Ava POV

The Grand Hall was draped in cascading white lilies and shimmering silver ribbons. *Purity and Moonbeams.* The irony was thick enough to choke on.

I stood in the shadows of the back row, wearing the same grey dress I wore every day. I refused to dress up for this charade.

The entire Pack had gathered, filling the cavernous space with a hum of anticipation. Alphas from neighboring alliances were present, watching with calculating eyes. This was Ethan’s big moment.

Ethan stood center stage, commanding the room, microphone in hand. Chloe was beside him, rubbing her fake bump with a performance of theatric tenderness.

"Tonight is a night of joy!" Ethan declared, his voice amplified and smooth. "The Moonstone Pack is blessed!"

He turned to Chloe, his expression softening into a practiced mask of adoration.

"To my beautiful mate," he said. "I have a gift."

He snapped his fingers. A uniformed Beta brought out a velvet box.

Ethan opened it. A diamond necklace, thick and gaudy, glittered aggressively under the chandeliers.

"The Heart of the Moon," Ethan announced. "For the mother of my heir."

The crowd gasped and applauded on cue.

I touched my bare neck. Years ago, I had told Ethan that diamonds felt cold against the skin. I loved the warmth of silver. He had forgotten. Or perhaps, he simply never cared to remember.

"Thank you, my Alpha," Chloe simpered, tilting her neck so he could clasp the heavy stones around her throat.

"And now," Ethan said, his voice booming with finality. "I officially name Chloe as the Luna of the Moonstone Pack!"

The applause started, a roaring wave, but it was cut short.

BANG.

The double doors at the back of the hall flew open, crashing against the walls.

A man stood there, framed by the darkness of the night. His clothes were shredded, his hair wild and matted. He smelled of wet earth and stale, copper-scented blood.

A Rogue.

"LIES!" the Rogue screamed, his voice cracking with desperation.

A deathly silence fell over the room.

"Guards!" Ethan roared, his composure fracturing. "Remove this filth!"

"She's lying to you, Reed!" the Rogue shouted, pointing a dirty, trembling finger at Chloe. "That baby isn't yours! It isn't even real!"

Chloe went pale, her hand flying to her mouth. She clutched Ethan’s arm. "Ethan, make him stop! He's crazy!"

The Rogue pulled a crumpled paper from his pocket, waving it like a weapon. "I have the proof! She paid me to get her scent-masking herbs! To hide the fact that she has no scent of pregnancy!"

Ethan’s face turned purple with humiliation.

"Silence!"

He used the Alpha Command.

The power of it rolled over the room like a physical shockwave, heavy and suffocating. The Rogue fell to his knees instantly, choking, his hands clawing at his own throat as the air was crushed out of him.

"Kill him!" Chloe shrieked, her voice shrill with panic. "He's attacking me!"

Ethan stepped forward, his claws extending, glinting in the light. He was going to kill the witness.

"NO!"

I didn't think. I moved.

I ran from the shadows, pushing through the confused crowd, driven by a frantic need for truth.

"Don't kill him!" I shouted, bursting into the open aisle. "Listen to him, Ethan! She's lying!"

Ethan froze. He looked at me. His eyes were black pools of rage.

"Ava?" he growled, the sound vibrating in his chest. "You dare interrupt?"

"Look at her medical records!" I screamed, desperate to reach the man I once knew. "Ben has them! She can't have children, Ethan! She's playing you!"

Chloe started to fake cry, sobbing into her hands. "She's jealous! She's trying to kill our baby because she's barren! Ethan, protect us!"

Ethan looked at Chloe’s tears. Then he looked at me.

The choice was made in a split second. And it broke me.

"You are a traitor," Ethan snarled at me.

"Ethan, please—"

"KNEEL!"

He unleashed the full weight of the Command on me.

It wasn't just a voice. It was a hammer swinging down from the heavens.

My knees smashed into the marble floor. CRACK. The sound of bone splintering echoed in the silent hall, sickeningly loud.

"Ah!" I screamed, the pain blinding me, white-hot and tearing.

My head hit the sharp corner of the banquet table as I collapsed. Warm blood gushed down my forehead, instantly blinding my left eye.

My Inner Wolf howled in betrayal. *He hurt us. Our Mate hurt us.*

Ethan didn't stop. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up, forcing me to look at him.

"You want to ruin my family?" he hissed in my face, spittle flying. "You are nothing. An Omega servant."

He threw me back down like garbage.

"Guards!" Ethan barked. "Throw the Rogue in the dungeon. And take Ava to the holding cells. She will await trial for treason."

Two warriors grabbed my arms roughly. They dragged me across the polished floor, my broken legs trailing uselessly behind me.

Through the veil of blood in my eyes, I saw Chloe.

She wasn't crying anymore.

She was looking at me over Ethan’s shoulder. And she smiled. A cold, victorious smirk that chilled me more than the pain.

As I was dragged past the Rogue, he spat out a mouthful of blood onto the pristine white lilies.

"You chose the wrong female, Alpha," the Rogue wheezed, his voice bubbling with fluid. "The Omega... she smells like snow. Like power."

Ethan ignored him. He wrapped his arms around Chloe, kissing her hair, soothing her while I bled on his floor.

He didn't look at me once.

The heavy doors slammed shut behind me, cutting off the light, sealing my fate.

The pain in my knees was excruciating, a fire consuming my legs, but the pain in my heart was worse.

It was gone. The hope. The love. The ten years of blind devotion.

I lay on the cold stone floor of the cell, bleeding out in the darkness.

I reached into my pocket with a trembling hand. I still had the crumpled paper Ben had given me. The proof of her hysterectomy.

It was useless now. He wouldn't listen. He chose the lie.

But something else broke inside me. A shackle I didn't know I was wearing snapped.

My Inner Wolf stopped crying. She stood up. She shook her fur. She growled—a low, vibrating sound that resonated in my bones.

The suppressants were wearing off.

I felt a heat rising in my blood. Not the heat of shame. The searing heat of absolute power.

My scent began to leak out, filling the damp cell. It wasn't the soft, floral scent of an Omega.

It was the scent of Winter. Crisp. Cold. Dangerous.

*White Wolf,* my wolf whispered, her voice ancient and commanding. *Awaken.*

Ava POV

I woke to the cloying stench of mold and damp stone. My head throbbed in violent rhythm with my heartbeat.

I tried to shift my weight, but my legs screamed in protest. My knees were swollen, pulsing with an agony that confirmed they were fractured—shattered by the crushing weight of the Alpha Command.

"Ava?"

A whisper drifted from the bars.

It was Ben. His face was pale, eyes darting nervously in the gloom. He clutched a medical bag to his chest.

"Ben," I croaked, my throat like sandpaper. "Go away. If he sees you..."

"He's busy," Ben hissed, unlocking the cell door with a trembling hand. "He's calming the guests. Cleaning up the mess with the Rogue."

Ben rushed in and dropped to his knees beside me. He immediately began cleaning the gash on my head with efficiency born of panic.

"I heard what happened," Ben said, his voice thick with suppressed emotion. "He... he used the Command on you. To protect *her*."

"I know," I said. My voice was devoid of emotion. The pain had burned it all away, leaving only ash.

"We have to get you out," Ben insisted. "He's planning a public trial tomorrow. Chloe is demanding exile. Or execution."

"Let her demand," I rasped. "I'm leaving tonight."

"How? You can't walk."

"I'll crawl if I have to," I said, meeting his eyes. "Ben, did you bring the kit?"

He nodded, swallowing hard. He pulled a syringe and a vial of clear, viscous liquid from his bag.

"This will slow your heart rate to near-zero," Ben explained, his voice shaking. "It mimics death perfectly. It lasts for two hours. I'll declare you dead from your injuries, have your body moved to the morgue, and then smuggle you out the back entrance to my car."

It was a desperate plan. A dangerous plan.

"Do it," I said.

"Ava... the baby," Ben hesitated, the needle hovering. "This drug... it's risky for the fetus."

I pressed a hand against my stomach. Beneath the pain, I felt a hum of energy.

"We are strong," I whispered. "My wolf is healing me. She will protect the child."

Ben nodded, steeling himself. He tied a tourniquet around my arm.

"Wait," I said, gripping his wrist.

"What?"

"I need to see her," I said.

"Who?"

"Chloe."

"Are you insane?" Ben hissed, eyes widening. "She's in the Alpha suite."

"No," I said, shaking my head slightly. "She'll come here. She wants to gloat. She won't be able to resist seeing me broken before I 'die'."

I was right.

Ten minutes later, the sharp staccato of heels clicking on stone echoed down the corridor.

"Leave us," a female voice commanded the guard.

Chloe appeared at the bars. She was still wearing her pristine white gown, looking like a beautiful angel of death.

Ben shrank back into the shadows of the corner cell, making himself invisible.

"Look at you," Chloe laughed softly, the sound echoing off the damp walls. "The brilliant scientist. Rolling in the dirt."

I pulled myself up to a sitting position, fighting the nausea. I stared dead at her.

"You aren't pregnant," I said calmly.

Chloe’s smile didn't falter. "So? Ethan thinks I am. That's all that matters."

"He'll find out," I said. "Nine months is a long time to fake a belly."

"Oh, I have a plan for that," Chloe said, idly examining her manicured nails. "A tragic miscarriage in a month or two. Caused by the stress of your 'treason.' Ethan will be so heartbroken, he'll hate you even more. And he'll be bonded to me forever through our shared grief."

She was a monster. A calculated, soulless monster.

"Why?" I asked. "Why me? I never hurt you."

"Because you have what I want," Chloe spat, her face twisting into a snarl. "You have his respect. Even as an Omega, he listens to you. He relies on you. I needed you gone so I could be the only voice in his ear."

She leaned closer to the bars, gripping the cold iron.

"And besides," she whispered, her nostrils flaring. "I smell it on you. Under the dirt and blood."

My blood ran cold.

"You smell... powerful," Chloe murmured. "Ancient. If Ethan ever figured out what you really are, he'd never look at another woman again. I couldn't take that risk."

She knew. She suspected the White Wolf blood.

"You're pathetic," I said.

"I'm the Luna," she corrected, straightening up. "And you're dead."

She turned and walked away, her heels clicking a victory rhythm.

"Goodbye, Ava. I hope it hurts."

As her footsteps faded, Ben emerged from the shadows. He looked sick to his stomach.

"She's... evil," Ben whispered.

"She's a walking corpse," I said, my voice hard. "She just doesn't know it yet."

I held out my arm.

"Do it, Ben."

Ben positioned the needle against my skin.

"I'll see you on the other side," he said, tears welling in his eyes.

He injected the serum.

Cold.

Instant, glacial cold rushed through my veins, freezing the blood in my arteries. My heart stuttered. My vision blurred into gray static.

The darkness came rushing in like a tide.

My last thought was of Ethan’s face when he broke my knees.

*I reject you,* I thought, screaming it silently into the void as the blackness swallowed me. *I reject you, Ethan Reed.*

And then, nothing.

*

The monitor flatlined.

A long, high-pitched beep filled the cell, signaling the end.

Ben stood up, wiping his eyes, and opened the cell door to call the guards.

"The prisoner is dead," he announced, his voice breaking perfectly.

But deep inside Ava's cooling body, a spark of silver light ignited in the darkness of her womb—the White Wolf was not dying. It was waiting.

Ava POV

Gasps tore through my throat as the darkness finally receded.

The death serum Ben had administered was wearing off, leaving my blood feeling like glacial sludge moving through my veins.

"Ava? Can you hear me?" Ben’s voice was a frantic whisper.

I blinked, my vision swimming in and out of focus. We were still in the holding cell, but the heavy steel door was open.

"I'm... alive," I rasped, my voice sounding like grinding stones.

"Barely," Ben said, hooking his arm under mine to help me sit up. "The guards bought the act. They took your 'body' to the morgue. I intercepted the cart halfway there. We have to go. Now."

My head pounded, but a strange, icy clarity washed over me.

The pain in my shattered knees was duller now, masked by the adrenaline and the awakening power of my White Wolf blood.

*Ava.*

Ethan’s voice slammed into my mind like a physical blow.

It wasn't the usual imperious command. It was panicked.

*Where are you? The bond... it feels cold. Answer me!*

I closed my eyes.

For ten years, that voice had been my sun and my moon. Now, it sounded like a stranger shouting from the bottom of a deep, dry well.

*I am gone, Alpha,*

I thought the words, not directing them to him, but letting the wall of silence slam down between us.

*Ava! I command you to answer!*

The Alpha's Command hit my mental shields.

Usually, it would force my body to obey. To kneel. To speak.

But this time? Nothing.

It felt like a gentle breeze breaking against a granite cliff. My Inner Wolf didn't cower. She sneered.

"He's trying to Command me," I whispered to Ben, awe coloring my tone. "It's not working."

Ben’s eyes widened. "The White Wolf... it breaks the hierarchy."

"We need to move," I said.

I leaned heavily on Ben, my legs trembling under my weight. We navigated the back corridors of the Pack hospital, heading toward the exit.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from the adjacent lab—Chloe’s private medical suite.

It was a man’s scream. Raw, guttural, and filled with agony.

"That sounded like..." Ben froze, his face draining of color. "That sounded like my assistant, Josh."

"We keep moving," Ben said, pulling me forward.

"No," I said, stopping dead.

My nose twitched. Under the sharp sting of antiseptic, I smelled blood. Fresh, arterial blood. And magic.

"She's butchering someone in there."

I didn't wait for Ben. I limped toward the door and pushed it open.

The scene before me was a waking nightmare.

Chloe stood over an operating table. Her pristine white gown was splattered with crimson.

Josh, the young Beta intern, was strapped down, unconscious but groaning through a gag.

Chloe held a scalpel poised over an incision. Her eyes were manic, dilated and black.

"It's not compatible!" she shrieked at a terrified nurse cowering in the corner. "His kidney isn't compatible! I need a replacement! My body is failing!"

"Chloe!" I shouted.

She spun around.

When she saw me—bloodied, dirty, and supposed to be dead—she didn't look scared. She looked annoyed.

"You," she hissed. "You just won't die, will you?"

"You're harvesting organs?" I stared at her, horror replacing my anger. "To fix yourself?"

"To keep the lie alive!" Chloe screamed, gesturing wildly with the bloody blade. "My body is rejecting the synthetic hormones I take to fake the pregnancy scent! My organs are shutting down! I need fresh ones!"

She lunged at me with the scalpel.

I was weak, but I was angry. I sidestepped, grabbing her wrist mid-swing.

"You are sick," I growled.

"And you are in my way!"

She kicked my broken knee.

White-hot pain exploded up my leg. I collapsed, gasping.

"Ben!" I yelled.

Ben rushed in, tackling Chloe. But Chloe was fueled by madness and desperation. She scratched his face, drawing deep lines of blood.

"Guards!" Chloe screamed, her voice piercing. "The traitor is alive! She's attacking me!"

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hall.

My heart sank.

Ethan.

His scent—storm clouds and ozone—flooded the room before he even appeared.

He burst through the door, his eyes glowing Alpha red.

He saw me on the floor. He saw Chloe disheveled and screaming, blood on her hands that he assumed was her own.

"Ethan!" Chloe wailed, throwing herself into his arms. "She tried to kill me! She tried to cut the baby out of me!"

Lies. Always lies.

Ethan looked down at me.

There was no love in his eyes. Only cold, hard judgment.

"I thought you were dead," he said, his voice devoid of humanity. "I should have made sure."