Episode 4

I turned away from the television and kept walking toward the pack house.

I reached the house and pushed open the door. 

Just then, Jason walked in with my daughter.

Lily looked up at me with confused eyes. "Mommy, the other kids said I'm going to have a baby brother or sister. Is it true? Are you having a baby?"

The entire house went silent. No one said anything. My husband couldn't even look at his daughter to tell her what he did.

"Riley," Jason said, coming closer to where I stood by the stairs. "I need you to vacate our bedroom. Veronica will be sleeping with me now. You'll move to the smaller room at the end of the hall."

He turned and began walking away like he just delivered a newsletter. Veronica rushed toward him, hooking her arm around his.

My mother-in-law went back to cooking excitedly. The sound of pack members celebrating outside still hadn't stopped. My husband and his foster sister kissed on the dining room table while I held my daughter against my skirt, wondering how the hell I'd explain any of this.

Jason's words finally registered. The audacity. The disrespect. He wanted me to give up my room too, to step aside so he and his foster sister could live happily ever after, using my tears, my sweat, and my money as their foundation.

My wolf woke up inside me again.

"Remember who you are, Riley. You were once the Death Commander, the wolf whose very name made alphas three times your size afraid. Yet here you stand, reduced to a nanny, a first wife, a former luna, a broken woman. Will you just stand there and take it?"

"No," I answered back, and I meant it.

"NO!" I said it louder this time, and my husband stopped kissing his mistress to stare back at my daughter and me. "I'm done letting all of you walk all over me."

"What did you just say?" Jason stepped away from Veronica, approaching me with rage in his eyes.

I took one step down the stairs. I met Jason's eyes. I got so close to him that his chest was touching mine and his face was right over mine.

"I have given you everything, sacrificed everything for you. I refuse to settle for scraps. I refuse to settle for this betrayal."

His mother stopped cooking and stepped out of the kitchen, watching us. My eyes were glowing now, flickering between black and red, something that meant I was about to lose control.

But my husband didn't back away. He stepped forward, his breath fanning my face. "You stopped being anyone that mattered the day you abandoned your crown. You became my wife, my mate, my little pet. The entire world hates you. The only person who can save you is me. So be good, little wolf, and remember your place."

He turned, walking back to where Veronica stood, but I wasn't done.

"I am Riley Moonshadow, daughter of-"

My words were cut short when Jason marched back to me, and in seconds, he did the one thing he's never done in our marriage: He hit me.

My daughter screamed and hid behind me.

The whole house went quiet. Jason shouted one order: "Everyone outside. Pack meeting. Now."

He walked past me and took my crying daughter's hand, then headed for the door. Margaret and Veronica followed quickly. I took a few moments to compose myself, still utterly shocked that my husband would raise his hand on me.

Jason stopped at the threshold and looked back at me. "You still think yourself a royal? Still think you have a claim to the throne you abandoned?"

He smiled.

"Come, little wolf. Let me show you what true power looks like."

I followed them outside where all two hundred pack members had gathered in the square. Jason led me to the raised platform in the center.

He pulled a letter from his back pocket and handed it to me. "Read it out loud, so everyone can hear."

"What is this?"

"Read it."

I unfolded the paper. I saw the familiar royal seal.

"To Jason Blackthorn, Alpha of the Blackthorn Rogue Pack," I read. "Your petition has been reviewed and approved. By virtue of your five-year marriage to Riley Moonshadow, nightblood heir of the Seventh Pack, you are hereby granted the same rights and privileges afforded to all nightblood competitors. Your claim to the alpha king's throne is officially recognized. You and your mate, Riley Moonshadow Blackthorn, will compete as the seventh nightblood couple—"

I couldn't breathe. The paper fell from my hands.

"That's right!" Jason snatched the letter and held it high before his pack. "My wife gave me more than just her body and her money. She gave me her birthright!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"For too long, we rogues have been treated as lesser! For too long, those pompous nightblood families have ruled over us with their blessed blood and their arrogant superiority!" Jason's voice rose. "But no more! In three months, Riley and I will present ourselves to the nation. We will show them what a true mated pair looks like. And when the nation chooses us, a rogue will help rule this nation!"

The crowd roared.

"A rogue on the throne! A wolf with normal blood helping to rule this nation! And when we win, I swear to you all—every nightblood family will finally respect us!"

"Alpha Blackthorn! Blackthorn! Blackthorn!"

The chant filled the air. Two hundred voices screaming my husband's name, calling him their future king.

"My people, this is our chance," Jason continued. "But we need to be smart. We need to present the perfect image to the nation." He turned to me. "Which means Riley needs to play her part."

He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward.

"Look at her!" he shouted. "Riley Moonshadow, the nightblood princess who gave up everything for love. The nation will eat that story up. The fallen princess who chose a poor rogue alpha because she loved him. The perfect fairy tale."

The pack cheered.

"So here's what's going to happen," Jason said, his grip on my arm tightening. "Riley will smile for the cameras. She'll stand beside me and look devoted. She'll tell the nation how much she loves me, how happy we are together, how perfect our marriage is. And the nation will fall in love with us."

He looked at me with cold eyes.

"You'll be the perfect wife, Riley. You'll say exactly what I tell you to say. You'll do exactly what I tell you to do. And when we win the throne, you'll continue being exactly what you've always been– USEFUL."

I understood then: The five years of marriage, the cruelty, the way he kept me around even after everything.

He never loved me. He married me for this. For my name. For my blood. For the chance to steal my birthright and use it to make himself king.

And now he wanted me to smile for the cameras while Veronica carried his child. He wanted me to play the loving wife while he made me a nanny for his new family. He wanted me to help him win the throne and then disappear into nothing.

I'd given up everything for this man. My crown. My power. My destiny. My very identity.

And he'd taken it all and turned it into his own path to glory.

"Riley will move into the smaller room tonight," Jason announced to the pack. "Veronica will take her place as the lady of the house. But to the nation, Riley will be my devoted mate. My perfect queen. And together, we will win their hearts."

The pack cheered again.

I stood frozen on the platform. I watched two hundred wolves celebrate my complete destruction.

From alpha heir to disgraced luna. From the Death Commander to a puppet. From the most powerful nightblood wolf in a millennium to this–a prop in my husband's plan to steal my throne.

My vision blurred. 

My ears rang. 

The world spun around me, I couldn’t breath at all.

"Your human body is failing," my wolf said. "You're in shock. You need to shift. Now."

"I can't–"

"Your husband has put you under so much stress that your body is shutting down. You're dying, Riley. Let me help you."

I gave in.

For the first time in five years, I let my wolf take control.

The growl that tore from my throat silenced the entire pack. Two hundred wolves stepped back. The shift was agony. Five years of suppression, five years of denial, five years of pretending to be something small and weak–all of it ripped through me as my bones cracked and reformed.

My body punished me for neglecting it. For caging my wolf. For choosing a man over my destiny.

When the shift completed, I stood on four legs. My white fur looked even more beautiful than before. I was massive, twice the size of Jason's alpha wolf.

"Lily!" I commanded through the mind link. "Come here!"

My daughter ran toward me and scrambled onto my back.

"NO!" Jason's roar split the air. "Riley, don't you dare–"

But I was already running. My paws hit the ground and I sprinted toward the forest with my daughter clinging to my fur.

Behind me, Jason howled furiously, enraged that he'd lost his little toy.

I ran deeper into the forest. Away from the pack house. Away from the celebration. Away from the man who destroyed me.

My daughter held tight to my fur, and for the first time in five years, I felt something other than pain.

I felt free.