Chapter 1

The strategy meeting had been dragging on forever. Three whole hours of me talking and Kael pretending I did not exist.

"So if we add patrols here," I pointed at the map, my finger landing on the eastern border where rogue sightings kept happening, "and then put a second group here, they overlap. See? Any rogue trying to sneak through gets caught between both teams. Like a trap."

Alpha Kael Nightshade, my mate, the love of my life who was supposed to cherish me forever, barely even glanced at my carefully drawn plans.

"Mmm. Yeah. I will look at your ideas later."

Your ideas. Like I was some random pack member making suggestions instead of his Luna. His destined mate. The wolf who had spent the last six years building every single defense this pack ever used.

I sat back hard in my chair. The familiar sting of being dismissed washed over me like cold water. Around the big wooden table, all the important pack members suddenly found other places to look. My father, Beta Damien, stared at the map like it held the secrets of the universe. Gamma Thorne scribbled notes that probably said nothing. The lead warriors shifted and coughed and did everything except meet my eyes.

They had all watched this exact scene play out a thousand times. Maybe more. Nobody said anything anymore.

What could they say? Kael was Alpha. His word was law. End of story.

"Can I go?" The words came out quieter than I wanted. Smaller.

Kael waved one hand without looking up from whatever papers he was reading. Papers I had probably written for him last week. "Sure. Go."

Dismissed. Again. Always.

I gathered my maps and my notes and my pride, what little I had left after six years of this garbage. As I stood up, I felt Elena Stormborn watching me from her spot against the wall where the warriors stood. The Head Warrior's scarred face showed emotions she never spoke out loud. Fury. Frustration. That look that said if she could challenge Kael without getting executed for treason, she would do it in a heartbeat.

But she stayed quiet. Because what choice did any of us have?

I walked out of the conference room, my footsteps echoing on the polished wood floors. The pack house was beautiful, I had to give it that. All fancy wood and stone, huge windows showing the forest that stretched forever, expensive everything. It should have felt like home.

Instead it felt like the world's prettiest prison.

The Luna's suite took up the entire west wing of the top floor. Massive bedroom, sitting room, bathroom with a tub big enough to swim in, even a little study. Everything decorated in silver and white, my family's colors. Everything perfect and cold and lonely.

I dropped my maps on the desk and went straight to the window. Our territory spread out below me for miles and miles. Pine trees and mountains and valleys. Beautiful. Deadly. Wild.

Moonridge Pack controlled hundreds of square miles. We were the most powerful pack in the entire Pacific Northwest. Other packs feared us. Respected us. Envied us.

All because of strategies I created. Defenses I designed. Tactics I invented.

And Kael took credit for every single one.

The door opened behind me. No knock. Only one person walked into my private rooms without knocking.

"I need those border revisions done by tomorrow." Kael's voice was all business. Cold. Like he was talking to an employee instead of his mate. "The Elders want to review them at next week's council meeting."

I did not turn around. Could not make myself look at him. "The revisions I just presented?"

"Yeah. Write them up properly. Make them detailed. Leave them on my desk tonight." He moved closer and I felt every muscle in my body tense up. "And Aria? Try to be more concise when you present plans. The warriors were falling asleep during your explanation."

The warriors. Right. Because it was my fault they got bored, not Kael's fault for making me explain things I should have been able to just implement myself.

"Of course, Alpha." The title tasted like poison in my mouth but I said it anyway.

"Good girl."

He left. Did not say goodnight. Did not ask how I was feeling. Did not acknowledge that this room was supposed to be our shared space, our home together.

Just left.

I waited until his footsteps faded completely before I let myself move. Crossed to my closet and shoved aside the hanging dresses until I found the hidden panel I had installed six months ago. The little door swung open and there it was.

My escape bag.

Money I had been saving for three years. Dried food that would not spoil. Practical clothes for traveling, nothing fancy or recognizable. Medical supplies. A small knife for protection. Everything I needed for when I finally ran.

Two more weeks. Just fourteen more days until the new moon when pack bonds got weak and patrol coverage had gaps. Elena had contacts in a pack way up north that might take me in. Mira the healer was gathering more supplies, special medicines for the journey.

After six years of absolute hell, I was getting out.

I closed the panel, fixed the dresses, sat down at my desk. Started writing out the border revisions Kael would present to the Elders as his brilliant idea.

This was my life. Had been since the mate bond snapped into place when I turned twenty two.

Everyone expected it. The prophecy said the Alpha's son and the Beta's daughter would be mates. Kael Nightshade and Aria Silvercrest, destined to lead Moonridge Pack to glory.

And we did lead them to glory. Just not the way anyone imagined.

I created every strategy that made us powerful. Every defensive formation. Every territorial agreement. Every training innovation. All me.

And Kael stole it all. Presented it as his genius. Kept me invisible.

I finished the revisions around midnight. Left them on Kael's desk in his study like he ordered. Then pulled out my journal, one of five I kept hidden in different spots around my room. Could not risk him finding them all.

"Day 2,192 of being mated to Kael," I wrote. "Fourteen days until freedom. I can survive fourteen more days. I survived 2,192. What are fourteen more?"

I was putting the journal back in its hiding spot inside a hollowed out book when I heard voices from outside my window.

A man's voice. A woman laughing.

No. Please no. Not tonight.

But I went to the window anyway. Looked down at the garden below. And there they were, lit up by moonlight like some romantic painting.

Kael with his arms around Sienna Goldmane. His mistress. The woman he actually loved.

He pulled her close and kissed her and I watched even though it felt like swallowing broken glass.

Everyone in the pack knew about Sienna. She came from the Sunrise Pack three years ago, some political arrangement nobody ever explained to me. Kael did not even try to hide their relationship. He brought her to pack gatherings. Sat her in places of honor. Looked at her like she hung the moon and stars.

While I sat in my Luna chair and pretended the pitying looks from pack members did not cut me to pieces.

The mate bond twisted in my chest. Sharp. Painful. Wrong.

This bond was supposed to be sacred. A gift from the Moon Goddess herself. Supposed to bring joy and unity and love.

Instead it brought addiction. Made me crave Kael even though he treated me like trash. Made me physically ache when he was with her. Created a need I could not control for a man who looked at me with either nothing or disgust.

I closed the curtains, blocking out Kael and Sienna and their perfect happiness. Climbed into my huge empty bed that was made for two but only ever held one.

Kael had his own rooms on the opposite end of the pack house. Only came to my bed maybe five times a year. Cold, quick, awful encounters that were about duty, not love. Not even close to love.

Those nights were worse than the ones I spent alone.

Sleep did not come easy. Never did anymore. When I finally drifted off around three in the morning, I had weird dreams. White wolves with glowing eyes. Voices saying I was stronger than I knew. A feeling like power humming under my skin, waiting.

I woke up at dawn feeling like I had not slept at all.

Something felt wrong. Off. Like the air before a storm.

I got dressed in training clothes and headed down to meet Elena at the private grounds reserved for ranked wolves. The sun was just starting to come up, making everything pink and orange and pretty.

Elena was already there doing sword drills. Even at fifty five she moved like a wolf half her age. Her silver hair in that warrior braid she always wore. Scars on her face from battles I did not know the stories to.

"You look terrible," she said without stopping her drill.

"Good morning to you too."

"Seriously, Aria." She finally stopped and looked at me. Really looked. "When did you last actually sleep?"

"I sleep."

"Nightmares do not count."

She tossed me a practice sword. We sparred for over an hour and it helped. The movement, the focus, the way fighting made everything else disappear. Elena was a great teacher. Tough but never mean. Pushed me but never too far.

Until Gamma Thorne showed up at the edge of the training grounds.

My stomach dropped.

"Luna Aria," he called out all formal. "Alpha Kael requests your presence in his office. Immediately."

Kael never wanted to see me this early. Never. Something was very wrong.

"What is this about?" Elena demanded, her hand moving toward her weapon.

Thorne's scarred face showed nothing. "The Alpha will explain."

I looked at Elena. She looked ready to fight every wolf in the pack to protect me.

"It is fine," I lied. "I will see you later."

I followed Thorne through the pack house, my anxiety getting worse with every step. The hallways felt longer than usual. The walls closer. My heart beating too fast.

Kael's office was on the top floor with huge windows overlooking everything. When Thorne opened the door, I saw Kael behind his massive desk.

He was not alone.

Sienna Goldmane sat in one of the chairs facing him. And she was crying.

"Aria." Kael's voice was warm. Actually warm. I had not heard that tone from him in years. "Sit down. We have news."

News? What news needed Sienna here crying?

I sat in the chair next to her, my brain spinning through possibilities. None of them good.

Kael came around his desk and stood next to Sienna. Put his hand on her shoulder. Protective. Possessive. The mate bond screamed inside my chest.

"Sienna is pregnant," he announced. His face lit up with genuine happiness. "She is carrying my child. The heir to Moonridge Pack."

The world stopped.

Just. Stopped.

Pregnant. Sienna was pregnant with Kae

l's baby.

The baby I could never give him.

The heir I failed to provide for six years.