STEPUNCLES ALPHA'S PUNISHES ME EVERYNIGHT

AUTUMN POV

The grand hall of the Logan estate was suffocating, the thick air pressing against my skin like an unbearable weight. Every eye in the room was on me-some filled with judgment, others with curiosity. But the worst of them? The three pairs of silver-blue eyes that had once looked at me with love, now burning with cold fury.

Adonis sat in the center, his presence an unmovable force. Knox stood beside him, unreadable, calculating. And Dante... Dante leaned against the table, his fingers drumming lightly, his expression unreadable, but his eyes? They were darker than I'd ever seen them.

Knox unfurled the scroll in his hand, the parchment crinkling as he spoke. "The evidence speaks for itself." His voice was calm, but his tone carried weight. "And we have testimony."

My breath hitched as the side doors creaked open. Two figures stepped inside. I felt the color drain from my face.

Ivy and Rowan. My supposed best friends. My confidants. The ones I trusted most.

"No." The word escaped my lips before I could stop it. "No, no, no..."

Ivy wouldn't meet my gaze, her head bowed as she stepped forward. But Rowan? His eyes were steady, cold.

"Speak," Adonis commanded.

Ivy swallowed hard. "I saw Autumn arguing with Thorne three nights ago. She threatened him."

The weight of the accusation crashed into me. My throat clenched. "He was blocking my return to the pack!" My voice wavered, but I forced myself to look them in the eyes. "We argued, yes, but I never threatened his life!"

Rowan stepped forward. "I saw her retrieving herbs from the eastern forest-wolfsbane and nightshade. She said it was for protection, but..."

"But what?" I snapped, my voice sharp, desperate. "You know exactly why I was gathering those herbs! I was helping Healer Willow prepare a salve for the warriors-nothing more!"

His expression didn't waver. "You told me yourself that wolfsbane in high doses is lethal."

I gritted my teeth. "Because it is. That doesn't mean I used it!"

Dante pushed off the table, walking toward me, his pine scent wrapping around me like a cruel reminder of what I had lost. He stopped just inches away, his voice dropping to a soft tone. "I want to believe you, Little Moon. More than anything."

Little Moon. The nickname he had given me when we were younger. My heart cracked. I searched his gaze for the warmth that used to be there. For the protector I had known since childhood.

"Then believe me." My voice wobbled. "Someone is setting me up."

For a moment-just a moment-doubt flickered in his eyes.

Then Adonis slammed his hand on the table. "Enough!" The sound echoed through the hall, and my body flinched involuntarily. "The council will deliberate on your punishment."

My lips parted, disbelief washing over me. "What about a fair trial?" My voice rose. "What about justice? Since when do the Logans condemn without a proper investigation?"

Knox stepped closer, tilting his head slightly as he studied me. "You speak of justice while Beta Thorne lies dead? Your dagger in his heart?"

A sharp laugh bubbled out of me-hollow, broken. "A dagger anyone could have taken from my quarters! I was helping Healer Willow all that night-ask her!"

Adonis's voice was cold. "Healer Willow confirms you left her side for over an hour."

An hour? My stomach dropped. That wasn't possible. I hadn't left except to... Oh gods. Except to retrieve more supplies from the storage room.

An hour. That was enough time. But I hadn't. I forced myself to breathe. "There must be someone who saw me in the storage room," I pleaded, desperation clawing at my throat.

Knox arched a brow. "Convenient that the storage room has no windows and only one entrance, which no one passed through during that time."

I shook my head, my pulse roaring in my ears. "Someone is framing me. You know it. You have to know it!"

Dante's jaw tightened. "Who? Who would go to these lengths?"

I met his gaze. "Agatha." The silence that followed was deafening.

Adonis scoffed, shaking his head. "Again with your jealousy, Autumn?"

I felt sick. Jealousy. That's what they thought this was? That was the lie Agatha had spun around me for years. Since she came into their lives five years ago, she had played the perfect little sister, the fragile victim. She ran to them every time, crying, pointing fingers, weaving her web of deceit so tightly around me that I could no longer breathe. Every punishment, every cruel word, every time their gazes turned colder-it was all her. And now, it had gone so far that she had orchestrated a crime and placed the blame on me.

The doors slammed shut with a resounding thud, the echo reverberating through the empty hall. Everyone was gone. Everyone except them.

Adonis stood in the center, his broad frame stiff with barely restrained fury. Knox leaned against the long wooden table, arms crossed, silver-blue eyes unreadable. And Dante-Dante stood perfectly still, his wolf tattoo prominent as he clenched his fist.

My breath came shallow. I was alone with my mates. Alone with my accusers.

Adonis's voice sliced through the silence. "Take her."

Knox stepped forward first. Before I could react, his hands-so familiar, so warm once-grabbed my wrists. "Don't fight, Autumn," he said, voice deceptively calm. "You'll only make it harder."

He guided me roughly toward a heavy wooden chair. In seconds, thick ropes coiled around my wrists, securing them to the arms of the chair.

"No. No," I pleaded, twisting against the bindings. "Knox, please-"

His grip tightened. "It's Alpha Knox to you now."

"You used to call me Barbie." My voice cracked.

His silver-blue eyes met mine, something unreadable flickering in their depths. Then, just as quickly, it was gone. "Barbie was innocent," he said simply. "Barbie wasn't a liar."

I wanted to scream. Wanted to force them to see me.

But then Adonis stepped forward, a stern, unyielding look on his face. The phoenix tattoo on his neck flexed. "Your sweet words and that innocent face once had me fooled." He leaned down, his golden-brown eyes locking onto mine. "But I was the one who was deceived, wasn't I? You hid your true nature well."

"I didn't do it!" I choked out, fighting the burning in my eyes. "Agatha-she's the one who-"

Adonis let out a cold chuckle. "Blaming your stepsister again, Autumn?" He shook his head. "It's a pathetic refrain."

Knox stepped in, his presence quieter, more intense. He crouched beside the chair, checking the ropes. "I kept giving you chances," he murmured, voice low. "Thinking you'd change. That you'd understand. I thought you were fragile-something to be protected."

The rope pressed into my skin. My fingers tingled. I gasped. "Knox, please-"

His lips thinned. "But you?" He gave the rope a final, firm tug. "You betrayed that trust. You hid a darkness we never saw."

I begged. "Please, just listen to me!"

But then Dante moved. Dante. The one I was closest to. The one who valued truth above all else. I turned to him, desperate. "You know me, Dante. You know I wouldn't do this."

His jaw was set. "Yeah?" His lips quirked in a humorless line. "And yet, the evidence is here."

He stepped closer, his gaze sweeping over my face. "You know what I used to love most about you, Little Moon?" His voice was a low murmur, filled with a bitter nostalgia. He reached out, his fingers barely grazing my cheek in a ghost of a touch. "I thought you were the one pure thing in this world. Someone whose heart matched her face."

Then the fleeting softness vanished, replaced by a chilling resolve. His hand fell away. "But that was just another illusion you crafted, wasn't it?"

His words were the final blow, colder and crueler than any physical strike. The last vestige of hope within me shattered into silence.

AUTUMN POV

I trembled. I couldn't stop it.

"We, the Logan Alphas, reject you as our mate." Adonis's voice was final, ringing through the heavy silence.

Each word was a physical blow. Adonis stood, a statue of unyielding authority. Knox gave the ropes one last, deliberate pull, his expression cold and closed off. Dante's gaze held mine, the last of the softness I remembered now completely gone, replaced by a judgment that froze me to my core.

I wanted to scream until my voice gave out. To break free of these bonds-both the ropes and the chains of their distrust.

But when I looked at them-really looked-the devastating truth settled over me with finality.

They didn't see me anymore.

They saw a criminal.

They saw a liar.

They saw the illusion Agatha had crafted for them.

And they had chosen to believe it. They had chosen her over me.

The wind howled through the trees, carrying the distant cries of wolves that no longer acknowledged me as their own. Each step I took away from the Logan estate sent a jolt of pain through me, every ache and sting a stark reminder of my banishment.

Cast out. Unwanted.

My pack, my family, had condemned me. The mates I'd loved had cast me aside. The forest, once a sanctuary, now felt vast, cold, and indifferent to my suffering.

I swayed, weakened by hunger, thirst, and a grief so deep it felt like a physical wound. My wolf, once a vibrant force within me, now lay silent and wounded, crushed under the weight of a betrayal that cut deeper than any claw.

How did it come to this? I thought, forcing one foot in front of the other. What did I ever do to deserve this exile?

Then, I heard it.

Laughter. Mocking, familiar laughter that coiled around my spine like ice.

My heart lurched as figures emerged from the shadows between the trees. Men-large, with cruel eyes that gleamed with amusement. They fanned out, forming a loose circle, trapping me.

And standing before them, radiant in her triumph, was Agatha.

Her golden hair was perfect, her smile a chilling mockery of warmth. "Aw, poor thing," she cooed, her voice dripping with false pity. "You look simply dreadful, Barbie."

The old nickname, once an annoyance, now felt like a brand of shame. My mind reeled. Why was she here? Outside the safety of the pack walls?

"What is this?" I managed, my voice a raw whisper.

Agatha stepped closer, the click of her heels on the stony ground unnaturally loud. "Oh, don't look so confused. You're clever, aren't you? You must have seen this coming."

I tried to stand straighter, to muster some defiance. "Agatha-"

"Shh," she hissed, her finger coming up to press sharply against my lips. "I can't stand the sound of your voice. It's so... pitiful."

I flinched back, but the movement made me stumble. That's when they struck.

A hard shove from behind sent me sprawling to the ground before I could catch myself. The impact knocked the air from my lungs. Before I could even gasp, a heavy boot connected with my side. A sharp, sickening pain blossomed across my ribs.

I cried out, curling in on myself, but there was no escape. The blows came from different directions-sharp kicks, painful prods with boots. Their laughter echoed around me, mingling with Agatha's soft, delighted chuckles.

Through the dizzying haze of pain, I saw her face. She watched with avid interest, her expression one of deep satisfaction.

Why?

She knelt beside me, her overpowering perfume cloying in the air. Her hand closed on my chin, forcing my head up to meet her gaze. "You honestly thought they'd choose you over me?" Her laugh was a vicious little sound. "Gods, Autumn. You are more naive than I ever imagined."

Tears of pain and fury blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall for her.

"I never did anything to you," I forced out, each word an effort.

A darker, uglier emotion flashed in her eyes. Her grip tightened, nails biting into my skin. "That's the most infuriating part, isn't it?" she whispered, her face close to mine. "You were just there. An orphan, raised by Alphas, loved by them. You had everything that should have been mine."

She released me with a shove and stood, brushing imaginary dust from her immaculate dress. "So, I took it. And it was laughably easy."

The men around her snickered.

My heart hammered against my aching ribs. "Knox, Dante, Adonis... they'll figure out the truth."

Agatha threw back her head and laughed, a full, ringing sound of pure malice. "You think they'll come riding to your rescue? That they'll feel a pang of regret?" She leaned down again, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "Darling... they've already forgotten your name."

Something inside me fractured. Not just hope, but the very foundation of who I thought I was to them.

She saw the moment it broke. And she savored it.

"Jess and Ivy-" My voice cracked, the betrayal fresh and raw. "They were my friends."

Agatha's laughter turned hysterical, as if this were the pinnacle of comedy. "Your friends? Oh, you precious fool. I paid them. It wasn't even expensive."

A cold deeper than any winter seeped into my bones. All those shared moments, whispered confidences... transactions. Every single one.

"You really believed anyone cared? That your mates truly adored you?" Her mock sympathy was a cruel blade. "Sweetheart, they tolerated you. And now, they're relieved to be free of you."

Her words were a poison, paralyzing me more effectively than any blow.

She straightened up, a queen surveying her conquest. "Everything is mine now. The Logans. The pack." Her eyes, glittering with victory, locked onto mine. "And you? You're just a problem I need to... remove."

That's when I noticed it. The shift in the ground behind me. The sound of the wind rushing up from below.

The cliff's edge.

Panic, sharp and immediate, cut through the fog of pain. This wasn't just humiliation. This was an execution.

I tried to scramble back, ignoring the shriek of protest from my ribs, but a swift, brutal kick sent me skidding backward-dangerously close to the precipice.

Agatha loomed over me, her beautiful face a mask of serene malice.

"Goodbye, Barbie."

Her hands shot out and shoved with all her strength.

And I fell.

The world became a violent blur of sky and rock, the wind a deafening roar in my ears. My heart hammered a frantic, final rhythm against my ribs.

No, no, no-

The jagged rocks below raced up to meet me, a promise of oblivion.

In those last, spinning seconds, my life didn't flash-it screamed.

The echo of childhood laughter in sun-dappled halls.

The safe, solid warmth of Dante's arms around me.

The gentle, precise way Knox would fix my hair.

The rare, unguarded softening in Adonis's eyes.

All stolen. All destroyed by a hatred I never understood.

A sound tore from my throat, raw and primal, not of fear, but of furious, unyielding defiance. It was a plea and a demand, aimed at the very heart of the moonlit sky above.

"MOON GODDESS! HEAR ME! GIVE ME A CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT!"

The cry consumed everything I had left-all my rage, my sorrow, my shattered love, forged into a single, desperate vow.

Then-

The darkness rose and swallowed everything.

AUTUMN POV

Air rushed into my lungs as my eyes flew open. My body jerked upright, my heart hammering against my ribs. For one terrifying moment, I expected the wind to be tearing at me, the ground rushing up to meet me.

Instead... there were soft blankets. Warm, still air. The familiar scent of old wood and lavender.

My room.

I blinked rapidly, my breath coming in ragged gasps. No. This can't be. I scrambled up, my trembling fingers running over my arms, my ribs. Smooth skin. No bruises. No wounds. My hands flew to my face-no cuts, no trace of tears. My hair was clean and soft.

I was... whole.

Shaking, I looked around at the familiar walls. The desk by the window. The shelf of old books. The small crescent moon charm above my bed-the one Knox had given me years ago, before everything changed.

My breath hitched. I rushed to the mirror, staring at the reflection that met me. My skin was clear. My eyes looked younger, wider, untouched by the betrayal I remembered. I looked eighteen again.

How is this possible? The last memory was Agatha's triumphant smile as she pushed me, the sickening plunge, the rocks below...

Yet here I was, in my old room, in a body that hadn't yet known that pain.

My hands flew to my mouth as a choked sob escaped. "I'm back." I wasn't dead. The Moon Goddess had heard my desperate cry.

Tears streamed down my face as I sank to my knees. "Thank you," I whispered, pressing my hands together. "Thank you."

A second chance. I swore I wouldn't waste it. Not this time.

A loud shout echoed from outside. I froze. This moment... I remember this.

My legs felt weak as I pushed to my feet and moved toward the door. A strange calm settled over me as I walked down the hallway, my fingers brushing the wall to confirm it was real.

The voices grew clearer as I reached the front entrance. And there it was-the scene that had started it all.

Agatha stood by the small lake behind the estate, her golden curls damp, her dress clinging to her as if she'd just been in the water. Tears-perfect, practiced tears-streamed down her cheeks.

And around her stood them.

Adonis, arms crossed, his expression sharp with irritation. Knox, watching with that calculating gaze. Dante, brow slightly furrowed, a trace of amusement on his lips but concern in his eyes.

My heart ached at the sight. These men had once been my entire world. The same men who would one day believe her lies over mine.

But beneath the ache, a new resolve hardened. I wouldn't fall for it again. Death had taught me a strength I never knew I had.

Agatha let out a pitiful sob, burying her face against Dante. "She-she pushed me!"

And just like that, it all clicked. This was her first move. The first seed of doubt.

Five years ago, I had defended myself. I had pleaded. And they hadn't believed me.

Not this time.

"I pushed her."

The words left my lips calmly, without hesitation. I crossed my arms, lifting my chin. Inside, my heart raced, but my face remained still. This would be the moment they turned on me-just like before-and I could finally leave this place for good.

A heavy silence fell.

For a split second, genuine shock flickered across Agatha's face before she hid it behind another sniffle. I savored that small crack in her mask.

"She did it on purpose!" Agatha whimpered, clinging to Dante. "She's always bullying me!"

I stood my ground, bracing for their anger, their disgust, the punishment I was sure would come. Banish me, I thought. Let me go.

But instead-

Adonis sighed. Then... he shrugged. "It's fine."

I blinked. "What?"

Knox let out a breath, as if this were just a minor inconvenience. "Accidents happen," he said, his voice smooth, almost amused.

Dante chuckled softly, tilting his head at me. "You're in a feisty mood today, Barbie."

His teasing tone made my stomach tighten. This isn't right. The script had changed, and I didn't know my lines.

I needed them to reject me. To give me a reason to leave.

I turned and gave Agatha a sharp shove-harder this time. She yelped, stumbling back into the water with a splash.

Surely this will do it.

Adonis rubbed his temples, looking more exasperated than angry. "Autumn, don't be difficult."

Knox reached out and... ruffled my hair. "Feisty today, Little Moon. Cute, too."

Cute? My mind reeled.

Dante was worse. He grinned, then pulled me against his side, his arm resting loosely over my shoulders. His warmth was familiar and disorienting. "Maybe she's just having a rough day. We should be understanding."

Heat flooded my face. "Excuse me?!"

He laughed, but I was frozen. Where was the fury? The accusations? They were... teasing me? Comforting me?

Agatha stood by the lake, utterly stunned. Her eyes darted between them and me, her perfect composure shattered into pure confusion.

Join the club, I thought bitterly.

My plan was crumbling. I'd pushed her, admitted it, and yet-

"Go to your room, Autumn," Adonis said, but his voice was gentle, not cold.

"I'd rather be banished," I said, desperation creeping in.

Dante's grin widened. "And I'd rather give you a different kind of... consequence."

My face burned. This wasn't the man who had watched me be cast out.

I turned to Knox, but he was smirking too, his silver-blue eyes glinting. "I agree."

Adonis, the always-serious Alpha, sighed as if this were normal, then stepped forward and-hugged me. Briefly, firmly. His scent of pine and ember wrapped around me. "Go cool off," he murmured before letting go.

I stood there, stunned. The memory of his past rejection crashed against this unexpected tenderness.

What is happening?

I scowled, putting an edge in my voice. "You're all impossible."

Dante just smiled. "And you're cute when you're annoyed."

I give up.

Agatha's face was a picture of shock and frustration. "You're not going to punish her?! She pushed me! Twice!"

Knox sighed, sounding bored. "You're wet, Agatha. Not hurt. Go change."

"If it were me, you'd have-"

"Go. Change." Adonis cut her off, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I didn't wait. I turned and walked back inside, shutting the door behind me. I leaned against it, my heart pounding, my hands unsteady.

What was that?

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. I was always the one blamed. Punished. Pushed away.

But now... they looked at me with warmth. With teasing affection. As if they still wanted me here.

A chilling, exhilarating realization washed over me: The Moon Goddess hadn't just sent me back in time.

She had sent me somewhere else entirely. A world where the rules were different.

A world where they... loved me?