Three days after I lost the pup, I went back to the Alpha suite.
I told myself it was practical. I needed my belongings. My clothes, my books, the few things I'd brought with me when I first became Luna. I didn't let myself think about what else might be there now.
The walk from the healer's room to the pack house felt longer than it should have. My body was still weak, my steps careful. The pack members I passed in the corridors looked away. Some of them quickly, like they'd been caught at something. Others slowly, deliberately, making sure I saw the dismissal.
I kept my hand pressed to my abdomen, not because it hurt anymore—the cramping had stopped—but because the emptiness felt worse than the pain.
The Alpha suite door was unlocked.
I pushed it open and stopped in the doorway.
Carly stood in the center of the sitting room, wearing my Luna ceremonial cloak. The one I'd worn at border negotiations, at pack ceremonies, at every formal event where I'd stood beside Maverick and represented Ironveil. The silver embroidery caught the afternoon light. She had the collar turned up, her hand smoothing the fabric like she was testing how it felt.
The furniture had been moved. My reading chair was gone. In its place, a low couch I didn't recognize, covered in throws that smelled like her vanilla scent.
And Barnaby.
My wolf-dog sat at her feet, his ears flat, his body stiff. Carly held a treat in her open palm, coaxing him closer. His tail didn't wag. He looked at the treat, then at her face, then past her to me in the doorway.
He didn't move toward her.
"Lily." Carly's voice was bright, surprised. She didn't drop the treat. "I didn't expect you."
I looked at Barnaby. He held my gaze, his body still tense, waiting.
"I came for my things," I said quietly.
Carly's smile stayed in place. "Of course. Most of your personal items are already packed. Maverick had them moved to the guest wing. But if there's anything specific you need—"
"The cloak."
Her hand stilled on the collar. "What?"
"That's mine." I kept my voice even. "I'd like it back."
Something flickered across her face. Not shame. Calculation. She glanced toward the bedroom door, then back at me.
"Actually," she said slowly, "Maverick gave this to me. As part of my Luna wardrobe. It's pack property, technically, not personal—"
Footsteps behind her. The bedroom door opened, and Maverick stepped through.
He stopped when he saw me. His gaze moved from my face to Carly in the cloak, then back. His expression didn't change.
"Lily." His voice was flat. "You should have called ahead."
I looked at him standing there in the doorway of the bedroom we'd shared for three years, the bed visible behind him with sheets that probably still carried her scent, and felt the cold from the severed mark spread a little deeper into my chest.
"I came for my belongings," I said.
He crossed the room in three strides and positioned himself between me and Carly. Not protective of her, exactly. Territorial. Blocking access.
"Your things are in the guest wing," he said. "This suite is no longer yours to enter."
I held his gaze. "I want the cloak."
"The cloak stays." His tone dropped into something harder. Not quite Alpha command, but close. "It's Luna property. Carly is Luna now."
Behind him, Carly's hand smoothed the silver embroidery again. Her smile had returned, softer now, almost sympathetic.
I looked past Maverick to Barnaby. My wolf-dog's ears were still flat, his body coiled. The treat sat untouched in Carly's palm.
"Barnaby," I said quietly.
He moved immediately. Sidestepped Carly, crossed the room, and pressed against my leg. His weight was warm and solid. I rested my hand on his head.
Maverick's jaw tightened. "The dog stays too. He's bonded to the Alpha suite."
I felt Barnaby's body go rigid under my palm.
"He's bonded to me," I said.
Maverick stepped forward. His hand came up—not raised to strike, but flat and hard against my shoulder, shoving me backward into the hallway. I stumbled, my weakened body unable to hold the ground. Barnaby growled low in his throat, but I tightened my hand in his fur before he could lunge.
"This suite is not yours," Maverick said. His voice carried down the corridor, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "You are not Luna. You will not enter this space again."
I looked at him. At Carly standing behind him in my cloak, her expression carefully neutral. At the sitting room that had been rearranged to erase every trace of me.
I said nothing.
Maverick held my gaze for three more seconds, then stepped back and closed the door.
The lock clicked.
I stood in the hallway with my hand on Barnaby's head, staring at the closed door. I counted to five. Then I turned and walked.
Barnaby stayed at my side, his body pressed against my leg with every step. We moved through the pack house corridors, past the pack members who looked away, past the common rooms where I used to hold Luna office hours, past the archives where I'd memorized every supply log and border treaty.
No one stopped me.
When we reached the main entrance, the cold air hit my face like a slap. I kept walking. Down the steps. Across the courtyard. Past the perimeter where Ironveil's territory began to fade into neutral ground.
I didn't look back.
When I was far enough that the pack house was a shadow behind me, I pulled the burner phone from my pocket. The one I'd bought two days ago with the last of my personal savings, the one no one in Ironveil knew existed.
I dialed the number I'd memorized.
It rang twice before a male voice answered. "Holt."
"Declan." My voice was steady. I was proud of that. "It's Lily. From the eastern border negotiation."
A pause. "Lily. I heard—" He stopped himself. "What do you need."
I looked down at Barnaby, his amber eyes watching me in the fading light.
"I have something the Lycan Council will want to see," I said quietly. "And I need a place to build the case."
Another pause, longer this time.
"How soon can you get here," Declan said finally.
"Tonight."
"I'll have a room ready."
The line went dead.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and started walking. Barnaby moved with me, his body warm against my leg, the only living thing in Ironveil who had chosen to follow me out.
Behind us, the pack house lights began to glow in the dusk.
I didn't look back.
