Khloe Harper POV:

I locked myself in my room. My mind replayed Katharine's innocent expression and the scent of Barron on her clothes, over and over.

Rage and a sense of betrayal coiled around my heart like a poisonous vine, squeezing until I couldn't breathe.

I needed an explanation, an answer. But I knew that asking either Barron or Katharine would only result in lies or more humiliation.

Just then, my mind-link chimed with a call from Aimee. She was my best friend in the Sunstone Pack, a gentle Beta and the only person I could confide in.

I accepted the link, trying to keep my voice steady. "Aimee?"

"Khloe! You're back? I heard! Are you okay? I was so worried about you!" Aimee's voice was full of concern, a welcome warmth in my cold world.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. The dam of my emotions broke. I told her everything—Barron's coldness last night, and the scent I'd just found on Katharine.

The other end of the link went silent for a moment. That was unusual. Aimee would normally have immediately agreed with me, cursing Barron as an "Alpha-hole."

"Aimee? What is it?" I pressed.

"Khloe..." Aimee's voice was hesitant, as if she were struggling with a secret. "I... I don't know if I should tell you something."

Her hesitation only made the sense of dread in my gut grow stronger. "Tell me, Aimee! Whatever it is, I want to know!"

"Okay..." Aimee took a deep breath. "Well... yesterday, a friend of mine, Stacy White, she was at the Moonlight Hotel in the neutral zone for some business, and she... she saw something."

The Moonlight Hotel was the most luxurious hotel at the junction of the three major Pack territories, famous for its absolute privacy. It was a place where powerful people held secret meetings.

My heart started to pound against my ribs. "What did she see?"

"She saw... Alpha King Barron and Katharine... going into the penthouse suite together."

Aimee's words were a lightning bolt that struck me right in the head.

I lost the ability to think. A loud ringing filled my ears.

Hotel... penthouse suite... Barron... Katharine...

The words combined to form the filthiest picture I could imagine.

"Khloe? Are you still there? Khloe!" Aimee's voice called out, laced with panic.

I snapped back to reality, my voice hoarse and unrecognizable. "How long... were they together?"

"Stacy said she saw them go in during the afternoon, and they hadn't come out by the time she left late at night... Khloe, you know Katharine has always had a thing for the Alpha King, and... honestly, besides not having the Mate-bond, she's a better fit to be Luna in every way than... than you."

Aimee's words were like salt rubbed into my open wound. Yes, I was just an Omega, a substitute who had landed this position because of some cruel joke by the Moon Goddess.

So, Barron's "busy with Pack affairs" meant holing up in a hotel room with my sister?

So, the scent on Katharine wasn't from "brushing against someone," but proof that they had spent the entire night tangled together in bed?

A wave of unprecedented fury washed over me, threatening to burn away my sanity.

Betrayal! This was a blatant betrayal! A violation of the most sacred bond decreed by the Moon Goddess herself!

Every werewolf knows that if a Mate is unfaithful, the pain can be enough to tear a soul apart, even causing the betrayed to lose their inner wolf, or die.

My body began to shake uncontrollably, not from fear, but from pure, unadulterated rage.

"I'm going to kill him..." I squeezed the words through my clenched teeth.

"Khloe, calm down! He's the Alpha King!" Aimee exclaimed through the link.

Calm down? How could I be calm? My husband and my sister had betrayed me!

I shot to my feet, my mind consumed by a single thought: find Barron, confront him, and then...

Then perform the Rejection.

I would reject him. I, Khloe, would personally tear apart this disgusting bond.

I cut the link with Aimee and stormed out of my room.

I had to get back to Barron's territory immediately. I couldn't wait another second.