C2

SELENE POV

"Why are you standing in my room, Alaric Wolfsbane?"

I am wet from the bath. I hold my big cloth around me tight. My heart goes fast because the Alpha King's lawyer is inside my room.

"I have papers for you from the Grand Wolf Assembly laws," Alaric says. He does not look nice. He points at the table. I see two big books of papers and a black pen.

"Did Lucian Lycan send you to see the Hidden Luna Heiress?" I ask. My legs shake under my wet clothes.

"The Supreme Alpha King wants you to take this," Alaric says. He gives me the paper. His face is like ice.

I open it fast. My eyes look at the big words. It says Eternal Moonmark Break.

"He wants to break our pack bond?" I scream. I am so confused. "We never even met!"

"Yes," Alaric says. "You sign this, and the Corvinus Moonfang Pack keeps the fifty million resources from three years ago. You get nothing else."

"Is Lucian really doing this?" I ask. I feel so small.

Three years ago, my bad father, Markus Corvinus, and the False Luna Matriarch, Viktorina Corvinus, gave me away. They took the big resources from the Lycan Bloodmoon Pack because our pack was losing the food and territory. I thought I would be stuck for ten years, but the Alpha King is throwing me away now.

"The Supreme Alpha King already put his name here," Alaric says.

"Fine! I do not care!" I yell. I grab the pen and write my name, Selene Corvinus, next to his.

I am happy inside. I do not know why he wants to break the bond after coming back from across the big sea, but this is my chance to run away from the scary pack house. My family cannot stop me now.

I want to put my toys in my bag, but a Manor Caretaker runs into the room.

"Amelia Lycan is at the big wood gate!" the caretaker says.

I look out. The Alpha King's mother is walking inside Moonshade Manor. She looks very proud, and her fur cape looks expensive. She sits on the big skin chair and looks at me with mean eyes.

"Why is your face happy, girl?" Amelia asks.

"I am happy because Lucian is breaking our bond," I say. I stand up tall. "I am leaving this pack house today."

Amelia always hated me because my bloodline is small. She never let me call her mother. She only let me call her the Alpha Lady.

"Stop right there!" Amelia shouts. She stands up fast. "Did you bring a rogue wolf into my son's bed while he was gone?"

My eyes go big. I look at Elder Kellan Shadowfang standing by the door.

"No, I did not," I say. My face feels hot. I was the one who got bad juice in my cup last night. I did not do anything wrong on purpose.

"You are a liar! Search her bed!" Amelia barks at the caretakers.

Two girls run past me. They look in my closet. They come back holding the big white shirt from last night.

"What is this man's cloth?" Amelia shakes the shirt in my face.

"I found it at the Mooncrest Artisan Guild," I say. I try to sound brave. If they find out about the stranger, the Lycan Bloodmoon Pack will hurt my mother, Elena Corvinus. I do not care about my bad father, but my mother is sweet.

Amelia looks at the gold letter L on the neck of the shirt. It looks very rich. Her face turns red like fire. She jumps up and hits my cheek with her hand.

SLAP!

It hurts so bad. My cheek gets big and red.

"You bad girl!" Amelia screams. "You took our pack resources and gave them to a dirty rogue!"

Amelia wanted a different girl to be the Chosen Alpha Bride Candidate. She only kept me here because Lucian was sick from the old war. She thinks I am a bad parasite.

"Lucian was gone for three years," I say, holding my hot face. "Maybe he has many foreign she-wolves over the sea. He is the one who forgot me!"

"How dare you!" Amelia lifts her hand to hit me again.

I move fast and grab her arm. I hold it tight.

"I let you hit me once because you are old," I say into her face. "But do not think I am a weak pup. I did not want to come to this pack anyway."

Amelia gasps. She thinks I am always quiet. She is shocked because I am fighting back.

"You dare talk to the Alpha Lady like that?" she asks.

"I am just telling you the truth," I say. I drop her hand and smile. "Goodbye."

I run upstairs, grab my bags, and walk out into the dark woods.

LUCIAN POV

"We have her name, Supreme Alpha King," Raze Blackclaw says. He walks into the Alpha Throne Chamber and gives me a white folder.

"Who is she?" I ask. I look at the pictures inside.

The light in the photo is bad, but I can see her face. She has big eyes, a small nose, and beautiful hair. It is the girl from last night. My chest feels tight when I think about her skin.

"Her name is Selene Corvinus," Raze says. "She was at the Alpha Moon Celebration Hall when someone put bad juice in her drink. She ran into your room by accident."

I look at her eyes in the picture. She did not know I was the Alpha King.

"There is something bad, Alpha," Raze says. He looks scared. He looks down at his boots.

"Speak, Beta Commander," I order.

"She is a married she-wolf," Raze says. He bites his lip.

My wolf inside me roars. My hands grow sharp claws. The room gets very cold. I hate it when other wolves touch what is mine, but she is the only one who does not give me the bad skin bumps.

RING! RING!

Raze's phone makes a loud noise. He looks at me, and I nod my head. He listens for two seconds. His face turns white like milk.

"Alpha King," Raze shakes. "The caretakers at Moonshade Manor say your mother went there. She hit Selene because she thinks Selene has a rogue lover!"