Harper POV:

I woke to the smell of antiseptic. The Pack Hospital.

My left hand was bandaged. The cuts were deep, but the silver had been neutralized.

"You're awake."

Bennet sat in the chair, looking tired. He reached for my face. I flinched.

He pulled back, looking offended. "Harper, I'm sorry. I reacted on instinct. I had to save the server."

"The server," I rasped. "Gianna."

Bennet's jaw tightened. "She is just staff, Harper. I've already reprimanded her."

Lies.

"I saw you on the table," I said.

"Concussion," he said smoothly. "You hit your head hard, love. You were hallucinating. Just like the phantom pains."

Gaslighting.

"I want to go home."

"Of course. But since you're injured... and clearly unstable... I've hired a live-in nurse."

The door opened.

Gianna walked in. She wore a modest gray uniform, head bowed in fake humility.

"This is Gianna," Bennet said, watching me closely. "She begged for a chance to redeem herself. I thought it would be... therapeutic for you to have someone serve you."

It was a Submission Test.

If I fought, he'd know I still had fire. He'd lock me down harder. If I accepted her, he'd think I was broken.

I looked at Gianna. She lifted her eyes for a split second, flashing a victorious smirk.

I looked at Bennet. His Alpha aura flared, daring me to challenge him.

I slumped my shoulders. I made myself small.

"Okay," I whispered. "Thank you, Alpha."

Bennet smiled—a terrifying, satisfied expression. He kissed my cheek.

"That's my good girl. See? I take care of you."

Gianna curtsied. "I will take excellent care of you, Luna."

The way she said "Luna" sounded like a slur.

I closed my eyes. Let them think I'm dead, I thought. Let them walk over the corpse.

Because in five days, the corpse was walking out the front door.

Harper POV:

The game of house continued. Bennet played the benevolent jailer, Gianna played the repentant servant.

That evening, Bennet brought me herbal tea. It smelled of chamomile and acrid chemicals.

"Drink this," he said. "Helps with the nightmares."

"Thank you."

He watched me lift the mug. His phone buzzed. Annoyance flickered in his eyes.

"I have to take this. Drink it all."

He walked out.

I immediately poured the tea into the potted fern. The soil hissed. Sedative.

I lay back, feigning sleep. Bennet returned, waved a hand in my face, and muttered, "Good."

He went to the balcony. I heard the lock click.

I crept to the wall. The night air carried sounds that made my stomach churn.

"Is she out?" Gianna asked.

"Like a light," Bennet growled. "Take that uniform off."

I stood there, listening to my husband rutting with the woman who maimed me. A year ago, this would have destroyed me. Now? I felt nothing but cold calculation.

The next morning, the charade resumed.

Gianna barged in with a breakfast tray. "Rise and shine, cripple." She dropped the tray. Coffee sloshed over the rim.

"Good morning, Gianna."

She sneered. "Look at you. Can't Shift. Can't please him. You're just a leech." She flicked my gloved prosthetic.

The front door slammed. Bennet was home early.

Gianna threw herself to the floor, knocking the tray over.

"Ahhh! Luna, please!" she screamed, fake tears instant. "I'm sorry the coffee was cold! Don't hit me!"

Bennet burst in. He saw Gianna cowering, me sitting in bed.

"What is this?" he roared.

"She... she threw the tray!" Gianna sobbed.

Bennet looked at me. For a second, violence flashed in his eyes. Then he turned to Gianna.

"Silence!"

The Alpha Voice slammed into the room. Gianna choked, freezing in place.

"Get out," Bennet growled. "You're embarrassing me."

Gianna fled, looking genuinely terrified.

Bennet sighed, sitting on the bed. "She's difficult, but we need the help until the paperwork is signed. Come. Let's go for a drive."

We took the SUV. He parked near a clearing to meet a Beta. He left his phone in the console.

It lit up. Text from Gianna: Why did you use the Voice on me?! You hurt me!

Then, an audio message synced from his earpiece. I pressed play, volume low.

"Stop whining, Gianna," Bennet's recorded voice said. "It was a show. Harper needs to believe I'm on her side or she won't sign the trust transfer. We need that money. Once the funds clear on her birthday, we move her to the asylum. Then you can be Luna."

I stopped the playback.

He wasn't going to kill me. He was going to erase me. Lock me in a padded room, drugged out of my mind, while he spent my family's fortune.

The countdown wasn't five days. It was immediate.

Harper POV:

That evening, Bennet dragged me to "The Red Wolf," the pack's most exclusive restaurant. He wanted to parade his "recovering" wife.

I wore black. I felt like I was attending a wake.

Mid-appetizer, Bennet's phone rang. He hit speaker by accident.

"Alpha! Help me!"

Gianna's voice shrieked. The restaurant went silent.

"Rogues! They have me! They said... Harper paid them!"

Bennet froze. His eyes turned pitch black.

"Where are you?" he barked.

"The old mill! They have silver!"

The line went dead.

Bennet looked at me. The air charged with ozone and rage. His aura exploded outward, rattling the plates.

"You," he snarled. "You hired Rogues?"

"No," I gasped, the pressure crushing my lungs. "Bennet, think. I have no money. I have no contacts..."

"Don't lie to me!" He flipped the heavy oak table. Glass shattered. He grabbed me by the throat, lifting me off my feet.

"I knew you were jealous," he hissed. "But I didn't think you were a monster."

My feet dangled. I clawed at his hand.

"It's... a trap..." I choked.

He dropped me. I fell into the broken china, gasping.

"I'm getting her back," he announced to the room. "And when I return, you will wish you were dead."

He stormed out.

I scrambled up. The pack members looked at me with disgust. To them, I was the jealous, crippled Luna who put a hit on the mistress.

I ran. Not to the car, but into the night.

I reached the edge of town. My phone buzzed.

Application Update: Rogue Status Approved. Effective Immediately.

I was free. Legally.

But as I stepped into the shadows, a cloth pressed over my mouth.

Chloroform. And Wolfsbane.

"Got her," a rough voice grunted. "Alpha pays double for live cargo."