Alex POV:

The week leading up to the party was a nightmare. The house was falling apart, the servants were snapping, and Iliana spent her time screaming about flower arrangements.

Gavyn forced me to work, threatening the dungeon if the "First Shift Celebration" wasn't perfect.

The night arrived. The mansion was filled with dignitaries. Champagne flowed.

I stood in the corner in a plain black dress, invisible.

Iliana was the star, wearing a silver gown and the Moonstone Necklace—an ancient artifact meant only for the Alpha's true mate. Legend said it glowed for the worthy.

On Iliana, the stone was dull gray.

"Enjoying the view from the cheap seats?" Iliana appeared beside me, smelling of perfume and rot.

"Lovely party, Iliana."

"It is," she smirked. "And after tonight, you'll be in that shack. Or dead. Who knows?" She fingered the necklace. "This thing is heavy. It chafes."

"It's a sacred relic."

"It's a rock," she scoffed.

We were near the open French doors. Below us lay the artificial lake, dark and deep.

Iliana looked around. Gavyn was occupied.

She reached up and ripped the clasp.

"Oops."

She threw it.

I watched the priceless Moonstone sail over the railing and splash into the water.

"You bitch!" Iliana screamed, her voice shrill enough to cut glass. "Why did you do that?"

The music stopped. Every head turned.

"She threw it!" Iliana sobbed. "She tried to steal it, and when I caught her, she threw it in the lake!"

"That's a lie," I said calmly. "Check the security cameras."

Iliana's eyes flickered.

"Mommy is telling the truth!" Kaylin shouted, face smeared with chocolate. "I saw her! The nanny threw it!"

"Me too!" Kenneth added. "She said she hates us!"

The air left my lungs. The children I nursed through nightmares were condemning me without blinking.

Gavyn marched over, fury radiating off him.

"You destroyed the Moonstone?"

"I didn't. Your 'true mate' tossed it like garbage."

"My children do not lie!" Gavyn roared. The Alpha Command slammed into me. "You are petty. You are jealous. And you have disgraced this pack."

"Check the cameras, Gavyn."

"The cameras on the terrace were disabled for privacy," he said coldly. "Iliana requested it."

Of course.

"Guards!" Gavyn barked.

Two warriors grabbed me.

"You want to find the necklace so badly?" Gavyn sneered. "Then go get it."

Alex POV:

The night air was biting, but the Lake of Judgment was liquid ice.

"Jump," Gavyn ordered.

We stood at the edge of the stone pier. The party guests watched—some with pity, most with amusement.

"Gavyn, please," I shivered. "The water... it's freezing. And my leg..."

"The necklace, Alex," he said, unmoved. "Don't come up until you have it."

The guards shoved me.

I hit the water.

The cold was a physical blow. The lake was infused with Wolfsbane to prevent prisoners from swimming away. Even though I was "latent," the poison burned.

I kicked downward. My leg throbbed. Thump. Burn. Thump. Burn.

I surfaced, gasping. "I don't see it!"

"Dive again!" Iliana shouted. "It's my legacy!"

I went down again. And again.

My limbs grew heavy. The cold seeped into my core, dulling the inner fire.

On the fourth dive, my fingers brushed metal. The chain.

I grabbed it and kicked toward the surface, vision tunneling. I dragged myself onto the rocky shore, coughing up water, and held up the necklace.

"Here."

Gavyn snatched it. No towel. No hand.

He fastened it around Iliana's neck.

"Beautiful," he murmured.

"Look at her," Kenneth laughed. "She looks like a wet rat."

"A drowned rat," Kaylin corrected.

The crowd chuckled.

Darkness crept in. Shock took over. I collapsed on the stones.

The last thing I heard was champagne corks popping.

I woke up in the pack hospital's general ward.

"Oh, you're awake," a nurse said, chewing gum. "Hypothermia almost took you."

"Where is Gavyn?"

"With the Luna. She was very traumatized by your outburst. He's comforting her."

It had been two days. No one had checked on me.

My phone buzzed.

Gavyn: You have caused enough embarrassment. When discharged, come to the main house. You will apologize to Iliana on your knees. Then you will begin obedience training.

Obedience training. Breaking the mind.

I stared at the screen.

Something inside me snapped. Not a bone, but a chain.

I ripped the IV out. Blood sprayed. I didn't care.

I dressed in my damp clothes and walked out. No one stopped me. To them, I was a ghost.

A black sedan waited at the curb—a human taxi I'd called with my last savings.

"Where to?"

"The Underground Club," I said. "Downtown."

Neutral territory.

As the car pulled away, I looked back at the pack lands.

I reject you, Gavyn.

I touched my chest. My heart beat slower, stronger.

And in the reflection of the window, for a split second, my eyes weren't brown.

They were silver.

Alex POV:

The Underground Club was a sensory assault—cheap liquor, sweat, and blood.

I sat in a dark booth, nursing water. My leg throbbed.

"I need a room," I told the bartender.

"Motel down the street. VIP is closed."

I stood to leave. Passing the VIP corridor, a scent hit me. Artificial roses and rot.

Iliana.

Why was the future Luna here?

Instinct drove me down the hall. The door was ajar.

Iliana stood inside. A scarred Rogue was counting a stack of cash.

"Make it look real," Iliana said, voice precise. "Rip the dress. Hit me, but not in the face."

"Whatever you say, lady."

She was staging it.

Before I could move, Iliana tore her blouse open and screamed.

"Help! Please! Get off me!"

"No!" I whispered.

Too late. The front entrance exploded inward.

"Iliana!"

Gavyn. He'd tracked her phone.

He stormed down the hall, Alpha aura blazing, eyes crimson. He saw me first.

"Alex?" Confusion flickered.

"She set me up!" Iliana shrieked from the floor. "Alex paid him! She paid this filth to defile me!"

Gavyn turned to the Rogue. "Is this true?"

The Rogue looked at me, then the cash. "Yeah. The cripple gave me five grand. Said she wanted the pretty one ruined."

The lie was so heavy it felt physical. A blatant setup.

"Gavyn, look at the money!" I shouted. "Check it for my scent! I haven't touched it!"

But Gavyn wasn't thinking. His eyes were glazed, pupils dilated—the sign of a wolf running on pure instinct and perhaps... something else. A subtle influence clouding his judgment.

He moved.

His hand wrapped around my throat, slamming me against the wall.

"You are vile," he spat.

"Gavyn... listen..."

"Silence!" Alpha Command.

My voice died.

"Punish her," Gavyn ordered his warriors. "Teach her what happens when you touch what is mine."

He dropped me.

Gavyn scooped Iliana up. She buried her face in his neck.

"I've got you," he murmured tenderly.

As he carried her out, Iliana winked at me over his shoulder.

Then the first boot connected with my ribs.

An hour later, I was thrown into the mansion foyer.

Gavyn sat on the couch, Iliana on his lap, feeding him grapes.

"Is she dead?" Kenneth asked.

"No, just broken," Gavyn said, slurring slightly. Iliana had been pouring him wine all night.

"She's a bitch in heat," Kenneth laughed. "That's what Mommy Iliana said."

My heart finally stopped beating for them.

"Take her to the guest room," Gavyn mumbled, head lolling. "We deal with the trash in the morning."

As the guards dragged me away, I heard Iliana giggle.

"Come upstairs, Alpha. Let me help you forget her."