My mother was the most powerful Priestess in all of Alaska. Three years ago, at the Moon Rite, she declared I had been cursed by the Blood Moon—that if I became Luna, I would bring ruin down on the entire pack, and the only way to lift the curse was to stay away from the Alpha for three full years. At that time, Christopher had only just defeated the other heirs and taken his place as the new Alpha. His footing was still unsteady. The Elders demanded that he cancel the mate ceremony we were about to have. Christopher looked at me and said, “Elena, trust me. In three years, I’ll make things right and make you my Luna.” I believed him. I left the villa without a word. For three long years, I hid away in a small cabin on the edge of pack territory, not daring to see anyone. On the day the three years ended, I was already at the door before dawn. Just as I reached for the handle, I heard my mother’s voice from inside. “Emma, don’t worry. Three years or not, I can still make sure your sister never comes back.” Emma’s voice trembled, but there was a stubborn edge to it. “I’ve already taken three years from her. That’s enough. I can’t let Elena and Christopher be torn apart again.” Then my brother’s fist slammed down on the table. “Emma, you’re too soft-hearted. Forget about Elena. You love Christopher, and you have a pup with him—can you really bear to let him go?” A little girl’s crying cut through the room. “I don’t want to lose Mommy.” Just like that, everyone in the room was crying. After a long moment, Christopher sighed. “Emma, listen to your mother and your brother. We’ll figure it out when Lucia is a little older.” I stood rooted to the spot, a chill sinking deep into my bones. So the so-called curse had been a trap—one my entire family had set for me. All so that my sister could steal my Alpha. Fine, then. I’d disappear for good. I’d give them exactly what they wanted. That was when I felt the Mindlink request from my mother. The moment I accepted, her voice cut through my mind. “Elena, your curse hasn’t lifted yet. You’ll need to—” “How long this time? Another three years?” She fell silent, as if she hadn’t expected me to push back. When I was ten, my father cheated on my mother with my aunt. My mother, seven months pregnant at the time, collapsed in a pool of her own blood. She never looked at me the same way again. In her mind, I was the one who’d cost her my father—because I was the one who’d brought my aunt home that day. For years I tiptoed around her, doing everything I could to please her, never once contradicting her. I thought if I gave enough, someday she’d soften, someday she’d hold me again. Only now did I understand that it had all been wishful thinking. The silence broke. My mother’s voice snapped, impatient. “What kind of tone is that? I’m doing this for your own good—don’t be ungrateful!” I let out a soft laugh. “For my own good? Are you sure it isn’t for Emma’s?” “Of—of course it’s for you. Emma’s never given me half the trouble you have.” Her voice rose sharply, but it faltered at the end. “Is that so? I’m standing right outside the door. How much longer are you planning to lie to me?” I pressed my hand to the blood seal, waited for it to recognize me, and pushed the door open. The moonstone in the middle of the living room—carved with the wolf crest—made me falter for a heartbeat. That was the gift Christopher had promised me. A wolf-clan heirloom, meant for his Luna. The memory rose up before I could stop it: the day Christopher proposed, holding me close, laughter in his voice. “Elena, when you truly become my Luna, I’ll give you the moonstone with our clan’s crest.” I had believed him completely. I had been so sure I would be his Luna. Now I was finally seeing that moonstone. And it wasn’t mine. “Since you already know, do the smart thing and leave. Stop meddling in Emma and Christopher’s life.” I stared at her. “Mother… we’re both your daughters. Why did you do this to me?” She gave me a sidelong glance, contempt written all over her face. “Because Emma is the one who deserves Christopher. She’s the only one worthy of being an Alpha’s Luna. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A mother who had once nearly destroyed herself over a sister’s betrayal was now telling me, in her own voice, that she supported one daughter stealing the other’s Alpha. The sheer absurdity of it, and the fury that came with it, snapped whatever restraint I had left. I lifted the moonstone and smashed it against the floor. Shards flew. One sliced across my arm, and blood soaked through my sleeve almost at once. “Elena, you’re hurt.” Christopher rushed forward, reaching for my arm. I stepped back, out of his grasp, and looked him in the eye. “Christopher, how much longer are you going to keep up this act?” He froze, his lips moving without sound. When his voice came, it was rough. “That’s not—” Before he could take another step, Emma grabbed my arm, choking on tears. “Elena, it’s all my fault. Please don’t blame Christopher.” “If my body weren’t so weak, if I could have gone through with the abortion, he never would have agreed to let me keep Lucia. He didn’t want to hurt what you two had. I’ll give him back to you. With how weak I am, I don’t even know how much longer I’ll live…” “You stole my mate, tore us apart, and now you’re the one making excuses?” I cut her off, my voice flat and cold. Her head shot up, her eyes red-rimmed. “Elena, I didn’t—” She never finished. Her hand flew to her chest and she swayed on her feet, half-collapsing. “Elena, that’s enough!” Christopher practically threw himself forward and caught her, worry practically pouring out of him. When he turned back to face me, his eyes had gone glacial. “Emma isn’t well. Stop provoking her.” My mother went livid, jabbing a finger at me. “You are a stain on this pack. When you were ten, you destroyed what I had with your father, and now you want to destroy your sister’s happiness too.” My brother, who had been silent until then, finally spoke up. “Elena, that’s enough. If you keep this up, you won’t have a place in this pack.” Behind their backs, Emma flashed me a triumphant smile. I squared my shoulders and stood my ground. “What part of what I said was wrong? She’s the one who stole my future, and every one of you helped her do it.” A sharp crack echoed through the entryway, and my cheek started burning at once.
“Elena, if it weren’t for you, Emma wouldn’t be this weak!” My mother’s voice shook, sharp as broken glass. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. You were never worthy of being our Luna!” Something in my chest tore open. The pain ripped through me so hard my whole body shook. So this was all it took for a heart to die. I lifted my hand to my burning cheek—and then I laughed. Before I knew it, I was crying. Christopher frowned at me, his voice edged with open impatience. “That’s enough. Go home and think about what you’ve done. When you’re ready to apologize to your family properly, we’ll talk.” Then he took Emma by the arm and led her into the bedroom. The door to my brother’s room opened, and when Belle stepped out, my chest tightened. Ever since Belle had married my brother, she had been the only person in this house who ever stood up for me. I opened my mouth to speak, and she pulled me straight out the front door. “Elena, you know now, don’t you?!” “Emma’s been sickly since she was little because of you. She’s finally been given Lucia—think of it as your way of making it up to her. Stop causing trouble.” I stared at her, disbelief crashing over me, and my gaze drifted—without my meaning it to—to the long scar on the left side of her face. Years ago, she had been attacked by members of another pack, her cheek slashed open with a knife. I was the one who had charged in and pulled her out. Afterward, eyes red, she had sworn she would never forget what I’d done, that she would never let anyone treat me badly. Now she stood in front of me, and her words cut deeper than that blade ever had. Behind me, Christopher’s voice. “Elena, you’re hurt. Let me take you to the hospital.” I pulled my hand out of Belle’s grip. “I’m fine.” Christopher rubbed his forehead, clearly impatient. “Can you please stop making a scene? Do you have any idea how exhausting this is?” “Oh, I’m sure keeping up this act is exhausting.” Christopher went stock-still, then his brow drew tight. “Watch your tone.” “Everything I’ve done has been for you. Emma is unwell—someone had to look after her and Lucia. I thought if I handled it quietly, you’d never have to deal with any of it.” “We kept it from you because we didn’t want to hurt you.” It was almost funny. He’d slept with my sister, and somehow the whole thing had been done for my benefit. Christopher shook his head with a weary sigh and stepped forward as he’d done a thousand times before, pulling me into his arms. “Come on. Enough of this. Let’s go to the Elders’ Council and bond. From now on I’ll make more time for you—alright?” I pushed him off, twisting out of his embrace. “There is no ‘us’ from now on.” I turned to leave, and his next words nailed me to the floor. “Elena, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you refusing to be my Luna?” I closed my eyes, forcing the tightness in my chest back down. “Christopher, you were the one who betrayed me first.” He took a step closer, softening his voice. “I admit lying to you was wrong. But not once did I ever think about calling off the engagement.” I didn’t want to hear another word of it. I started walking again. Christopher caught me from behind, his arms coming around me in a panic, his voice unsteady. “I know you resent Emma. Three years ago, when she got pregnant by accident, she was crying, begging me. Her body’s fragile—she might never carry another pup as long as she lives. I felt sorry for her. That was all.” He tightened his hold. His breath was warm against my ear. “Elena, I never wanted to be apart from you. Let’s go to the Elders and complete the bond now. We can hold the ceremony later, once Lucia is older. Alright?” Rage shot straight to my head. I wrenched free of him and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He turned his face back to me, and instead of anger, he caught my hand. “Feel better? Consider that slap payment for the three years I lied to you.” “And don’t talk about ending the engagement. You wouldn’t want your grandmother’s last wish to go unfulfilled, would you?” Every ounce of strength drained out of me all at once. Becoming Christopher’s mate had been my one obsession, because it was the only thing my grandmother had asked of me before she died. For that promise I had poured my own strength into helping him defeat every rival, into carrying him through the full-moon trial of adulthood, into becoming Alpha—and I had waited for the day he asked me to marry him. That was why he was so certain I would never truly walk away. When I didn’t answer, he seized my wrist and pulled me toward the parking lot. “Then it’s settled. We’re going to the Elders now.”
I ripped my hand out of his grip. “Christopher, you make me sick.” I turned to leave, and Emma stumbled forward and dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. “Elena, please. Say you’ll bond with Christopher. This is all my fault. I’m dying anyway—please don’t hold it against him…” Christopher yanked Emma back to her feet, his expression turning ugly as he stared me down. “Elena, if you keep making things harder for Emma, I don’t mind making her my mate instead.” I met his eyes head-on. “Whoever you take as your mate has nothing to do with me.” I didn’t look at them again. I walked out. Back at the cabin, I started packing. I had just zipped the suitcase shut when the door was kicked in. Several bodyguards in black poured in and dragged me back to the villa without a word. The moment Belle laid eyes on me, she flew at me and slapped me hard across the face. “You vicious little she-wolf! If you hadn’t come here stirring up trouble, Lucia would never have gotten upset and run out into the street—she was hit by a car, there was so much blood, and now nobody knows if she’s going to make it!” Emma was sobbing so hard she could barely draw breath. “I know you hate me… I’d deserve to die a hundred times over, but how could you hire someone to hurt Lucia…” “I didn’t!” I fought against their grip, screaming. Christopher didn’t seem to hear a word. His eyes were nothing but rage. “Get the doctor in here. Draw her blood.” They forced me into a chair and kept drawing blood until I started to black out. I don’t know how long it went on. Eventually my mind began to slip. Memories drifted through my mind like smoke. Fifteen-year-old Christopher throwing his body over mine, taking a silver bullet meant for me. His blood soaking through his shirt, and still he’d forced a smile through gritted teeth. “Elena, don’t be scared… I’ll always protect you.” At twenty, when I’d eaten aconite by mistake and been rushed to the hospital, he’d stayed by my bed all night with red, hollow eyes, blaming himself. “This was my fault. I didn’t take care of you. I promise—I promise—I’ll never let you get hurt again.” At my grandmother’s funeral, holding me close, his voice raw but steady. “Elena. From now on, I’ll be the one you lean on. There’s only me.” Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the doctor speaking, terrified. “Alpha, that’s already a thousand milliliters. If we take any more, Miss Elena will—” “Keep going!” Christopher’s voice was ice. There was nothing left in it of the man I remembered. A bitter smile tugged at my lips. I closed my eyes and let myself slip into darkness. When I woke, a phone was ringing shrilly in my ear. The moment I answered, the panicked voice of the cemetery caretaker came through. “Miss Elena, your grandmother’s grave has been vandalized.” I stumbled into the cemetery to find my grandmother’s grave dug open. My mother stood at the edge of the pit, holding my grandmother’s urn in her hands. Her eyes burned with rage. “This is your fault! If it weren’t for you, Emma and Lucia would never have been hurt! Today you’re going to learn a lesson.” With that, she wrenched off the lid, scooped out a handful of ashes, and flung them into the air. “NO—!” The scream tore out of me. I threw myself forward, only to be caught fast by the pack warrior at her side. “No? This is exactly what you deserve!” Teeth clenched, she raised her hand to scatter more. My knees dug into the gravel. My voice shook. “Mom—please. Please don’t touch Grandma. Do whatever you want to me, just—please leave her alone.” “Is that so? Then you’ll go before the pack alliance and admit, in your own words, that you’re the interloper. That you stole your sister’s mate.” Tear after tear splashed onto the ground. My throat felt as though it had been stuffed with cotton. It was a long moment before I could force out a single word. “Fine… I admit it.”
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