CHAPTER 1: THE LUNA TITLE

The silk banner hanging from the balcony of Silver Hollow's Great Hall bore the silver wolf of the Draven bloodline.

The scent in the air didn't belong to a victory feast.

Copper. Stale rain. The lavender oil Vera Ashworth had worn every day since Kael's twin brother died.

I stood two steps below the high dais, my fingers smoothed flat over the front of my linen dress.

Beneath the fabric, invisible to every elder eyeing my slender frame with quiet disdain, my skin was warm.

I was pregnant.

Four weeks. Long enough for Dr. Hana's physician report to sit sealed inside the inner pocket of my cloak, but not long enough for the pack to notice.

After three years of being sneered at as the barren omega. After two years of managing this pack's winter grain ledgers alone while my fated mate fought on the northern front.

I finally held the one thing that would secure my position beside him.

The heavy oak doors at the back of the hall burst open.

The crowd fell silent. Guards snapped to attention, their iron-capped boots clicking against the marble floor.

Kael walked in.

Broader than when he'd left. Dark hair cut short. His shoulders carried the permanent hunch of a man who had spent two years buried under armor and body bags.

His storm-grey eyes swept the crowded hall, stepping past the elders who bowed their heads.

My heart hammered against my ribs. The mate bond pulled at my chest — a sharp, electric tug that made my breath hitch.

I took a step forward, my hand hovering over my cloak.

“Kael.”

He stopped five paces away. But his eyes didn't land on my face.

They locked onto the woman standing directly behind me.

Vera.

Black velvet — a widow's mourning dress cut low enough across her collarbone to draw every eye in the room. Her eyes were rimmed in red, her dark curls tumbling over her shoulders in calculated disarray.

She carried no weapon and held no pack rank. But the moment Kael's gaze met hers, his expression shattered.

The cold Alpha mask melted into raw, suffocating guilt.

"Kael." Vera's whisper carried across the silent hall. "You came back."

Kael didn't answer her with words.

He closed the distance between them, stepping straight past me, ignoring the protocol that dictated he greet his wedded mate first.

He reached out, his thick, calloused fingers brushing against her cheek to wipe away a tear that had barely fallen.

"I promised Ethan I would take care of you," Kael said, voice rough with gravel. "I don't break promises to the dead."

A murmur rippled through the Elder Council.

Elder Thomas stepped forward, leaning on his carved oak staff, his sharp eyes darting between me, Vera, and Kael.

"Alpha Kael." Thomas's voice boomed off the stone rafters. "The northern border is secured, but Silver Hollow cannot stand without a recognized Luna. The pack requires order. You must declare your court."

I stepped into Kael's line of sight, forcing my voice to stay steady, cool, undeniable.

"Kael. Welcome home. The estate ledgers and northern garrison reports are prepared in your study."

He finally looked at me.

No warmth in his storm-grey eyes. No spark of the mate bond. Only a weary, heavy burden — the look a man gives a debt he wishes he didn't have to pay.

"Elira," he said simply. He didn't touch me. He didn't reach for my hand.

Before I could speak — before I could demand he clear the hall so I could hand him the physician's letter — Vera let out a soft, breathless gasp.

She swayed on her heels, her small hands clutching at Kael's leather tunic.

"Kael... the stress." Vera's voice trembled as she buried her face against his chest. "The elders — they said without an Alpha, Ethan's bloodline has no protection. They said an omega like Elira couldn't defend a widow."

"No one is touching you." Kael's voice dropped into the deep, reverberating frequency of an Alpha command.

The pressure in the air spiked, forcing several low-ranking pack members to drop their gaze to the floor.

Kael turned toward the council, his arm firmly wrapped around Vera's waist, supporting her full weight.

"Hear me." His voice carried to every corner of the hall. "By right of succession, I assume the mantle of Alpha of Silver Hollow. And by right of protective necessity, to honor my fallen brother and protect his lineage —"

He paused. His jaw tightened as he looked at the elders. He did not look at me.

"— I elevate Vera Ashworth to Luna of Silver Hollow."

The hall went dead silent.

A cold blade seemed to slice straight through my chest, severing the air in my lungs.

I looked at Kael, my voice dropping into an icy, razor-thin thread.

"What did you just say?"

Kael finally met my eyes, his tone flat, devoid of emotion.

"It's a title, Elira. Vera is carrying Ethan's child. The pack elders need stability, and she needs the authority of the Luna seat to protect her position from rival houses. You are an omega. You cannot lead the pack council."

"I am your wedded mate." Every word burned on the way out. "I have run this pack's trade and kept your garrison fed for two years."

"And for three years, you gave this pack no heir," Elder Thomas cut in coldly from the side. "Vera carries Alpha blood. She carries the future of Silver Hollow."

Vera looked up from Kael's shoulder.

For a fraction of a second — so fast no one else in the hall saw it — her lips curved into a slow, victorious smile.

Then, just as quickly, she buried her face back into Kael's chest, weeping quietly.

"You need to understand, Elira." Kael stepped closer, though his arm never left Vera's waist. "This is politics. It changes nothing between us in private. You still have your quarters. You still have my protection."

"Protection?"

I looked down at his hand resting heavily on Vera's hip. The mate bond inside me thrashed, screaming against the humiliation, against the sheer, ruthless casualness with which he had traded me away.

"Don't make a scene." His brow furrowed in frustration. "I've just come back from two years of war. My brother is dead. I don't have the energy for your jealousy tonight."

I reached into the pocket of my cloak.

My fingers wrapped around the crisp, folded parchment from Dr. Hana. The official seal was still intact. The confirmation of the pregnancy Kael and the elders had just finished insisting I was incapable of achieving.

I looked at Kael — at the man whose letters I had organized, whose territory I had protected from starvation while the pack spat the word *barren* in my face.

I pulled my hand out of my pocket.

Empty.

I would not give him the letter. I would not hand my child's existence to a man who had just traded my dignity for political comfort.

"I understand, Alpha," I said, my voice dangerously calm.

Kael blinked, startled by the sudden lack of resistance. "Good. Go back to the estate. We'll discuss your allowance tomorrow."

He turned away, ushering Vera toward the high chairs at the head of the hall — the chairs reserved for the Alpha and his Luna.

I turned on my heel and walked out of the Great Hall, chin held high, holding my breath until the heavy oak doors shut behind me.

Outside, the rain had started to fall.

I walked past the guards, past the manicured gardens, straight toward the lower stairwell leading to the physician's quarters. I needed to see Dr. Hana. I needed my medical records locked in iron before Vera realized exactly what I was carrying.

As I turned the corner into the dimly lit stone corridor, a shadow stepped out from behind the central pillar.

"Walking alone so late, Elira?"

Vera stood at the top of the steep stone staircase, her black mourning dress trailing behind her.

She wasn't weeping anymore. Her eyes were sharp, bright, and completely dry.

And in her hand, dangling from a silver chain, was a heavy gold signet ring — engraved with the three stars of Kael's personal crest.

"He gave this to me two years ago," Vera whispered, stepping toward the edge of the top stair. "Before he ever marched north. Before he ever took you to his bed."