Chapter 5

Elara POV

The drive back to the Silvercrest Pack House was a blur of dark trees and cold resolve. By 2:17 AM, I was sitting in the suffocating expanse of my bedroom. The space was massive but hollow, the sheets still holding the faint, rotting ghost of Adrian's scent.

The silence was shattered by the shrill ring of the landline on the nightstand. Because I was wolfless and lacked an Inner Wolf, I was entirely deaf to the Pack's Mind-Link. A physical phone was the only way to reach me.

"Luna," Enforcer Kade's voice was clipped and strictly professional. "Cassie Caldwell is in the holding cells. She got drunk at a border bar and severely mauled an Omega servant. She's tearing the place apart demanding her family, and the Alpha is... unavailable."

I felt no panic. Only a glacial, creeping certainty that my moment had arrived. "I'll be right down."

I didn't bother waking the staff. I grabbed my car keys and walked down to the subterranean holding cells. The air down here was heavy, reeking of damp stone, rust, and the faint metallic tang of blood.

Cassie was pacing inside a reinforced steel cell. Her designer party dress was torn, her makeup smeared, and she radiated the sour pheromones of cheap alcohol and pure, unadulterated rage.

When she saw me, she lunged at the bars. "Get me out of here!" she shrieked.

"I have no authority to interfere with Pack law, Cassie," I said, my voice flat.

Her eyes flashed with feral gold. "You wolfless waste! An Omega without even a scent! Adrian only marked you to humiliate Seraphina. Do you really think he loves you? You're nothing!"

A day ago, those words would have shredded my soul. Tonight, standing in the fluorescent glare, I realized I felt absolutely nothing. The numbness was a profound relief.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor before I could reply. Bernard and Jacqueline Caldwell, the former Alpha and Luna, swept into the dungeon.

Jacqueline's eyes locked onto me, her face twisting with disgust. "You bring nothing but bad luck to this family, you wolfless curse! You were supposed to keep her in line!"

Driven by years of unchecked entitlement, she marched up to me and raised her hand, swinging hard to slap me across the face.

I didn't flinch. I simply tilted my head a fraction of an inch. Her palm caught empty air, the momentum causing her to stumble awkwardly in her heels.

She gasped, looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

"A Luna should be by her Alpha's side," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly, icy whisper. "But he isn't here, is he, Jacqueline? Maybe you should ask him how that *tuberose and champagne* scent was last night."

Jacqueline froze. The color drained from her face as the implication of Seraphina's signature scent hit her. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Bernard stepped forward, his jaw tight. He tried to project his Alpha aura, a heavy, suffocating pressure meant to force submission. But without a wolf, I was immune to his parlor tricks.

"Enough," Bernard commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You will testify to the Elders, Elara. You will say the Omega disrespected you, and Cassie was merely defending her Luna's honor. We will not let a feral mistake ruin this family's reputation."

He looked at me, expecting the meek, broken girl who always took the fall. He expected a pawn.

"No."

The single syllable hung in the damp air, sharp as a silver blade.

Bernard blinked, his absolute authority fracturing. "What did you just say?"

"I will not perjure myself," I said, my gaze sweeping over the three of them. "Cassie is an Alpha's daughter. She can face the consequences of her own savagery."

I turned to Enforcer Kade, who was standing rigidly by the door, his eyes wide with shock. "Keep her locked up, Kade. I am not her family."

I turned my back on the Caldwells. Cassie began to scream, and Bernard roared my name, but I didn't stop walking.

As I reached the exit, my phone vibrated in my purse. The screen lit up with Adrian's name. I stared at it for a second, pressed the mute button, and dropped it back into my bag.

I climbed into my Corolla and started the engine. I drove out of the Silvercrest territory, leaving the crumbling ruins of their dynasty behind me. I merged onto the highway, pointing my headlights toward the glittering skyline of Manhattan. I had a 9:00 AM medical appointment in neutral territory, and Dr. Patterson was never late.