Chapter 2

Louise POV:

Lacey's eyes, wide with a mixture of pain and disbelief, fixed on me as if seeing me for the first time.

"Caiden Rowe?" she shrieked, her voice muffled by the blood she was trying to staunch. "The Head Healer of the Dawncrest Pack? You don't know him!"

With a lunge, she swiped at the amulet around Michelle's neck, trying to rip it away. I moved faster, my hand intercepting hers with a grip that made her yelp. She stumbled back, cradling her bruised wrist.

"A pathetic Omega like you doesn't even have the right to say his name," she spat, her face a mask of fury. "My mother is on her way. You will kneel and beg my Alpha for mercy for what you've done to me."

I ignored her. My gaze was fixed on the floor, on the scattered, torn pieces of paper near Michelle's feet.

The Council's official acceptance letter. Her pass.

A wave of memory washed over me. Michelle, studying until dawn, her face pale with exhaustion. Michelle, practicing her presentation in the mirror, her voice trembling but firm. She had worked so hard, not just for the internship, but to prove to everyone-and to herself-that the daughter of a supposedly weak Omega could be more.

Lacey followed my gaze. A cruel smile twisted her lips. She stomped over and ground the torn pass into the floor with her heel, deliberately smearing the official seal with dirt. The faint, hopeful scent of my daughter that clung to the paper was obliterated.

Her one chance to report on time, gone.

"You see?" Lacey sneered. "Trash belongs on the floor."

One of the other parents, a bulky man whose son was part of Lacey's little gang, decided to intervene. He clearly wanted to curry favor with the future Luna. He grabbed my arm, his grip tightening, trying to use his Beta strength to force me to my knees.

"On your knees, Omega," he growled. "Before you make the Alpha's future Luna wait."

I didn't struggle. I simply turned my head and met his eyes. My own were cold, devoid of the warmth I had faked for a decade.

"Markham," I said, my voice a soft whisper that cut through the noise. "From the Stoneriver Pack. Your Alpha's name is Gregory, isn't it? Your territory sits on a floodplain. The levees are maintained by a yearly grant from Harper Industries. A grant my signature renews. Consider it revoked."

The man's face went pale. He snatched his hand back as if he'd been burned. The name of his pack, his Alpha-it was information an Omega shouldn't have. He stared at me, fear dawning in his eyes.

Just then, the council room door flew open again.

A woman dripping in gaudy jewelry and a dress far too tight swept in. Her perfume, a cheap and cloying floral scent, assaulted my senses.

"What is going on here?" she demanded, her eyes landing on her wailing daughter. "Lacey, baby! Who did this to you? Who bullied the daughter of a future Alpha?"

This was Ivy Palmer.

"She did, Mommy!" Lacey pointed a trembling, blood-stained finger at me.

Ivy's gaze snapped to me, her eyes raking over my simple, practical clothes with disdain.

I didn't say a word. I simply stepped forward and slapped Lacey again, on the other cheek this time. The sound was crisp and final.

"How dare you!" Ivy shrieked.

"I dare," I said, my voice ringing with an authority she had never heard. I reached into the collar of my shirt and pulled out the chain I always wore, the one hidden beneath the fabric. On it hung a small, intricately carved silver disc.

I held it up. The ancient sigil of the Silvermoon Pack, a howling wolf before a crescent moon, seemed to glow in the dim light.

"I am Louise Harper, last heir of the Silvermoon Pack," I declared, my voice resonating with power. "My mate is Vincent Harper, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. And you have harmed my daughter."

For a moment, there was stunned silence.

Then Ivy and Lacey burst into laughter.

"Silvermoon? That pack was wiped out decades ago!" Ivy scoffed. "You think a cheap trinket can fool me? You'll pay for my daughter's medical bills. One million dollars!"

"Fine," I said coolly. "And you will pay for my daughter's dress. It's a custom piece from a Parisian designer, woven with protective runes. It costs more than your car. And then there's the matter of her emotional distress."

Ivy's face purpled with rage. "You lying bitch! I'll show you who has real power!"

She fumbled in her designer purse and threw a card onto the table. It was a sleek, black gold card, heavy and expensive. Engraved on its surface was the snarling wolf's head totem of the Blackwood Pack.

My breath hitched. My heart felt like it had been squeezed by an icy fist.

I recognized that card.

It was the Alpha's Mate card, granting the highest level of access and privilege within the pack. A card awarded to me by the High Council last month for my service. A card I had given to my husband, Vincent, for safekeeping.

And on it, just below the pack totem, was the faint, cloying scent of Ivy's cheap perfume, mingled with Vincent's familiar scent of pine and earth.

The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. The final nail was hammered into the coffin of my marriage.

He hadn't just cheated. He had given my status, my honor, my very identity as his Luna, to this woman.