Chapter 1: The Counterfeit Luna Ring

"Your ring isn't the original Luna Ring."

The elderly jeweler's words struck the air between us with more force than a scream.

I gazed at the ring lying under her magnifying lamp. Its red gemstone caught the white light, flawless and familiar. I had worn it every day since Caelan Radcliffe placed it on my finger six months ago.

Across the glass counter, Azriel Castellane, Alpha of the Nightfall Pack, made no attempt to hide his interest.

Twenty minutes earlier, I had walked into Vesper & Rowe expecting nothing more troubling than choosing between platinum and black gold.

The boutique occupied the top floor of one of the financial district's most guarded towers. Its private showroom contained no price tags, only velvet displays and discreet security cameras. Appointments were booked months ahead, but being Silverpine's heiress and Fairmont Group's chief strategist occasionally made impossible schedules flexible.

Tomorrow evening was my mating ceremony. Between finalizing the Redfang-Silverpine Packs alliance and correcting problems Caelan's event committee should have handled weeks ago, I had nearly forgotten his gift.

Mrs. Rowe promised she could engrave a pair of cuff links before five the following afternoon. I wanted the Redfang Pack's crest on their faces and the date of our mating ceremony underneath them, where only Caelan would see it.

I had thought he would appreciate that.

Then, I found his greatest rival standing beside the private counter.

Azriel wore a charcoal suit without a tie, the open collar doing little to soften the authority he carried. A restored black-and-silver brooch lay inside the box before him. Its crescent design identified it as a Nightfall heirloom.

"Maquia." His olive eyes glimmered with quiet amusement. "What a coincidence."

"Is it?"

His mouth curved. "Still suspicious of me, I see."

"You once added a surveillance clause to a waste-management agreement."

"And you found it before your fiancé signed."

"Which is why I remain suspicious."

Three months ago, I had represented Caelan during negotiations over a commercial district disputed between Redfang and Nightfall. Azriel rejected every proposal our legal team offered until I discovered an overlooked provision in an old Pack Council agreement. It left him with two choices: accept my terms or surrender the district completely.

He accepted. Then, he congratulated me as if losing to me had been the most interesting part of his week.

According to Azriel, he was only at Vesper & Rowe to collect the antique brooch Mrs. Rowe had restored. I returned my attention to the cuff links, determined not to let him disrupt another appointment.

While I compared the two metals, the prong of my ring caught against the velvet tray.

Mrs. Rowe noticed immediately. "The center stone is moving," she said. "May I inspect it before it falls?"

I surrendered the ring without hesitation. Now, she was telling me it had never belonged to the Redfang Lunas at all. "That's impossible," I uttered after a moment.

Mrs. Rowe's lined expression remained solemn. "I'm afraid it isn't, Miss Fairmont."

"Perhaps, you're confusing it with another ring."

"I restored the original fourteen years ago after one of its prongs broke. There are details no replica could reproduce without access to private family records." She adjusted the lamp and motioned me closer. "Look under the gemstone."

I leaned over the counter. Through the jeweler's lens, I saw only polished metal holding the stone in place. "What am I supposed to see?"

"Nothing," she answered. "That is the problem. The original bears a miniature Redfang crest under the gemstone. It can only be seen from this angle." She picked up the ring with padded tweezers, turning it gently under the light. "The band should also be made from a silver-and-platinum alloy once mined exclusively within Redfang territory. This is ordinary sterling silver. Expensive and exceptionally well-crafted, but ordinary."

My heartbeat quickened. Even my wolf raised her head upon hearing Mrs. Rowe's explanation.

Mrs. Rowe turned the band again. "The first Redfang Luna's birth name should be engraved along the inner curve. This ring carries no inscription."

Three missing details.

Three pieces of evidence I couldn't dismiss as one woman's mistake.

Azriel had remained unusually silent throughout the examination. When I looked at him, I found his attention fixed on my face instead of the counterfeit. "Caelan gave you that himself?" he asked.

There was no mockery in his voice. Somehow, that made the question worse.

"He gave me the Luna Ring when we became engaged."

"That wasn't what I asked." Azriel stepped closer. "Did he personally place this particular ring in your hand?"

My answer lodged behind my teeth. Caelan had placed the original on my finger six months ago. I remembered the hidden crest catching the light while his mother explained its history.

But this ring?

He had returned it to me inside a velvet box three weeks ago.

Azriel's gaze sharpened as though he had heard everything I refused to say aloud. "Why would your future mate replace his ancestral Luna Ring with a counterfeit?"

"There must be an explanation."

"I'm sure there is." His eyes dropped to the ring. "The question is whether you'll like it."

I reached across the counter. "Give it back to me, please."

Mrs. Rowe carefully placed it in my palm. The band suddenly felt too light, although its weight hadn't changed. "I am sorry, Miss Fairmont."

I slid the counterfeit onto my finger. "Finish the cuff links. Have them delivered to the Redfang compound before five tomorrow."

Surprise flickered across Azriel's face. Whatever this was, I wouldn't condemn Caelan without hearing him explain it. Six years together deserved at least that much.

Mrs. Rowe assured me the order would arrive on time. I approved the design on her tablet, paid the rush f*e, and headed toward the boutique's secured glass doors.

Azriel followed. Outside, afternoon traffic moved between the towers of the financial district. My driver was pulling toward the curb when Azriel spoke behind me.

"You're still giving him the cuff links."

"Until I know the truth, he remains my fiancé."

"Loyal even when he gives you reasons not to be."

I turned toward him. "My relationship with Caelan is none of your concern."

"No," he agreed. "But watching an intelligent woman defend a man who apparently replaced her ancestral ring is difficult to ignore."

"You seem to enjoy this."

Something cold passed behind his olive eyes. "I enjoy very little about watching him insult you."

The answer unsettled me more than another taunt would have.

Azriel opened the door of the black sedan waiting behind mine. Before climbing inside, he looked at me once more. "If you discover something you cannot forgive, you know where to find me."

"Why would I go to you?"

"Because enemies are often willing to show us what the people we love work hardest to hide."

The tinted windows swallowed him from view. During the drive to the Redfang compound, I called Caelan twice. Both calls went unanswered. His assistant messaged that he was attending an emergency meeting and would return before dinner.

I opened the photographs on my phone and found one taken during our engagement announcement.

Caelan stood behind me with his hand around my waist. I was smiling at the camera, my left hand resting over his chest. When I enlarged the image, the Redfang crest was visible under the gemstone.

The original.

I lowered my gaze to the ring I wore now. The setting under its stone was smooth.

Three weeks ago, Caelan had noticed a scratch on the original band during breakfast. "Give it to me," he had said, turning my hand under the kitchen light. "I'll have our family jeweler clean it before the ceremony."

I had teased him for worrying about a scratch no one else could see. Still, I removed the ring and placed it in his palm.

He returned it the following evening.

I hadn't inspected the crest. I hadn't searched for the engraving or questioned why the band appeared brighter. I had trusted him.

The gates of the Redfang compound opened after security cameras scanned our license plate. Beyond them stood the pack's headquarters and connected residential wing, all dark stone, steel, and glass.

Preparations for tomorrow's ceremony filled the courtyard. Event staff carried flower arrangements through the lobby while technicians tested the outdoor lighting.

Everything looked exactly as it should.

That frightened me more than I wanted to admit.

I entered the residence and found Evelina in the living room, studying seating arrangements on a tablet. My younger sister looked up too quickly. "You're back early."

"The appointment didn't take as long as expected."

Her gaze dropped to my hand. The color drained from her face when she saw the ring still resting on my finger.

"Where's Caelan?" I asked.

"At the office, I think." Evelina tucked a strand of pale golden-brown hair behind her ear. "Why?"

The movement exposed her right hand. A red gemstone gleamed under the ceiling lights. For one moment, I couldn't breathe.

Then, Evelina lowered her arm, but I caught her wrist before she could hide it. Beneath the stone was the miniature wolf crest Mrs. Rowe had described. It was the mark absent from the ring on my own hand.

My sister stared at me, guilt widening her hazel eyes.

The elderly jeweler had been right.

My real Luna Ring was on my sister's finger.