Chapter 1They declared my mate dead.
Grayson Harcourt - Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack - went down with his jet over Blackwater Ridge on his way back from the Alpha Council summit. No survivors. Not one.
All he left me was one last message.
He said he didn't want to burden me. So I should end the pup and start over.
I cried until my chest burned and my wolf clawed at my ribs, desperate to howl.
Then I heard my unborn son.
"Mom. Stop crying. Father isn't dead."
The stone corridor outside the Hall of the Fallen stretched on like a bad dream.
Cole Winslow - Grayson's Beta and the pack's money man - pressed a folded note into my hand. Grayson's so-called last words.
END THE PUP. START OVER.
The paper shook in my grip.
Half an hour before, a runner's call had come through: Grayson's jet had gone down. No survivors.
Five months heavy with his heir, I tore through the rain to Moonveil Clinic - only to hear the healers say, "We're so sorry, Luna. There were no survivors."
Now he was dead, and he'd still made sure someone told me to kill his pup.
Tears hit the note and bled the ink.
Mom stood beside me, one arm locked around my waist. Elder she-wolf. Soft voice. Iron grip.
"Sienna, sweetheart, don't break apart here. You're still carrying his pup..."
"Give me a minute. Alone."
The hall went silent. Even the torches seemed to hold their breath.
I slid down the stone wall, folded into a crouch, and pressed my face into my knees. A broken whine crawled up my throat.
Then I heard it - a small voice, clear and steady, calm in a way no unborn pup had any right to be.
"Mom. Stop crying. Father isn't dead."
Every muscle in my body locked.
"He's a lying, cheating bastard of an Alpha. He's been running around with his old Omega flame, and the two of them are holed up on an island together."
My head snapped up. The hall was empty - just stone, shadows, and the smell of grief.
I figured grief had finally cracked me.
I dragged in a breath and tried to rise.
Then it came again.
"It's me, Mom. Your son. Father wants me gone because he's terrified you and I will claim our share of the pack fortune. He thinks you have no idea how deep his secret vaults run."
My claws punched through the fabric at my knees.
This wasn't grief. This wasn't my wolf snapping. The voice was coming from inside me.
I'd already picked his name. Theo.
I stared down at the swell of my belly. My lips trembled.
"...Theo?"
"Yeah, Mom. It's me. Stop crying and listen. Father was never on that jet. He paid a rogue to fake the flight manifest. Tessa Winters - his old Omega flame - has had him for six months. He didn't tell you to end this pregnancy because he was worried about you raising a pup alone. He did it because he doesn't want you or me touching one copper coin of his fortune."
My mind went white.
"There's a hidden compartment under the third floorboard in his study. Three bank cards. Two flash drives. And two tickets to Crimson Isle, both booked under Tessa's name. Go look."
My claws bit into my palms.
"There's also an account holding six hundred thirty thousand dollars for Tessa - under her brother's name. Father's been using it to hide pack assets. We get that money first. I know where every secret account is. Before he comes back, we take everything we can and vanish. Then we never scrape by again."
I didn't answer.
Boots echoed at the far end of the hall. Cole Winslow, Grayson's Beta and money man, had come back.
"Luna Sienna. Are you all right? You know what the Alpha wanted. And the pup - you should decide soon."
He had his concerned-Beta face on, but every word was a shove.
I let the tears stay on my face and lowered my gaze to my belly.
"Thank you, Beta. I need a little more time."
He nodded and left.
Theo's voice drifted through me again, calm as a frozen lake.
"Good. Keep that face. We're going to make him pay for every last thing he's done to us."
I stood alone outside the Hall of the Fallen, one hand on my belly, feeling that faint flutter under my palm.
"Theo... you said he went to an island?"
"Yeah. Crimson Isle. Two tickets, both in Tessa's name."
"When's he coming back?"
"Two weeks."
I wiped my face until there wasn't a tear left.
TWO WEEKS.
More than enough.
Chapter 2
The second I got back to the Alpha's den, I went straight for the study.
The cards. The flash drives. The island tickets. All of it sat exactly where Theo said - tucked under the third floorboard.
"Safe's behind the bookcase," he murmured.
I'd never even known there was a safe in that room.
Built into the stone wall. Six-digit lock.
"Code's 053741."
I punched it in. The bolt clicked open.
Not much inside. A stack of bank statements. Two bundles of cash. One big brown envelope.
I pulled out the envelope and tore it open.
Photos. A thick stack of them. Tessa from every angle - back turned on some island beach, sipping coffee in profile, smiling straight into the lens like she owned the world.
Whoever took those had been watching her for a long, long time.
At the bottom, a piece of paper folded twice.
I recognized Grayson's handwriting.
"Tessa. Wait for me."
I put everything back exactly as I'd found it. Then I grabbed the bank statements.
The account sat under Tessa's brother's name. But every payment was for her. Every deposit ran over eight grand. Every transfer came from Grayson, with "living expenses" scribbled in the memo line.
The most recent one - last month - was exactly fifteen thousand dollars.
"There's more on the computer," Theo said.
I dropped into the Alpha's chair.
Grayson's computer needed a fingerprint and a password. My fingerprint got me past the first lock.
Second lock? Another six digits.
"053741."
The desktop blinked to life.
"Check the Recycle Bin."
Empty.
I opened it anyway. Nothing.
"He wiped it before he left," Theo said. "But deleting something doesn't mean it's gone. Do exactly what I tell you. We're getting those files back."
I followed my son's instructions step by step.
Ten minutes later, over three hundred files came crawling back from the dead.
I found a folder. Chat logs. Three months of them. Between Grayson and someone saved as "Tessa."
I opened the latest conversation.
Grayson: Tickets are booked for the fifteenth of next month.
Tessa: She won't find out, will she?
Grayson: No. Told her I'm going away on pack business.
Tessa: What about the pup? You talked to her yet?
Grayson: Not yet. I'll tell her after my "accident." She'll be easier to convince then.
Tessa: How exactly are you gonna have an "accident"?
Grayson: Everything's arranged. When it happens, don't panic. Just do what I told you.
Tessa: What if she decides to keep the pup?
Grayson: She won't. I'll make her get rid of it. She's always been easy to manipulate.
I kept scrolling.
Each message was short. Together, they cut deeper with every line.
Tessa: When are you gonna tell her the truth?
Grayson: No reason to. I'll make her leave on her own.
Tessa: I'm afraid she'll lose control when she finds out.
Grayson: She won't. She's never dared to stand up to me.
I slammed the computer shut.
"There's a debit card hidden in the false bottom of the document box," Theo said.
I dug through the safe's hidden compartment. Found it exactly where he said.
"Whose card?" I asked.
"Tessa has access. But the account's under her brother's name. The money's Father's. He moved part of his assets there before he left - afraid you'd find out."
I turned the card over in my hand. Front. Back. Front again.
"How much is in there?"
"More than six hundred thousand."
I slipped the card into my pocket and said nothing.
When I stood, my legs had gone numb. I had to brace myself against the desk.
"Aren't you going to the funeral home?" Theo asked.
"I am."
I changed into a black dress. No makeup. My eyes were swollen and red. My lips had lost every bit of color.
I looked exactly like a pregnant Luna who'd just lost her Alpha.
At least I wouldn't have to fake that part.
By the time I reached the funeral home, media vultures were already circling.
Grayson's so-called personal belongings rolled out in a suitcase. A few clothes. A wallet. A passport.
My hands shook as a pack steward handed it over.
I recognized what was inside.
One was a gray cashmere sweater I'd bought him last winter. He'd said, "Too expensive. Return it." I'd told him, "It looks good on you." He kept it. Never wore it.
Now that sweater had gone through some rogue airline's baggage system as part of Grayson's fake death - only to come back to me as one of his final possessions.
I hugged the suitcase to my chest. Tears dropped onto the lid.
Reporters shoved microphones in my face.
"Luna Harcourt, anything you'd like to say to your Alpha?"
I tried to speak. Nothing came out.
Mom held me up, crying right beside me.
At the memorial, wolves whispered. Some said how sorry they felt. Others murmured that I was still carrying his heir.
I doubled over and sobbed until my knees nearly gave out.
That night, my photo hit every evening news feed under the headline:
YOUNG ALPHA INVESTOR KILLED IN JET CRASH - PREGNANT LUNA BARELY ABLE TO STAND AT MEMORIAL
When I got home, I shut the door, dropped the suitcase in the entryway, and leaned back against the wood.
Theo's voice drifted up from inside me.
"You really went all out with the crying today. Keep that up and your eyes are gonna swell shut."
I sighed.
"I really was heartbroken. That cashmere sweater cost me more than twelve hundred dollars."
A pause.
"...You were crying over a sweater?"
"That was MY money. More than twelve hundred dollars. I never should've bought it."
For once, Theo had nothing to say.
Chapter 3
For the next few days, I let everyone believe I was too shattered to function.
The grief? I didn't have to fake that part. All I had to do was replay Grayson's messages in my head. Every word. Every lie. Every little plan he'd made with his Omega.
On the third day, Cole Winslow came knocking.
Grayson's Beta. The pack's money man. He settled onto my couch in a dark tailored suit, face pulled into his serious-Beta mask.
Me? I was still in wrinkled pajamas. Hair unwashed for three days. Eyes so swollen I could barely crack them open.
"Luna Sienna," he said, voice dripping with fake sympathy. "We're all devastated about Grayson. But you know what his final request was. The longer you wait, the worse it gets for your health."
"I know," I murmured, dropping my head and letting my voice wobble.
"I've already made arrangements at the healer's den. An experienced one will handle the procedure. They'll do everything to keep the risk low."
I lifted my red-rimmed eyes to his.
"Beta Winslow... can I have a little more time? Just to think?"
He studied me for a few seconds. Sighed. Stood.
The second the door clicked shut, Theo spoke up.
"He's pushing the abortion because Father told him to. Once I'm born, you and I are legal heirs. If I'm gone, Father can toss you out with nothing but the clothes on your back."
"I know."
"Then why aren't you fighting back?"
"Because it's not time yet."
I got up and shuffled to the bathroom. Washed my face.
The woman in the mirror looked like death warmed over. Puffy lids. Dried tear tracks down both cheeks.
"I'm waiting for the right moment," I told her. "Then I'm making him pay for ALL of it."
On the fourth day, I started making calls.
"Hello - Attorney Miles? This is Sienna Reeves. Grayson Harcourt's mate. Yes. I need some advice about pack marital assets."
Miles was one of the sharpest pack lawyers in the territory. His voice dropped low over the phone.
"Luna Harcourt. Are you somewhere you can speak freely?"
"Yes. My Alpha is dead."
Two full seconds of silence.
"...I'm very sorry to hear that."
I read him the list. Every asset I'd managed to trace under Grayson's name.
When I finished, he asked, "Are you certain that's all of it?"
"No. That's why I called you."
After we hung up, I contacted the pack bank and Grayson's investment advisers.
I didn't know the passwords to half his accounts.
Theo did.
"He's got an account hidden at another bank. Password's Tessa's birthday. Call them. Tell them you're handling the estate. Ask for the balance. They'll process it under their estate rules."
I grabbed my phone. Then stopped.
"What else?"
"His luxury SUV still has a loan on it. Don't take it over. Leave it under his name. There's also a house registered under his mother's name - that one's messy. But he bought an apartment in the suburbs after you two mated. It's under his name. Which means half of it is yours."
"How much is the apartment worth?"
"Market value? About four hundred and fifty thousand. List it for a quick sale - fifteen thousand under market. Should move within a week."
I wrote down every word.
By the end, my phone's notes app held seventeen separate entries: stocks, investment accounts, savings, the apartment, and exactly how to handle each one.
On the fifth day, I went to Grayson's company to collect his "personal belongings."
Cole walked me into Grayson's office. The door clicked shut, and I heard the whispers outside.
"Poor Luna Harcourt... pregnant and still has to pack up his stuff..."
I stood in front of Grayson's desk for a long moment. Then picked up a framed photograph.
Our wedding picture.
Grayson had one arm around my waist. I was smiling like a fool. Completely at ease.
I placed the frame in a cardboard box as tears slid down my cheeks.
Cole hovered in the doorway like he wanted to say something. In the end, he kept his mouth shut.
"Sienna... if you need anything after what happened to Grayson, you come straight to me."
"Thank you, Beta Winslow," I said, wiping my tears. "Could I stay here alone for a little while?"
"Of course."
The door closed.
I crouched beside the box, pulled out the photograph, and peeled off the backing.
Nothing inside.
Not that I'd been hunting for anything. I just wanted to confirm he hadn't even bothered to keep ONE picture of us.
I took three things from his office: our wedding photo, an old notebook he'd used for five years, and a fountain pen he never touched.
I carried the box home and set it beside the bed.
On the sixth night, I lay in bed and went through every note on my phone.
SIX AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
That was the total Theo had calculated.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Don't be. Everything you're doing is backed by legal documents. Father committed a crime by faking his own death. You're using the estate process to protect marital assets. Two different things."
I turned onto my side and rested one hand on my belly.
"Theo... thank you."
Silence for two seconds.
"Don't thank me yet. Wait till I help you win."
Seven days ago, I'd been sobbing my heart out at a funeral home.
Now every asset under Grayson's name that I could reach was already being transferred or locked in escrow.
Theo's voice stayed calm.
"The Winters should show up tomorrow."
"I know."
"You ready?"
I stroked my belly, gentle and slow.
"Of course."
