Chapter 3

I walked back into the banquet hall, the crystal chandelier scattering fractured light through the carved glass, casting shards of silver across the floor like broken moonlight.

The conspiracy I had overheard behind that door—Vincent, my own sister, and his cousin plotting to fabricate a cheating scandal and force me to step down—still coiled around my neck like a serpent, cold and foul.

They didn’t know that I had not only heard every word, but recorded it all with the miniature recorder hidden in my gown’s sleeve. Every mocking laugh in that recording would one day become a blade in my hand.

I took a flute of champagne from a passing tray, the chill of the glass cooling my palm just enough to steady my trembling fingers. The wind swept in from the corridor, carrying the strains of music, but all I could hear was Miranda’s breezy voice: “Find an outsider alpha, take a few pictures, make it look convincing.”

Lily was by the terrace, looping her arm through two elders’. When she saw me, she disengaged, sauntering over with her glass in hand, the rhinestones on her gown scattering light like sharpened shards.

“Macie, look at that moonlight,” she murmured, leaning in so close her perfume and wine breath stung my senses. “It’s a shame… some things, once dragged into the light, just rot.”

Over her shoulder, I saw Miranda resting in Vincent’s arms, smiling. Her red gown brushed against his polished shoes. He looked down at her, fingertips trailing along the ends of her hair—something he had never once done for me in five years of marriage.

The music cut abruptly. A spotlight snapped onto the center stage.

Lily clicked across the floor in her heels, stepping into the beam of light. In her hand was a tablet, held like a decree of judgment.

“Everyone, quiet,” she called into the microphone. “This was supposed to be a night celebrating both Macie and Miranda… but there are some things the Silverfang pack cannot hide.”

My heart tightened. Here it comes.

The screen lit up. There I was—“me”—in a bar, kissing a strange man whose wrist tattoo was unmistakable.

The dress was one Miranda had left in my wardrobe. The bar? A place I had never set foot in.

“This is fake!” someone in the crowd shouted, but the murmurs only swelled. Young omegas peeked at me from behind their mates, their eyes gleaming with the same hunger wolves reserve for the moment prey stumbles.

The next photo: “me” with the same man, walking into a hotel elevator, his hand wrapped around my waist. My smile—lifted from a photo taken at Vincent’s birthday party last month—had been surgically grafted into this scene.

“Macie,” Lily’s voice dripped false pity. “We know you must feel wronged… but how could you betray your alpha? This isn’t just about Vincent—it’s about the honor of our entire pack.”

Vincent strode onto the stage, his gaze on me heavy with manufactured disappointment.

“I didn’t want to believe it,” he said slowly, “not until I saw these… Macie, you’ve let me down.”

He turned to scan the room, bowing pointedly to the elders’ table. “For the reputation of the pack, I have no choice but to—”

Before sever the bond could leave his mouth, Miranda stepped forward, covering her face as she burst into delicate sobs.

“Sister, how could you? If you don’t love him, you could have just told me… I would have gladly protected him in your place, kept Silverfang safe for you.”

Her tone bled with false hurt, but the glint of triumph in her eyes was far too sharp to hide.

I laughed—quiet, mirthless—fingers tightening around the stem of my glass. My wolf growled deep inside, the heat at the base of my spine flaring upward like wildfire along my back.

And then—noise from the far end of the hall.

The crowd parted instinctively, wolves stepping aside without a word. Betas and omegas bowed their heads, none daring to meet the eyes of the newcomer.

A tall man strode into the light, the cut of his black suit perfect over his straight, broad shoulders. The silver chain of his watch caught in the chandelier’s glow, a cold flash slicing through the room. The weight of his alpha presence rolled through the air like a storm front, pressing down so hard a young beta in the front row dropped to his knees in salute.

Noah.

The alpha who had promised to help me sever the bond.

And he was looking at me.

Not at Miranda.

Not at Alpha Vincent.

At me.

“Alpha Noah?” Miranda’s voice trembled, her eyes blinking rapidly as though she’d seen a ghost. “What… what are you doing here?”