Chapter 1Alpha Preston walked into my law firm with his third pregnant Omega.
Her scent hit me before the door even shut - sweet, milky, smug. My wolf bared her teeth inside me.
Behind him, his pack warriors lingered by the leather seats, placing bets like this was some blood-moon game.
How many seconds before the Whitmore Luna snapped and shredded the whole office?
I kept my face blank. Claws sheathed. Not even a growl.
By the time the printer spat out a thick stack of bloodline trust papers, I still hadn't said a word.
"Alpha Preston," one of his friends murmured, "this is the third one. You don't think Elise's planning something?"
Preston rubbed the bridge of his nose. A low rumble rolled in his chest.
"Her wolf is too weak. She can't carry pups without risking her life. Once this pup is born, it'll be bound to her name in the pack records. Elise remains Luna of the Whitmore Pack. That title is hers. Always."
The second he finished, I slid the agreement across the desk.
The Elder Council's seal already burned red at the bottom.
Voice flat, I gave him the formal line. "It's sealed. Bound by pack law."
Preston took it. His jaw tightened. For half a heartbeat, his eyes flashed gold.
Then he pushed a rejection decree toward me. His voice dropped into that fake-soft tone he used when he wanted me to obey.
"Sign it, Elise. It's just a formality. Cleo's young. Healthy. Once she whelps and the pups are bound to your name, the Whitmore elders won't be able to use your barren womb against you anymore."
"You'll always be my Luna. I'm doing this to protect you."
I'd played this twisted game with him twice already.
This time, I signed without a single tremor.
Then I slipped on the moonstone engagement ring Elliot Sterling - Alpha of the ancient Sterling bloodline - had sent me.
Cleo stroked her swollen belly and smiled sweetly. "Alpha Preston, is Elise upset? Look, she bought herself a ring."
Preston's gaze dropped to my hand. His nostrils flared. Displeasure rolled off him in hot waves.
"Elise, enough. You think some cheap stone will make me change my mind?"
I pushed the rejection decree back at him. "Already signed. Tomorrow at nine, before the Mating Council."
Silence dropped over the room.
Then his pack warriors burst out laughing, howls edged with mockery.
"Three years of this game. Aren't you tired?"
"Come on, Preston just wants a pup of his own blood."
"You can't whelp, but you won't let anyone else either? Moon Goddess, there's no more territorial she-wolf in all of Nightclaw City."
Preston rubbed his temples, annoyed by my stubborn face.
"Elise, stop making a scene. Cleo's carrying twins. The healer said she's at risk of early whelping. She needs bed rest."
Cleo tucked herself against him, eyes shining with fake tears.
"Alpha, I don't want my pups born in some cold outside den."
She peeked at me. "Could I borrow Elise's penthouse den in Silverpaw Quarter? It's close to Moonveil Healing Den, and the wards are strong."
That penthouse den was the last thing my parents left me before rogues killed them on the moon road.
"That's my pre-mating property," I said.
Cleo shrank back, tears spilling. "Don't be cruel. I'm only thinking of the pups. If you don't want to, forget it. I'll just take them back to the rogue trailer camp outside the territory."
Preston pulled her closer. His Alpha voice pressed down on the room.
"Elise, why are you arguing with her? The den's empty. Move out tonight. Cleo moves in tomorrow."
I stared at the face I'd once worshipped.
My wolf whined low in my chest - not with love. With disgust.
"Preston, do you not hear yourself? That den is mine."
His expression darkened. "It's just a den. Once the pups are born, it stays yours. Cleo is pregnant. Think about the pack."
His friends cut in.
"Elise, Cleo's giving the Whitmore Pack heirs. You won't even spare one den?"
I looked at Preston quietly. "And if I refuse?"
He sneered and pulled out his phone. "Your firm's biggest client is Whitmore Pack Holdings, isn't it? You're smart, Elise. Don't make me use other methods."
For an Omega's comfort, he was threatening the life I'd built with my own fangs.
I looked at his smug face - and laughed.
"Fine. I'll move."
Preston froze. He hadn't expected that.
Something ugly flashed in his eyes. His voice softened.
"That's better. When you're reasonable, I won't be unfair. Move back to Whitmore Packhouse tonight. Tomorrow my beta will help Cleo settle in."
I stood. My gaze swept over them all.
"I'll clear out tonight. Preston, I hope you don't regret this."
He scoffed. "It's just until Cleo's pregnancy is stable. The den will still be yours. Stop saying things in anger."
Cleo lifted her chin and smiled at me - a challenge from one she-wolf to another.
I didn't look at them again. I turned and walked out.
As the door shut behind me, I heard his friend's mockery.
"Preston really knows how to handle Elise. Once those twins are born, he'll have three pups!"
Three pups.
I laughed out loud.
I hoped he'd still be laughing when he learned the truth.
Chapter 2
That night, the sky split open.
The storm came howling over Nightclaw City like a wounded beast. Rain slammed against the windows of my Silverpaw Quarter penthouse den. I had come back to pack.
Not that there was much worth taking.
I didn't touch a single thing that smelled like Alpha Preston. Not his shirts. Not his fancy wolf cologne. Nothing.
I took my parents' portrait. I took Opal, my five-year-old ragdoll familiar, and held her against my chest.
She licked my fingers like she knew my wolf was bleeding inside me.
Then the ward-lock beeped.
Preston walked in, rain dripping from his shoulders. His scent filled the room - wet fur, pine, Alpha arrogance.
He saw the suitcase by the door and frowned.
"You're actually leaving? Elise, I told you to go back to Whitmore Packhouse. What is all this?"
I shoved the last jacket in and zipped it shut.
"The bond dissolution is signed. Why would I go back to Whitmore Packhouse? Save your strength for your precious twins, Alpha."
He crossed the room in two strides and pressed his hand down on my suitcase.
"Enough with the dramatics. I told you the rejection is just a formality. Do you have to keep pushing? You're a she-wolf. Without me, without the Whitmore Pack, where exactly do you think you'll go?"
His eyes said it all. He thought I couldn't survive without him.
I shoved his hand off.
"Where I go is none of your business anymore."
His face went dark. A growl built low in his chest.
Then his phone screamed.
Cleo. Crying. Of course.
"Alpha, I'm scared without you... Thunder's shaking the whole den, and my belly hurts so bad. Something's wrong with the pups..."
Preston's whole body went rigid.
"Don't be scared, Cleo. I'm coming."
He hung up and looked at me like I was the monster.
"Elise, you better pray nothing happens to those pups. If it does, I will NEVER forgive you."
Then he was gone, half-shifting before he even hit the storm.
I watched him run. And I almost laughed.
Where was he when I was bleeding out in Moonveil Healing Den, losing a pup I never got to hold?
He was picking a venue for his first Omega's full-moon pup blessing.
I shut my eyes. Buried that memory deep where my wolf couldn't claw it up.
Then I grabbed my suitcase, held Opal close, and left.
Next morning, I showed up at the Mating Council tribunal right on time.
Preston never came.
Not by noon. Not by dusk.
His phone went straight to the void.
When I finally walked out, his friend called.
"Elise, do you have a heart at all? Cleo had complications last night. Preston stayed at the healing den with her all night. And you're still at the Council trying to force a rejection? Are you trying to kill his pups?"
My voice didn't waver.
"Since he didn't show, we reschedule. Tell him to have the breach fine ready."
I hung up and went straight to the firm.
The second I walked through the door, my fur stood on end.
Rachel rushed at me, eyes wild.
"Elise, we're screwed. Whitmore Pack Holdings' legal council just terminated every contract with us. And they're spreading the word - any pack or wolf who hires us is declaring themselves against Whitmore."
I stopped cold. My claws slid out before I could stop them.
Preston was trying to starve me into submission.
He thought cutting off my clients would make me crawl back.
I opened my laptop. A dozen termination emails. Every major client I'd fought for.
My phone buzzed. Preston.
[Apologize to Cleo. Promise to be a good Luna from now on, and I'll restore everything. Elise, don't push me.]
I stared at the screen. Then I laughed.
Same condescending Alpha. Same patronizing tone.
I didn't answer. I blocked him. Then I dialed another number.
Chapter 3
The line barely rang once.
A deep, rough voice came through - the kind that made lesser wolves bare their throats.
"What's wrong, little Luna? Did Preston finally toss you out of his den?"
I stared out at the storm-dark sky over Nightclaw City.
"Elliot. You win. I'm done with every Whitmore contract. But I need one thing from you."
A low chuckle rumbled in my ear.
"Ask. One thing, ten things - I'd lay all of Fang Street at your feet. What do you want?"
My voice went flat. Cold. Deadly.
"I want Whitmore Pack's cash flow to collapse. One month. Not a day longer."
He laughed again, softer this time.
"Now that's the she-wolf I remember."
For days after that, Preston didn't show his face.
He probably figured I was holed up somewhere, panicking over the firm, seconds away from crawling back to him.
What he didn't know? I'd already sold my shares at a brutal profit and quietly taken over the core legal work for Sterling Pack's entire northern territory.
That afternoon, I walked out of a meeting at Sterling Tower.
My phone buzzed. Moonveil Healing Den.
"Elise? You need to come. It's your familiar."
My blood turned to ice.
I drove like a rogue wind.
When I pushed through the healing den doors, the smell of blood hit me first.
Opal lay on the stone table. Her white fur was soaked red. Her breathing was barely a whisper.
The healer's hands were stained. His face said everything.
"Elise... blunt force. Her organs are crushed. We tried everything."
The world went silent.
Opal wasn't just a cat. She was my familiar - a gift from my parents before the rogues took them. She'd curled against me through every lonely moon, every sleepless night in a packhouse that never felt like home.
My hands shook as I touched her fur.
She opened her eyes. Just once. Looked at me.
Then she was gone.
"Who did this?" My voice didn't sound like mine.
The healer pulled up a scrying feed.
Cleo. Designer shades. A silver-tipped golf club in her hand.
Behind her, a pack guard dragged Opal out of her carrier.
Cleo swung. Again. And again.
She didn't stop until Opal stopped moving.
Then she kicked her aside like trash.
"A filthy pet dared to scratch me? Does it think it's the Luna?"
She turned to the guard. "Dump it on the roadside. Don't let Alpha Preston see this mess."
I stared at the scrying feed. My claws had already sliced into my palms. Blood dripped onto the stone floor.
I didn't feel it.
I called the Council Enforcers.
Half an hour later, Nightclaw Enforcers escorted me to what used to be my den.
The door opened.
Cleo was draped over Preston like a second skin.
The second she saw the Enforcers, she screamed and hid behind him.
"Alpha, I'm scared..."
Preston stepped in front of her. His face was a storm.
"Elise, what the hell is this? Bringing Enforcers to my den? Have you lost your mind?"
I looked at him without blinking.
"Cleo is accused of destroying bonded property and killing a familiar. I'm filing charges."
Preston blinked. Then he laughed. A nasty, arrogant laugh.
"Over that worthless animal? Elise, are you insane? It's a cat. It died. I'll buy you ten more. Cleo is carrying my pups. She can't be stressed. Get out. Now."
I stared at him. This wolf. This male I'd once called Alpha. He was a stranger.
"That cat was my familiar. My parents' last gift to me. What did she do to deserve being beaten to death?"
Cleo peeked out from behind him, tears streaming.
"Elise, don't lie. That thing went crazy. It tried to claw my belly. I was protecting the Whitmore heirs. Am I really worth less than a cat to you?"
Preston's face twisted.
He lunged forward. His hand came up.
CRACK.
The slap landed across my face. Hard enough to make my ears ring. Hard enough to draw blood from my lip.
My wolf howled inside me. Claws shot out. My eyes flashed gold.
Preston pointed a finger at me, roaring.
"You vicious bitch. You can't carry pups, so you use a cat to hurt mine? If anything happens to Cleo's twins, I'll make you pay!"
The Enforcers stepped forward and grabbed his arms.
"Alpha Whitmore, calm down. Striking a wolf in front of Council Enforcers is grounds for arrest."
Preston sneered. He actually straightened his cuffs.
"Arrest me? The High Enforcer bows to me. I'm disciplining my mate. Touch me and see what happens."
He turned to me. His eyes burned with warning.
"Elise. Last chance. Drop the charges. Apologize to Cleo. Or I swear on the Moon Goddess, you will never set foot in Nightclaw City again."
I wiped the blood from my mouth.
Something inside me went quiet. Not calm. Cold.
"Preston. That slap just severed the last thread between us. You want pups? Then I hope Cleo gives you a whole litter of precious sons."
I turned to the Enforcers.
"I've submitted the scrying feed. Proceed under pack law."
Then I walked out.
Behind me, Preston's roar shook the walls.
"Elise! Get back here! Walk out that door and you are DEAD to the Whitmore Pack!"
