Chapter 2

"What did I do?" The words came out as a whisper. Two hundred pairs of eyes stared at me, waiting. "Michael, I don't even know what she's talking about."

Madison sobbed louder, pressing her face against his chest. "She paid rogues to kidnap me. They kept me in a basement for months. Look what they did to me!" She pulled back, showing the scar on her face. "They said Ava wanted me gone permanently."

"That's insane!" I stepped forward, but Michael held up his hand, stopping me.

"Madison," he said carefully, "you left two years ago. You chose Alpha Derek. Why would Ava—"

"Because she's always hated me! She's always wanted you!" Madison's voice cracked. "The moment I left, she swooped in like a vulture. And when she heard I wanted to come back, that Derek had rejected me, she had me taken."

My heart stopped. She wanted to come back?

"You were coming back?" Michael's voice was strange, hollow.

Madison nodded, tears streaming down her bruised face. "I made a mistake. The biggest mistake of my life. I was coming back to beg for your forgiveness, to tell you I still loved you. But her rogues grabbed me before I could reach the pack borders."

"Stop lying!" The words exploded out of me. "I didn't even know you wanted to come back. No one told me anything!"

"Of course you'd say that." Madison's laugh was bitter. "You were always so good at playing innocent. The poor omega girl, the victim. But I knew what you really were. I saw how you looked at him."

"Madison, you need proof for accusations like this," Michael said, but his eyes kept flickering to me, uncertain.

"Proof?" Madison pulled something from her torn pocket—a crumpled piece of paper. "This was in the basement where they kept me. Your future wife's signature is on the bottom."

Michael took the paper. His face went white.

"This... this is a transfer order for pack funds. Large amounts. To unmarked accounts." He looked up at me. "Ava, your signature..."

I moved closer, my legs barely working. The paper showed transfer orders I'd never seen before, for money I'd never touched. But at the bottom, clear as day, was my signature. Exactly like I wrote it.

"That's not... I didn't sign this. I've never seen this before!"

"The account numbers trace back to known rogue territories," Madison said. "The transfers happened over the last six months. Right after you two got engaged."

The room erupted in whispers. I heard the words "traitor's daughter" floating through the crowd. My father's legacy, following me even now.

"Michael," I reached for him, but he stepped back, still holding Madison. "You know me. You know I would never—"

"Do I?" His voice was quiet, deadly. "Your father betrayed this pack. Sold information to rogues. Maybe Madison's right. Maybe you've been playing a long game."

Each word was a knife to my chest. "You can't believe that. After everything we've been through—"

"Everything we've been through?" Madison laughed. "You mean how you pretended to comfort him after I left? How you manipulated him when he was vulnerable?"

"I loved him! I've loved him for ten years!"

"Convenient," someone in the crowd muttered. "The traitor's daughter, in love with the Alpha."

Michael's mother stepped forward, her face cold. "Perhaps we should postpone the ceremony until this is investigated."

"Postpone?" I felt hysteria rising. "This is my wedding day!"

"Not anymore," Madison said softly, victoriously.

Michael finally looked at me directly. Really looked at me. I saw doubt winning the war in his eyes.

"Ava, I need you to leave."

The words didn't make sense. "What?"

"Leave. Now. Until I can figure out what's true."

"You're throwing me out? Based on her word? Michael, I'm your mate!"

"Are you?" He pulled Madison closer, protective. "We never completed the mating bond. And right now, I don't know what you are."

The crowd gasped. Several people stepped away from me like I had a disease.

"You promised," I whispered. "You promised you loved me."

"I loved who I thought you were." His words were ice. "But if you hurt Madison, if you're really behind this..."

"I'll go." The words came from somewhere outside my body. "But when you find out the truth—and you will—remember this moment. Remember that you chose to believe her over me."

I turned and walked toward the door. The crowd parted like I was poison. As I reached the exit, Madison's voice followed me.

"Oh, and Ava? The rogues mentioned something else. Something about your real father. Apparently, the traitor who raised you... wasn't your biological dad."

I froze.

"What?"

Madison smiled through her tears. "Ask your mother. Oh wait, she's dead. Guess you'll never know what you really are."

Michael's voice was sharp. "Madison, what are you talking about?"

"The rogues knew things. Secret things. About Ava's real bloodline. Why do you think I'm really scared, Michael? It's not just what she did to me. It's what she is."

I ran. Out of the hall, out of the pack house, into the forest. My wedding dress caught on branches, tearing the white fabric. I didn't care. Everything was tearing anyway.

My mother had died when I was five. Cancer, they said. She'd never mentioned another father. Never hinted that Dad wasn't...

A howl echoed behind me. Patrol wolves. Michael had sent guards after me.

Not to protect me.

To watch me.

I was no longer the future Luna. I was a suspect. The traitor's daughter—maybe not even that. Maybe something worse.

The howls got closer. I had nowhere to go. No one to turn to.

That's when I smelled them.

Rogues.

Three of them, surrounding me in the darkness.

"Well, well," one of them growled. "The little bride, all alone."

"Stay back!"

"Or what? Your Alpha isn't coming to save you. He's too busy with his real mate."

Real mate. The words stung more than they should.

"Did Madison send you?" I demanded.

They laughed. "Madison? That pathetic wolf? She couldn't command a pup, let alone us."

"Then who—"

Pain exploded through my skull. Someone had hit me from behind. As darkness claimed me, I heard one last thing.

"Take her to him. He's been waiting twenty years for this."