Chapter 3
The council bell still echoed through the halls as my fingers traced the moonstone at my waist.
Elder Elena had tied it there herself during last year’s ceremony—the edges carved with the crest of the Silver Claw Pack, the core infused with mine and Calix’s wolf-soul aura, glowing faint blue whenever light touched it.
But then—a glint caught my eye. A reflection, dulled, impure.
Mordred.
She stood beside the Beta quartermaster, checking inventory. And around her neck hung a pendant—nearly identical to mine. Only its sheen was lifeless, the crest edge crude and crooked. A forgery.
My hand clenched. The stone bit into my palm.
The brooch was one thing. But now she dared to copy the Luna’s moonstone itself?
Wolf law forbade impersonating Luna insignia. Even Alpha’s blood kin would never test that line.
She knew. She did it anyway. She wanted everyone to see her wearing what was mine, standing where I belonged.
And without Calix’s silent permission—would she ever dare?
“Mordred.” I stepped to her, my voice steady, almost eerily calm. “Where did you get that pendant?”
The parchment in her hand shook. Her gaze darted toward the doors, as if waiting for rescue.
“I—it was at the market. I thought it was pretty. Luna, don’t misunderstand…”
“Misunderstand?” I lifted my own pendant. Its blue aura rippled across her pale face. “Market trinkets don’t carry wolf-soul resonance. They don’t shine blue. Yours was carved by a smith—specifically for imitation.”
Heads turned. Whispers surged like a rising tide.
Mordred went ghost-white. Tears spilled instantly.
“I didn’t know… the seller told me it was the newest style… I never meant to copy you…” She wept as she stumbled back—straight into Calix’s arms as he entered.
He steadied her. His eyes cut to the false pendant, brows furrowing, but no rebuke came. Instead, his gaze locked on me.
“Freya. It’s just an imitation. Why make this a war?”
Ice water poured through my veins.
The wrong patrol route—he’d said “newcomer mistakes.”
The stolen seat—“won’t happen again.”
Now the forged Luna pendant—“not worth the fuss.”
He built the laws. He broke them with his own hands. And still expected me to “endure.”
“Just an imitation?” My laugh cracked, trembling. “Calix, did you forget the law? Impersonating the Luna’s insignia means seven days’ confinement, loss of Pack privileges, and public penance in the council hall!”
“Now’s not the time for this,” he cut in, shielding Mordred behind him. Alpha dominance pressed heavy, forcing the whispers to hush. “We’re here for resource allocations. Don’t derail the session.”
“Derail?” I stepped forward until I met his eyes head-on. “Defending the Pack’s laws isn’t Alpha’s duty? When your guard once wore an Elder’s crest by mistake, you threw him into the Forbidden Forest for three days. Why, when it’s Mordred, is it suddenly ‘not worth it’?”
Calix’s face darkened. He opened his mouth—
“Who said not worth it?”
Elder Elena’s voice cut like a blade. She strode in on her silver staff, gaze ice-sharp on Mordred’s neck.
“The Silver Claw’s laws bend for no one. Mordred—for forging the Luna’s insignia, you are confined seven days. To the Discipline Hall. Now.”
Mordred broke into sobs, clutching Calix’s sleeve.
“Alpha… I didn’t know… please, plead for me…”
Every eye turned to him.
He stood in silence, long, heavy. Finally, he sighed.
“She’s new. She doesn’t know the rules. Let her copy the laws by hand. Spare the confinement.”
I froze. Watched him crush the laws again for her. And felt the last flicker of warmth inside me go cold.
Elder Elena faltered, then shook her head. She was Elder, but even she could not openly defy the Alpha.
“Calix,” I said, turning away, “if you choose to shield her, I cannot stop you. But remember this—when the law’s foundation crumbles, it can never be rebuilt.”
I walked out. Sunlight spilled over me, but no heat touched my skin.
The moonstone at my waist pressed cold into my flesh. Something had shifted forever. He was no longer the Alpha who held me—and the law—above all else.
And I could no longer give him my trust.
Ethan caught up quickly. His eyes followed Calix’s shadow, voice low.
“Freya… today he went too far.”
I nodded, unable to answer.
The stone bit hard into my palm. It hurt as much as my heart.
He broke the rule. But I was the one who bled.
Perhaps the moment Mordred fastened that counterfeit pendant, the thread binding Calix and me had already begun to fray.
