Chapter 2

Selene Thorne POV:

My voice wasn't loud, but it carried the innate authority of a Luna. The cheerful music sputtered and died. The chatter and laughter faded into a shocked, suffocating silence. Every head in the clearing turned, their eyes following my question to the Alpha's platform.

Ryker's body went rigid. He turned slowly, and when his stormy grey eyes met mine, I saw no remorse. No guilt. Only the raw, cold anger of being caught.

Faye, true to form, played the part of a startled doe. She flinched away from his chest, scurrying to hide behind his massive frame, peering at me with wide, tear-filled green eyes.

"Selene, this is not the place," Ryker said, his voice a low growl. It wasn't a request; it was a command.

Whispers erupted through the crowd like wildfire.

"Is that... Faye? I thought she was banished."

"By the Goddess, she's with the Alpha..."

"What about the Luna?"

I ignored them all. I ignored my mate's command. My gaze remained locked on his. "As the Luna of this pack, it is my duty to know every guest in our territory," I said, my tone deliberately formal, every word crisp and clear. This wasn't a wife confronting her husband; this was a queen addressing a breach in protocol. "So I ask again, who is she?"

*He dares to command us? He who reeks of that whore!* Kara snarled, her fury a burning inferno in my soul.

Ryker's jaw tightened, his anger growing at my public defiance. He was the Alpha. He was not used to being challenged.

From behind him, Faye gave a little tug on his sleeve. "Ryker, maybe I should go..." she whispered, her voice trembling pitifully. "I don't want to cause trouble for you and the Luna."

Her words, seemingly selfless, were like gasoline on a fire. They painted her as the victim, me as the aggressor. I watched as the hard lines of Ryker's face softened instantly. He turned his head slightly, his expression gentling as he looked down at her. He gave her hand a reassuring pat.

Then, he turned back to me and did something that made the entire pack gasp as one.

He took a deliberate step forward, planting himself firmly in front of Faye, completely shielding her from my sight with his own body.

The message was brutally, undeniably clear.

He chose her.

His stormy eyes blazed with a silent warning, and I felt it a split second before it hit me-a crushing wave of his Alpha's Command. It wasn't a spoken order, but a pure, dominating force of will, designed to force submission, to make me bow my head and shut my mouth.

A wave of dizziness washed over me. It felt like the air was being squeezed from my lungs, but the suffocation wasn't from his power. It was from the sheer, soul-crushing agony of the act itself. He was using his Alpha power on me, his fated mate, for another she-wolf.

The sting on my Mating Mark exploded into a searing, white-hot burn, as if a branding iron was being pressed into my flesh.

My knees buckled. I stumbled, catching myself just before I fell, my pride the only thing keeping me upright. I straightened my spine, refusing to show him weakness.

Ryker's voice was as cold and hard as granite as it boomed across the silent clearing. "Faye is under my protection. That is all anyone needs to know."

It was his final answer. His public declaration.

A wave of shocked murmurs rippled through our people before being silenced by a single, sweeping glare from their Alpha.

I stared at him, at the wolf I had loved and fought for, the mate I had devoted my life to. My heart felt like it was being clenched in a giant, invisible fist, squeezing until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Five years of marriage. Five years of building this pack at his side. All of it had just been reduced to a humiliating joke in front of everyone we led.

Kara's rage dissolved into a pained, heartbroken howl. *He chose her. The bond... it burns!*

The blood drained from my face, but as the pain sharpened, so did my resolve. My eyes became as cold and clear as a frozen lake.

This wasn't an ending. This was the beginning of a war.

Faye, emboldened by his protection, peeked out from behind Ryker's shoulder. A faint, triumphant smirk played on her lips for a split second, a look meant only for me to see.

And in that moment, my heartbreak began to crystallize into something harder, colder, and far more dangerous. I met Faye's gaze and gave a slow, deliberate nod, a silent promise of retribution.