Chapter 2

"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 Kael's baby.

The baby I could never give him.

The heir I failed to provide for six years.

I could not breathe. Could not think. The room spun and tilted and I gripped the chair arms to keep from falling.

"I wanted you to hear it from us directly," Kael continued. Was that actual consideration in his voice? "The Elders know and gave their blessing. The child will be recognized as my legitimate heir even though born outside our mating bond."

Outside our mating bond. Right. Because our bond meant nothing. Never had.

Sienna looked at me with her amber eyes full of tears. "I am so sorry, Luna Aria. I know this must be so hard for you."

Hard. What a tiny, useless word for what I felt right then.

My world was ending. My last tiny hope that maybe someday Kael might want me was dying. And they wanted me to sit here and be okay with it.

"Congratulations." The word came out hollow. Empty. "The pack will be happy."

"The announcement will be at the pack gathering this weekend," Kael said. "I need you there. As Luna, your support matters for pack unity."

He wanted me to stand next to him and smile while he celebrated having a baby with another woman. While hundreds of pack members watched and pitied me.

"Of course, Alpha."

"Good. You can go."

I stood up on legs that shook. Left the office. Made it to the hallway before my knees gave out.

I slid down the wall and sat on the floor, trying to remember how to breathe. Trying not to scream or cry or break into a million pieces.

Thirteen days. Just had to survive thirteen more days and I would be free.

But sitting there with tears running down my face, thirteen days felt like thirteen years.

I pulled myself up using the wall. Headed back to my rooms. Needed to be alone. Needed to fall apart in private.

I did not know then that my life was about to explode in ways I could never imagine.

I did not know that in three days, at that pack gathering, Sienna would collapse.

That she would lose the baby.

That someone would poison her.

And that everyone, absolutely everyone, would think I did it.

The clock was already ticking.

And I had no idea how little time I had left.

I made it back to my rooms and locked the door. Leaned against it and let myself cry. Really cry. The kind of crying that comes from somewhere deep and broken.

Six years. Six years of abuse and theft and humiliation. Six years of hoping maybe it would get better. Six years of being stupid enough to think Kael might love me someday.

And now this. A baby. An heir. Proof that I was useless. Proof that Sienna could give him what I never could.

I cried until I had no tears left. Then I splashed cold water on my face and stared at myself in the mirror.

Silver blonde hair messy from training. Violet eyes red and swollen. Pale skin showing every emotion.

I looked destroyed. Felt destroyed.

But in two weeks I would be gone. Free. Away from all this pain.

Just had to hold on a little longer.

I spent the rest of the day in my room, working on strategies and plans that Kael would steal. Anything to keep my mind busy. Anything to avoid thinking about Sienna's pregnant belly growing with Kael's child.

As evening fell, I heard voices again. Coming from below.

Kael's private quarters. Where Sienna stayed when she visited.

I should not have listened. Should have minded my business. But something made me move to the door. Open it quietly. Slip into the hallway and down to the landing where I could hear without being seen.

"You are being ridiculous," Kael said. Sharp. Angry. "The herbs are for your health, Sienna. For you and the baby."

"They make me so sick!" Sienna sounded desperate. Scared. "Every time I drink that tea you insist on, I feel horrible for hours. Something is wrong with it, Kael."

"Those are pregnancy symptoms. The healer from my mother's pack said these herbs are perfectly safe. They will make the baby strong."

A healer from his mother's pack? Not Mira? Why would he bring in an outside healer?

"I do not trust him," Sienna said. "Why can Mira not monitor my pregnancy? She is our healer. I feel safe with her."

"Mira is fine for basic injuries. This healer specializes in difficult pregnancies. He knows what he is doing."

"Or your heir that you are trying to control before it is even born," Sienna shot back.

The sound of a slap made me flinch. Hard. Echoing.

"Watch your mouth," Kael said. Ice cold. Deadly. "You are here because I allow it. You carry that baby because I chose you. Do not ever forget your place, Sienna."

Sobbing. Quiet and broken and terrified.

I backed away from the stairs as quietly as I could. Made it to my room and closed the door without making a sound.

My heart was racing. Hands shaking. Breath coming too fast.

Kael was forcing Sienna to take herbs from some mysterious healer. Herbs that made her violently sick. That she did not trust.

What was in those herbs?

Why bring in an outside healer instead of using Mira?

Something felt very wrong about all of this.

I needed to talk to Elena. Tomorrow at training. She would know what to do.

I tried to sleep that night but could not. My mind kept spinning. Sienna's frightened voice. The sound of that slap. The herbs that made her sick.

The pregnancy that was going to be announced in two days at the pack gathering.

Two days.

Something bad was coming. I could feel it in my bones. In my wolf's anxious pacing inside my mind.

What I did not know, what I could not possibly know, was that in forty eight hours everything would detonate.

That Sienna would collapse in front of hundreds of witnesses.

That she would lose Kael's baby in a pool of blood on the great hall floor.

That someone would have poisoned her with a rare and deadly herb.

That they would find that exact same herb hidden under my bed.

That I would be dragged to the dungeons in silver chains.

That my father would look at me with doubt in his violet eyes so like mine.

That Kael would have me exactly where he wanted me.

Trapped. Helpless. Facing execution for a murder I did not commit.

The trap was already set. Every piece in

place. The countdown started.

And I was walking straight into it, blind and trusting and so incredibly stupid.