Chapter 4

Louise POV:

The officer, Commander Valerius, straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the stunned faces in the room. He turned to Vincent, his expression hardening.

"Alpha Vincent Harper," he announced, his voice like cracking ice. "By order of the High Council, you are under arrest."

He held up a data-slate, the arrest warrant glowing on its screen. "The charges are treason against your pack, conspiracy with Rogue elements, and the attempted murder of a High Council asset."

Vincent's face, which had been a mask of cold control, finally broke. "Treason? This is absurd! On what grounds?"

I slowly got to my feet, my back screaming in protest. I walked past him, pausing just beside his shoulder.

"The grounds?" I whispered, my voice for his ears alone. "That Alpha's Mate card you gave your whore. It's a Silvermoon artifact. It records the scent signature of anyone who holds it. By giving it to her, you signed your own confession, broadcast directly to the Council's security archives."

His blood ran cold. I could smell the sharp, sudden spike of his fear.

On the helicopter, the air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and Caiden Rowe's calming presence. He was already tending to Michelle, his large, gentle hands glowing with a soft, silver light-the healing magic of his bloodline.

"It's a compound poison," Caiden said, his brow furrowed in concentration. His voice was a low rumble, steady and reassuring. "Wolfsbane, mixed with microscopic silver flakes. Administered slowly, over a long period."

My heart clenched. "How long?"

"At least three months," he confirmed grimly. "The goal wasn't to kill her. It was to permanently cripple her wolf. To ensure she could never undergo her first Shift."

The calculated cruelty of it stole my breath. Vincent hadn't just betrayed me; he had tried to mutilate our daughter's very soul.

"The card," I said, my voice tight. "Check the scents."

Caiden's Beta nodded, running a scanner over the black gold card, now sealed in an evidence bag. "Confirmed, Luna. Only three scents present: yours, Vincent's, and an unknown Omega female."

That was all I needed. I closed my eyes, reaching out not through the shattered mate bond, but through the official pack Mind-Link, a channel open to the command structure.

"This is your Luna," I broadcast, my voice resonating with an authority I had not used in a decade. "Alpha Vincent Harper has been arrested for treason. By my authority, his access to all pack assets, accounts, and communications is hereby frozen. Effective immediately. Acknowledge."

The response from my pack's Beta was instantaneous. "Acknowledged, Luna. Standing by for your orders."

The High Council Guard moved fast. A team raided Ivy Palmer's lavish apartment. As I watched the live feed on a monitor, they found a stash of forged identity documents and a burner phone. The communication logs were a cesspool of treachery, detailing her conversations with Vincent and a group identified only as "The Black Serpents."

"Wait," I said, pointing at the screen. "Zoom in on that bookshelf."

The camera operator complied. My eyes, honed by years of intelligence work, spotted it instantly. A leather-bound volume of poetry was a fraction of an inch out of place.

"The third book from the left. Check behind it."

An agent pulled the book away. Tucked in a hollowed-out space was a rolled-up sheepskin scroll. It was an ancient, binding contract. A pact between Vincent and the Rogue organization, the Black Serpents, selling off mineral rights to sacred Blackwood territory in exchange for their help in... what? The text was coded.

Just then, Michelle stirred, her eyes fluttering open. "Mom?" she whispered.

"I'm here, baby."

"Dad's study..." she murmured, her voice weak. "There's a room... behind the fireplace. I saw him go in once. It doesn't have a scent. Runes, I think."

A secret room, masked from a wolf's senses. Of course.

I relayed the information to Commander Valerius. His team found it within minutes. The evidence inside was damning. Maps of our pack's defenses. Copies of the High Council's security protocols. Detailed corporate secrets of Harper Industries. And, tucked away in a lead-lined box, was a leather-bound journal. In Vincent's own hand, he detailed the ritual he'd used to bind my power, writing with chilling clarity that he feared the 'uncontrollable nature of the White Wolf' and had to 'tame it for the good of the pack.'

The news of an Alpha's arrest for treason spread through the werewolf world like wildfire, an earthquake shaking the foundations of our society.

While the world reeled, I focused on my daughter. I made a call to a contact at the Council's diplomatic corps.

"She earned that internship," I said, my voice firm. "I don't care what you have to do. Get her a new pass. Get her on the next flight. She will not miss this opportunity because of him."

By morning, as news channels buzzed with speculation, Michelle was on a private jet, a new, upgraded security pass in her hand, on her way to claim the future she had rightfully earned. The game had just begun.