Chapter 5 THE FIRST CRACK.

Lupus's POV

The sun rose red this morning. Not warm. Not welcoming. Just... accusing. I haven't slept. My eyes burn, and my wolf prowls under my skin like a caged animal. I stand on my balcony, staring down at the training yard. Warriors sparring. Laughing. Breathing freely. They don't know their former Alpha and Luna-my parents-are locked in stone rooms beneath their feet. Angela slides her arms around me from behind, her voice honey-sweet.

"You're up early."

"I didn't sleep."

She hums, pleased. "Leadership changes you. You'll adjust." She doesn't understand. Or maybe she does-and likes it. Because this is the first morning I wake up and realize my own body doesn't feel like mine anymore. My wolf is restless. He keeps whispering her name. Taylor.

I try not to think it. But it's like holding back the tide with my bare hands. By midday the whispers start-echoes carried through the pack bond even without linking. Where are the elders?

Why is the Alpha acting strange? Why does Angela sit beside him like she rules too? I walk into the training yard and every back straightens. They bow. They obey. But their eyes don't shine with trust.

Respect is still there-but fear has joined it. "Alpha," a young warrior says, voice cracking. Then-too bold or too frightened to stop- "Is it true something happened to the elders?"

Angela answers before I can. "The elders are resting. And it isn't your place to question your

Alpha." But the words ring hollow, and I feel it. My wolf snarls-not at the warrior... but at me.

You did this. I clench my jaw hard enough to crack a tooth. Night falls thick and heavy.

I'm just about to turn in when a howl splits the silence. Raw. Terrified. Familiar.

My mother. I'm shifting before thought catches up-bones snapping, fur exploding from skin. My paws hit the dirt and I tear across the grounds. I don't even remember getting to the holding halls-just stone doors, guards frozen, and the scent of my bloodline choking the air. I force the door open.

My mother is on the floor, shaking, fists full of dirt like she's trying to crawl through it to reach

me. My father kneels beside her, eyes blazing and broken all at once.

"Is this who you are now?" he asks quietly. "A wolf who cages his own parents?" His words hit harder than claws ever could.

"You don't understand," I grit out.

"No," he says. "We understand perfectly."

My mother whispers, "Lupus... please. I can feel you fading. You're losing yourself."

My head snaps up. "No one is fading." But my wolf whimpers, tail tucked.

My father rises slowly, shackles clinking. "You rejected your mate," he says. "But you can't reject the Moon's choice. She still bleeds through you. And you are tearing apart everything tied to her."

Taylor's name detonates inside my chest. I stagger back, breath strangling me. I turn and run before I start breaking bars-or myself. The cliffs are quiet. Only the river below-Taylor's favorite place-singing like it always did. I remember how she said the water sounded like the Goddess humming. I told her she was dramatic. Now I'd give anything to hear her talk nonsense again.

"I don't need her," I say out loud. My voice comes out thin. Even I don't believe it.

My wolf presses against me. Go to her. Fix it. Fix us. My knees nearly buckle. Leaves rustle behind me I don't turn. I know that scent. Angela.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to," she says softly.

"You followed me," I say.

"I follow you everywhere," she replies. "Someone has to keep you from falling."

I stiffen. "I don't fall." Her smile is soft and sharp all at once.

"No. But you're starting to look over the edge." She steps closer, fingertips tracing my jaw like she's moulding me out of clay. "Let the past die. Taylor is gone. The elders will be forgotten. Soon, the pack will fear you enough to never question you again."

Fear. Not loyalty. Not love. My wolf recoils hard. Angela's touch suddenly feels like chains.

And the truth hits me like a blade to the gut: Taylor wasn't my weakness. She was the one thing holding me together. Angela looks into my eyes and I finally understand- She doesn't want to share power. She wants to own it. Own me. And for the first time since I became Alpha... I am afraid. Not of enemies. Of myself. And of what happens if I don't turn back now.