let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Help! Harrison! Help me! My baby!"

I looked up through the blood dripping into my eye.

Harrison was standing at the bottom of the attic stairs. He looked up, saw Brooke on the floor clutching her stomach, and saw me with blood on my hands.

"Ava!" he roared.

The Alpha Command hit me like a physical blow, pinning me to the floorboards.

"You attacked my heir!"

He bounded up the stairs, his face twisted in a mask of pure fury.

I looked at Brooke. She winked.

I closed my eyes. Dustin, hurry.

Ava POV:

The air in the attic was thick with the scent of ozone and impending violence. That was the smell of an Alpha losing control.

Harrison stood over me, his chest heaving, his eyes flashing that dangerous amber.

"I said, silence!"

The Alpha Command slammed into me like a physical weight. It wrapped around my throat, choking off my words. My vocal cords paralyzed. I tried to scream that Brooke was faking it, that she had attacked me, but only a strangled whimper came out.

"My heir," Harrison growled, kneeling beside Brooke.

Brooke was putting on the performance of a lifetime. She clutched her flat stomach, tears streaming down her face, wailing about cramping and spotting.

"She tried to kill him, Harry! She's jealous! She's crazy!" Brooke sobbed, burying her face in his neck.

Harrison looked at me. There was no love in his eyes. Only disgust.

"Enforcers!" he bellowed, his voice carrying through the entire Pack House.

Minutes later, heavy boots thundered up the stairs. Three large men in tactical gear burst into the attic. They wore the insignia of the Pack Enforcers, but I knew them. They were Harrison's drinking buddies.

"Take her," Harrison ordered, pointing at me. "She attacked the future Luna. She is a threat to the Pack."

Two of them grabbed my arms. They didn't hold back. Their fingers dug into my bruised flesh, dragging me up.

I fought against the Command, my will battling his dominance.

Let. Me. Speak.

I bit my tongue until I tasted copper. The sharp pain broke the hold just enough.

"Check... the... cameras," I rasped, my voice sounding like gravel.

Harrison paused. He looked at the security node in the corner of the room.

"The system is down," one of the Enforcers said quickly. "Magic crystal malfunction. The recording loop was wiped an hour ago."

Of course it was.

"Convenient," I spat, gaining a little more control over my voice. "You erased it."

"Take her to the holding cells," Harrison said, turning his back on me to lift Brooke into his arms bridal style.

"I am calling the Council!" I screamed. "You can't do this without a trial! I am a free wolf!"

Harrison stopped at the door. He didn't turn around. "You are a Pack member under my jurisdiction. And you just attempted regicide."

They dragged me down the stairs. I kicked and thrashed, but I was an Omega against Warrior-class wolves. They threw me into a cell in the basement-a damp, silver-lined cage usually reserved for Rogues.

I sat in the corner, shivering. The silver in the bars made my skin itch and my healing stall. The wound on my head from Brooke's paperweight throbbed.

Hours later, the heavy metal door creaked open.

Harrison walked in. He wasn't holding food. He held a stack of papers.

He set them on the floor and slid them through the bars.

"Sign it," he said, his voice stiff.

I looked at the document. Confession of Guilt. Voluntary Exile.

"You want me to admit to attacking a pregnant woman?" I asked, my voice trembling with rage. "I won't do it."

"Brooke and the baby are in distress," Harrison said, his face a mask of cold duty. "The stress of a trial would be too much for her. If you sign this, I will exile you. You live. You leave. If you don't..."

"If I don't?"

"Then I execute you for treason under Pack Law," he said. "The Council will back me. I have witnesses."

"You have liars," I spat. "You deleted the footage."

"I did what I had to do to protect the reputation of the Pack," he replied, not denying it. "If the Council saw a fight between my... companion and the Seer, they would deem my house unstable."

"Your companion?" I stood up, ignoring the dizziness. "I am not your companion, Harrison. According to your own lawyer, I'm not your Mate. I'm not your Luna. I'm just a tenant you're illegally detaining."

"Stop it, Ava." He ran a hand through his hair. "Sign the papers. It's the only mercy I can offer you."

"Mercy?" I laughed, a harsh sound. "You call this mercy? You're erasing me to make room for her."

I picked up the papers.

"Here is my answer," I said.

I tore the document in half. Then in half again. I threw the confetti at his face.

Harrison froze. His eyes went black. His wolf was surfacing, insulted beyond measure.

"You ungrateful-"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

My hidden emergency comms-a tiny device Dustin had implanted in my molar years ago-vibrated against my jawbone.

Ava, Dustin's voice echoed directly in my inner ear via bone conduction. The military transport is en route. But I'm picking up a massive energy spike at Dad's old lab. The defense array is failing. If it breaks, the Rogues will overrun the border before we can get you. You need to fix it. Now.

I looked at Harrison, who was trembling with rage.

"I want a lawyer," I said calmly. "Or I want a trial by combat."

Harrison laughed, a cruel, barking sound. "You? Combat? You can't even shift."

"Try me," I whispered.