My contract mate wanted another woman.

He could not leave me without losing my clout.

So he hired a wolf to seduce me.

"Do not touch her until the cameras are running."

Darius Crowe's voice came through the half-open study door. I stopped in the passage, one hand still wrapped around the folder I had brought him.

The Blood Moon pack house was crowded for our third contract anniversary. Music drifted up from the ballroom. Pack members laughed beneath strings of white lights. Downstairs, they were waiting for Darius and me to stand together and celebrate for our wedding.

But inside the study, Darius was arranging my destruction.

"She won't make it easy," another man said. Jude Mercer. I recognized the lazy drawl from pack training. "Elara barely looks at anyone but you."

"That is why you will give her a reason to look." Seraphine Thorne sounded amused. "Tell her Darius has been sleeping with me. Tell her he plans to replace her. She will be hurt enough to do something stupid."

A chair scraped.

"I am not paying you to discuss her feelings," Darius said. "Get her into the east guest room. Kiss her where the camera can see. Make it look as if she invited you there and changed her mind afterward."

My wolf, Willow, slammed against the walls inside me. Rage burned through my skin, but I did not move.

Three years ago, Blood Moon had been drowning in debt after a fever outbreak. My mother had left me shares in the Red Creek quarry and the small medical center beside pack territory. Darius needed both. I needed protection from relatives trying to force me to sell.

We signed a five-year mate contract.

I would act as his Luna, run the clinic, and support his claim. In return, he would protect my inheritance and give me a place in pack leadership. If he ended the agreement early, he owed me a large settlement and had to return every asset my family had placed under joint control. If I was publicly unfaithful, the morality clause erased most of those protections.

I had once believed the contract might grow into love.

Darius had encouraged that belief whenever he needed something from me.

"And after tonight?" Seraphine asked.

"After tonight, Elara signs away her claim and leaves." His voice softened in a way it had not softened for me in months. "Then I announce you as my chosen mate."

I pushed the door open.

All three of them turned.

Darius stood behind his desk in a black dinner jacket. Seraphine leaned against the edge beside him, wearing a silver gown and the moonstone necklace that his mother had used to wear. Jude lounged near the bookcase, his smile disappearing when he saw my face.

For one second, no one spoke.

Then Darius's expression settled into the calm, superior mask he used in council meetings.

"Elara. You should knock."

I looked at Seraphine. Her lipstick was smudged. Darius had the same dark red stain near the corner of his mouth.

"How long?" I asked.

Seraphine touched her necklace. "Long enough to know he was never going to mark you."

Darius shot her a warning look. "Go downstairs. Both of you."

Jude walked past me first. He did not meet my eyes. Seraphine took her time. Her shoulder brushed mine as she left, and Darius's scent clung to her skin.

When the door closed, Darius sighed.

"You were not supposed to hear that."

"That is your explanation?"

"It is not an explanation. It is a fact." He picked up a crystal glass and poured himself whiskey. "Our arrangement has stopped working."

"For you. It worked very well when you needed my quarry income. It worked when I treated half this pack without charging them. It worked when I spent every night correcting your accounts so the council would not see how close you were to bankruptcy."

His jaw tightened. "Lower your voice."

"You paid Jude to put his hands on me."

"He was told not to hurt you."

The words struck harder than a slap.

Darius came around the desk. "If I terminate the contract now, my enemies will say I used you. I cannot afford a scandal or the settlement. Once you are seen with another male, everyone gets a simple explanation. You were unhappy. You strayed. We separate."

"And you keep my property."

"You will receive enough to start over somewhere else."

"How generous."

He reached for my wrist. I stepped back before he could touch me.

Something cold entered his eyes. "Do not make this harder than it needs to be. Go downstairs. Smile through dinner. Tomorrow we will discuss a quiet separation."

"You mean I should pretend I do not know about your trap."

"I mean you should remember that Blood Moon is my territory."

There it was. A threat.

I set the folder on his desk. It contained the clinic's quarterly report, including proof that I had covered another twenty-seven thousand dollars of pack expenses from my personal account.

"Find someone else to save your territory," I said.

I left before he could answer.

The ballroom went silent when I entered alone. Hundreds of pack members had gathered beneath the carved wooden rafters. Mara Crowe, Darius's mother, sat at the head table with Elder Cassian Holt. My friend Celine stood near the platform.

Tessa Quinn, one of the house attendants, hurried toward me with a tray.

"Miss Vane, are you all right?"

"I need my coat."

Her gaze flicked toward the stairs. Fear sharpened her scent. "Your room key was changed. Mrs. Crowe told me to give you this one instead."

She pressed a brass key into my palm. Number twelve.

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because Mr. Mercer is waiting in twelve." Her fingers trembled. "You've been so good to me, and I’d never want to do anything to hurt you."

Before I could answer, Mara called my name from across the room.

"Elara, darling. Darius said you were fetching the original contract from the east wing. We cannot begin without it."

Every face turned toward me.

Darius descended the stairs behind her, composed and smiling.

Darius held out his hand. "Go on, Elara. We are all waiting."

I smiled.

"Of course."

I walked toward the east wing with every gaze on my back.

At the first turn, I slipped through the service door instead.

Footsteps followed.

"Elara," Jude called softly. "Wait."

I ran.

He caught up near the north corridor and grabbed my arm. I drove my elbow into his ribs. He cursed and loosened his grip.

"I am not going to hurt you," he said.

"You agreed to stage an assault."

Shame crossed his face, but it vanished quickly. "Darius has guards at the front gate. Let me take you to twelve. We fake a kiss. You leave with money, and nobody gets injured."

"Get away from me."

He moved closer. My wolf surged, giving me enough strength to shove him into the wall. I sprinted toward the far staircase as voices rose behind us.

The north corridor belonged to visiting Alphas. I tried the first door. Locked. The second opened beneath my hand.

I slipped inside and turned the deadbolt.

The room was dark except for the fire. A man stood at the window, broad shoulders outlined against the winter night. He wore no jacket, only a white shirt with the sleeves rolled over powerful forearms.

His scent reached me.

Pine. Snow. Smoke.

My entire body went still.

Willow lifted her head inside me, no longer furious or afraid.

Mate, she whispered.

The stranger turned, and his eyes flashed amber in the dark.

Outside, Jude struck the door with his fist.

"Elara, open up."

The man looked from the door to me.

Then he said, very quietly, "Why is Darius Crowe's Luna hiding in my room?"

The stranger crossed the room.

He did not touch me. He stopped close enough that I could feel the heat of him, his amber eyes searching my face.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Not yet."

"Is he trying to?"

"He was paid to make it look as if I cheated."

The man's expression changed. It was not shock. It was the cold concentration of a predator deciding where to bite.

He opened the door.

Jude nearly fell through it. Two Blood Moon guards stood behind him. They froze when the light from the corridor revealed the man beside me.

"Alpha Blackwood," one guard breathed.

My stomach dropped.

Rowan Blackwood. Alpha of Frost Fang. Darius had spent years calling him a savage, a land thief, and a threat to every southern pack. Rowan had defeated three challenges in six years and turned a poor mountain territory into Blood Moon's strongest trade rival.

He was also the deciding vote Darius needed for a new quarry road.

Rowan leaned against the doorframe. "Explain why you were pounding on my door."

The guards lowered their gazes.

Jude recovered first. "A private misunderstanding. Miss Vane came to meet me, then became embarrassed."

"Liar," I said.

His eyes flicked to me. "You asked me to follow you."

"She says you are lying," he said. "Leave."

"Alpha Crowe ordered us to bring her downstairs," one guard replied.

"Then Alpha Crowe can come here and ask me himself."

The door closed in their faces.

I stared at Rowan. "You just insulted your host."

"Darius is not my host." He studied my bare arms and the torn seam of my dress where Jude had grabbed me. "You are shaking."

"I am angry."

Rowan walked to a cabinet and took out a bottle of water. He broke the seal in front of me before handing it over. The careful gesture told me he had already guessed that I trusted nothing there.

I drank too quickly.

"Do you have somewhere safe to go?" he asked.

"My car is outside."

"The front gate is closed."

Of course it was.

I set the bottle down. "I need my phone. It is in my room."

Rowan picked up his own and called someone named Lyra. He asked her to locate my phone and coat, then told her not to involve Blood Moon security.

When he ended the call, silence settled between us.

The pull toward him had not faded. It had grown stronger. Every breath carried his scent deeper into me. Willow paced under my skin, excited in a way she had never been around Darius.

Darius and I had never marked each other. He always said we should wait until the five-year contract ended and we could decide whether to make the bond permanent. I had accepted that explanation.

Now she pressed against Rowan as if she had known him forever.

He noticed. His nostrils flared, and amber swallowed the gray of his eyes.

"Your wolf recognizes mine," I whispered.

"Yes."

The direct answer tightened something low in my body.

Rowan took a deliberate step back. "That does not mean you owe me anything."

"Darius told me fated mates were mostly stories."

"Darius says whatever makes his choices easier."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "You know him well."

"I know men who confuse possession with loyalty."

A soft knock sounded. A dark-haired woman entered carrying my coat, phone, and a pair of boots. A silver scar crossed her left eyebrow.

"Your room had already been searched," she said. "I found the phone beneath a maid's cart. Two men were waiting near the stairs."

"Lyra Kane, my Beta," Rowan said. "Elara Vane."

Lyra looked at the torn seam of my dress, then at Rowan. Her expression revealed nothing. "Our cars are being watched. Cassian has called an emergency gathering downstairs."

My phone held twelve missed calls from Darius and one message.

Come down now. If you make a scene, you will regret it.

A second message arrived while I read.

You have five minutes.

I showed Rowan.

"He wants you frightened," he said.

"He wants me obedient."

"Are you?"

"Not anymore."

Lyra's mouth almost curved. "I will keep the hall clear."

After she left, Rowan moved to the other side of the room. He gave me the bedroom and offered to sleep on the sitting-room sofa. The suite had no second exit, and leaving now would put me directly in Darius's hands.

I should have locked myself away and waited for morning.

But I stood by the fire wearing Rowan's spare shirt beneath my coat, listening to him speak quietly on the phone with his guards. He controlled every room without raising his voice. When he turned, the pull between us struck so sharply that my breath caught.

His gaze dropped to my mouth, then rose again.

"Elara."

No one had ever said my name as if it mattered by itself.

I walked toward him.

He stayed still. "You learned about Darius and another woman tonight."

"Yes."

"You are hurt."

"I am furious."

"Those are not the same thing as wanting me."

I stopped in front of him. "My wolf has been silent for three years. She woke up the moment I smelled you. I do not know what tomorrow looks like, but I know what I feel right now."

His hand lifted, then paused beside my face. "Tell me to stop, and I stop."

"I will."

"This cannot be punishment for Darius."

"It is not." I touched his wrist and guided his palm to my cheek. "This is the first decision tonight that belongs only to me."

His control broke.

Rowan kissed me with a restrained force that lasted less than a second before he pulled back.

“Still yes?”

“Yes.”

The next kiss was deeper, almost hungry. His arms closed around me. My hands slid into his dark hair and tugged. Heat flooded every place. My wolf surged forward, with a low, restless growl in my chest.

He carried me to the bed and laid me down. His mouth was on my throat, open and hot, as he pushed the dress up my thighs. His palm slid between my legs, finding me already slick. Two fingers stroked through the wetness, slow and deliberate.

“Look at you,” he murmured against my skin, voice rough. “So wet for me already.”

“Rowan—”

“Tell me if it’s too much.”

“It’s not. Don’t stop. Please.”

He didn’t rush. He worked me open with his fingers, curling them just right. Only when I was panting and pulling at his clothes did he free himself. The head of his cock dragged through my folds.

The stretch burned. My nails dug into his shoulders. His forehead pressed to mine, giving me time, but the low, strained noise he made told me how hard it was for him to hold back.

“Move,” I whispered. “I need you to move.”

He did. The wet sound of our bodies meeting filled the room. My wolf howled under my skin; his answered.

His teeth grazed at my neck. Both our wolves surged, desperate for the mark.

He stopped.

“I will not mark you tonight,” he said against my damp skin, voice still rough. “Not when your life has just been torn open.”

The respect in that refusal affected me more than a claim would have.

I kissed him until neither of us could speak.

I woke wrapped around him, my cheek on his chest. Dawn silvered the curtains.

For a few precious seconds, I remembered nothing except warmth and the heavy, sated ache in my body.

Then the suite door crashed open.

Darius entered with Mara, Elder Cassian, Seraphine, and half a dozen guards. Celine stood at the rear with the council ledger, her face pale.

Darius stopped.

His gaze moved over my bare shoulder, Rowan's arm around my waist, and the bite-shaped bruise that had not broken my skin.

The triumphant expression he had prepared vanished.

Rowan sat up slowly, unconcerned by his naked chest or the armed men in his room.

"You have three seconds," he said, "to remove everyone from my suite."

Darius found his voice. "She is my mate."

I pulled the sheet around myself and looked directly at him.

"No," I said. "I am the woman you tried to frame."

Darius stared at Rowan as the full cost of his plan finally reached him.

He had wanted another wolf in my bed.

He had simply chosen the wrong night to make that wish.

Darius did not leave.

He looked at me as if I had broken a rule he alone was allowed to ignore.

"Get dressed," he said. "We are handling this downstairs."

"You broke into my suite," Rowan said. "And now you are ordering a woman who asked for my protection. Choose your next words carefully."

Darius's wolf flashed in his eyes. "This is Blood Moon territory."

"This wing was placed under council protection for the summit. Cassian knows that."

Every face turned toward the elder.

Cassian cleared his throat. "Technically, Alpha Blackwood is correct."

Seraphine's nails bit into her palms. Her plan had depended on finding Jude with me, not an Alpha whose testimony carried more weight than Darius's. But she recovered first. She touched Darius's arm. "Let her come downstairs when she is ready. Everyone already knows what she has done."

I almost laughed.

Rowan ordered them out. This time, Cassian led the retreat. Celine stayed long enough to meet my eyes. She tapped one finger against the closed council ledger, a quiet promise that she was recording everything.

When the door shut, I dressed in silence. My silver gown was torn, so Lyra brought black trousers and a sweater from her own luggage. They fit badly, but I preferred them to anything Darius had bought me.

"You do not have to attend their hearing," Rowan said.

"If I run now, he controls the story."

"He will try to control it anyway."

"Then he can try while I am in the room."

Something like approval warmed his expression.

The great hall had been rearranged by the time we arrived. The anniversary decorations remained on the walls, but the dinner tables had been pushed aside. Seven council chairs faced a single wooden bench.

My bench.

Darius sat beside his mother. Seraphine had changed into a modest blue dress, transforming herself from mistress to concerned family friend. Jude stood near the rear doors with a bruise forming along his jaw.

Blood Moon pack members crowded the hall. Some looked confused. Others looked eager. Scandal traveled faster than truth in any pack.

Cassian raised his hand. "This emergency hearing concerns a possible violation of the mate contract between Acting Alpha Darius Crowe and Elara Vane."

"Then it also concerns Darius paying Jude Mercer to manufacture that violation," I said.

Whispers spread.

Darius leaned forward. "Do you have proof?"

"I heard you."

"After you entered my study without permission and misunderstood a private conversation."

"What part of 'get her into the east guest room' did I misunderstand?"

He looked toward Jude.

Jude's face closed. "Alpha Crowe asked me to speak with Elara because he was worried about her. She invited me to room twelve. When I arrived, she panicked and ran to Alpha Blackwood."

My nails pressed into my palms.

"Look at me," I said.

He did, briefly.

"Tell them about the camera."

"I never saw one."

Tessa had seen it. I searched the crowd for her small, dark head and found nothing.

Mara folded her hands. "This is painful for all of us. Elara has struggled with jealousy since Seraphine arrived. Darius tried to help her privately. Instead, she chose to humiliate him with his political rival."

"Seraphine was wearing your necklace while she kissed him in his study."

Seraphine widened her eyes. "He comforted me because my father is ill. You saw a friendly embrace and decided to punish us."

Darius did not deny kissing her. He did not need to. Half the council owed Mara favors, and I had spent three years working behind the scenes instead of building allies of my own.

Cassian asked Rowan to describe what happened in his suite.

Rowan stood beside me. "Elara entered while being pursued by Jude Mercer and Blood Moon guards. She said Mercer had been paid to compromise her. She remained in my room because the exits were watched. What happened later was private, mutual, and unrelated to Mercer's scheme."

"So you admit intercourse occurred," Cassian said.

"You have no right to ask for details."

Darius's fingers curled around the arms of his chair. "She was my mate."

"She is not livestock," Rowan said.

A low murmur of agreement came from the Frost Fang visitors at the back.

Cassian called for a recess. The seven council members disappeared into the adjoining room for less than fifteen minutes.

I knew the result before they returned.

Four members voted that I had violated the public conduct clause. Two wanted a full investigation. Celine, the nonvoting recorder, kept her eyes on the page. Cassian announced that control of the clinic and quarry distributions would remain with Darius until a civil review could be held.

Not forever. Not legally. But long enough for him to empty accounts, change ownership records, and ruin my reputation.

Mara had planned the temporary order well.

Then Cassian delivered the personal punishment. "Until the review, Miss Vane is suspended from all Blood Moon duties and must leave pack housing by sunset."

A woman I had treated through a difficult birth whispered that I should be ashamed. One of Darius's guards called me a traitor. Others stared at the floor.

My chest hurt more than I expected.

These were wolves whose children I had vaccinated, whose wounds I had stitched, whose food bills I had quietly paid during the fever winter. I had mistaken dependence for affection.

Darius approached when the hearing ended.

"Sign a private settlement," he said under his breath. "I will give you a house outside the territory and enough money to live comfortably. In return, you drop the accusation against Jude and keep Rowan out."

"How much of my own money are you offering me?"

His mouth hardened. "You slept with him hours after hearing a conversation you did not like. Do not pretend you are innocent."

"You built the room, hired the man, and set up the camera. You are only angry because I chose the wrong wolf."

He grabbed my elbow.

Rowan's growl silenced the hall.

Darius released me, but not before I saw something new in his face. Jealousy. The man who had planned to hand me to Jude could not bear the thought of Rowan touching me.

"You will regret leaving with him," Darius said.

"I regret staying with you."

Outside, cold rain swept across the courtyard. I owned no suitcase that Darius's people had not already searched, so I left with Lyra's clothes, my phone, and the folder I had carried into the study.

Rowan waited beside a black SUV.

"Frost Fang can offer temporary residence," he said. "Mae needs another physician at the northern clinic."

He held out a plain business card bearing Dr. Mae Hart's number.

"And if I say no?" I asked.

"Lyra will drive you anywhere within three hundred miles."

I took the card. "I will speak to the doctor."

"Good."

As Lyra opened the car door, Nolan Crowe ran down the front steps. Darius's younger brother glanced behind him before pushing a small flash drive into my hand.

"The camera footage," he whispered. "Someone erased the main file, but this has a partial copy."

"Why are you helping me?"

Guilt sharpened his scent. "Because Tessa came to me before the hearing. She said she was going to tell Cassian what she saw. Two guards took her before she reached his office."

My relief vanished.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. Darius told me she quit and left the territory, but her coat is still in the staff room."

The pack house doors opened behind him.

Nolan stepped away. "Do not call me. I will contact you when I can."

He hurried back before anyone saw us together.

I climbed into the car and closed my hand around the drive.

Rowan sat beside me. "What did he give you?"

"A reason to come back."

The gates opened. I watched the only home I had known disappear behind rain and darkness.

Darius thought he had removed me.

He did not understand that he had also removed the last person protecting him.