Chapter 3

When I woke up, I was still on the couch with a thin blanket over me. Arthur was gone. He had taken what he wanted and left me in the cold.

A dozen she-wolves moved through the hall. Their voices were sharp. They talked about Arthur. His strength. His size. His knot.

I dragged myself up and called them to my room. I pulled open the wardrobe.

It was full of my old life. Every gown made by the best designers when I was still Luna. Each one one of a kind. The girls' eyes went wide. They stared at the silk and the jewels catching the light.

Arthur ruled here. No one was going to take his spoils. This wealth that had been my family's, along with what was left of me, was all his now.

"Take whatever you want," I said.

Mia stood in front of me with open hostility. She had paid a witch to alter her face to look more like mine. She had done it to win more of Arthur's attention.

"Why are you being generous? What's the trap?"

I shook my head. There was nothing to explain. I was clearing my things before I died. These dresses shouldn't burn with me. Let them go to women who still wanted things.

The young she-wolves couldn't hold back. They rushed the wardrobe with delighted screams.

"The fabric is incredible!"

"He'll lose his mind when he sees me in this."

A few older Betas hung back and watched me with cold eyes.

I didn't care. I pulled out drawer after drawer. Bracelets. Pendants. Fine leather. All of it caught the light against their hungry faces.

I noticed then that most of Arthur's she-wolves had something of me in them. Mia most of all. She was almost a copy.

It didn't matter. Whether Arthur loved me or was hunting for me through these stand-ins was no longer my problem.

I had two days left.

...

A vehicle roared up the drive. Arthur was back.

Chloe's eyes shifted. She grabbed a gown from the wardrobe and screamed.

The crystal beading on the gown had been pulled loose at some point, leaving sharp metal exposed. Chloe pressed the edge against her own thigh. Blood welled.

Arthur walked through the door and saw it.

His face twisted. He crossed the room in seconds and gathered Chloe like she was made of glass. He blew gently on the cut.

"Chloe was so clumsy," she sobbed. "Sister was being kind. I picked the wrong one. It's my fault."

His eyes went ice cold. He stared at me.

"Selene. Explain. One chance."

I shrugged. I almost wanted to laugh.

"What's to explain? She-wolves who want your bed love to perform. I'm still your Luna by name. Disciplining the ones crawling after you is my right."

"Your only job is to serve them," he snarled. His chest heaved. "Who told you to act like a real mate?"

He turned to his Beta and roared.

"Get the silver whip. Whatever Chloe got, Selene gets it back a hundredfold."

The silver whip tore into my legs. The sound of split skin echoed off the walls.

The first ten strikes I barely felt. The shard had already burned my nerves dead.

On the eleventh, the silver bit through bone.

I watched white bone push through my skin. The tears finally came.

Arthur crouched in front of me. He grabbed my jaw.

"Does it hurt now? Get down. Bow your head. Tell every wolf here you and your dead pack are all my dogs. Beg Chloe for forgiveness. I'll let you up."

I clamped my mouth shut and breathed a single cold sound through my nose.

What came next was Arthur swinging an iron rod himself. Both my legs snapped.

It hurt. It really hurt.

Chloe grabbed his sleeve, all fake concern.

"Arthur, stop. Her legs are broken."

"Good." He shook her off. "Now she can't run. And she's got no fight left to bother any of you. She can rot here."

You think I have time to rot, Arthur? I won't see tomorrow.

He stayed at my bedside that whole night. He called the pack healer to examine me. The healer confirmed only fractures. Three months of rest and I would walk again.

I looked at Arthur's face and felt nothing but sick.

I was about to send him away when a mouthful of blood burst from my lips.

He laughed coldly.

"Nice act. Why didn't you cough blood while the healer was here? Afraid he'd catch you faking?"

"You know why I picked Chloe? Her weakness is more convincing than yours. You're the same. You both think I'm an idiot. But Chloe has nothing without me. She needs me. You always had a strong pack behind you. You were always so proud. Now it's gone and you still won't bend. That's what I hate most about you."

"Stop the act. Learn from Chloe. The way you are right now makes me sick."

He stood and walked out.

The she-wolves gathered outside my door. Their eyes were sharp.

I coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Chloe sneered.

"Selene, stop performing. Arthur is gone. Who are you bleeding for?"

I had no breath to speak. I gulped air thick with the taste of iron.

Only I knew what had happened. Arthur's beating had shifted the shard. My heart was being shredded from the inside. Blood was filling my lungs.

I was dying.

Before I went, I wanted one bowl of peanut stew. The kind my mother used to make.

I pushed myself upright.

"Bring me peanut stew. Make it thick."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Why would I? Do I look like your servant?"

She turned to leave. Mia grabbed her arm and pulled her close. They whispered.

"Pack records list her as deathly allergic to peanuts. We could just... let nature run its course."

Chloe blinked. "Wait. Is she setting us up?"

Mia raised an eyebrow. "She asked for it herself. Nothing to do with us."

A young Omega carried in the bowl. She wore my favorite dress. The one I wore the day Arthur asked for the bond.

She had copied my old hairstyle. Her eyes burned with challenge. She pressed the spoon to my lips.

"Drink up, sister. Every drop."

I drank. Spoonful by spoonful. I knew what it would do.

The hives came fast. My throat swelled. My fingers puffed. The stew went down the wrong pipe. My heart spasmed like it would explode.

The world lost its color.

...

Arthur came back with shadows under his eyes. He walked straight into my room.

"Have you learned your lesson?"

I said nothing.

He roared.

"Silence won't save you. I have all the time in the world to break you. I'll cage you forever if I have to."

"You used to love to dance, didn't you? Tomorrow you're coming to the Alpha Council gathering. I want every wolf there to see how the great Luna drags her broken legs behind me on the floor."

"Say something. Even a dog barks."

"Or do you want to be passed around again?"

I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Arthur. You will never see that day.