Alina POV:

Dr. Darwin, the hired Rogue specialist, stitched my arm. He smelled of clean, sharp mint.

"The wolfsbane concentration was high," he murmured. "It will scar. Your healing factor is zero right now."

"Does it matter?"

Jaxon walked in, checking his watch. "Krystal is upset. Those were her prize hounds. You should have been more careful."

I laughed, a dry, cracking sound. "She ordered them to attack me."

"Don't start with your delusions. Tomorrow is your birthday. I booked a table at Le Lune. Just us. To clear the air."

A stupid spark of hope ignited. The Mate Bond was a curse.

"Okay," I whispered.

The restaurant was romantic. For a moment, it felt like the old days.

"I have a gift," Jaxon said, opening a velvet box. A jade bracelet with protection runes.

"It's beautiful."

As I lifted it, I smelled it. Synthetic roses. Sweat. Skin.

Krystal had worn this. I'd seen it in a magazine.

"You're giving me her leftovers?"

Jaxon frowned. "It's a powerful artifact. Krystal didn't need it anymore-"

"You thought the Omega would be happy with scraps?" I slammed the box shut.

The doors banged open. Krystal marched in, wearing black, carrying a limp terrier.

"Murderer!" she shrieked.

"What is going on?" Jaxon stood up.

Krystal threw an orange bottle onto our table. "I found this in her room! And then I found Coco... stiff as a board! She poisoned him!"

It was my "vitamins."

"That's not poison," I said. "Those are the pills you make me take."

"Liar! The lab found Silver Nitrate in the dog's food! Everyone knows you keep silver to threaten me!"

"I'm a wolf. Why would I carry silver?"

Jaxon picked up the bottle. "The Gomez Pack is furious. If they think my pack member killed their Alpha's daughter's pet with silver... it's war."

"I didn't do it! Jaxon, look at me!"

"You are a liability!" Jaxon slammed his hand on the table. He grabbed my injured arm. "Apologize."

"What?"

"Kneel," Jaxon commanded. "Kneel and apologize to the future Luna."

My knees buckled. I hit the floor. The humiliation burned hotter than the wolfsbane.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, spirit breaking.

Krystal smirked. "Make sure she pays, Jaxon. A life for a life."

Alina POV:

Back at the villa, the night air was freezing.

Krystal dumped the dead terrier on the patio table. "Get rid of it," she told a servant.

Something glinted on the dog's collar. A silver medallion shaped like a shield.

"That's my father's!" I lunged forward. "The Medal of Valor! It went missing the day I was sent to the Alps!"

"You put a hero's medal on a dog?" I screamed at Jaxon.

Jaxon looked surprised. "I... I didn't know. Krystal said she bought a vintage charm."

"It's trash," Krystal spat, snatching the collar. "Cursed. Just like her."

She walked to the edge of the patio, overlooking the churning Hudson River.

"Give it back!" I begged.

Krystal smiled. "Fetch."

She threw the medal into the black water.

I didn't think. I jumped.

"Alina!" Jaxon shouted.

I hit the water hard. The cold was absolute, a thousand knives. The current grabbed me. I clawed at the muddy bottom, fingers brushing metal. I grabbed it.

Lungs burning, I kicked upward, dragging myself onto the rocky bank, shivering violently.

I looked up at the balcony.

Jaxon was there. But he wasn't looking for me.

Bright streaks illuminated the sky. A meteor shower.

"Oh, Jaxon! You made the artificial meteor shower happen! Just for me!" Krystal squealed.

"Anything for you, my love," he said, arm around her.

He had forgotten I was in the river.

I clutched the cold medal. The final thread of the Mate Bond snapped.

I didn't feel pain anymore. Just clarity.

"You promised to protect me," I whispered. "But I am less than a dog to you."

I walked toward the city. Tomorrow was my father's death anniversary. And tomorrow, Alina Phillips would die so the White Wolf could be born.

Alina POV:

I woke up in the hospital again. No flowers. Just a tablet buzzing with notifications.

Jaxon walked in, looking exhausted. "You're awake. Mild hypothermia. You can leave today."

"Mild? I almost drowned."

"You jumped," he said coldly. "Krystal fainted from the shock. Her wolf is distressed."

"Her wolf is distressed? She threw my father's medal into the river!"

"She was playing fetch. But your instability is a liability. I'm thinking of sending you back to the Sanctuary. Permanently."

"You want to lock me up again?"

"It's for your own good." He turned to leave. "Krystal has a migraine. The healers are with her."

"Jaxon."

He paused.

I pulled the diamond engagement ring off my finger-his mother's ring. "Catch."

I threw it. It bounced on the floor.

"You are being childish," he said, leaving without picking it up.

I discharged myself and went to my small apartment. A news alert flashed on the tablet.

BREAKING: Future Luna Krystal Gomez Releases New Anthem!

I tapped the video. Krystal, at my piano, playing my "Hymn to the Moon."

"I wrote this," she told the camera. "It came to me in a dream."

Comments praised her. A sidebar article read: Alina Phillips Accused of Plagiarism. It painted me as a desperate, talentless thief.

"No," I whispered.

I grabbed my coat. The Nexus Corp launch party was tonight. Jaxon would be there.

The lobby was packed. I pushed through, looking like a wreck.

"Jaxon!" I screamed.

Cameras turned.

"She stole it!" I shouted, pointing at the screen. "That is my song! I can prove it! A wolf's song carries their soul signature! If I howl the melody, the pack will feel the truth!"

I threw my head back.

"SILENCE!"

Jaxon's amplified Alpha Voice hit me like a physical blow. My vocal cords slammed shut. I hit the floor, crushed by the pressure.

"This woman," Jaxon announced, "is mentally unstable. Suffering from Wolf Sickness."

He looked down at me with pure annoyance.

"Security. Remove her."

Two guards dragged me out. As I hit the sidewalk, I heard applause. They were clapping for the monster who silenced his mate.