When Tharina stepped into the pack house, the air already felt wrong.
Elodie was seated close against Malven, almost leaning into him like a Luna beside her Alpha. She spoke with ease, giving orders to the servant wolves as if the authority already belonged to her.
Malven heard the door open and lifted his gaze. His eyes fell on Tharina, cold and distant, without a trace of the bond they once shared.
"From this day forward, Elodie will oversee this house. All of you will answer to her." His gaze didn’t leave Tharina. "That includes you."
There was no warmth. Only command.
Because she had fought back against Elodie’s hound, he once again hid behind his so-called lost memory, stripping her of her place and handing it to another.
He expected her to break. To grow angry, to cry, to cling to him as she always had. He believed her heart still belonged to him.
But Tharina no longer wished to stand as Luna of this pack. And she no longer cared whether his memory was gone or not.
She said nothing. She turned and began walking toward the upper floor.
Elodie moved quickly, blocking her path. Her eyes shone with pride and quiet cruelty.
"There is still much I must learn about managing a pack house. I was hoping you would teach me, sister."
Before Tharina could answer, Elodie seized her wrist and pulled her toward the side counter.
Tharina’s custom coffee device, brought from a far-off human city after months of waiting, was ruined beyond repair.
A spark of anger rose at once. She pulled her hand free.
"Who gave you the right to touch it?"
Elodie only smiled, slow and satisfied, lifting a cup filled with steaming liquid.
"You still think you are the Luna here? Malven stopped caring for you long ago. You have no place anymore."
Before the last word settled, she threw the hot drink straight at Tharina.
The burning liquid struck her neck and slipped beneath her clothes. Tharina flinched, her skin stinging.
The scent filled the air. Her body reacted at once. Her stomach turned violently, weakened by the life growing inside her. She covered her mouth and bent forward.
She could not stop it. Everything came out, spilling onto Elodie.
For a moment, Elodie froze. Then her scream broke through the hall like a sharp howl.
Malven rushed in at once. He saw Tharina nearly collapsed, her body trembling, her breath uneven, tears forced from her eyes without control.
Without thinking, he moved toward her, reaching out to steady her.
It was instinct. Something tied deep within the bond they once shared. For a heartbeat, he forgot the lie of his lost memory.
Elodie saw it clearly. Fear tightened her chest, and she cried louder.
"Malven, I only asked her how to use that thing, and she threw it at me. Then she did this to me."
Her voice shook as she continued.
"I know she hates me. If she wants me gone, I will leave. But why humiliate me like this?"
Malven’s expression changed. The concern faded, replaced by cold displeasure.
"Tharina, you never learn. I told you, she stands as the mistress of this house now."
Tharina wiped the tears from her face. She lifted her head and looked straight at him, her voice sharp and steady.
"The mistress of this house? Tell me, whose name is bound to yours under the Moon Goddess, Malven? Hers?" She didn’t look away. "Did you forget how to read the bond as well?"
Malven fell silent. He had never seen her like this before.
Elodie quickly stepped in again. "Malven, she is provoking you on purpose. She doesn’t respect you at all."
That was enough. Anger took hold of him completely.
"Take her outside. She will kneel for one hour and reflect on her behavior."
Two guard wolves stepped forward at once, gripping Tharina’s arms firmly.
She struggled, her eyes locked onto Malven’s cold face. For a moment, another image rose in her mind.
The Malven from before.
The Alpha who once held her gently. Who stayed by her side through long nights when she was weak. Who noticed every small change in her.
The one who had once whispered softly, "Tharina, I will love you until my last breath."
That promise had not lasted long.
Pain and emptiness filled her as the guards forced her down onto her knees outside the great doors of the pack house.
The wind brushed against her skin as she knelt there, alone.
Then Tharina lifted her voice, clear and firm, carrying back into the hall.
"Malven Ashbourne. If you force me to kneel here, and your mother learns how you have treated your Luna, do you truly believe your little secretary will survive the night?"
Her voice was not loud, yet it carried weight.
Malven’s eyes narrowed. His mother had always stood with Tharina. And within the laws of the pack, no outsider like Elodie had the right to step into the Alpha’s home, much less claim it.
The air grew still.
They faced each other across the distance, neither willing to yield.
