Chapter 5

Selene Thorne POV:

My whispered words hung in the air between us. Ryker flinched, a flicker of unease in his stormy eyes, but the ingrained arrogance of an Alpha refused to let him back down. He opened his mouth to issue another command, to crush what was left of my spirit.

But he was interrupted.

"Ryker...?"

Faye's soft, quavering voice drifted through the trees. She had followed us after all, arriving at the precise moment of our standoff.

She took in the scene-my deathly pale face, Ryker's towering rage-and immediately fell into her role. "Oh, no... are you fighting because of me?" she cried, her big green eyes welling with tears. "Luna, please don't blame Ryker. This is all my fault."

Once again, she positioned herself as the innocent, the blameless catalyst for all this pain.

Ryker's fury instantly dissolved into concern. He moved to her side, his voice softening. "What are you doing out here? It's cold."

The stark contrast in his tone, the gentle care he showed her versus the cold command he gave me, was another knife in my already bleeding heart.

I watched them, and a strange, cold laugh escaped my lips. It was a quiet sound, utterly devoid of humor, full of bitter irony.

They both stared at me, startled.

I let the laugh die and fixed my gaze on Faye, looking past Ryker as if he were nothing more than an obstacle.

"Your fault?" I said slowly, savoring the words. "Oh, your faults extend far beyond tonight, Faye."

Faye's face paled, a flicker of genuine fear in her eyes.

I shifted my attention to Ryker, but my words were a proclamation for all three of us to hear. "My Alpha, you are so determined to protect her, but do you even know the creature you've brought into our home?"

*Yes... tell them,* Kara whispered in my mind, her voice laced with a vengeful glee. *Tell them what she is.*

My voice gained strength, ringing with the authority of a judge delivering a verdict. "Five years ago, Faye, you didn't just leave the Black Moon Pack. You defected. On the eve of our bloody battle with the Red Fang Pack, you fled with half of our medicinal herb supply and took it straight to our enemies!"

Ryker's head snapped toward Faye, his eyes demanding an answer.

All the color drained from Faye's face. "No... it wasn't like that!" she stammered, shaking her head frantically. "I didn't! It was a misunderstanding!"

I gave her no room to spin her lies. "A misunderstanding? I have the written testimonies of the guards who saw you leave. I have the intelligence we gathered after the war, from Red Fang warriors who gloated about their good fortune. You used our herbs to heal their lead warrior-the very same wolf who nearly killed your former Alpha. Ryker's father."

As a Luna, I dealt in facts, not feelings. My accusations were always backed by evidence.

The crime was unforgivable. Treason. Aiding the enemy. It was a sin no pack, no wolf, could ever forgive.

Ryker's breathing grew heavy, his gaze fixed on Faye's panicked face.

"I... I was young!" she cried, her words tumbling out in a desperate torrent. "They tricked me! They told me... they told me you didn't love me anymore, Ryker! I was confused..."

Her excuses were pathetic, especially in the face of what she had done.

I stared at her, my expression devoid of pity. "So, your 'confusion' cost three of our warriors their mobility. They live with the consequences of your actions every single day. Do you even remember their names, Faye?"

I spoke their names, one by one. "Marcus. Liam. Thorne."

Each name was a hammer blow, striking at Ryker's conscience.

Faye was speechless, tears streaming down her face as she looked at Ryker with desperate, pleading eyes.

I could see the war raging within him. The love he felt for this she-wolf was now clashing with the undeniable proof of her betrayal against his pack, against his own father.

I had driven a wedge between them. I had transformed this from a personal squabble into a matter of pack law and justice.

I was no longer the scorned wife. I was the Luna, exposing a traitor.

I looked at Ryker's conflicted face and felt no satisfaction, only a cold, desolate emptiness. I knew this blow was heavy, but I also knew it might not be enough to sever the hold she had on him. But the seeds of doubt had been planted, not just in his mind, but in the very fabric of our pack's history.

Ryker stared at Faye's tear-streaked face, his own expression a mask of conflict and disbelief. He didn't push her away, but he didn't comfort her either. He looked at me, his voice rough with an emotion I couldn't decipher. "Is this your revenge, Selene? Tearing open old wounds?"

I met his gaze without flinching.

"This is not revenge, Alpha. This is justice."