Chapter 1 001

Laura's fingers trembled as she fastened the silver clasp at her throat, the small thing fighting against her usually steady hands. In the fancy mirror before her, a woman stared back, looking proud but unsure. Her reflection seemed almost like a stranger now, watching her with those blue eyes that once shined with strong spirit but now had shadows of worry.

"Just nerves," she whispered to herself, smoothing her dress, something she picked so carefully for tonight's gathering.

Kieran's gathering. The thought twisted in her heart like a knife. Her mate had grown cold these past months, pulling away more each day. Laura had told herself it was just the weight of being a leader pressing on him, that being Alpha to the Silver Moon pack asked for things even she couldn't understand.

She touched her flat stomach, feeling that same old pain bloom inside. Where a baby should have grown, there was only emptiness. Three years as Kieran's Luna, and still no child. Though he never said the words out loud, she felt blame in the quiet between their talks, in the coldness of their bed.

"My lady." A soft knock broke her thoughts. "They're waiting."

Laura took a deep breath, gathering her broken calm. "Thank you, Mara. I'm coming."

The servant's steps faded down the hall as Laura pressed her hand once more to her stomach. She had given up everything for Kieran, her spot as the pack's strongest fighter, her dreams of making her own path. All given freely for their bond.

Love asks for giving up things, her mother had told her once. But how much was too much to give?

She stood tall and lifted her chin. Whatever waited for her outside these doors, she would face it with the pride of a Luna.

The long hallway stretched before her like it was leading to her doom. The moment she stepped out, whispers started among the gathered wolves. Warriors who once stood proud beside her now looked away. Omegas bowed their heads lower than they needed to. Even the elders, whose wisdom she had valued, suddenly found the stone floor very interesting.

A chill ran down Laura's spine. Something was terribly wrong.

Still, she forced her lips into a fake smile and walked forward with grace. The huge oak doors of the great hall opened as she got closer, showing the heart of the pack house. Inside, members of every rank stood stiffly in place. The smell of pine and woodsmoke hung heavy in the air, mixing with the smell of the feast laid out on long tables-untouched, she noticed. No one was eating. No one was drinking.

All eyes followed her as she entered, then quickly looked away.

And then she saw him.

Kieran stood on the raised platform, looking powerful in his special leather clothes, silver badges of rank shining against the black. The sight of him still took her breath away, even now. But he wasn't alone.

A woman stood at his side, small and curvy where Laura was tall and strong. Dark curls fell over bare shoulders, and her dress, if you could call such a tiny thing a dress, hugged her body like a second skin. Her small hand rested on Kieran's arm, fingers painted bright red that reminded Laura of fresh blood.

An Omega. Young and beautiful. And with a scent that made Laura's wolf howl with deep knowing.

Fertile.

"Kieran?" His name fell from her lips, soft and questioning.

He didn't even look her way. Instead, his voice rang out across the quiet room, clear and cold as winter. "Tonight, I have something to tell everyone."

Laura took another step forward, her heart beating so hard she was sure everyone could hear it. The whispers around her grew louder, a rising sound she couldn't quite catch.

"This," Kieran continued, his mouth twisting into something that wasn't quite a smile, "is Elise. She will be my new consort."

The words hit Laura like a physical blow. Around her, people gasped, then quickly fell quiet again.

For a moment, the world tilted under her feet. She dug her nails into her palms, the sharp pain keeping her in reality when everything else threatened to fall apart.

"A consort?" she finally managed, her voice strangely steady despite the shaking in her soul. "I didn't know our laws allowed such a thing while a mate bond still exists."

Elise pressed closer to Kieran, her eyes shining with barely hidden victory. "Such a shame," she purred, each word dripping with fake pity. "A Luna who can't even give her Alpha a baby."

The pack watched in heavy silence. Not a single voice spoke up for her. Not one defender stepped forward.

Kieran finally turned to look at her, his amber eyes, eyes she had once lost herself in, now cold and judging. "You were never strong enough," he said, each word a knife slipping between her ribs. "Never worthy enough. And now, you are barren."

The hall fell deadly quiet.

Laura felt something crack inside her chest, not her heart, but something deeper, more basic. The mate bond, stretched thin over months of being ignored, now trembled on the edge of breaking.

She had given this man everything. Her strength. Her freedom and her future.

And this was how he paid back her devotion.

The truth hit her with sudden clarity, Kieran didn't care.

He never had.

And as Laura stood alone before the pack that had once been her family, surrounded by downcast eyes and cowardly silence, she understood with sudden, blinding clarity.

He never will.

But perhaps, she thought as something wild and dangerous stirred inside her,

Neither should i.