The Pack's True Luna Returns

Seraphina's POV:

Saving my Alpha mate Brayden Clayton from a rogue attack left me badly wounded.

Now I was losing the pup I'd carried for three months.

Barely clinging to life, I kept calling him. Every plea went ignored because he insisted I was just an Omega making a scene to get his attention.

The truth was waiting on the television in my room when I woke up. While I'd been miscarrying, he'd taken his mistress, Layla Edwards, to the Alpha Conference.

There he was on the screen, securing the honor necklace around her neck before leaning down to give her a gentle kiss.

Whatever I'd believed about his love for me fell apart. Everything I'd given up for him over the years suddenly felt like a cruel joke.

One call to a secret number put me through to the Howling Guild. The entire werewolf community of Vrodale feared that mysterious organization.

What none of them knew was that its president was my biological father.

Five years ago, I'd concealed who I really was and started living as an ordinary Omega, all for Brayden.

Today, I was done pretending.

"Seraphina Harper here. I'm ready to come back. Send someone to take me home," I typed.

...

Brayden entered the hospital room as the door swung open. Layla had both hands wrapped around his arm.

"How are you feeling, Seraphina?" she asked.

Coming over to the bed, she put on a concerned look and stretched a hand toward me.

Her cloying scent turned my stomach.

Before she could touch me, I knocked her hand aside. "Don't come near me," I snapped.

Brayden's face darkened. "That's enough, Seraphina! We're both here because we're worried about you!" he snapped.

My glare shifted to him. "You're worried about me? Then where the hell were you when I needed you, Brayden?" I demanded.

He gave a short, dismissive laugh. "We had something more important to deal with. I made sure the best medical team was here, and you're alright now, so what's the problem? You can't fall apart over everything," he replied.

A bitter sneer crossed my face. He'd stayed with Layla while I fought for my life, then kissed her while I lost our pup.

And now he blamed me because I fell apart. How ridiculous.

Sitting up took all the strength I had, and my throat felt raw when I spoke. "I've heard enough. Hand over my necklace and get out of here. Both of you."

Layla's fingers closed around the pendant at her collarbone, and she whined, saying, "I'd happily return it if it were any other necklace, Brayden. But you gave me this to show me how you feel..."

He wrapped his arms around her and gave me a contemptuous look. "All this over a necklace? She wanted it, and I let her have it. I didn't realize you'd make such a fuss. Even now, you're acting like a greedy, lowborn Omega," he scoffed.

My voice rose to a roar. "Buy her whatever you want, Brayden, but you had no right to give her my mother's necklace!"

Nothing else of my mother's had been left to me.

That hadn't stopped him from handing it to his mistress, even though he knew exactly what it meant to me.

"Stop making such a scene," he blurted out coldly.

Without so much as another look at me, he turned away. "We're leaving, Layla."

She shook her head, then bent close and whispered with false sympathy, "Poor Seraphina. You couldn't hold on to your mate, and now you can't even hold on to what your mother left you."

Despite the pain racking my body, I forced myself out of bed and reached for her neck, determined to take back the necklace.

Her mouth curved into a mocking smile before she planted a hand against my chest and shoved.

I hit the floor hard.

Pain tore through my abdomen as the impact split my unhealed wound wide open.

Hot blood poured from my lower belly and soaked my white hospital gown. More stained the bed sheets as I bled beside the bed.

Layla recoiled in alarm.

For an instant, Brayden stood motionless. Then he shouted, "Get a doctor! We need a doctor in here!"

Doctors and nurses burst through the door, calling out in alarm when they saw me.

As they hurried me onto the examination table, the pain became unbearable, and I slipped in and out of consciousness.

Above me, the pale fluorescent lights blurred until their glow disappeared into darkness.

By the time the room grew quiet again, I'd lost all sense of how long I'd been there.

Beside my bed, an old doctor held a medical report. The way he looked at me carried the weary compassion of someone who had seen people live and die more times than he could count.

With a heavy sigh, he spoke in a rough, aged voice. "I'm afraid your uterus suffered severe damage when the wound tore open again, Ms. Harper."

It took an effort to turn my head toward him.

"I wish I had better news," he muttered. His eyes dropped away from mine. "The damage means you won't be able to conceive again. I'm sorry, but you won't be able to bear pups."

Seraphina's POV:

The room felt frozen, the air heavy and still.

What the old doctor told me hurt worse than any physical blow.

My eyes stayed on the spotless white ceiling, but I couldn't form a single thought.

I'd never be able to have pups. For a she-wolf, that felt worse than dying, especially when I'd taken such pride in protecting my pack as its Luna. Part of me felt gone forever.

Brayden stood beside the door when they wheeled me out of the operation room. His gaze settled on me without a trace of sympathy. All I saw was disgust.

Nothing about his expression suggested he understood what I'd been through, and I had no strength left to spell it out for him.

"You can stop pretending now, Seraphina," he said. The silence broke with his cold, deliberate words, and there wasn't any comfort in them. "Was getting that necklace back really worth staging all this?"

Turning toward him, I searched his face, unable to believe what I'd heard.

"How can you say that to me?" I whispered, barely able to steady my voice.

"Nothing's ever enough for you, is it? You always want more money, more power," he replied.

At the window, he turned his back on me as though the conversation barely concerned him. "You're my Luna. I've already given you everything you asked for. But the minute I pay Layla some attention, you pull this stunt to get me running back to you. You never use your head, and you don't understand anything. The pack elders have been complaining about you for ages. I've had to listen to all of it because of you. Can't you make things a little easier for me?"

The sight of his broad back left me cold all over.

Saving him on the battlefield had nearly cost me my life. It had cost me our unborn pup and any chance of becoming a mother.

Somehow, he had turned everything I'd suffered for him into another example of my scheming.

"You fucking bastard, Brayden!" My eyes squeezed shut, but hot tears still escaped and ran into my hairline.

"Still, I'll make it up to you since you saved me," he responded. Turning to face me again, he spoke without a hint of feeling. "You'll still be Luna, and you can keep living in the packhouse. Layla won't take that from you. But if you're going to pretend you're this badly hurt, she can take over the pack's administration and military command. All you have to do is keep your title and get some rest. What could be better than that?"

As he finished, he reached down to smooth my hair. The gentle touch felt like charity, and it made me sick.

A buzz came from his pocket before he could say anything else.

He took out his phone and answered the call. Even without the speaker on, my hearing picked up every word of Layla's sugary, teasing voice.

"Are you coming back soon, Brayden? I'm in your office with that urgent document you need to sign. And now the strap on my silk nightgown has broken. Come help me with it, will you?"

Hearing her openly lure him away stung as much as a slap.

His gaze darkened, and suddenly he was in a hurry. After checking his watch, he barely glanced at me. "Something urgent has come up with the pack, and Layla needs my help. I'd better get back. Do what the doctors tell you, alright? I'll visit again later."

Without another moment's hesitation, he headed for the door.

"Wait, Brayden," I called out. Even I was surprised at how calm and empty my voice sounded.

Halfway out, he stopped and looked back impatiently. "Can't this wait, Seraphina? I don't have time for another tantrum."

"Go through that door to see her, and I'm dissolving our mating bond," I insisted, holding his gaze and speaking each word clearly.

He stared at me as though he could hardly believe I'd said something so ridiculous. Then his mouth pulled into a mocking smirk.

"You want to break our mating bond? Do you even hear yourself, Seraphina?" He moved into the doorway, and his voice turned vicious. "Once you're out of the Moonclaw Pack, you won't have an Alpha protecting you. You'll just be another she-wolf nobody wants. Only the strong survive out there, and you wouldn't make it through a day."

A harsh scoff escaped him as he looked me over with contempt. "Who else would put up with someone as boring as you? I'm running out of patience, so stop making threats like a child."

Behind him, the door shut with a bang.

His footsteps grew quieter as I lay on the cold hospital bed. By the time I could no longer hear them, the last of my affection for him was gone.

The man I'd married knew nothing about who I'd been before becoming his mate.

My hands shook as I felt along the inside of the bed frame for the hidden compartment.

Inside was the one part of my old life I'd never let him see: a pitch-black encrypted communicator with no markings.

The sensor recognized my thumb, and a faint blue light spread across the screen.

Through that communicator, I could reach the Howling Guild, the secret organization feared throughout Vrodale's werewolf world.

No pack had authority over them. Behind the scenes, they set the rules and had the final say.

Their best hunter had once been me. Their president was my biological father.

Loving Brayden had led me to hide all of that. I willingly settled into life as his obedient Luna. Somehow, he'd mistaken that choice for proof that I couldn't live without him.

A shaky breath escaped me as I pushed through the pain in my abdomen and typed a message. "Seraphina Harper here. I'm no longer part of the Moonclaw Pack."

A quiet chime told me it had been delivered.

After closing my eyes for a moment, I typed the last message. "I'm ready to come back. Send someone to take me home."

Seraphina's POV:

From outside my ward came the steady thud of heavy footsteps.

Someone pushed the door open, and a woman walked in wearing a fitted black leather trench coat. Her short haircut gave her a sharp, no-nonsense look.

Elianna Marshall had arrived.

She'd once been my right-hand woman and the best Beta intelligence officer the Howling Guild had.

One look at me was enough to make her eyes turn red, and she struggled to draw a breath.

"I should've gotten here sooner, Seraphina," she grumbled. Kneeling beside my bed, she could barely keep her voice steady.

With what little strength I had, I shook my head and motioned for her to get up.

"All this time, I've been quietly directing the Guild's resources into the Moonclaw Pack, just like you asked. I trusted Brayden to look after you. It never crossed my mind that he'd do this to you," she said through clenched teeth. The hatred in her eyes was unmistakable.

My eyelids fell shut as a slow, heavy ache spread through my chest.

Nothing I'd given him had ever been enough to make him care. He'd accepted it all, then cast me aside without any hesitation. Even our unborn pup hadn't mattered to him.

"Were you able to get the necklace back?" I asked in a faint whisper.

After steadying her breathing, she reached into her coat and took out a black velvet box.

Pale light shone from inside when she lifted the lid.

There lay the genuine Moon Tear, the only keepsake my mother had left me.

"Layla had it locked in her private safe," she responded as she gently took out the necklace and secured it around my neck. "The idiot only likes how it looks. She doesn't have a clue what she's holding. I had a copy made, and that's what she's wearing now."

Cold metal settled against my hot skin, and something deep inside me responded to it. The connection brought a little strength back to my exhausted body.

"I'm ready to leave," I told her.

Her arm took most of my weight as I pushed myself upright, swallowing hard against the pain tearing through my abdomen.

Medical workers and security guards stepped into our way as soon as we left the ward.

"We can't let you leave, Luna. Alpha's orders were very clear," a guard chimed in.

A scornful laugh escaped Elianna. From inside her coat, she drew a black badge bearing the engraved head of a snarling wolf and held it up.

Every sound in the busy hallway stopped.

A doctor was stunned. "Y-you're with the Guild?" he stammered.

Some werewolves might not recognize the Moonclaw Pack's Alpha, but no one could mistake that badge. Only the highest ranks of the Howling Guild carried it.

That organization held control over seventy percent of the werewolf underground trade, private mercenary forces, and the most advanced medical facilities available.

Moonclaw Pack couldn't begin to stand against that kind of power.

"She's coming with me. Is anyone here going to stop us?" Elianna asked coldly.

Not a single person answered.

They hurried aside to let us pass. With every step, I moved farther away from the prison that had trapped me for the past three years.

Outside the entrance, a black armored SUV waited with its engine running.

The leather seat gave beneath me as I watched the streets slide past the window. Before long, my mind wandered back through the years.

At that time, I had been a poor girl whom my stepfather had thrown out, and I had barely managed to escape from a mental institution.

Rain had been pouring that night when a pack of rogues trapped me. With nowhere left to run, I'd been moments away from the worst thing they could do to me.

Then a teenage Alpha happened to pass by and fought them off.

Years later, I'd concealed my identity and married into the Moonclaw Pack to repay him. He'd gained enormous resources through me, and I'd helped him grow his territory and influence. I'd even stepped in front of blows that could've killed me to spare him.

My fingertips found the necklace against my chest. Its cool surface brought a bitter smile to my face.

"You saved my life once, Brayden, but I've paid that debt," I murmured. "It's cost me our pup and all those resources from the Guild."

My pale reflection stared back from the rearview mirror. "You still owe me, though, and I intend to make you pay," I whispered.

Layla's exclusive live interview was playing on the screen inside the car.

Dressed in a vivid red gown, she addressed the camera without a hint of doubt. Her hand kept straying to the glittering necklace at her collarbone, stroking it for everyone to see.

"This was a gift from Brayden. There's no greater honor for a warrior." She boasted with a self-satisfied smile.

Watching her show it off, I felt my expression harden.

"Go ahead, Elianna," I sneered.

"Understood," she answered.

Her fingers moved across the tablet, entering a short series of commands.

Within a second, the smug look disappeared from Layla's face. A hiss came from the necklace, followed by sharp crackling and a cloud of harsh white smoke.

Her piercing scream filled the broadcast.

Inside the fake necklace was a miniature device that released a corrosive mixture. A remote signal activated it, spraying pressurized wolfsbane and highly concentrated acid outward.

Without saying a word, I watched Layla desperately claw at her neck. Pain contorted her beautiful face into an ugly grimace.

Panic showed on Brayden's face as he grabbed for the necklace. He tried to pull it free, then recoiled when acid splashed onto his palms and burned his skin.

I shut off the television, leaned my head against the window, and gazed at the lone, icy moon hanging in the dark sky.

This was only the beginning of my revenge.

Brayden treasured his spotless name, Layla, and the pack. I would destroy each of them with my own hands.

Our game was only getting started.