The room spun around me as I stared at the pup's face—those unmistakable eyes, Lawrence's eyes, looking back at me from an infant's features. My wolf howled in anguish inside me, clawing at my insides, demanding release.

*Ours,* she snarled. *Blood of our blood.*

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The ceremony continued around me in a blur of voices and movements, but all I could focus on was the truth crashing down like a physical blow.

"This ceremony is a lie," I heard myself say, my voice cutting through the murmurs of the pack elite.

The room fell silent. Lawrence's head snapped toward me, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Luna Evie," he warned, a hint of his Alpha tone seeping into his voice. "This is not the time—"

"When is the time?" I demanded, stepping forward. My Luna aura flared around me, pushing against the suffocating weight of his dominance. "When were you going to tell me that your mistress bore your child on the exact day our daughter died?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Bella's face drained of color, her arms tightening protectively around the pup.

"You're hysterical," Lawrence said coldly, his voice carrying to every corner of the great hall. "Grief has damaged your mind. Our daughter's death was a tragedy, but these delusions—"

"Delusions?" My voice rose, drowning out his attempts to silence me. "I can smell him on the child! Your scent, Lawrence. Your blood!"

Margaret stepped forward, her former Luna aura flickering around her like a fading shadow. "How dare you disrupt a sacred pack ceremony with your emotional outbursts? Control yourself, girl."

But I was beyond control now. My wolf surged forward, lending me strength I didn't know I possessed.

"I, Evie," I began, my voice steady despite the trembling in my limbs, "reject you, Alpha Lawrence Green of the Silverfang Pack—"

The words of rejection burned like acid on my tongue, but I forced them out, each syllable a dagger to my own heart.

Lawrence's face contorted with rage. "ENOUGH!" he roared, unleashing his full Alpha aura.

The force of it hit me like a physical blow. My knees buckled as the weight of his power crushed down on me, stealing my breath and freezing the words in my throat.

"You will not reject me," he growled, his Alpha tone vibrating through my bones. "You are mine."

My wolf fought against the command, tearing at my insides, desperate to complete the rejection. But Lawrence's power was overwhelming, suffocating.

"I strip you of your Luna title," he snarled, circling me as I struggled to remain standing. "You are no longer fit to lead this pack."

The pack members watched in horror, some lowering their eyes in submission to their Alpha's wrath, others staring in fascination at the spectacle of their Luna being publicly humiliated.

"Beta Daniel," Lawrence commanded, his voice deadly calm now. "Escort Bella to the Luna quarters. She will be moving into the packhouse immediately."

Bella's triumphant smile cut through me like a knife as she handed the pup to Margaret and followed Daniel from the hall.

"As for you," Lawrence said, turning back to me with cold eyes, "you will be relocated to the Omega quarters until I decide what to do with you."

Two Delta warriors stepped forward, gripping my arms roughly.

"Take her away," Lawrence ordered. "She is no longer Luna of this pack."

The last thing I saw before they dragged me from the hall was Margaret cradling the pup close, whispering something to Bella as they watched me being taken away.

The Omega quarters were little more than a damp basement at the far edge of pack territory. As the warriors shoved me through the door and locked it behind me, I collapsed to my knees on the cold concrete floor.

My wolf howled in agony, the incomplete rejection tearing at us both. I could still feel Lawrence's mate bond pulling at me, even as my heart shattered into a million pieces.

"Why?" I whispered to the empty room, tears streaming down my face. "How could you do this to us? To our daughter?"

Only silence answered me as I curled into myself on the floor, my body shaking with sobs that seemed to tear from my very soul.

Somewhere above me, I could hear Lawrence's voice, addressing the pack, restoring order to the ceremony as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn't just destroyed everything we had built together.

And in that moment, lying on the cold floor of my prison, I made a vow to myself and to my daughter's memory: I would find the truth. No matter what it cost me.

The first attack came through the mind-link three days after my imprisonment. I was curled on the narrow cot in my Omega cell, trying to sleep away the pain of Lawrence's betrayal, when suddenly voices flooded my head.

"Poor Luna Evie," Margaret's voice dripped with false sympathy. "So consumed by grief she couldn't even care for her own pup properly."

I sat bolt upright, my hands flying to my head. The mind-link was normally a blessing—a way for pack members to communicate across distances—but now it felt like poison seeping into my brain.

"I heard she neglected little Emma," Bella's voice joined in, her tone honey-sweet with malice. "Too busy with Luna duties to notice the poor thing was sick."

"That's right," Margaret continued. "A proper mother would have sensed her pup's distress. But Evie's wolf is so weak..."

I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to block the voices, but they only grew stronger. The pack's collective consciousness was turning against me, one whispered lie at a time.

"Did you see her at the ceremony?" Bella's voice again. "Completely unhinged. Accusing Lawrence of such terrible things."

"Her wolf went rabid after Emma died," Margaret replied. "Grief does terrible things to weak minds."

I screamed into my pillow, my body shaking with rage and despair. My wolf howled inside me, clawing desperately to reach the surface, to defend us against these lies.

---

The physical attacks began soon after.

"Omega trash," a Delta warrior sneered, shoving a tray of slop through the slot in my door. "Eat your filth like the rest of the omegas."

I ignored him, focusing instead on the small window near the ceiling of my cell. Through it, I could see a sliver of the night sky, the moon rising over the trees.

"Talking to yourself again?" Another voice, accompanied by laughter. "Just like a rabid wolf. No wonder your pup died."

My head snapped up, my eyes flashing dangerously. "Don't you dare speak of her."

The warrior grinned, enjoying my reaction. "They're saying you killed her yourself. That your wolf went crazy and—"

I lunged at the door, my body slamming against it with enough force to make it rattle in its frame. "I would die before harming my pup!"

The warrior jumped back, startled by my sudden movement, then laughed again. "See? Completely unhinged."

They left me alone after that, but the damage was done. Each visit brought new taunts, new accusations, each one cutting deeper than the last.

But something was changing inside me. My wolf, once subdued by grief, was growing stronger, more alert. She prowled restlessly within my consciousness, her instincts sharpening with each passing day.

*Something's wrong,* she whispered. *Our pup didn't just get sick.*

"What do you mean?" I asked aloud, my voice echoing in the empty cell.

*The scent. The timing. It wasn't natural.*

I closed my eyes, trying to remember that terrible day. The way Emma had suddenly collapsed, her small body convulsing. The strange, bitter smell in her room that I'd dismissed as medicine.

"It wasn't an illness," I whispered, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. "Someone did this to her."

---

I began watching the night patrol routes from my window. Three warriors, circling the packhouse in a predictable pattern. Every two hours, they passed beneath my window, their footsteps heavy on the damp earth.

"Alpha wants extra security around the medical wing," I heard one say as they passed beneath my window. "Something about sensitive research."

My heart raced. The medical wing—where Dr. Sarah kept all the pack's medical records. Including Emma's.

"Think the Luna was right?" another voice asked. "About the Alpha's new pup?"

"Shut up," the third warrior growled. "That's not our place to discuss."

I pressed my face against the cool glass, memorizing their route. Two hours between patrols. A fifteen-minute overlap when the shift changed.

My fingers traced the lock on my cell door. Basic mechanism. Easy to pick with the hairpin I'd kept hidden in my sock.

"You're planning something dangerous," my wolf warned, but there was approval in her voice.

"I need to know what really happened to Emma," I whispered back.

I watched the moon rise higher in the night sky, marking time. Soon, very soon, I would have my chance.

The medical records would tell me everything—what really killed my daughter, and who was responsible.

And when I found out, not even Lawrence's Alpha command would stop me from seeking justice.

The moon hung like a silver pendant in the night sky, casting long shadows across the Omega quarters. I pressed my face against the small window, watching the patrol pass beneath me for the third time. Their footsteps were heavy, predictable—every two hours, like clockwork.

"Time to change shifts," I whispered to myself, my fingers working the hairpin I'd kept hidden in my sock. The lock on my cell door was basic—designed to contain ordinary Omegas, not a former Luna with nothing left to lose.

The mechanism clicked open with a soft sound that seemed deafening in the silence. I froze, listening for any response, but the hallway remained empty.

*Now*, my wolf urged. *While they're distracted with the shift change.*

I slipped through the door like a ghost, my bare feet silent on the concrete floor. The Omega quarters were located in the basement of the packhouse, but I knew every tunnel and passage—I'd walked them countless times as Luna, visiting the sick and elderly.

"Did you hear something?" A voice echoed from around the corner.

"Probably just the crazy Luna talking to herself again," another replied with a snicker. "Bella says she's completely lost it."

I pressed myself against the wall, controlling my breathing as two of Bella's cronies passed within feet of me. Their scents were familiar—Delta warriors who'd been assigned to guard the medical wing. They were taking the long route, giving me exactly the window I needed.

"Alpha wants extra security around Dr. Sarah's lab," one of them muttered. "Something about sensitive research."

"Sensitive my ass," the other replied. "I think he's just protecting his mistress's secrets."

Their voices faded as they rounded the corner. I waited until their footsteps were distant before moving again, my heart pounding so loudly I was certain it would give me away.

The medical wing was located on the east side of the packhouse, accessible only through a series of security doors. As I approached the first one, panic fluttered in my chest.

*What if they've changed the codes?*

But my fingers remembered what my mind had forgotten—the sequence Lawrence had shown me years ago, when we were still young and in love. 0-8-1-5. Emma's birthday.

The lock blinked green, and the door swung open silently.

"Still using the same code," I whispered, a bitter smile touching my lips. "Some things never change."

Dr. Sarah's office was at the end of the corridor, marked with her name and a red biohazard symbol. The door required both a keycard and a fingerprint scan—security measures I would have found impossible to bypass just days ago.

But I'd spent hours watching from my window, memorizing the patterns of the packhouse staff. Dr. Sarah always left her keycard in the pocket of her lab coat, which she hung on the hook just inside her office door.

I slipped inside, my eyes adjusting to the dim light. Medical equipment hummed softly around me, monitoring systems and refrigerated storage units filled with samples and medications.

"Where would she keep Emma's records?" I whispered, scanning the room frantically.

Archived physical records were kept in the filing cabinet behind her desk—I'd seen her retrieve files from there during my visits with Emma. My fingers trembled as I pulled open the drawer marked "Patient Records: G-M."

Green, Emma Marie. My daughter's file was thicker than I expected, bound with a black ribbon that seemed to pulse with malevolence in the dim light.

I flipped it open, scanning the pages with desperate eyes. Initial examination reports. Treatment notes. Progress updates. And then—

"Autopsy Results: Green, Emma Marie. Cause of death: Acute wolfsbane poisoning."

My blood turned to ice as I read further. "Subject exhibits classic symptoms of exposure to highly concentrated, unrefined wolfsbane: convulsions, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest. Toxicology confirms presence of alkaloids unique to laboratory-grade wolfsbane."

Laboratory-grade. Controlled by the Alpha family.

The room spun around me as pieces clicked into place. The strange scent in Emma's room that day. Margaret's insistence on handling the arrangements personally. Lawrence's desperate cover-up.

"Find anything interesting?"

I whirled around, clutching the file to my chest. A Delta warrior stood in the doorway, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Just looking for some sleeping pills," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "The stress has been... difficult."

He stepped closer, his nostrils flaring as he caught my scent. "You're not supposed to be here."

"I know." I backed away slowly, the file still clutched in my hand. "I was just leaving."

His hand moved to his radio. "I need to call this in."

"No need," I said, my wolf surging forward with unexpected strength. "I'm going back to my cell. Tell Bella her secret is safe with me."

Confusion flickered across his face—just long enough for me to slip past him and disappear into the shadows of the corridor.

Behind me, I heard him calling for backup, but I was already gone, the precious truth clutched against my heart like a talisman.

Emma hadn't just died. She'd been murdered.