Chapter 1

My mate handed me the token to the healing pools three days after our pup died outside their locked gates.

He was in a great mood about it, too.

Callum got home just as the sun went down, loose-shouldered and almost smiling. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him like that.

"See? This is so much easier when you behave." For once, his voice was gentle. "Be good, and I'll be good to you. Here."

A silver token clinked onto the table between us. The Starfall Pools were carved into its face.

The pack's healing waters. Three days ago, they were the one thing that could have saved our pup.

"And the Full Moon Blessing next month? It's yours again. You can run it."

I kept my eyes on the token. My hands stayed in my lap.

Callum figured I was still sulking. He let out a sigh and talked to me slowly, the way you'd talk to a kid.

"Pulling your access was on me. Brielle just did what I said, so leave her out of it. You came storming into the council room waving your Luna title around and told her to break the rules for you. What did you expect me to do? Let it slide?"

He patted the top of my head like I was a dog who'd finally quit biting.

"You owned up, though. So it's over."

I didn't flinch, and I didn't fight him.

If he'd given me one minute to talk three days ago, I might still be putting up with all of it, just for the pup.

He hadn't given me one minute.

I'd broken down in front of the entire council that day, and nobody cared. Brielle only had to open her mouth and sound calm and sensible.

"So the pup's heartbeat is a little off, and the Luna wants to skip every single approval? We only get so much from the pools each month. I'm the Beta. I can't hand out special treatment because of a title."

By then I was hanging onto the edge of the council table. The cramps kept rolling through me, each one worse. I tried to tell them what the healer had said.

"Callum, please. The healer told me his heartbeat's already—"

"Stop."

His face pinched.

"Brielle tells you no, and every single time it's a matter of life and death?"

Brielle lowered her eyes and made her voice small.

"Alpha, I'm really not trying to give the Luna a hard time. But if I break the rules for her, everyone's going to say you play favorites."

That was the end of his patience.

"Brielle's call stands."

Six years, and that's what I got every time I pushed back on one of her decisions.

The title of Luna was all I had. Where I went and when, what I wore, who guarded me, even whether I could step into the healing pools, Brielle got to decide all of it before I did.

And she never ran out of reasons. She always smiled when she gave them to me.

"You forgot to put down a time for the prayer, Luna. Try again."

"That gown won't work for today. You'll need to reapply."

"These guard numbers are from the old plan. Fix them and bring it back."

She'd hold every request until the last possible minute, then watch me scramble with that sweet little smile.

When things went wrong, Callum blamed me for poor planning. Brielle, of course, never made a single mistake.

That day went no differently.

According to the healer, our pup's heartbeat was getting weaker by the hour. The pools were his only chance, and it had to be now.

Brielle just smiled and pushed my request back at me.

"Sorry, Luna. You used the wrong format. I can't sign this."

So I rewrote it, and she pushed it back. I rewrote it again, and back it came.

At the end, bent over and holding my stomach, I begged her to let me in and swore I'd fix every form after.

She had the guards shut the gates on me.

"Sorry, Luna." She smiled with her whole face. "Those pools are for everyone. Same rules for all of us. I have a whole pack to answer to. You get it, right?"

And time ran out.

Her signature finally came when there was already blood running down my legs.

Our pup didn't make it.

I didn't even have the strength to scream that night. It felt like someone kept cutting my chest open, over and over.

"So what are you wearing to the Blessing?"

Callum's question pulled me back into the room.

He looked so excited. Inside, I laughed at him, quiet and cold.

Nothing he had could keep me here anymore. He just didn't know it yet.

At midnight, someone would be waiting for me at the boundary stones. Three more hours.

"Whatever. I don't care."

He wasn't expecting that. He looked at me for a moment, a crease forming between his brows.

"Still mad at me?" He brushed a loose strand of hair back for me. "Come on. I'll help you pick one out."

I was about to tell him not to bother when the butler rushed in.

"Alpha. Luna. Beta Brielle is asking for you both."