Chapter 1The day I walk out of the Silver Prison, my Alpha father and Luna mother drag me to a rank-rising feast.
"Leanna, thank you SO much for taking the fall for me!"
"Alpha Anderson. Luna Anderson. You're basically my true Dad and Mom!"
Rayna Collins - their golden she-wolf - now High Council Prosecutor - raises her glass.
I take it as moonwine talk.
"Come on. My father is an Alpha. My mother is a Luna. Top pack-law councilors. No way they'd frame their own daughter."
"I'm the one who leaked the Council's classified intel."
She freezes, not noticing the panic in my Alpha and Luna's eyes.
"Wait - you didn't know? I thought you volunteered!"
"Your Alpha father used YOUR confession to save me!"
"He said you were underage - a few years in silver cells, max."
"But me? One mark on my pack record and my whole rank is DEAD!"
I slowly turn to my Alpha and Luna.
They don't even flinch.
"Rayna's mother saved our lives. We couldn't let her go to the Silver Prison."
"Sweetie, she-wolves learn discipline in silver cells. We got your sentence reduced. You didn't really suffer."
FIVE YEARS of silver beatings, wolfsbane shocks, moonless cells, and rotting meat.
While she became High Council Prosecutor and played the perfect daughter of MY Alpha and Luna.
I flip the moonwine tower on the spot.
"So having pack-law parents means I do time for strangers?"
"Cool. I don't have an Alpha Dad. I don't have a Luna Mom. I don't have parents anymore!"
Screw the blood bond.
You're not pack-law councilors - you're fucking MONSTERS.
...
The glass explodes.
Shards slice my arm open. Blood mixes with moonwine and drips down.
I don't make a sound. My wolf bares her teeth inside me. I just stare at my Alpha and Luna.
I never imagined the ones who never missed a Silver Prison visit were the REAL ones who destroyed me.
They don't even look at me.
Alpha turns to the guests, plastering on a smile.
"Sorry, everyone. She just got out. A bit... unstable."
Luna nods on cue, eyes instantly watering.
"Five years was rough on her. Trauma, you know. We should have handled our heir better."
The wolves nod sympathetically.
Some elders come over to lecture me.
"Leanna, stop this. You're their only daughter. Your Alpha and Luna would never hurt you!"
"Exactly. You end up in the Silver Prison, and they use your case to warn other pups away from breaking pack law. With an Alpha and Luna like that, bare your throat and shut up."
My blood runs cold.
So those daily visits weren't care - they were DATA COLLECTION.
I wasn't just their scapegoat. I was their lab wolf.
My wolf snaps.
A growl rips from my throat. I stumble back and flip the entire table.
"WHY?! How could you DO this to me?!"
I'm shaking with rage. I don't see my Alpha's hand until -
CRACK.
His slap splits my cheek open. Blood trickles down.
I turn slowly, watching his lips move. Every word a knife.
"ENOUGH! Stop embarrassing your pack! Go home and take your moonroot!"
I don't have the strength to fight.
They drag me out of the hall.
The second we're home, Luna shoves me to my knees.
"Leanna!"
She glares down at me - no love, only fury.
"Do you have ANY idea what you just ruined?!"
"Rayna is a Council Prosecutor! She's moving up to the High Council's office next moon-year!"
"You humiliated her before the pack - how is she supposed to stand before the Council now?!"
Alpha stands behind her, voice like ice.
"We spent FIVE YEARS pouring gold and pack favors into her. Pulled her out of nowhere, paid for Moonclaw Law, greased every Council wheel."
"Tonight was supposed to be our payoff. You almost burned it all."
"What about ME? I earned my place at Moonclaw Law at sixteen and YOU destroyed - "
Alpha cuts me off, tone flat like he's passing judgment.
"Leanna, be rational. Rayna is our investment."
"Rank matters in our circles. She has to rise, or we lose face."
"And you? Underage she-wolf. First offense. Leaking Council intel gets a light sentence. We even got your time reduced."
"It was the optimal solution."
I laugh till blood and tears mix on my face.
"So the silver beatings, the wolfsbane shocks, the moonless solitary - those were calculated COSTS?!"
Luna's eyes flash gold, then cold.
"You still have the nerve to complain? Clearly the Silver Prison didn't teach you ENOUGH! You learned NOTHING!"
"You're twenty-one and still flipping tables before the pack?! Making your Alpha and Luna look bad?!"
Alpha's voice is ice.
"You were always stubborn. Never submitted. The Silver Prison was for your own good."
"Hardship builds character. Teaches you how cruel the pack is - so you learn to obey."
Luna nods, like she's doing me a favor.
"A mark on your record isn't so bad. Now you'll depend on us. Stay in line."
I'm falling into an abyss.
So every beating I took - that was their planned "tough love."
The pack mark ruining my life forever - that was their leash to control me.
"You're fucking monsters!"
I scream till my throat's raw. A howl tears at my chest.
"I'm DONE with you! The blood bond is over!"
Alpha's face shifts. He grabs my arm, grip crushing bone.
Luna rushes to my den door. They shove me inside together.
"Think about it in there."
Alpha's voice comes through the door, emotionless.
"Think real hard. Without us, what can a marked she-wolf like you do? What can you even DO?"
Luna's voice softens, which makes it worse.
"Leanna, sweetheart, you'll come around. You CAN'T leave your pack."
The lock clicks.
I collapse on the floor, staring at what used to be my den.
The cold gray walls are painted soft pink now.
The closet's full of dresses that aren't mine.
The air smells like Rayna's scent.
They gave her my place in the pack.
Now she's taken my den too.
It's dead quiet after moonhigh.
I find a thin wire in the desk drawer.
Hands shaking, I grit my teeth and work the lock, little by little.
Finally -
I escape this suffocating den, this so-called home.
Chapter 2
I spend the night curled up in a 24-hour neutral waystation.
My Alpha father and Luna mother don't come looking. Guess as long as I don't trash their precious rank, they don't give a damn.
Fine by me.
At dawn, I start hunting for work.
Ex-con. No pack. No rank.
Feels like those labels are burned into my fur.
Everyone looks at me like they already know. Nobody wants a marked she-wolf.
My coin's almost gone.
I try buying a territory train ticket south - some small pack town where nobody knows me, where my Alpha father's reach can't follow.
But when I hit pay, red runes flash across the screen.
"High-spending restricted. Ticket purchase denied."
I try the pack bus. Same thing.
I stand there frozen for a second, then laugh bitterly. A low, broken sound.
My Alpha father really knows how to use pack law to cage someone alive.
I'm completely broke now.
I scroll through my contacts and stop at one name - Uncle Quinn.
He's the only one besides my parents who visited me in the Silver Prison.
The phone rings forever before he picks up.
"Hello?"
"Uncle Quinn, it's me."
"Leanna?!" His voice spikes.
"Where ARE you?!"
"Your Alpha and Luna are telling everyone you're moon-mad - posting your psych evaluation all over the pack network, telling wolves to avoid you!"
My grip tightens on the phone. A growl builds in my chest.
"That evaluation's fake. They forced me to sign it."
"Uncle Quinn, I just need a little coin - "
"Leanna, listen to me. Go home."
His voice drops low, helpless and scared.
"Your Alpha called me. Said anyone who helps you is his enemy."
"Leanna, I love you, but I've got a mate and pups too."
I listen silently, my heart sinking deeper.
"Rayna's such a good she-wolf. She treats your Alpha and Luna like her own."
"Your parents mean well. They're just paying back a life debt. Everything they've done is to make this pack stronger."
"Uncle Quinn."
I cut him off, calm as ice.
"Do you know what I went through in the Silver Prison?"
"Silver beatings. Wolfsbane shocks. Moonless solitary. They ARRANGED it all, just to make me obedient."
"Do you know what my dream was? I busted my tail to get into Moonclaw Law at sixteen because I wanted to be a Council Prosecutor."
"They destroyed that with their own hands. For gratitude?!"
"Uncle Quinn, I'd rather die than have an Alpha and Luna who can't tell right from wrong. Take care."
I hang up. My claws leave marks in the phone booth wall.
Broke and homeless, I end up sleeping next to the refuse pits.
Rotten smells mixed with freezing wind. One piece of dried meat split into three meals.
But at least it's freer than home.
A few days later, I finally land a job at a pack mall: cleaning latrines.
The balding middle-aged manager looks me over, muttering.
"It's hard work, girl. If you can't handle it, say so upfront. Don't waste my time."
The work IS brutal.
The mall's packed. Latrines are always trashed.
Mopping floors, scrubbing toilets, unclogging sinks, changing trash bags - my hands never stop.
Bleach stings my eyes. Within days my hands are red, wrinkled, covered in blisters.
Sometimes drunk wolves puke everywhere on purpose.
But none of that hurts worse than what my Luna mother says next.
One day my phone rings - unknown number.
"Had enough fun yet? Time to come home."
My Luna mother's voice is ice cold.
"You won't find work anywhere. We've made sure of that. Nobody hires an ex-con moon-mad she-wolf."
I don't answer. My nails dig into my palm, drawing blood.
She must hear my breathing quicken, sighs and softens her tone.
"Leanna, stop being stubborn."
"Mommy's arranged everything. Come work at your Alpha father's firm. Reception desk."
"Easy hours. Everyone knows you've been in the Silver Prison, that you're fragile. They won't give you trouble."
I still don't speak. Just hang up.
Then I shove the brush back into the toilet, scrubbing like I'm trying to erase something.
Water splashes my face. Tastes salty.
I thought that was the end of it.
But three days later, she shows up anyway.
Chapter 3
I'm on my knees scrubbing up some drunk wolf's vomit when I hear my Luna mother laughing with Rayna.
"That tailored suit looks AMAZING on you, Rayna. You're definitely going to be the youngest High Council Prosecutor ever."
Then she sees me.
Our eyes lock. Her smile freezes.
She rushes over, scanning my filthy uniform and the grimy rag in my hands.
"You're working HERE doing THIS?"
Her voice is low but cuts like a silver blade.
I don't answer. Just keep scrubbing.
"Leanna!"
She grabs my wrist so hard she bursts the blister on my hand.
Yellow pus covers her palm. She doesn't flinch.
"Look at yourself! You're humiliating YOURSELF!"
"What will the pack think of ME? Of your Alpha father? Where are we supposed to show our FACES?!"
I yank my hand back and stare right at her. My wolf growls low in my chest.
"When you threw me into the Silver Prison, weren't you worried what the pack would think?"
She goes pale, struggling for breath.
Finally, she takes a deep breath, trying to soften her tone.
"Leanna, stop this. Let's talk. You working in a place like this... it breaks my heart."
I smirk.
"Are you heartbroken for me? Or embarrassed your latrine-scrubbing daughter makes Alpha Anderson look bad?"
Her face goes crimson, chest heaving.
"Leanna! How long are you going to keep this up?!"
"We offer you a place at the firm and you'd rather clean latrines?!"
"Are you doing this to spite us?!"
I stop scrubbing and turn to her.
"Luna Mother, you knew Rayna's thesis leaked classified Council intel from the start."
"You could've retracted it, issued a correction. With your connections, you could've cleared her name easily."
I step closer, eyes locked on hers.
"But you didn't. You let it blow up. And I - helping her collect the data - took the fall."
"Quick and clean. You save face. She keeps her record spotless."
"Only I got thrown into silver cells. Lost EVERYTHING. There's a limit to repaying a life debt!"
Every detail I pulled from old pack news during sleepless nights.
The clearer it gets, the colder my heart becomes.
They weren't out of options - they just chose to sacrifice me.
My Luna mother's lips move, eyes darting.
"Investigating your own Alpha and Luna? Leanna, we gave you life and you repay us with betrayal? You're so petty."
A cold, furious voice cuts in.
Alpha strides over from across the mall, face livid. His alpha aura hits like a wall.
Behind him, the balding manager looks panicked.
"Alpha Anderson, this is - " The manager wrings his hands, trying to mediate.
"Manager Gentry, my daughter suffers from moon-madness. She can't work here. It could affect the mall, the public."
"But Alpha Anderson, that's not really pack protocol - "
Alpha sneers. "Want me to discuss pack law with you, or your mall's rogue-safety violations?"
The threat hangs naked in the air.
The manager's face changes. He glances at me and sighs.
"Leanna, gather your things. Leave now."
I know my pay is gone.
"Embarrassing us like this! Get out!"
Alpha doesn't look at me anymore. Turns to Rayna instead.
She stands there in her designer suit, pristine and polished.
And me? Rubber boots, work pants, reeking of bleach and vomit.
The contrast hits like a slap. My wolf surges against my skin.
"FINE! You want to play dirty?!"
"I'll howl it to the entire pack network! Tell every wolf what you did! Let's see who gets humiliated then!"
Alpha's eyes flash gold. A flicker of fear breaks through the anger.
He's silent for a few seconds. When he speaks again, his tone's softer.
"We're not here to threaten you."
"You made a scene at the celebration. Some key wolves are suspicious of Rayna."
Rayna steps forward right on cue, perfectly pleading.
"Leanna, this is all my fault."
"How about this - you record a message saying YOU made the mistake back then, not us."
"I'll give you five hundred thousand gold pieces."
Alpha glances at the mop in my hands, voice dripping with condescension.
"As long as you record it, we won't force you home. You can keep your current job."
A wave of helplessness hits.
I know I can't fight an Alpha command.
"Fine. I'll do it. But keep your gold. Just let me go."
They exchange a look, gritting their teeth.
"Deal. But you HAVE to take the gold. Otherwise I won't feel right."
I freeze.
My need to escape drowned out my wolf's warning growl.
I read Alpha's pre-written script, grit my teeth, and record.
After they leave, I hold the card with 500,000 gold pieces, but feel no relief.
I quickly pack and head for the station.
At the entrance, pack enforcers stop me.
"Leanna Anderson, by order of the High Council, you're under investigation for extortion. Cooperate, or we'll use silver."
