Chapter Two

Rhea's POV

There was a suffocating stillness that swallowed the air. Every soul in the chamber stood frozen—every mouth, every eye wide with disbelief.

Logan wasn’t supposed to be here. Not yet. His patrol had been scheduled to last another two days. And yet, there he was, standing in the doorway.

As soon as Natalie's eyes darted to him, in the blink of an eye.....she changed.

“Logan! Thank the goddess you’re back!” Her voice cracked.

Her hand flew to her chest, clutching it like she was in pain.

Her lips parted in a gasp, and she stumbled backward as if the mere sight of me had knocked the breath out of her lungs.

“I........I can’t…breathe....” she whispered, swaying on her feet. “She.....she tried to attack me…”

Then, as if on cue, her knees buckled.

She collapsed dramatically to the floor, trembling and gasping like she was suffocating from fear.

Logan, quickly without hesitation, walked straight past me like I was invisible. He went straight to her. Held her like she was fragile glass, kissed her forehead like she was everything worth protecting.

He didn’t even look at me.

“You heard her,” she whimpered, eyes glistening. “She said she’d chain me. She wanted to hurt me, Logan. If you hadn’t returned.........” Her voice broke as she leaned into his chest.

“Natalie, breathe,” he murmured, hands gently on her arms. “Relax, sweetheart. No one is going to hurt you.”

She leaned in deeper, playing her part like she’d rehearsed it a hundred times. “I only wanted to protect you… to protect our pack,” she whispered. “I found out about the affairs between Luna Rhea and Cyrus. And instead of remorse, she screamed at me. Pressured me. Threatened me. I… I felt my heart clawing out…”

“You’re lying!” I shouted, trembling with rage. I clenched my fist, almost tearing my skin. “Every word from your mouth is a lie!”

Logan turned. His eyes met mine, and I wished they hadn’t. They didn’t hold any confusion . They held anger. Just loathing. Cold.

“Don’t raise your voice at her again,” he yelled at me strongly, “If anything happens to Natalie, I swear, I’ll have your head!!”

I bit down hard on my trembling lips, choking back the scream crawling up my throat. She was doing it again. That trick. Pretending to faint, to suffer, to be the fragile one. And he… he always believed her.

So this was love, then? This blind, unwavering belief in someone else. And for me? It had never been that. Not since she came.

His gaze fell hard on me again. “So it’s true then? You’ve been spreading your legs for the man I trusted to protect you?”

The words struck like a whip. My lungs collapsed around them. “No! Logan, it isn’t true! Please, just listen……”

“I’ve heard enough.” His voice was a blade. “You’re petty. Jealous. Always finding fault in Natalie. She’s an orphan, for goddess’ sake. She’s never threatened your title, your power, your place beside me. And yet, you made her life hell.”

Each word crushed the air from my chest. All I’d ever done was try. I ran this pack like my veins bled for it. I filled the cracks, I cleaned the messes no one saw. I skipped meals sometimes . Sometimes, I collapsed from exhaustion. But still… I was the bad Luna.

“If not for the disgrace you brought, I wouldn’t have cut my patrol short,” he spat.

“Logan, I’m begging you......remember who I am to you. What we’ve shared. What we built. For the sake of our past, just……”

But before I could finish, Natalie let out a soft gasp and collapsed into hid arms again.

“Enough!!” Logan’s voice roared.

“Will you not stop until you’ve killed her?” he snarled. “You’ve already hurt her heart. Is her life next?”

He clutched her tight, and in that moment, I was a stranger to him. He barked for the doctor. People rushed to follow his orders. No one looked at me. Not even a glance.

“Take her away,” he said, pointing at me like I was filth. “Get her out of here before she causes more damage.”

Guards moved toward me. I stumbled as they grabbed me, heart hammering against my ribs. “Logan, I’m still your mate,” I gasped, desperate. “I’m still your Luna….”

He froze for a moment, then turned back, eyes darker than I had ever seen.

“My mate?” he said with venom. “A devil incarnate like you should never have been my mate.”

The room seemed to crack as he stepped forward, his voice rising like thunder.

“I, Logan Sylvester, Alpha of the Crescent Fur Pack, reject you, Rhea Griffith, as my mate!”

He stepped forward, his eyes full of disgust.

“Loving you was my greatest shame. You were never worthy of me......not as my mate, not as my Luna. You're weak, useless, and nothing but a stain on this pack!!”

A gasp rippled through the crowd. Some turned away. Others whispered.

“You think being chosen makes you special? I only stayed out of pity,” he sneered.

“Today, I free myself from you. From your lies. From your pathetic presence.”

He turned to the elders, his voice proud and loud.

“Let this be known to all.....she is no longer my Luna. She is nothing. And I feel nothing for her.”

Something shattered deep inside me. The pain that followed wasn’t just physical. It was the tearing of something sacred. The bond that tied us—burned away. My wolf screamed inside me. I screamed with her. My knees gave out.

It felt like a thousand knives slicing through me at once. Like sleeping with another woman was not enough, rejecting me was now the next….

I fell, gasping for breath, hands clutching the cold floor as my body convulsed from the pain. I was still shaking when the guards grabbed my arms and dragged me across the chamber like a broken doll.

He didn’t even look at me.

He held Natalie as if I’d never existed.

“You’re safe now,” he whispered to her, kissing her brow like I used to dream he would do to me. “I’ll protect you from everything.”

She clung to him, her voice weak and sweet. “I just… I don’t feel safe with Rhea still here. I’m afraid she’ll retaliate…”

“She won’t be here for much longer,” Logan said flatly.

And she lowered her head, smiling behind the curtain of her golden curls.

All her schemes had worked. Her bribery. Her lies. Killing Cyrus. Turning the pack against me. She had it all now.

*************

They threw me into a cell that smelled like mold. The air was damp and freezing. The floor beneath me was so cold it bit into my bones. I curled up in the corner, arms wrapped around my knees.

Something scraped against my ankle.

I looked down.

A fat mouse, its eyes gleaming.

I screamed loudly.

A guard stormed over. “What the hell is your problem?” he barked.

“There’s a mouse,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Can you move me to another cell?”

He laughed, full of spite. “This ain’t a damn hotel where you get what you want.”

I stared at him, a lump lodged in my throat. Even the guards who used to bow now spit at me now.

I reached up with shaking hands and touched the topaz earrings still clinging to my ears. The last thing of value I had left. I pulled them off and held them out.

“Please,” I whispered. “Take these. Just send a message to my parents. Tell them to speak to Logan. Tell them I need their help.”

His greedy eyes lit up at the sight.

He snatched the earrings and shrugged. “That’s a start. But it’ll take more than shiny stones to save your neck.”

I took off the golden necklace too. My last offering.

He pocketed it without a second glance. “Fine. I’ll deliver the message. But don’t expect miracles.”

I sank to the floor after he left, cold creeping into my skin, dread eating at my soul. Natalie had struck with precision this time.

Cyrus was gone. The one person who believed me, comforted me. He always said Logan would see the truth, that I should keep hoping.

But Logan's affection towards me died the day I brought Natalie to the pack.

************

Natalie’s POV

I sat before her mirror—Rhea Griffith’s mirror—wrapped in her silk robe like I’d already replaced her. And maybe I had.

The room still smelled like her, delicate and expensive, but it reeked of weakness. I didn’t need her scent. I would drown it out with mine. Soon, no one would remember she ever existed.

She was gone. And I was here.

That’s how it should’ve always been.

Elena hovered behind me, massaging my shoulders with the desperation of someone who knew where her loyalty belonged.

“Miss Natalie,” she whispered, eyes gleaming. “Alpha Logan even invited you into Luna's chambers. That makes it official, doesn’t it? You’re practically the new Luna.”

I didn’t turn. I didn’t need to. The mirror reflected everything I already knew.

“Not practically,” I said. “I am the Luna. He just hasn’t finalized it yet.”

Rhea was never meant for that title. She didn’t earn it. She was soft, pure, pitiful. Logan needed someone who could stand beside a king, not cry in his shadow.

And me? I’d been watching him since I got to this pack. I wanted him. I needed him. And I would ruin anyone who got in my way.

Rhea’s only crime was being chosen. And for that, she would suffer.

People said he was too good for me—too noble, too powerful. And maybe he was. But I didn’t care. He would belong to me, even if I had to destroy the entire pack to make it happen.

Rhea didn’t deserve his hands. His name. His mark.

I’d rather see her torn apart by rogues than watch her walk beside him again.

A knock broke my thoughts. The warden stepped in, head bowed.

“Miss Natalie,” he murmured. “You told us to watch Luna Rhea closely. No Rhea," he paused, a sneer etched on his face. "She wrote a letter. To her parents.”

I held out my hand without a word.

Pathetic.

Still begging for her parents? Typical Rhea—still clinging to the illusion that someone might love her. That her parents might care.

“Are they still outside?” I asked.

Elena nodded. “Waiting. Just like you said.”

“Send them in.”

The Griffiths entered, luxury exuding from them. Their necklaces, their clothes, their shoes, all warped in emerald stones that worth millions. They lived up to the rumors.

Rumors has it that they were the richest in the pack. They are unfortunate to have their daughter under my claws now. Well, they hadn’t come for their daughter. They came to me.

I folded my hands and gave them a sweet, poisonous smile. “Rhea asked you to plead with the Alpha. To save her. If that’s your reason for coming…..”

Mr. Griffith scoffed. “Save her? We came to see her name removed from ours. She’s nothing to us now. We want her disowned.”

Mrs. Griffith’s lips curled in disgust. “She humiliated us. We pray the Alpha ends her quickly. We want her name erased from the Griffiths lineage. ”

I tilted my head up in shock but satisfaction. Disowning her was the least I expected of them. “But she’s your daughter," I said with fake concern.

He sneered. “We still have three sons. She is a stain now. ”

Delicious.

I leaned forward slightly, my voice softer. “Then perhaps… adopt me instead. I offer loyalty. And results.”

They exchanged greedy glances and smiled.

“You have our blessing, Miss Natalie,” he said.

“Just Natalie," I responded.

Mrs. Griffith removed a brooch.........a glinting emerald worth millions. “It’s yours.”

I took it without blinking. It was no doubt that the Griffiths were strikingly wealthy.

Then came the real question. Her voice dropped, almost hopeful. “Do you know what Alpha Logan plans for Rhea?”

I twirled a lock of my hair, my eyes gleaming.

“She’ll be handed to the rogues.”

He stiffened. “As what?”

I met his eyes and said it slowly, clearly, without a hint of remorse:

“As their whore. Passed from one to another until there’s nothing left to break in her. ”

They didn't gasp nor cried. They just nodded.