Luna, the White Wolf, is reborn.

I hid my identity as the Alpha King's daughter just to be Santino's perfectly submissive Luna.

I thought deep love would be enough. I was wrong.

Three years into our marriage, Santino brought a pregnant woman into our pack compound, and even gave my late mother's necklace to his mistress.

I tried to argue, to make him respect our marriage.

But he said, "Without my protection, you are nothing."

I played the harmless, weak Luna for so long that he actually thought I was a helpless Omega.

Santino wants a war? Then I will give him a war.

"Damian," my mind was made up as I awakened the Royal Guard, "destroy everything."

Santino could certainly start the fire. But when the war ends, only I can decide.

By the time he regrets it, it will be too late.

Chapter 1

Alessia's POV:

I stared at the tiny white pill in the palm of my hand.

Suppressants.

Three years ago, I made a pact with my father. I hid my noble bloodline to prove that I could find true love without relying on my heritage, rather than just becoming a mated pawn for a princess.

I thought I had succeeded.

For three years, I forced down this bitterness every morning. I did this to be the perfectly submissive Luna of the Silver Creek Pack.

I diluted my power, hid my true identity, and concealed my true self.

I swallowed it dry. As I walked down the stairs, a chalky taste still lingered in my mouth.

The Packhouse is the heart of any werewolf community. It's where the Alpha rules, where the high-ranking members live, and where pack business is handled.

Today, it reeked of rot.

"She has nowhere else to go, Alessia. Have some mercy."

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

My husband, Santino, the Alpha of this pack, was standing in the foyer. Beside him stood a woman I had never seen before.

She was petite, eyes brimming with tears, her hands trembling. But beneath the cover of cheap perfume, I caught a distinct scent-the scent of a rogue.

A wolf without a pack, an outcast who had turned her back on our laws.

"Santino, you brought in a rogue?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady despite the churning in my stomach. "You brought a rogue into the pack compound? That's a violation of security protocols."

Santino's jaw tightened.

He was handsome, with the broad shoulders typical of an Alpha male, but there was always a glint of arrogance in his eyes-an arrogance I had foolishly mistaken for confidence years ago.

"She isn't just a rogue," Santino snapped. "This is Valentina. She is the mate of my late Beta, Marco. She is carrying his pup."

Valentina cradled her stomach, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Please, Luna," she whispered, "I just want my baby to be born safely."

My inner wolf, usually suppressed by the pills, grew restless. She let out a low, warning growl in the back of my mind. Liar, she said.

In our culture, when a lower-ranking wolf meets an Alpha or Luna, they bare their necks. It's a sign of submission, an instinctual acknowledgment of the hierarchy. Valentina didn't bare her neck.

Instead, she looked at me, and for a split second, I saw a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"If she's carrying a pack member's child, she can stay in the Omega dormitories," I said, trying to maintain order in the house. "They have guest rooms there."

"No," Santino interrupted, his voice booming. "She is staying here. On the second floor. Right next to our suite."

"That floor is strictly for high-ranking officials," I argued.

"I am the Alpha!" Santino stepped forward, his aura dominating the room. The air grew thick with pressure, an overwhelming scent of dominance meant to force me into submission. "I command that she stays near me. Don't challenge me, Alessia. You know you're too weak to withstand my Alpha command."

I lowered my head, not out of fear, but out of habit.

The pills made me physically weaker than a typical Alpha female, and he used that against me.

He weaponized my love for him to hurt me.

"As you wish, Alpha," I whispered.

But a crack had already formed in my heart, and my inner wolf was beginning to bare her fangs.

That night, the air in the house shifted. Normally, the Packhouse smelled of pine. But by dinnertime, Valentina's scent was absolutely everywhere.

I tried to ignore it. I sat in the living room reading a book, trying to be a good wife.

"My ankle hurts so much," Valentina's voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"Let me take a look," Santino's deep voice replied.

I stood up and quietly walked to the kitchen doorway.

Santino was kneeling on the floor. Valentina sat on a chair with one leg extended. His large hands were rubbing her ankle, his thumbs pressing deeply into the muscle.

I froze.

To a human, this might look like first aid. But to wolves, scent is everything, and touch is crucial. By rubbing her skin, he was mingling his scent with hers.

Such intimate behavior was usually reserved strictly for mates or parents with their pups.

He was marking her with his scent.

He crossed the line.

I reached out to Santino through the mind-link.

The mind-link is a telepathic channel connecting all pack members. It allows for instant communication, but between mates, it is supposed to be an intensely private line.

What? his irritated voice echoed in my head. He didn't even look up from her leg.

You are scenting her. Stop it.

Alessia, I'm helping a widow. Stop being so jealous; it's unbecoming of a Luna.

He didn't stop. His hands continued trailing up her calf. Valentina tilted her head back slightly and let out a soft sigh, sounding almost like a moan of pleasure.

I felt a tear rip open in my chest. It wasn't a physical wound, but something much deeper.

My feelings for him, my respect for him, shattered.

I slammed the door shut on our mind-link, completely blocking him from my mind.

He didn't even notice.

I went upstairs to our bedroom, but the bed felt freezing cold. I couldn't sleep, just listening to the sounds of the house. Hours later, I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs.

He didn't come into our room. Instead, he went into the guest room next door.

"She's afraid of thunder," he had told me once when I asked why he was spending time with a female subordinate. There was no thunder tonight.

The next morning, I went downstairs early for breakfast.

The hormone-suppressing pills sat untouched on my nightstand. I just stared at them without moving.

Is it worth it? I asked myself.

I walked into the dining room. Valentina was already there, sitting at the head of the table-my seat.

She was eating bacon, looking completely relaxed. But what truly chilled me to the bone wasn't where she was sitting.

It was what she was wearing.

She was wearing a white button-down shirt, way too large for her, with the sleeves rolled up.

It was Santino's shirt.

It was completely soaked in his Alpha pheromones.

And now, it was draped over Valentina.

Alessia's POV:

The scent was suffocating.

Alpha pheromones are powerful; they transmit messages of authority, protection, and possession.

Another woman reeking of my husband's scent, sitting in my home, was nothing short of a declaration of war.

Valentina looked up, a piece of bacon still in her mouth. She smiled.

"Good morning, Luna," she said breezily. "I hope you don't mind. I didn't have any clean clothes, and Santino insisted."

"Get up," I said. My voice was low and trembling, carrying a tone I hadn't used since I left my father's palace.

Valentina blinked, putting on an innocent act. "Excuse me?"

"Get out of my seat," I commanded, "and take off my husband's shirt."

"Alessia!"

Santino strode into the dining room. He took one look at the scene before him-me standing there radiating fury, and Valentina with her lips trembling-and he instantly made his choice.

He stepped between us, shielding her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled at me. "She is a pregnant woman."

"She is wearing your clothes, Santino," my voice shook with rage. "She is sitting in the Luna's chair. Do you have a single shred of respect left for our marriage?"

"It's just a damn shirt!" Santino roared. "You're making a huge deal out of nothing. Valentina needs comfort. She needs the scent of the Pack Alpha to feel safe."

"She needs her Alpha's scent?" My smile was drenched in sarcasm. "Or does she just want the Alpha himself?"

Santino fell suddenly silent, seemingly afraid to answer my question.

"My stomach!" Valentina cried out suddenly.

She doubled over, clutching her belly. "Oh, the baby..."

Santino was at her side in an instant, his face etched with panic. "Valentina! Take deep breaths. You're going to be okay."

He glared back at me. "Look at what you've done! If she loses this pup, it's entirely your fault!"

"She's fine," I said coldly.

Without the suppressants, my senses were sharpening. I could hear her heartbeat; it was steady. She wasn't in real pain; she was acting.

If I could sense it, Santino certainly could too.

But he didn't.

Because he trusted Valentina, not me.

"Enough!" Santino roared.

He unleashed his Alpha Command. The weight of it slammed into me, meant to force me to my knees. "I command you to apologize to her!"

I stood perfectly still.

The heavy pressure weighed down on my shoulders, trying to crush me. An ordinary wolf would have been flattened. An ordinary Luna would have submitted long ago.

But I remained standing, my knees refusing to buckle.

Santino's eyes widened in confusion. He pushed the Alpha Command even harder, but I just stared back at him.

"I will not apologize to a homewrecker," I stated firmly.

"You..." Santino stammered. He turned around and helped Valentina to her feet. "Come on, Valentina. You won't be subjected to this treatment anymore."

"From now on, you're going to help me manage the pack's finances. You need something to do, and Alessia is clearly too mentally unstable right now to handle the books."

I was stunned.

The pack's finances? That was my responsibility. I had used my personal wealth to pay off the pack's debts. I had single-handedly established their trade routes.

Now, with a single word, Santino was dismissing all of that, taking it away, and handing it to a rogue.

"You're giving my duties to her?" I asked softly, staring at him with utter seriousness.

"I am making her a part of this pack," Santino declared. "This is her den now too."

This is her den.

Those words echoed in my mind. A den is a wolf's safe haven, shared only with family. By calling it her den, he was essentially inviting her into our marriage.

He looked at me with disdain. "Maybe if you learned to be a little softer and more considerate like her, you wouldn't just be a title, Alessia. Sometimes I forget you're even a wolf."

That insult stung.

He thought I was weak because I chose to be gentle.

He thought I was powerless because I hid my strength just to protect his fragile ego.

I looked at the man I had married three years ago. I searched for the charismatic, ambitious man who had promised to build a future with me. He was gone. All that was left was a fool.

I reached for my left hand.

"What are you doing?" Santino asked, frowning.

I gripped the silver ring on my finger. It was the Luna's ring, passed down through generations in the Silver Creek Pack, a symbol of eternal loyalty.

I pulled it off.

It hit the hardwood floor with a clink, rolling until it came to a stop right at Valentina's feet.

"If you want her so badly," I said, my tone completely devoid of emotion, "then you can have her. Give her the ring too. It's worthless to me now."

"Alessia!" Santino took a step forward, a flash of fury in his eyes. "Stop this nonsense! Pick it up. You are not allowed to leave me. You are my mate!"

I reminded him. "As of right now, I no longer recognize you as my Alpha."

I turned and walked out of the dining room.

"If you walk out that door," Santino roared behind me, "don't even think about coming back! Without my protection, you are nothing! You're just a weak female with no family!"

I didn't look back, just grabbed my keys from the console table in the hallway.

He was right about one thing.

I was indeed leaving.

But he was dead wrong about everything else. He had absolutely no idea what kind of family I came from.

He was about to find out what happens when you wake a sleeping wolf.

Alessia's POV:

I drove until the pack compound was just a tiny black dot in my rearview mirror.

I ended up at "The Rusty Claw," a neutral bar located on the edge of the territory. Wolves from different packs, and even humans, mingled there.

I went into the bathroom to change clothes. I pulled out a dress. It was red, skintight, and featured a slit that went all the way up my thigh.

It wasn't a dress for a submissive Luna; it was a dress for a goddess of the hunt.

I walked out into the bar and ordered a neat whiskey.

The burning liquid felt good, just like the fire igniting in my blood.

With the suppressants wearing off, my senses exploded. The music was louder, the lights were brighter. I could smell the sweat, the cheap beer, the lust, and the fear of everyone in the room.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in three years.

When the call connected, I said, "Damian."

"Princess?" the deep, gravelly voice on the other end asked. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm at The Rusty Claw. Come pick me up."

"I'm five minutes away. Don't move."

I hung up. I should have known he'd be so close. The Royal Guard had never truly left my side; they just stayed in the shadows, respecting my wish to live a "normal" life.

The bar door swung open.

The wind rushed in, carrying the scent of rain, damp earth, and cedar.

A man stood in the doorway. He was massive, towering a full head above everyone else. He wore a black tactical vest pulled tight across his solid chest. His dark hair was messy, as if he'd run his hands through it countless times.

But what caught my attention first were his eyes. They shone like molten gold.

Thump. Thump.

My heart wasn't just pounding; it was slamming against my ribs like a trapped bird. The air in the room seemed to vanish, leaving only him.

A jolt of electricity shot down my spine. The wolf inside me, who had been growling furiously all morning, suddenly threw her head back and howled.

"Mine!" she roared. "Mate!"

It was Damian.

I had known Damian since childhood. He was my father's Gamma, the Captain of the Royal Guard.

He had always been my shadow, my protector.

But I had never smelled this scent, and I had never felt this spark.

"Alessia?" Damian asked softly. He took a step toward me, his nostrils flaring.

He smelled it too. That bond. It hit us both like a runaway train.

The suppressant pills hadn't just masked my wolf; they had dulled my ability to recognize my fated mate.

Damian closed the distance between us in two strides. He stopped mere inches from my face. He reached out, his hand trembling slightly, and cupped my cheek.

"Damian," I whispered.

When his skin touched mine, it wasn't just warmth; it was an electric shock. An intoxicating, addictive tingle flooded from his fingertips into my skin, instantly healing the cracks deep within my soul.

"I found you," his voice was thick with emotion. "Moon Goddess, it's you. It was always you."

He leaned in close, the tip of his nose brushing against my neck as he took a deep breath. "You smell like home."

In that moment, the world was perfectly flawless.

Then, the door banged open again.

"Get your hands off my wife!"

Santino stood there, his chest heaving. He must have tracked my scent. Behind him stood two of his enforcers.

Damian didn't back away; instead, he stepped in front of me. His posture shifted instantly from a lover to a lethal weapon. A menacing growl rumbled in his chest, vibrating through the floorboards.

"She is not your wife," Damian said, his tone chillingly calm. "Not anymore."

"She bears my mark!" Santino yelled, pointing at the faint bite mark on my neck-the mark he had left was already fading because the love was gone.

"Alessia, get in the car. Now."

"No," I said, stepping out from behind Damian.

Santino looked at Damian, then at me, and sneered. "Is that it? You abandon me to run to your bodyguard? Are you sleeping with him?"

"He is my fated mate," I said.

Santino froze, and then he laughed. "Him? A Gamma? Don't make me laugh. You are a Luna; you belong to an Alpha."

He lunged at me.

It all happened so fast. Damian moved to intercept, his claws already extended, ready to rip Santino's throat out.

But Santino wasn't aiming to fight; he just wanted to possess. He grabbed my arm, his claws extending as well.

"You are mine!" Santino roared.

His claws dug deeply into my flesh. A sharp pain shot up my arm.

Damian let out a furious roar, grabbing Santino by the collar and slamming him brutally against the bar. The wood splintered upon impact.

"I'm going to kill you," Damian snarled, his eyes glowing gold.

"Damian, stop!" I commanded, placing a hand on his taut bicep.

"He hurt you," Damian growled low.

"If you kill an Alpha in neutral territory without a formal challenge, you will start a war," I said, my voice remaining remarkably calm despite the blood trickling down my arm. "Let him go."

Damian hesitated, his chest heaving violently, but he shoved Santino back.

"I'm taking her home," Santino spat, straightening his coat. "That's pack law, Gamma. Until the divorce is finalized, she is still under my jurisdiction."

Damian took another step forward, radiating murderous intent. "Touch her one more time, and I won't give a damn about pack law."

I looked at Santino, then at my arm.

Then I remembered. My mother's necklace was still in the guest room. If I left now, Valentina would steal it or sell it.

"I'm going back," I said.

"Alessia, no," Damian argued instantly.

"Damian, I need my mother's necklace. I left it on the dresser. I will not leave my treasure to that woman, in that house."

I walked past a shocked Santino.

Follow us, I mind-linked Damian. But do not cross the ward line. I will get my things and walk out the front door.

Conflicted fire burned in Damian's golden eyes, but he nodded. "I'll be watching. Just one scream, Alessia. Just one, and I'll level the place."

Santino shoved me toward his car. "Get in."

I climbed into the passenger seat and looked down at my arm, marked with three deep gashes.

But as I watched...

Normally, a wound like this would take days to heal.

But now, off the pills, and having found my fated mate, my magic was surging.

Right before my eyes, the skin began to knit back together, and the bleeding stopped.

My wolf was fully awake, and she said she was thirsty for blood.