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The first time my mate called another woman his Luna, he was wearing the silver button I had sewn onto his collar that morning.

Hundreds watched beneath the chandeliers. I stood in a white ceremonial gown, three steps from the man I had loved for five years, while his hand rested around my stepsister's waist.

"Vanessa will be my Luna," Damon announced.

For a moment, I could only stare at him.

That morning, he'd kissed my forehead while I fixed his uniform. "Tonight," he'd promised, "they'll finally have to accept you."

For five years, the Silvercrest elders had delayed my Luna ceremony because I couldn't shift. I had managed their accounts, negotiated with neighboring packs, and sat beside Damon through every crisis. The title could wait. Damon loved me. We were fated mates. Surely that counted for something.

Now Vanessa stood beside the crown meant for me, wearing the pearl necklace I had fastened around her throat.

"Alpha," Elder Marcus said, "Seraphina is your fated mate."

"I'm aware." Damon sounded bored. "Silvercrest needs a Luna with a strong wolf. We need an heir."

"Damon." My voice barely worked. "Please. We can talk about this privately."

"We have nothing to discuss."

Someone whispered, "Poor thing."

Guests who'd congratulated me minutes ago stepped away, as though my disgrace might stain them.

Damon faced the officiant. "I, Damon Blackthorn, Alpha of Silvercrest, reject Seraphina Vale as my mate."

Pain ripped through my chest. My knees buckled, and I caught the ceremonial table, knocking over a goblet and spilling wine down my skirt. The mate bond strained inside me like something living being torn in two.

"Accept it, Seraphina," Damon ordered.

I looked at the crooked button on his collar. My stitches were holding. "You promised my wolf didn't matter…"

"Things change."

"But you said you loved me!"

He glanced at Vanessa. "Silvercrest needs a real Luna."

I remembered his tea waiting after council, the notes I slipped into his coat, the way he reached for me in his sleep. I wanted to scream at him for making those memories feel foolish.

Vanessa approached, looking almost tearful. "Sera, please don't make this harder."

"How long?" I asked, staring at her. "How long have you been together?"

Damon stepped forward. "Enough, Sera."

"It's all right, darling." Vanessa touched his arm. "We've been together for two years."

Two years…

It was only yesterday she'd held my hands and promised to stand beside me when Damon crowned me.

"I'm pregnant," she said.

The hall fell silent. Damon placed his hand against her stomach.

"My child," he said proudly. "Silvercrest finally has an heir."

Then someone began applauding. The sound caught, spreading from table to table until the room was congratulating them. Vanessa bowed her head with a shy smile. The pearls shone against her skin.

I remembered Damon's hand closing around mine beneath the winter moon when our bond first formed. Even now, some humiliating part of me wanted to reach for it.

"Congratulations," I whispered.

My gaze lingered on Damon, searching for one last reason to hope. He only drew Vanessa closer, and I felt the words gather painfully in my throat.

"I accept your rejection, Alpha Damon."

The bond snapped. Agony surged through my chest, wrenching a sob from my throat. I clenched my fists as tears blurred Damon's face.

I turned toward the doors, my skirt heavy with spilled wine, but Vanessa caught my wrist.

"One more thing." She withdrew a folded report from her purse.

"Northvale's audit found three hundred thousand gold marks missing from Silvercrest's treasury," she announced. "Transferred into accounts belonging to Seraphina Vale."

Voices erupted around me. "A thief!" somebody shouted.

The rejection had cost me Damon and my crown, but this accusation could cost me Silvercrest, the only home I'd ever known.

Vanessa had once fallen asleep beside my desk while I worked, her cheek resting against my sleeve. Now she stood before everyone, shamelessly accusing me of a crime I knew I had never committed.

"That's a lie!"

She handed the report to Elder Marcus. Beneath Northvale Financial Auditors' black seal lay a signature that looked disturbingly like mine.

"Damon, please! You know me. Ask the treasurer. Look at the records. Please believe me!"

Vanessa sighed. "Must you embarrass Damon even more?"

Damon took the report from Marcus.

"They could banish me," I whispered. "Damon, tell them you believe me."

He folded the paper. "Guards!"

Two men approached. One had protected me during last winter's trade negotiations. He looked away as he reached for my arm.

"Hold her until the investigation is complete," Damon ordered.

"Damon!"

The guards gripped me. Pain flared through my chest when I struggled, nearly bringing me to my knees.

Vanessa leaned close. She smelled of white roses, the perfume I'd given her for her birthday.

"Some women are born to be loved," she whispered. "Others are useful until someone better comes along."

I remembered braiding her hair when we were children, staying awake until she came home, trusting her with secrets I'd shared with nobody else.

"Did you ever love me?"

For a heartbeat, her smile faltered. "Does it matter?"

The guards dragged me through the doors. Behind me, the orchestra began again.

The Northern Royal Palace

Inside his private royal chamber, King Kael Draven watched the banquet hall doors close in an enchanted mirror.

Lucien Voss, his intelligence chief, stood beside the throne.

"Shall I send our men to retrieve her, Your Majesty?"

Kael watched the last reflections fade.

"No."

"Silvercrest may not treat her gently."

"I know."

"And if she dies?"

Kael set his glass aside. "I won't let that happen."

Pain shot through his left hand. He flexed his fingers until it passed. Lucien noticed, but said nothing.

"Then what are your orders?" Lucien asked.

"Let them take everything from her. When Silvercrest casts her out, she'll have nowhere left to turn."

Lucien hesitated. "And then?"

Kael rose from his throne. "Then I shall give her something to live for."