Chapter 4

When I got home that night, Lucius was in his study, working.

Or pretending to.

I didn't disturb him. I went straight to the bedroom.

At midnight, I felt the other side of the bed dip.

Lucius pressed against my back, his hot hand sliding onto my waist, possessive and impatient.

"What's wrong? Still mad at me?" His voice was rough with sleep as his lips brushed the back of my neck.

Before, the mate bond would have sent a shiver down my spine.

Now, all I felt was a physical wave of disgust.

I shifted away, my voice ice cold. "I'm tired."

He stopped. The temperature in the room plummeted.

"Anya, what is wrong with you lately? I already apologized."

His tone was laced with annoyance and the first hint of an Alpha's command.

"Are you really going to keep giving me the cold shoulder? Over a stranger?"

A stranger?

The stranger carrying his child?

I almost broke right then and there.

I turned over, staring at him in the darkness. "Maybe you should ask yourself what you've done to make me so unhappy."

"What did I do?" he demanded, his voice full of self-righteous anger.

"For example," I let out a soft, humorless laugh. "Your new assistant, Clara. I saw her today. I smelled something… unique on her. Is she pregnant?"

In the dark, I felt his body go completely still.

All the heat, all the desire, vanished as if doused by a bucket of ice water.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said stiffly, turning his back to me. "She's a subordinate. How would I know? I'm exhausted. Let's sleep."

Hearing his breathing even out almost instantly, the last bit of warmth in my heart turned to frost.

That was it.

The moment I mentioned the Omega and her child, he couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore.

I waited until he was sound asleep, then slipped out of bed and went to the "Eye of the Moon," a secret chamber in the pack's sacred grounds.

It housed the Silver Moon's most sacred artifact: the Memory Crystals.

"My Lady," the captain of my Shadow Guard knelt, presenting a shimmering silver crystal.

Yes. The moment I discovered Lucius's betrayal, I had ordered my personal guard to use their highest authority.

Not just to watch him, but to review all his past movements and communications.

The crystal activated, and scenes flickered to life before me.

Two months ago:

Lucius: "What were the results?"

Clara: "A healthy boy! The doctor said his Alpha bloodline is strong!"

Lucius: "I knew it. This is a true Alpha heir."

Clara: "Our son will be a future king, not like that posturing old bitch."

Lucius: "Wait until after the election. I'll handle Anya."

A true Alpha heir? I scoffed.

I fast-forwarded.

One month ago:

Lucius: "The Moon Spring is ready for you. Go there tonight. It will be good for the child."

Clara: "Really? But I heard only the official Luna is allowed there."

Lucius: "You will be, soon enough. I have a gift for you."

Clara: "What is it?"

Lucius: "A moonstone necklace."

The Moon Spring.

He took her to that holy place. And gave her the gift that was meant for me.

Two weeks ago:

Clara: "Lucius, I'm worried. What if Anya finds out?"

Lucius: "She won't. And what if she does? Once the pup is born, I'll have grounds to dissolve our bond. Failure to produce an heir."

Clara: "But her family..."

Lucius: "The Silver Moon pack is strong, but I'm the Alliance Chairman now. Once I have total control, I won't have to answer to anyone."

The sweet nothings between them, the promises to cast me aside and make her Luna—they ripped at my heart.

But the final vision made my blood run cold.

It was from a month ago, at the Moon Spring.

It was the most sacred place in the Silver Moon pack. A place of purification that only I, as the future leader and Luna, was permitted to enter.

Its waters held the purest power of the Moon Goddess.

In the vision, Lucius held Clara's hand, leading her barefoot into the hallowed water.

"It's beautiful," Clara cooed, touching the moonstone necklace—my necklace—at her throat. "Just like you said."

"Only a place like this is worthy of you," Lucius whispered, holding her from behind with a tenderness I'd never heard. "My true mate. The mother of my child."

True mate?

The vision continued. They kissed in the water, their bodies tangling.

Then, Lucius carried her to the large moonstone at the center of the spring.

The sacred stone where generations of Silver Moon Lunas had received their blessings and completed their final mating ceremony.

There, on my holy ground, he mated with another Omega.

He entered her body, defiling the sacred spring, defiling the Goddess.

Clara's moans and Lucius's growls echoed in the vision, a vicious curse branding itself onto my soul.

I stared at the dark screen, the pain in my chest so intense it felt like my heart was being torn from my body.

The mate bond screamed, on the verge of shattering.

I picked up a secure comms device and activated the highest-level encrypted channel.

"Father."

"Anya? What is it? It's so late."

I stared out at the cold moonlight, my voice terrifyingly calm.

"Father. It's time."