2

The sound of my heels echoed softly down the stone corridor as I made my way toward the great hall. The banners that lined the walls fluttered faintly from the night breeze seeping through narrow windows, but the weight inside my chest was heavier than silk and stone combined. My hands were clasped tightly in front of me, nails pressing into my palms until the crescent moons shape they left stung.

Maris walked beside me, radiant as always in a gown of emerald that clung to her figure, her dark hair braided with silver threads. She looked more like a queen than I ever felt like a Luna. She slowed her steps, noticing the stiffness in mine.

“You’re grinding your teeth again,” she murmured, amusement coating her words.

I exhaled, I didn't even realize I had been grinding my teeth. “I can’t help it. Kael hasn’t spoken more than ten words to me this week, Maris. Ten.” My voice cracked despite my attempt to keep it level. “And those words were… instructions. Orders, like I’m just another soldier under his command.”

Maris tilted her head, her hazel eyes gleaming with a mix of sympathy and calculation. “He’s Alpha Selene, you must understand that his duty stretches him thin. You knew it would be like this when he became the Alpha.”

“Not like this.” I swallowed, forcing the bitterness rising in my throat back. “He doesn’t even come to bed anymore. His scent is… fading from our chamber. Sometimes I think he avoids it on purpose. And a wolf is weak without her mate's scent.” My throat tightened as the words rushed out, words I would never dare to whisper to anyone else. “I feel like I’m Luna only in name. The pack sees it. They see how he looks through me, and they treat me like I’m invisible because of it. Because of how he treats me.”

Maris’s hand slipped through mine, squeezing gently. “Selene, you’re stronger than you think. They may not see it, but I do. Don’t let them smell your fear. Tonight, hold your head high. No matter what anyone whispers, you are the Luna. Their Luna.”

Her words were like a balm, though some part of me wondered why she sounded so certain. I forced a smile. “Sometimes I think you believe in me more than I do.”

“That’s because I know what you’re worth.” Her lips curved, her tone so warm it almost chased away the chill. Almost.

We reached the carved wooden doors of the great hall, already alive with music and laughter. The scent of roasted meat, honeyed wine, and burning pine filled the air. I took a breath, straightened my shoulders, and stepped inside.

Every head turned to me. I could feel their eyes trailing across me, assessing, judging. The hush that followed our entrance lasted only seconds before voices rose again this time sharper, aimed at me.

“Well, if it isn’t our absent Luna,” one she-wolf muttered just loud enough. “Maybe she’ll grace us with more than her shadow tonight.”

Another laughed. “Careful, she might actually speak to us and forget her place.”

Heat flamed across my face. I ignored them, tightening my grip on Maris’s arm. But the words clung to my skin. I walked towards the high table, every step deliberate.

Before I reached it, a younger she-wolf suddenly stumbled in front of me, her goblet tipping with suspicious clumsiness. Red wine splattered across my lap, staining the pale silver of my gown. Gasps erupted, followed by muffled laughter that quickly grew bolder.

“Oh no,” the girl said in mock horror, pressing her hand to her mouth. “How clumsy of me. I’m so sorry, Luna.”

Her tone dripped with insincerity, mockery.

I stood frozen for a heartbeat, the cool wine soaking into the fabric, the sting of humiliation sharper than any blade. I forced a breath, forced my chin higher. “Accidents happen,” I said calmly, though my hands shook. “Excuse me, I’ll go and change.”

I turned, but before I could take a step, a sharp tug at my skirt made me stop in my tracks. It was a deliberate tug.

There was a loud ripping sound and for a moment, the hall went silent, followed by a wave of laughter.

I looked down in horror. My gown had torn from hem to waist, exposing the pale fabric of my undergarments. My stomach plummeted, and heat rushed to my face so violently I thought I might faint.

The she-wolf who had “tripped” was smirking, her hand still close enough to the fabric for me to know she had done it on purpose.

“She’s come to show us her real colors,” someone jeered from the back. “Is this what passes for dignity in a Luna?” another chimed in.

The laughter swelled, cruel and echoing.

My throat closed. My legs refused to move. All I could think of was Kael if he were here. If he would even care.

Then Maris, like my knight in shining armor, removed her shawl silken and long and wrapped it around my waist, covering the tear with practiced speed. She turned on the offenders with fire in her eyes.

“How dare you?” she snapped, her voice cutting through the laughter like a whip. “You are disgracing yourselves, not your Luna. Is this what loyalty looks like? Mocking the mate chosen by the Moon Goddess herself? This is disrespect of the highest order to the Alpha himself.”

The hall stilled. They still whispered but no one dared speak against her.

Maris tightened the scarf around me and leaned close, her whisper meant only for me. “Hold your head high. Don’t let them win.”

I swallowed hard, blinking back hot tears, and forced myself to walk toward the high table. Every step was agony, but I did not falter. I sat on the table with the shawl draped elegantly enough to disguise the tear beneath.

Kael came in later, He held my hands and raised it up in greeting to his pack members, then he dropped it as fast as lightning when we were sitting.

Few eyes caught it. I helplessly watched as they smirked on their seats. I couldn't blame them. All I could feel was the sting of Kael’s action.

The rest of the feast passed in a blur of noise and stares. My food tasted like ash.

When the last goblet was emptied and the music dimmed, I escaped as quickly as dignity allowed. My chambers greeted me with silence, heavy and suffocating. I shut the door, leaned against it, and finally let the tears I had caged fall.

Pulling the fabric free, I dropped it on the bed and went to my jewelry chest. I needed some reminder, some proof that I belonged here, that I mattered to someone.

But when I opened the small wooden box where I kept Kael’s gift the necklace he’d given me on our joining night my breath caught.

The velvet pouch was gone.

I searched frantically, overturning trinkets, digging through every drawer, every chest. My hands trembled as I pulled garments aside, desperate, praying I had misplaced it. But it was nowhere.

The necklace Kael had clasped around my throat with his own hands, the one I had cherished as the symbol of our bond, had vanished.

I sank to my knees, the realization striking like a blade. First the humiliation in the hall. Now this.

The laughter of the she-wolves still rang in my ears. And beneath the wooding box was a note. A note dripping with a warning that sounded like a whisper:

Someone wants to strip you of everything your pride, your dignity, even the last piece of Kael you hold.

My fingers curled the paper as I collapsed to the floor. The truth was pressed cold against my heart.

This wasn’t

carelessness. Someone was inside my chambers.

And they had taken what mattered most.