Chapter 2

I woke to ice-cold water being dashed straight in my face.

The frigid liquid soaked through my hair and clothes, snapping my senses back into focus hard and fast.

The first thing I saw was Damien, his jaw tight with unbridled anger.

“Awake? Good. Cut the pathetic act.”

He crouched down, his voice hard as flint. “You knew I’m holding the full pack gathering tomorrow to announce Victoria and the heir. Yet you tried to sneak off to a neighboring pack’s healer. You wanted the entire wolf world to think we’ve been mistreating you, didn’t you?”

It had been my young attendant who’d tried to rush me to the neighboring pack the second I’d passed out.

Before I could speak, Victoria stood behind Damien, her voice soft and pitiful.

“Luna, I know you hate me. But if you want to hurt someone, hurt me. Why did you beg Serena to take my child from me?”

“The attendant was screaming it before they caught him. He said Serena’s adopting my baby over to you, that I’m not fit to be the heir’s mother…”

The baby in her arms was the one she’d “given birth to” the day before. In truth, she’d stolen the pup from a low-rank Omega who’d just delivered, using the enchantment magic her bloodline was infamous for to fool Damien entirely.

No one outside Victoria’s immediate family knew of her gift for enchantment, which was exactly why Damien had fallen for her lies so easily.

My mouth opened, and I begged with every ounce of strength I had left.

“I didn’t… Damien, ask Serena! Ask my attendant! I never said a word about taking her child. I only want to break our mate bond and leave with my pups.”

“You’re still lying!” Damien’s voice boomed, his Alpha aura crashing over me like a tidal wave.

“My mother sat with the elders drafting those papers. Who else could have put her up to it, if not you? You think stealing Victoria’s child will make you the heir’s mother?”

“The healers said your due date was days ago! How long are you gonna keep faking this near-death act? All just to make me feel sorry for you?”

My body screamed with pain, the metallic tang of dried blood filling my nose and mouth.

Victoria clapped a hand over her mouth, doubling over, her eyes red-rimmed.

“Luna, I can’t stand the smell of blood after giving birth… did you… did you do this on purpose? To make me sick so I can’t attend the gathering tomorrow?”

With that, she collapsed against Damien, trembling violently.

Damien caught her, and when he looked back at me, his eyes were filled with nothing but cold disappointment. He nodded at the guards, his voice like ice.

“Take Luna to the side chamber. Clean her up. I won’t have her stench making Victoria ill.”

I was dragged to the side chamber, where a healer wiped the blood from my body and gave me more herbs to steady the pregnancy, but the pain never eased.

When I was brought back to the main hall, Victoria was sobbing, clinging to Damien’s arm, pretending to lunge for the window. “Luna will never accept me! Never accept my baby! I should just jump with the child! Save myself the misery, and save you two from fighting!”

Damien caught her quickly, holding her tight to his chest.

I opened my mouth to explain one last time, but he wrenched his arm free of my grasp before I could speak.

“Luna, I’m warning you, stop pushing your luck! I gave you your title, my mate mark, everything I could! And this is how you repay me? With jealousy and venom?”

“If you won’t behave, I’ll make you.”

He paused, then ground his teeth and barked an order.

“Go to Gareth’s resting den. Cut off all non-essential healing supplies. Temporarily.”

My pupils shrank to pinpricks. I screamed until my throat was raw and bleeding. “Damien! Don’t! That’s my father! He saved your life!”

“So what?” He stared down at me, his voice cold and unforgiving. “He used that life debt to beg me to protect you for the rest of your days, and I agreed. But you keep acting out. This is the only way to make you see sense.”

“Behave, stop hurting Victoria, and I’ll restore his supplies at once.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a healer burst through the door, screaming. “Alpha! It’s Gareth! He is fading fast!”

The world crumbled around me in an instant.

I tried to rush out, blind with grief, but the guards held me back.

Damien froze at the news, his face draining of all color. He took an instinctive step toward me, but the sudden surge of his Alpha power shattered Victoria’s concentration. The enchantment she’d woven over him flickered, if only for a split second.

He stared at Victoria in disbelief, then lunged forward and caught me just before I hit the ground. He looked up at Victoria, his voice sharp with suspicion for the first time.

“What the hell is this? You told me Luna’s due date was long past.”

Victoria’s face went white as a sheet, scrambling for an explanation.

“Damien, don’t let her trick you! She used a shapeshifting herb to fake her pregnancy!”

“A shapeshifting herb?” Damien’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Victoria rushed on, desperate to regain control.

“Yes! Damien, it’s a forbidden potion from Luna’s family! It changes a person’s appearance! I only know because I saw them use it once, by accident!”