Janette POV:

The next morning, the sun was brutal.

"Dig here," Keyla commanded, pointing to the hard earth.

She sipped iced tea while a camera crew filmed.

"Garrison thought it would be beautiful," she said loudly, "for you to plant a memorial garden with your own hands. Penance."

The plants were Aconitum Lycoctonum. Decorative Wolfsbane. Toxic to the touch.

They gave me no gloves.

I knelt, digging. But under the Wolfsbane, I buried the seeds from my mother's stash. Moon-Eater Vines. They strangle everything and release pollen that kills a wolf's sense of smell.

Grow, I thought. Choke this place.

"Smile, Janette!" Keyla chirped.

My hands were red and swollen by the time they finished.

"Finally," Keyla huffed. "Garrison is taking me to the spa." She kicked dirt onto my leg. "Missed a spot."

Once they left, I checked the pack's social feed. A photo of them in the limo: Building a future together. caption.

I felt a strange calm.

I went to the master bathroom and flushed my wedding ring down the toilet.

Goodbye, Silver Moon.

Then, I went to Garrison's greenhouse.

His sanctuary. Rare orchids.

I locked the door and destroyed everything. I smashed pots, ripped blooms, crushed his prize-winning Ghost Orchid.

Then, I reached out with my mind. Not to the pack link, but to a forbidden, static frequency.

Alex?

I'm here, Little Wolf, a deep voice answered. Like smoke and gravel.

It's time. The yacht party.

We'll be in the water. Don't miss.

I cut the link just as I heard Garrison roar.

"JANETTE!"

He stormed into the kitchen where I was calmly chopping carrots.

"You destroyed them!"

"I've been here for an hour," I said flatly.

"I smell you on them!" He threw the knife across the room.

"You smell the Wolfsbane Keyla made me plant. It's all over me."

He stared, chest heaving. Then he paused. A look of confusion crossed his face. He sniffed the air.

He was smelling the absence of the bond. The resignation.

"Go get dressed," he whispered, rubbing his chest. "Wear the blue dress. We're leaving."

He had no idea the pain in his chest was just the warmup.

Janette POV:

The Ritz-Carlton ballroom dripped with gold.

I stood in the shadows in my fraying blue dress. Garrison and Keyla were center stage.

"Item 45. The 'Tears of the Moon' Sapphire Necklace," the auctioneer announced.

"Oh, Garrison! It matches my eyes!" Keyla squealed.

"Seventy thousand!" Sterling shouted. An obese Alpha from a rival pack, known for collecting young Omegas.

Garrison stiffened. "Eighty."

"One hundred," Sterling countered, grinning gold teeth. He waddled over.

"I'll drop the bid, Garrison," Sterling whispered, loud enough for my ears. "And I'll sign that timber deal. But I want her."

He pointed a sausage finger at me.

"Just for tonight. My heat cycle is starting."

My blood ran cold.

Garrison looked at me, then at Keyla, who was pouting over the necklace.

"I can't sell my wife, Sterling," Garrison muttered, though his voice lacked conviction. He looked glassy-eyed. Keyla had been feeding him drinks all night.

"It's just dinner, babe," Keyla whispered in Garrison's ear. "Sterling just wants company. Don't blow the deal."

Garrison blinked, swaying slightly. The drugs Keyla was using to keep him compliant were working.

"Just... just dinner," Garrison slurred. "Bring her back in the morning."

Sterling grinned. "Deal."

The gavel slammed.

I turned to run, but Garrison caught my arm.

"It's for the pack, Janette," he said, his eyes unfocused. "Do your duty."

A waiter appeared. Garrison grabbed a glass and forced it to my lips.

"Drink." The Command hit me.

I swallowed. Fire raced through my veins. Lust Dust.

My knees buckled. Sterling grabbed me.

"Don't worry," Garrison whispered as they dragged me to the elevator. "It'll be over soon."

As the doors closed, watching my husband turn back to his mistress, the last thread of love snapped.

I didn't just want to leave. I wanted him to bleed.

Flashbulbs popped. Blinding white light.

I woke up on a velvet chaise, naked.

"Chin up, sweetheart. Look devastated," Leo, the pack's fixer, said.

I scrambled for a pillow. "Where is Sterling?"

"Gone," Leo said, checking his camera. "He got his timber deal. He didn't touch you. Garrison just needed the leverage."

I froze.

"Leverage?"

"Proof of infidelity," Leo said. "Compromising photos. If you try to go to the Council about the poisoning, these leak. 'Disgraced Luna Seduces Rival Alpha for Cash.'"

Garrison hadn't sold my body. He'd sold my dignity for insurance.

"Get dressed," Leo tossed my dress on the floor.

I stumbled out into the humid night. Thunder rumbled.

Across the street, at the park, Keyla's birthday party was in full swing.

I watched from the shadows. Garrison was on stage, putting the sapphire necklace around Keyla's neck.

"To the woman who brings light to the Silver Moon Pack," he boomed.

They kissed. Passionate. Deep.

I vomited into the gutter.

My phone buzzed. Don't wait up, Garrison's voice echoed in the Mind-Link.

I imagined a pair of shears.

Block.

I slammed a mental wall down. The static silenced.

The rain started. Heavy and cleansing.

I started walking. I wasn't Janette the victim anymore. I was a ghost. And ghosts don't feel pain.

Janette POV:

I trailed muddy water onto the mansion's marble floor.

I went straight to the guest shower, scrubbing my skin raw.

The door banged open. Garrison stood there, wet and smelling of Keyla's perfume.

"You blocked me," he growled. "I tried to tell you to prep the room for Keyla's gifts."

He grabbed my arm.

I swung. Smack. My palm connected with his cheek.

He froze.

"Janette?" Keyla appeared, eyes narrowing. She threw herself against the doorframe. "Ah! She's hurting him! Garrison, watch out!"

Garrison's eyes bled crimson.

"You dare?"

He shoved me. My head cracked against the tile.

"You are out of control," he snarled.

He pulled out his phone. "I have the photos, Janette. Do you want the Council to see them?"

"No," I choked out.

"Then you will be punished." The Command dropped. "Go outside. Kneel in the rain. Stay there until I tell you to move."

My body jerked, obeying.

I walked out into the storm and knelt on the sharp gravel.

I looked up at the master bedroom window. The light turned on. They were watching.

I knelt for hours. But inside, a spark ignited. Something ancient.

My inner wolf bared her teeth.

Let them watch, she whispered. Because when we stand up, we will tear their throats out.

Tomorrow was the yacht party. The lawyers had the files. The hidden camera was sewn into my dress. The vitals-masking herbs were in my blood.

This was the last time I would ever kneel.

The Siren's Call superyacht gleamed under the harbor lights.

I stood by the railing in a white dress that looked like a shroud.

Garrison was drinking. Keyla was holding court.

I caught Keyla's eye and walked toward the dark stern. I released a tiny amount of pheromones. Not submission. Mockery.

She followed.

"Thinking of jumping?" Keyla asked, holding a martini.

"I was thinking Garrison will get bored of you," I said calmly. "He told me. He just needs your family's money."

"Shut up!" Keyla hissed. "He loves me! He covered for me when I poisoned that old hag!"

Got her. The camera button on my dress blinked.

"He knows you killed the Healer?"

"He knows everything!" Keyla gloated. "And he didn't care. Because I am his future."

She stepped closer. "You're just a stray dog, Janette."

"At least I'm not a murderer."

"I am the Luna!" She shoved me. Hard.

I didn't fight it. I tipped backward over the low railing.

"No!" I screamed for the witnesses.

As I fell, I grabbed the railing for a split second, ripped my wedding ring off, and flung it into the dark water.

Then I hit the freezing ocean.

I sank. Darkness swallowed me.

A shadow moved in the deep. A submarine drone. Shadow Claw tech.

I reached out.

Goodbye, Janette.