The Shadowridge Pack Banquet was always held in the great hall on the night of the autumn moon. Every ranked wolf attended. The tables were set with candles and white flowers. The air smelled like roasted meat and wine. I stood at the entrance in my Luna gown, a deep green silk that Jensen had chosen years ago, back when he still pretended to care what I wore.
I had been confined to the Omega house for a month. Jensen called it recovery time. The pack healer, Maren, called it isolation. I called it what it was: punishment for protesting when he moved Poppy into the Luna suite. The Omega house sat at the edge of pack territory, surrounded by pine trees and silence. No one visited except Maren, who brought my father's medical updates and left without meeting my eyes.
Now I was back. Jensen wanted me here tonight. He wanted the pack to see their Luna standing beside their Alpha, united and strong. I could do that. I had been doing it for years.
I walked into the hall. Conversations paused. Eyes turned. I kept my chin level and my hands loose at my sides. My wolf Sera stirred faintly inside me, a whisper of unease, but she did not speak. She had grown quieter with every passing month.
Jensen stood at the head table with the ranked wolves. Beta Dorian Voss was on his left. Poppy sat on his right, in the chair that had been mine. She wore a pale pink dress that made her look younger than she was. Fragile. Innocent. She glanced at me and smiled softly, like we were friends.
I took my assigned seat three chairs down. Halle Romero, my closest friend since childhood, stood among the warriors near the back wall. She caught my eye and held it for a beat too long. She saw what the others did not: the careful blankness I had learned to wear like armor.
The banquet proceeded. Courses were served. Jensen gave a speech about pack strength and unity. Wolves laughed and drank. I ate small bites and answered polite questions from the Delta seated beside me. I performed flawlessly.
Midway through the meal, Poppy rose from her seat. She walked toward me with slow, hesitant steps, her hands folded in front of her. She stopped beside my chair and tilted her head, her voice soft and uncertain.
"Luna Adelynn," she said. "I wanted to thank you for being so kind to me. I know this has been difficult."
I looked up at her. Her scent was light and floral, deliberately chosen to seem harmless. I knew what she was. I had known for months. But I also knew that reacting would give Jensen exactly what he wanted.
"You're welcome, Poppy," I said evenly.
She smiled and reached out as if to touch my hand. Then she stumbled backward with a sharp cry, her arm jerking up to her chest. When she pulled her hand away, there was a thin claw-mark across her forearm, beading red.
The hall went silent.
Poppy's eyes filled with tears. She turned toward Jensen, her voice breaking. "She—she scratched me. I was just trying to be nice, and she—"
I did not move. I had not touched her. The angle was wrong. Anyone paying attention would see that. But no one was paying attention to angles. They were watching Poppy's tears and the blood on her arm.
Jensen stood. His aura flooded the room like a wave of cold pressure. Every wolf felt it. Heads bowed instinctively. I felt Sera flatten inside me, whimpering.
"Adelynn." His voice was low and sharp. "Stand."
I stood.
He walked toward me slowly, his eyes locked on mine. The pack watched. No one spoke. When he stopped in front of me, I could smell the dark amber of his scent, the one that had once made my wolf sing. Now it just smelled like smoke.
"You will kneel," he said. His Alpha tone activated, wrapping around my wolf like iron chains. "You will submit to Poppy. You will beg her forgiveness. In front of everyone."
Sera whimpered louder. My knees started to bend before I could stop them. The Alpha command was absolute. I could not fight it.
Then Halle moved.
She stepped out from the line of warriors and walked directly between me and Jensen. Her copper wolf blazed in her eyes. "Alpha, this is—"
"Stand down, Halle," Jensen snapped.
She did not move. Two warriors grabbed her arms and pulled her back. Jensen did not even look at her. His eyes stayed on me.
"Kneel," he repeated.
My knees hit the cold stone floor. The impact sent a jolt through my bones. I looked up at Poppy. She was still crying, but there was something else in her eyes now. Satisfaction.
"I'm sorry," I said. My voice was steady. "Please forgive me."
Poppy sniffled and nodded. "Of course, Luna. I know you didn't mean it."
Jensen dismissed me with a flick of his hand. I stood and walked out of the hall. No one followed.
That night, I sat alone in the Omega house. The silence pressed against my ears. I lifted my hand and pressed my fingers to the mark on my neck, the one Jensen had placed there at our mating ceremony. I waited to feel something. Warmth. Pain. Anything.
There was nothing.
Sera was silent inside me. Not whimpering. Not struggling. Just gone.
I sat there for a long time, my fingers on the mark, and felt the exact moment the bond died. It did not break with a snap. It simply stopped existing, like a candle going out.
What rose in the silence was not grief. It was clarity.
I stood and walked to the small desk in the corner. I found a piece of paper and a pen. I began to write.
A list. Names. Resources. Steps.
I was done kneeling.
