Chapter 1: The Betrayal

Aria's POV 

The pain hit me like a silver through the heart.

I collapsed in my chamber, and my legs started giving out and  my body slamming against the marble floor. The wine glass shattered beside me, red liquid spreading like blood.

Poisoned.

Someone had poisoned me.

I should have known. Should have caught the faint bitterness hiding beneath the sweetness, the way it burned just a little too much going down. But I was floating on happiness. A life was growing inside me.

My wolf whimpered, retreating deep inside as the toxin spread through my veins. It was wolfsbane. I could smell it now, bitter, burning and deadly.

"No," I gasped, clawing at the floor. "Not like this."

I was Luna of the Crystal Touch Pack. Strong and powerful. I had survived rogue attacks, pack wars and challenges for my position.

I couldn't die from a glass of wine in my own bedroom.

Not when I had a secret growing inside me.

My phone. Where was my phone?

I crawled across the floor, my vision was blurring and my fingers were numb. There, on the nightstand.

I grabbed it, nearly dropping it twice before I managed to unlock the screen.

Marcus. I needed Marcus. My Alpha. My mate.

I hit his contact, pressed the phone to my ear.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Pick up," I whispered. "Please, Marcus, pick up."

Ring. Ring.

"Come on, come on!"

Voicemail.

His deep voice: "You have reached Alpha Marcus. Leave a message."

"Marcus!" I choked out. "I've been poisoned. Someone, I need help. Please, I'm in our chamber. Please."

The call ended.

I tried again.

Straight to voicemail.

He had declined my call.

Why? Why wasn't he answering?

The poison was getting worse. My chest felt tight, my breathing was shallow. I could feel my organs shutting down one by one.

I was dying.

And so was my baby.

"Lucy," I gasped. "Yes. Lucy."

My best friend. My Beta female. She has help me. She always helped me.

I found her contact with shaking fingers and called.

She answered on the first ring.

"Aria?" Her voice was bright and cheerful. "What's up?"

"Lucy. " I could barely speak. "Help. Poisoned. Chamber. Please."

"Oh my god! I'm coming right now! Hold on!"

The line went dead.

Relief flooded through me despite the pain. Lucy would save me. She had call the pack doctor. Get me the antidote.

Save my baby.

I just had to hold on.

I lay on the cold floor, staring at the ceiling, counting my heartbeats. Each one was slower than the last.

I heard footsteps in the hallway. Running.

"In here!" I tried to yell, but it came out as a whisper.

The door burst open.

Lucy rushed in, her eyes were wide in surprise.

And Marcus was right behind her.

Thank the goddess.

"Marcus," I breathed. "Help me. Someone poisoned.."

I stopped.

They weren't rushing to help me.

They were standing in the doorway. Together. Too close together.

Marcus's shirt was buttoned wrong. Lucy's lipstick was smudged.

No.

"Oh, Aria." Lucy's voice had changed. The panic was gone. Now she sounded... amused. "You really drank the whole glass? I only needed you to have a few sips."

"What?" I whispered.

Lucy walked into the room slowly, her heels was clicking on the marble. Marcus followed, closing the door behind them.

Locking it.

"You poisoned me?" My voice broke. "Lucy, you are my best friend. Why would you.."

"Best friend?" She laughed, sharp and cruel. "God, you really are naive."

Marcus leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching me with cold eyes. The same eyes that had looked at me with love this morning. The same man who had kissed me goodbye before his meeting.

"Marcus," I pleaded. "Please. The antidote. You have to.."

"There is no antidote," Lucy said. "That's the point, sweetie."

She crouched down beside me, close enough that I could smell her perfume. The same perfume I had given her for her birthday.

"How long?" I asked, tears dropping down my face. "How long have you two.."

"Two years," Marcus said casually. "Since right after your Luna ceremony."

Two years.

Two years of lies. Betrayal. While I had trusted them both completely.

"Why?" The word was barely a breath.

Lucy smiled, stroking my hair like I was a child. "Because you have everything I want. The title. The power. The pack's love." Her hand tightened in my hair, yanking my head back. "And him."

"I loved you," I whispered to Marcus. "I was your mate. Your Luna."

"You were convenient," he said coldly. "Your father was Alpha before me. Mating with you secured my position. But Lucy?" His eyes softened when he looked at her. "She's my true mate. The bond I actually want."

Lucy stood and walked to him. He pulled her close, his hand on her waist.

They were going to…

No. No, I couldn't watch this.

I tried to move, to crawl away, but my body wouldn't respond. The poison had paralyzed me.

Marcus kissed Lucy. Deep, possessive and claiming.

Right in front of me.

Lucy moaned against his mouth, her hands were in his hair, the same hair I had touched this morning.

I wanted to scream. To rage. To shift and tear them both apart.

But I could only lie there, helpless, as my mate kissed another woman while I died on the floor.

They finally broke apart, both breathing hard.

"Should we.." Lucy glanced at me.

"Finish it," Marcus said. "We don't have much time before the dinner. The pack will expect us both there."

Lucy nodded and walked to my closet. She pulled out a silk scarf, my favorite one, the one Marcus had given me and brought it back.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Making sure," she said.

Marcus grabbed my arms, hauling me up. I couldn't fight him. I couldn't resist.

He tied my wrists together with rough efficiency, then shoved the scarf in my mouth, gagging me.

"There." He dropped me back on the floor like garbage. "That's better."

"Wait." My voice was muffled behind the gag, but I forced the words out anyway. "Marcus.."

He paused, looking down at me.

I managed to spit out the gag enough to speak. "I am pregnant."

Marcus froze.

"What?" His voice was barely a whisper.

"Your child," I gasped, my hand moving weakly to my stomach. "Eight weeks. I was going to tell you tonight. At dinner. I.."

His face went pale. For the first time since walking in, he looked shaken.

"Aria.."

"Marcus, please." Tears streamed down my face. "I don't care about me anymore. But save our baby. Please. Call the doctor. There's still time.."

"She's lying," Lucy said sharply.

"I'm not!" I looked at Marcus desperately. "You know I wouldn't lie about this. Marcus, please, you have to.."

Something flickered in his eyes. Doubt. Maybe even regret.

He took a step toward me.

Lucy moved faster.

She placed herself between us, then put her hand on her own flat stomach.

"Darling," she said softly, looking up at Marcus with wide, innocent eyes. "I was going to wait until after dinner to tell you. But..." She smiled. "I'm pregnant too."

Marcus's head snapped toward her. "What?"

"Six weeks." Lucy's hand rubbed her stomach in slow circles. "I took the test this morning. I wanted to surprise you."

No. No, she was lying. She had to be lying.

But Marcus's face transformed. The doubt vanished, replaced by joy.

"You're.." His voice broke. "Lucy, we're having a baby?"

"Yes." She threw her arms around his neck. "Our baby, Marcus. The child of true mates."

He kissed her, deep and tender.

My heart shattered completely.

"Marcus," I tried again, my voice was weak. "Please. Don't do this. My baby..your baby.."

He pulled away from Lucy and looked at me. But his eyes were cold again.

"Even if you are pregnant," he said slowly, "it doesn't change anything. That child would be a reminder of a false bond. A political arrangement."

"But Lucy's child, our child, that's real love." He looked at Lucy like she was everything. "That's the bloodline I want to continue."

I couldn't breathe.

He was choosing Lucy's baby over mine.

Choosing to let both of us die.

Lucy stood over me, her eyes glowing with an unnatural purple light.

Wait. Purple?

Wolves' eyes glowed gold or silver. Never purple.

"Surprised?" She smiled, and her fingers began to trace patterns in the air. "Did you really think I was just a Beta wolf? Oh, Aria. You never asked the right questions."

Magic.

Lucy had magic.

How? Witches and wolves were separate species. They didn't mix. They couldn't..

"My mother was a witch," Lucy said, as if reading my thoughts. "My father was a wolf. I'm both. A hybrid." Her smile turned vicious. "And you never knew."

The air around her hands shimmered, purple energy started crackling between her fingers.

"No one will ever find you," she whispered. "No body. No evidence. Just... gone."

She knelt and pressed her glowing palm against the marble floor.

The stone began to crack.

I watched in horror as the floor split open, stone grinding against stone, revealing dark earth beneath.

A grave.

She was opening a grave right in my chamber floor.

"Perfect, isn't it?" Lucy stood, admiring her work. "Magic leaves no trace. And who would ever think to look under the Luna's bedroom?"

"My baby," I whispered through my tears. "Please. My baby.."

"Was never going to survive anyway," Lucy said coldly. "The poison I used? It crosses the placenta. Your pup died ten minutes ago."

The words destroyed me more than the poison ever could.

My baby was dead.

Marcus's child was dead.

And he didn't even care.

Marcus grabbed my bound body and dragged me toward the opening.

No. No, no, no.

I tried to scream through the gag. Tried to fight. But the poison had stolen everything, my strength, my wolf and my voice.

He dropped me into the hole.

I landed hard on the cold earth, pain was shooting through my paralyzed body.

Lucy's face appeared above me.

"Goodbye, Aria. Thank you for everything." She smiled, her hand still on her stomach. "Your title, your pack, your mate, I will take good care of them all."

Her hands glowed brighter.

The marble floor began to close.

Stone was grinding and darkness was spreading.

"Wait!" Marcus's voice. "Should we.. I don't know. Say something?"

"Why? She is already dead," Lucy said. "Her heart stopped. So did the baby's."

It had?

I couldn't feel anything anymore. Couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

My baby. My poor baby.

"Then let's finish this," Marcus said. "The dinner starts in twenty minutes."

Lucy's magic flared.

The marble floor sealed completely.

And then, darkness.

Total, complete darkness.

I was buried alive in my own bedroom with my dead child still inside me.

Buried under stone and magic.

No one would find us. No one would know.

We would rot here, forgotten, while my mate and my best friend took everything I had built.

My lungs burned for air that wouldn't come.

My heart gave one final, weak beat.

Then nothing.