CH. 3

Luna returned to the ballroom on shaking legs.

The evening was winding down as guests filtered toward the exits, promising support for Damon's candidacy.

He stood near the entrance like a king holding court, shaking hands and accepting congratulations.

Helen stood at his side.

Not behind him. Not beside him as a guest.

At his side. Like she belonged there. Like she was already his mate.

Luna slipped past them, heading for the private wing.

She needed to think. To plan. To figure out how the hell she was going to execute her escape plan.

"Luna."

Damon's voice stopped her at the base of the grand staircase.

She turned to find him coming toward her, his expression pleasant for any watching guests but his eyes promising violence.

"Where are you going?"

"I have a headache." Her voice came out quiet, submissive. Exactly what he expected. "I thought I'd retire early."

"Not yet." His hand closed around her upper arm. "We need to talk. My study. Now."

He didn't wait for a response, steering her through the hallways to his private study.

The moment his study door closed, his pleasant mask dropped.

"You left the gala." His voice was dangerously soft. "You abandoned your post during the most important night of my political career."

"I needed air—"

"You needed to do your fucking job!" His hand shot out, gripping her throat and slamming her against the wall.

"You're my mate, Luna. My property. You don't leave my side without permission. You don't embarrass me in front of Council members and pack leaders. You don't—"

"I know about Helen." Luna gasped. "I know about your plan to commit me to Silverpine.”

Damon's eyes widened slightly. Then narrowed.

"Did that bitch tell you?" He released her throat, letting her slide down the wall. "I told her to wait until after the Council vote."

He shrugged. "Well. It doesn't matter. You knowing changes nothing."

Luna coughed, gasping for air. "My brothers won't let you—"

"Your brothers?" Damon laughed. "Your brothers abandoned you three years ago when you chose me over them. Or did you forget?"

He crouched in front of her. "You're the one who cut ties, Luna. You're the one who told them you didn't need their protection. Why the fuck would they help you now?"

His words hit like a sledgehammer.

Because they were true.

"That's right." Damon continued, watching despair bloom across her face. "You have no one. You made sure of that."

He paused for effect. "You really thought you mattered, didn't you? Thought being an Ashford princess meant something."

His smile was cruel. "But you're nothing. A broken wolf with a famous name. And even that's running out of value."

"Then why not just kill me?” Luna whispered.

"Because I need you alive and cooperative until after the Council vote." Damon's tone was matter-of-fact.

"Your family's reputation, the image of the devoted mate standing beside me. All of that requires you to be breathing and playing your part. But after?"

He smiled cruelly. "After the vote, you'll have a very public breakdown. You'll become violent, unstable, a danger to yourself and others.

And I, your devoted mate, will have no choice but to commit you for treatment. You'll disappear into Silverpine, and I'll be free to take Helen as my true mate."

With that, he stood, brushing off his pants as if their conversation was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "Now, you have two choices.

You can cooperate. Continue playing the perfect Luna, support my candidacy, and make this easy on everyone. Or you can fight, and I'll make the next few weeks so painful you'll beg me to send you to Silverpine."

"I won't help you!" Luna's voice rang out with a strength that surprised them both. "I won't betray my family's legacy for your twisted ambition."

For a moment, surprise flickered across Damon's face. Then his expression hardened into something truly terrifying.

"Wrong answer." The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

He moved to his desk and pulled out a thick folder, handling it like a loaded weapon.

"Do you know what this is?" Damon’s voice was silk over steel. "Evidence that your father, the great Alpha King Theron Ashford, embezzled millions from allied packs before his death.

Detailed financial records, signatures, witness testimonies.

If you don't cooperate, I'll release this to the Council within the hour."

Luna's world tilted on its axis. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Damon's voice was sharp as he tossed the folder at her feet.

The papers scattered across the floor like fallen leaves.

"Your father's legacy will be destroyed overnight. Your brothers will spend the rest of their lives fighting these accusations, watching everything your family built crumble to ash.

The Ashford name will become synonymous with corruption, betrayal, and disgrace."

"Those are fabricated. They have to be!" Luna's voice cracked as she stared at the damning papers.

Her father's signature stared back at her from multiple documents, perfect forgeries that would fool even experts.

"Look for yourself," Damon’s voice was deceptively gentle. "Don't force my hand, Luna. You know I'll do it."

Luna's hands shook as she knelt, gathering the papers with trembling fingers.

Bank transfers, secret accounts, communications that painted her beloved father as a monster who'd stolen from his own allies.

It was all lies. It had to be. But it looked so real, so convincing.

Her father had been a good man, an honorable Alpha.

The thought of his legacy being destroyed, of her brothers fighting these false accusations while the pack world watched their family name burn...

It would be her fault. Again.

Was her escape plan dead before it even began?

No. She refused to let this bastard win.

"What do you want?" Luna’s voice was barely a whisper.

Damon's lips curved into a victorious smirk. "I want you to be a good girl, Luna. A perfect, obedient mate."

He began pacing around her like a shark circling wounded prey.

"I want you to smile and wave at every public appearance. Support my candidacy with enthusiasm so convincing that even your brothers will believe you're happy."

He stopped directly in front of her. "Most importantly, I want you to publicly distance yourself from them."

Luna's head snapped up. "What?"

"You're going to tell the world that your brothers have been harassing you. Constant calls. Desperate messages. Invasive meddling."

His voice dropped. "You'll paint them as obsessive, controlling men who can't accept that their little sister chose her own path."

Each word was carefully calculated to twist the knife deeper.

"You'll tearfully explain how their overprotective behavior has suffocated you. How you chose this life willingly. How blissfully, perfectly happy you are."

He leaned closer, invading her space. "The pack world will see them as the villains in this story. Overbearing brothers who refuse to let their sister live her own life."

His smile was razor-sharp. "And you're going to destroy them. Their credibility. Their reputation. Every shred of power they have to interfere."

Tears burned behind Luna's eyes.

"And most importantly..." Damon’s gaze sharpened, boring into her as if he could strip away every layer of pretense and see the truth she'd been desperately hiding.

Luna's stomach dropped.

She knew that look. Knew what it meant.

He's about to destroy everything.

"I want you to start taking your vitamins again." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "The real ones."

The floor seemed to drop out from under Luna.

He knew.

"What?" Luna gasped.

"You've been skipping your vitamins." Damon’s tone was conversational. "Dr. Mavon switched them to placebos three weeks ago. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

Horror crashed over Luna. Dr. Mavon, the kind pack doctor who'd risked everything to help her. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing yet." Damon pulled a familiar pill bottle from his desk, shaking it. "But if you don't cooperate, it will all be your fault."

He held out the bottle. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to be a good mate? Or do I need to destroy everyone you care about?"

Luna stared at the pills that were slowly killing her wolf. At the man who held her entire world hostage. There was no way out.

"I'll cooperate," she choked out.

"Good girl." His smile was radiant as he handed her a single pill and a glass of water.

She placed the tablet on her tongue and swallowed her own destruction.

"Excellent," Damon said. "Now go to bed. I need you presentable for tomorrow's press conference."

Each step toward the door an monumental effort for Luna.

“Don't even think about running. Your brothers won't take you back, darling. You made your choice." Damon’s cold laugh followed her into the hall

She wordlessly stumbled into the hallway.

Her body was already responding to the poison.

The subtle presence of her wolf was retreating deeper, growing fainter with each passing moment.

I'm sorry, she whispered.

But her wolf didn't answer.

She was too weak now. Too broken. Too tired of fighting a battle they could never win.

Once, she'd been strong.

Her wolf had howled at that moon with joy and power.

Once, she'd been Luna Ashford. Lunar Princess. Daughter of kings. Sister to Alphas.

Once, she'd had a family who loved her.

And she'd thrown it all away.

But she had to find a way out. Even if it killed her. Because staying was a fate worse than death.