Selene Thorne POV:

The triumphant smirk on Faye's face faltered as she saw the look in my eyes. A flicker of fear replaced her victory, and she instinctively shrank back behind Ryker’s protective bulk.

I tore my gaze away from them, turning my attention to the silent, watchful pack. My chest was a hollow cavern of pain, but I took a deep, steadying breath. When I spoke, my voice was miraculously calm, imbued with the quiet authority they had come to expect from their Luna.

"The Full Moon Gathering is a sacred celebration," I began, my voice carrying to every corner of the clearing. "A time for unity and joy."

My gaze swept over them, a mix of Luna's command and a mother's gentle concern. "But it seems a somber mood has fallen upon us."

Seeing me shift the focus, Faye must have thought I was retreating. She stepped out from behind Ryker, dabbing at her dry eyes with the back of her hand. "Luna, I am so sorry," she said, her voice a fragile, trembling thing. "It’s all my fault. I’ll leave right now."

She put on a masterful performance of a heartbroken, guilt-ridden woman. I could see it working; some of the younger, more impressionable wolves were already looking at me with disapproval, as if I were the one being cruel.

Ryker’s brow furrowed, his glare accusing me of frightening his precious, delicate flower.

I looked at Faye, at her crocodile tears and quivering lip, and a humorless, icy smile touched my own lips.

*The little bitch is acting,* Kara snarled in my mind. *Let me rip her throat out!*

*No. We do it my way,* I replied, and took a single, deliberate step forward.

I didn't release an ounce of aggression. Instead, I let my true power unfurl. It wasn't the brute force of an Alpha's command, but something older, deeper. It was the innate, unshakeable authority that flowed through the royal bloodline of the Winter Pack, an aura of command that didn't need to shout to be obeyed.

The very air grew heavy. The pack members held their breath.

Faye’s pathetic, fake sobs caught in her throat. The color drained from her face, leaving her looking pale and pinched.

My amethyst eyes locked onto hers, and my voice became as sharp as a shard of ice. "You will speak when spoken to."

It was not a request. It was an order from her Luna. Faye flinched as if struck and clamped her mouth shut.

I then raised my voice, addressing the entire pack. "The celebration is over. Everyone is to return to their homes. Now."

This was my right. The management of pack gatherings, the welfare of our people—that was the Luna's domain.

The pack members exchanged uncertain glances, but no one dared to disobey a direct order from me. They began to quietly pack up their belongings, the festive mood completely extinguished.

Ryker’s face darkened with fury. "Selene! You are overstepping!"

I met his rage with a cool, unblinking stare. "Am I? As Luna, ensuring the pack's morale is my responsibility. And your public display has shattered it. I am merely doing my duty."

My words were a shield of logic and law that he couldn't break. He knew I was right. The pack's own laws gave the Luna the authority to disperse a gathering if she deemed it was no longer beneficial to the pack's spirit. He was left speechless, his fists clenching at his sides.

Faye, seeing her moment of triumph being dismantled, opened her mouth to protest.

I shot her a look so cold, so utterly devoid of warmth, that the words died on her lips. She looked like I had physically choked her.

The music was gone. The bonfires were being doused. The crowd melted away into the darkness of the forest, leaving the three of us standing in the wreckage of what was supposed to be a joyous night.

I had proven a point. He may have chosen her, but I was still the Luna. I was still the one in charge. I had seized control of the narrative, ripped the stage right out from under Faye's feet.

In the now empty, silent clearing, I gave Ryker one last look. It was a look filled with five years of love curdling into bitter disappointment. Then, without another word, I turned my back on him and walked away, my head held high.

As I walked away, her back straight and proud, Ryker's furious voice echoed in the empty clearing, "This isn't over, Selene!"

I didn't turn back, my only reply was a thought to my inner wolf, *No, Ryker. It has just begun.*

Selene Thorne POV:

I forced myself to maintain a regal, unhurried pace until the shadows of the forest swallowed me whole, hiding me from any prying eyes. The moment I was concealed by the thick trunks of the ancient oaks, the façade crumbled.

My knees gave out, and I sagged against a tree, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps. The adrenaline that had fueled my defiance drained away, leaving behind a tidal wave of humiliation and a pain so profound it felt physical.

My hand flew to my neck, pressing against the Mating Mark. It was still burning, a constant, agonizing reminder of the bond he was desecrating.

*It hurts,* Kara whimpered in my mind, her earlier rage now a wounded cry. *The bond, he’s tearing it apart.*

I squeezed my eyes shut, but the darkness offered no escape. An image, sharp and vivid, flashed behind my eyelids: a younger me, barely eighteen, seeing Ryker for the first time. The world had tilted on its axis. The air had crackled with an energy I now knew as the 'sparks' of a fated connection. My soul had recognized his, and I had thought myself the luckiest she-wolf in the world.

His vow, whispered against my skin on our mating night, echoed in the ruins of my heart. "You are my only Luna, now and forever." A bitter, hollow lie.

The sound of heavy, angry footsteps crunching on the forest floor ripped me from the memory.

Ryker.

He had followed me. His face was a thunderous mask of fury. Faye, thankfully, was nowhere in sight. This was between us.

His hand shot out, grabbing my arm in a bruising grip. "How dare you embarrass me in front of my pack?" he snarled, his face inches from mine.

I wrenched my arm from his grasp, a cold, humorless laugh bubbling up from my chest. "Your pack? I believe it’s *our* pack. And who was the one causing the embarrassment, Ryker?"

I stared into his stormy grey eyes and for the first time, I saw nothing of the man I loved. There was no warmth, no conflict, only a chilling, unadulterated rage.

"You brought a rogue, your ex-lover, to the most sacred gathering and flaunted her in my face! You speak to me of embarrassment?" My voice rose with each word, laced with disbelief.

He was momentarily stunned by my accusation, but his shock quickly morphed into defensive anger. "Faye needed me! She’s been through a lot. I expected my mate to show some compassion!"

"Compassion?" The word was a poison on my tongue. "You want me to show compassion to the woman sleeping with my husband?"

A montage of my life, my service, flashed through my mind. The countless sleepless nights spent poring over pack ledgers. The tense negotiations with rival packs to secure our borders. The hours spent comforting grieving families. The jagged scar on my side, a permanent reminder of the silver-tipped dagger I’d taken for him during his bloody fight to claim the Alpha title.

"When I was negotiating the treaty with the Winter Pack, securing the southern border for us, where were you, Ryker? You were with her," I accused, my voice trembling with a righteous fury.

"When I spent three days and nights nursing our warriors back to health after the rogue attack, where were you? With her!"

"I have given you everything! My loyalty, my wisdom, my body, my soul! What has she given you besides whispered promises and a past you should have left behind?"

Each word was a dagger, and I was twisting it in both our hearts.

His face was pale, his jaw tight. He couldn't deny a single word, because it was all true. He had no defense against my record, against my dedication. So he chose the cruelest weapon he had left: he devalued it all.

"You were a good Luna, Selene. A perfect political partner," he said, his voice flat and cold. "But Faye… she has my heart."

A perfect political partner.

The words struck me with the force of a physical blow, shattering the last fragile remnants of my hope. That’s all I was to him. A strategic alliance. An asset.

A bitter, coppery taste filled my mouth. The world swam before my eyes.

Seeing my stricken expression, a flicker of something—maybe regret—crossed his face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. He chose to end the argument not with an apology, but with an edict.

"This ends now. You will accept Faye’s presence. You will continue to be the Luna, and you will not cause any more scenes. That is an order."

He expected me to simply swallow my pain, to accept this monstrous arrangement. To stand by and watch as he loved another.

I looked at this stranger wearing my husband's face, and the last ember of love in my heart died, leaving behind nothing but cold, barren ash.

Selene stared at him, a strange, chilling calm settling over her features. The pain was so immense it had become numbness. She slowly shook her head, her voice a mere whisper, "An order? You have no idea what you've just done, Ryker. You haven't just broken a bond. You've broken a queen."

Selene Thorne POV:

My whispered words hung in the air between us. Ryker flinched, a flicker of unease in his stormy eyes, but the ingrained arrogance of an Alpha refused to let him back down. He opened his mouth to issue another command, to crush what was left of my spirit.

But he was interrupted.

"Ryker…?"

Faye’s soft, quavering voice drifted through the trees. She had followed us after all, arriving at the precise moment of our standoff.

She took in the scene—my deathly pale face, Ryker’s towering rage—and immediately fell into her role. "Oh, no… are you fighting because of me?" she cried, her big green eyes welling with tears. "Luna, please don’t blame Ryker. This is all my fault."

Once again, she positioned herself as the innocent, the blameless catalyst for all this pain.

Ryker’s fury instantly dissolved into concern. He moved to her side, his voice softening. "What are you doing out here? It’s cold."

The stark contrast in his tone, the gentle care he showed her versus the cold command he gave me, was another knife in my already bleeding heart.

I watched them, and a strange, cold laugh escaped my lips. It was a quiet sound, utterly devoid of humor, full of bitter irony.

They both stared at me, startled.

I let the laugh die and fixed my gaze on Faye, looking past Ryker as if he were nothing more than an obstacle.

"Your fault?" I said slowly, savoring the words. "Oh, your faults extend far beyond tonight, Faye."

Faye’s face paled, a flicker of genuine fear in her eyes.

I shifted my attention to Ryker, but my words were a proclamation for all three of us to hear. "My Alpha, you are so determined to protect her, but do you even know the creature you’ve brought into our home?"

*Yes... tell them,* Kara whispered in my mind, her voice laced with a vengeful glee. *Tell them what she is.*

My voice gained strength, ringing with the authority of a judge delivering a verdict. "Five years ago, Faye, you didn't just leave the Black Moon Pack. You defected. On the eve of our bloody battle with the Red Fang Pack, you fled with half of our medicinal herb supply and took it straight to our enemies!"

Ryker's head snapped toward Faye, his eyes demanding an answer.

All the color drained from Faye’s face. "No… it wasn't like that!" she stammered, shaking her head frantically. "I didn't! It was a misunderstanding!"

I gave her no room to spin her lies. "A misunderstanding? I have the written testimonies of the guards who saw you leave. I have the intelligence we gathered after the war, from Red Fang warriors who gloated about their good fortune. You used our herbs to heal their lead warrior—the very same wolf who nearly killed your former Alpha. Ryker's father."

As a Luna, I dealt in facts, not feelings. My accusations were always backed by evidence.

The crime was unforgivable. Treason. Aiding the enemy. It was a sin no pack, no wolf, could ever forgive.

Ryker's breathing grew heavy, his gaze fixed on Faye's panicked face.

"I… I was young!" she cried, her words tumbling out in a desperate torrent. "They tricked me! They told me… they told me you didn't love me anymore, Ryker! I was confused…"

Her excuses were pathetic, especially in the face of what she had done.

I stared at her, my expression devoid of pity. "So, your 'confusion' cost three of our warriors their mobility. They live with the consequences of your actions every single day. Do you even remember their names, Faye?"

I spoke their names, one by one. "Marcus. Liam. Thorne."

Each name was a hammer blow, striking at Ryker's conscience.

Faye was speechless, tears streaming down her face as she looked at Ryker with desperate, pleading eyes.

I could see the war raging within him. The love he felt for this she-wolf was now clashing with the undeniable proof of her betrayal against his pack, against his own father.

I had driven a wedge between them. I had transformed this from a personal squabble into a matter of pack law and justice.

I was no longer the scorned wife. I was the Luna, exposing a traitor.

I looked at Ryker's conflicted face and felt no satisfaction, only a cold, desolate emptiness. I knew this blow was heavy, but I also knew it might not be enough to sever the hold she had on him. But the seeds of doubt had been planted, not just in his mind, but in the very fabric of our pack's history.

Ryker stared at Faye's tear-streaked face, his own expression a mask of conflict and disbelief. He didn't push her away, but he didn't comfort her either. He looked at me, his voice rough with an emotion I couldn't decipher. "Is this your revenge, Selene? Tearing open old wounds?"

I met his gaze without flinching.

"This is not revenge, Alpha. This is justice."