Chapter 1

At the banquet, Serena drifted into the center of the hall in her designer gown, holding up her hand so everyone could admire the moonstone ring on her finger. A little crowd swarmed around her, fawning.

"Serena's so pretty and so sweet. No wonder the Alpha fell for her."

"That ring finally found its rightful owner."

"Right? Honestly, even the Luna can't hold a candle to you."

She basked in it, chin tilted upward. She shot a taunting little glance at me in my corner and smiled to herself.

Then she came over and toyed with the necklace at my throat, eyes bright with mischief. "Aurora, what a gorgeous necklace. I think it'd go perfectly with my ring. Be a dear and hand it over, won't you?"

That was a rare diamond necklace. Damien had outbid half a room for it on my birthday once.

An Alpha keeping someone on the side isn't exactly news, so as long as it never reached me, I looked the other way. But open provocation I never let slide.

There was a she-wolf once who thought she'd climb into Damien's bed. She sent me a taunting message from a burner account.

It took me three minutes to drag her into the light, and I had her thrown out in front of the whole pack.

After that, no mistress ever dared make herself known to my face again.

So everyone in that hall stood waiting to see how I'd put this brazen little thing in her place.

Instead, I reached up, undid the clasp at the back of my neck, and lifted the necklace off, calm as ever.

I held it out to Serena while the room stared. "If you like it that much, it's yours."

Across the hall, Damien's brow gave the faintest twitch.

Serena froze too. She hadn't expected me to just hand it over.

"Well, thank you, then."

She reached for it. And then a strange little smile crossed her face.

She took a step back, let herself tip backward, and went down hard onto the floor.

The champagne flute slipped from her hand and shattered, and a shard skipped across the tile and nicked my ankle.

Serena lay there, eyes welling up, tears spilling down one after another.

"Aurora, I only wanted a closer look at your necklace. Why did you push me?"

Damien, who hadn't lifted a finger while she humiliated me, came rushing over now, all panic, gently helping Serena up. The look he threw me was thick with blame.

"Aurora, do you really have to go after Serena like this, right here? You're putting me in a hell of a position."

"She's a fragile little Omega. She can't take this kind of bullying from you."

An impossible spot?

His choice had been Serena from the very beginning. When was he ever torn?

Serena's little performance was loud enough to pull every eye in the hall. People started murmuring.

"No wonder the Luna suddenly got so generous with that necklace. She was setting a trap the whole time."

"Anyone who crosses the Luna comes to a bad end."

"But she went too far this time. Look at Serena's knees, all bruised up."

The whispering swelled around me, and Serena buried herself, sobbing, in Damien's chest.

His arms tightened around her without thinking. "Aurora." His voice was hard now. "Apologize to her."

I looked at her, nothing on my face at all. "I'm sorry. My foot slipped and I lost my balance. That's the only reason I bumped you. To make it up to you, the necklace is yours."

The whole thing left the room stunned. Even Serena forgot to keep crying.

I pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the wine off my hands without a flicker, and dropped it in the nearest bin.

"I've got somewhere to be. Enjoy the rest of your night."

I turned and left the hall, and the guests parted to clear a path without being asked. Damien's eyes stayed glued to my back the whole way out.

Home, I stripped off the stiff gown and pulled on something soft to sleep in.

If the price of being Luna was my freedom, then they could keep the honor.