Elena POV:

The annual Founders' Gala. Crystal chandeliers, velvet, and lies.

I stood by the buffet, wearing a silver gown I bought myself. Dante was across the room, surrounded by Elders, looking like a king.

Next to him was Sofia. She wasn't his Mate, but she stood in my spot.

"Attention!" Gamma Marco shouted. "The time capsule from five years ago!"

He pulled out a pink envelope. "Sofia! 'I wish to be the most famous she-wolf in Vogue!'"

The crowd chuckled. Then, Marco's face softened. "A letter from our Luna. Elena."

My blood ran cold.

Marco read it. "To my Alpha... I don't need to be your Queen. I just need to be your home."

Silence descended.

Across the room, Dante went rigid. The fog in his eyes seemed to lift for a second. He looked at me, really looked at me, as if seeing the woman beneath the title.

He took a step toward me. Elena...

SCREAM.

Sofia dropped her wine glass. "Hunters! Outside! I saw a silver gun barrel!"

It was a lie. I could smell the lack of fear on her. Her pulse remained steady.

But Dante didn't check. His conditioning kicked in.

"Warriors! Perimeter!" he roared.

He sprinted toward Sofia, shielding her. "Get her to the safe room! I'll lead the hunting party!"

He vanished into the night.

I stood alone. No hunters came.

I walked over to the fireplace and picked up my letter.

"Stay here, Luna. It's safe," a guard said.

"I know," I said.

I tossed the letter into the fire. The words 'I will be your anchor' turned to ash.

"Goodbye, my Alpha," I whispered.

3:00 AM. My suitcase was packed and hidden.

The bedroom door kicked open. Dante stumbled in, smelling of copper blood and sulfur.

He collapsed. "Trap... Hunters... ambushed us."

I moved automatically. "Where is she?"

"Sofia... scratched. Fine. Taken to... guest house," he gasped. "My back... silver dagger."

I ripped his shirt open. The wound was black and sizzling.

"This will hurt," I said.

I placed my lips over the wound.

I pulled.

Agony exploded in my mouth, but something was different. Usually, drawing silver poison left me bedridden for days. Tonight, as the black blood hit my tongue, a cool, white energy surged from my core, neutralizing the acid before it could damage me. My wolf purred, strong and unbothered.

I spat the blood into a basin. Dante's breathing leveled out.

"Elena," he murmured.

I stitched the wound. His phone buzzed.

Airline Confirmation: One-way ticket to San Francisco. Passenger: Elena Moretti.

Dante blinked at the screen. "You're leaving?"

"My mother," I lied. "She wants me to buy art for the gallery."

Dante stared at me. He was high on pain relief and blood loss. His brain accepted the lie because the alternative-that I was actually leaving him-was impossible to his arrogance.

"Art," he chuckled. "Go then."

He grabbed my waist, pulling me down. "You healed me. The bond... it's strong tonight."

He kissed my jaw. And I smelled her sweat on him.

Nausea rolled over me. I pushed him away. "No."

"I am your Alpha. I need this."

"I am your doctor," I said, my voice shaking. "Not your whore."

Dante flinched. "You're being difficult. Is this about the party?"

"Go to sleep, Dante."

I locked myself in the bathroom. I looked in the mirror. My eyes were glowing that strange silver again. The poison hadn't blistered my lips. I was changing.

Elena POV:

The next morning, Sofia moved into the Pack House with a bouquet of red roses.

"For the brave Alpha!" she chirped.

I stood on the staircase. "I am allergic to red roses, Sofia. You know that."

She gasped. "Oh, Elena! I forgot!"

"It's fine," Dante said, limping in. "Put them in the east wing. Elena, don't go in the east wing."

He was banning me from half my home for flowers.

"We are going to the Catskills," Dante announced. "The winter cabin. Sofia needs protection."

"And me?"

"You come to cook. The staff is on leave."

The cabin was a prison of timber and glass.

Dinner was a disaster. Sofia sat in my seat. Dante mixed drinks.

He placed a whiskey in front of me. And a gin and tonic for Sofia.

I stared at the whiskey. "I hate whiskey, Dante. I've hated it for ten years."

"Don't be rude," he warned.

"Enjoy your whiskey," I said.

I walked out into the snow. I pulled out my burner phone.

To Isabella: Tonight. The storm is hitting.

From Isabella: Team is at the base. Signal when clear.

I looked back through the window. Dante was wiping a crumb from Sofia's lip.

My heart didn't break. It just stopped beating for him.

Deep inside, the White Wolf stirred. Let us run, she commanded.

I dozed off in the solarium. I woke up being lifted.

Dante.

"I've got you," he murmured.

Crash!

We were in the living room. Sofia stood there, a shattered Ming vase at her feet.

"You promised!" she shrieked. "You said you were checking the perimeter! Why are you holding her?"

Dante flinched. Panic flooded his scent. He looked at Sofia like a junkie afraid of losing his fix.

"Sofia, she was asleep-"

"Put her down! You're cheating on me!"

Dante looked at her tear-streaked face, then at me.

He chose.

He didn't set me down. He dropped me.

I fell three feet, landing hard on my hip and elbow. Crack.

"Sofia, wait!" Dante stepped over me and ran after her into the blizzard.

I lay on the floor. The pain was sharp, but my body was already knitting itself together with unnatural speed.

"Okay," I whispered. "Okay."

Ten minutes later, Beta Luca burst in. "Luna! Where is Alpha?"

"Chasing his tail," I gritted out.

"Sofia crashed the snowmobile. We need to go to the hospital."

The hospital waiting room.

I sat holding an ice pack. Two Warriors whispered nearby.

"Did you see the Alpha? Crying over Sofia."

"And the Luna? Sitting there like furniture. No pride."

No pride.

The ER doctor came out. "She's fine. Three stitches."

Dante rushed past me. He didn't even see me.

I stood up. The ice pack fell.

My extraction team was waiting. But first, I had to burn the bridge.

I headed toward Sofia's room.

Elena POV:

The next morning.

I walked toward the VIP wing. The door to Room 302 was ajar.

I heard a man's laughter.

I slowed down, masking my scent-a skill that came too easily to me now.

I peeked inside. Dante was gone. Sitting on Sofia's bed was Enzo, the Rogue Warlord.

He was stroking her hand.

"You played him perfectly, babe," Enzo chuckled. "The crash was a nice touch."

Sofia giggled. "He's such a fool. The pheromone blockers I slip in his coffee make him docile as a pup. I tell him the sky is green, and he asks what shade."

So that was it. Not just magic, but chemistry.

"And the wife?" Enzo asked.

"Elena? She's a doormat. Waiting to die."

Rage. Cold, white rage.

I kicked the door open.

Enzo jumped up. He vaulted out the window before I could blink. He knew better than to fight in a pack hospital.

Sofia looked at me, pale then smug. "You heard? Who's going to believe you? You have no proof."

"You are selling our pack out," I said.

"I'm securing my future. Look at you. You're nothing."

She leaned forward. "He told me he wishes you would disappear."

I stepped forward and slapped her. Smack!

"You bitch!" she shrieked, throwing herself off the bed. "Help! Dante! She's killing me!"

Dante burst in.

He saw Sofia on the floor. He saw me standing over her. His nose was clogged with the lingering scent of Enzo, but the drugs in his system twisted the input. He smelled a threat, and his brain labeled it 'Elena'.

He shoved me. Hard.

I flew backward, my head slamming into the concrete wall. Crack.

Blood trickled down my neck.

"Get out!" Dante roared, cradling Sofia. "You attacked an injured woman? Get out of my sight!"

I touched the blood.

"Okay," I said. My voice echoed slightly, layered with power.

"I said get out!"

"I will," I whispered. "I reject you, Dante Moretti."

He didn't hear me.

I walked out to the parking lot. Isabella's silver sedan was waiting.

"Drive," I said. "Drive until the ocean stops us."

I had one hour.

I walked into the master bedroom. I took a black garbage bag.

Silk dresses. Trash.

Heels. Trash.

Lingerie. Trash.

I pulled the wedding portrait off the wall and smashed the frame. I tossed the canvas into the fireplace and doused it with lighter fluid.

Flick.

The fire roared.

I pulled off my ring. Eternal Loyalty.

I dropped it into the flames.

My phone buzzed. A video from Sofia.

Dante asleep in the chair. Sofia wearing a massive diamond ring.

Caption: The true Luna rises.

I felt nothing. Just silence.

"Giovanni!" I called out.

The butler appeared. "Luna! The fire!"

"I'm cleaning, Giovanni. Dante Moretti's ghost lives here. I'm exorcising him."

I picked up my purse. Passport, new ID, burner phone.

"Where are you going?" he stammered.

"Never," I said.

I drank a vial of Wolfsbane and sage extract to mask my scent.

I walked out.

I got into Isabella's car.

"Airport?"

"San Francisco."

The storm clouds broke. For the first time in three years, I saw the sun.