The night before Elena Langley was to take her vows,her mother died on a cliff.Moonlight washed the rocks in silver as Elena stood trembling;her betrothed,Alexander Greyson,held her close,eyes hard with grief and a promise to hunt down whoever had stolen a life from her.
Three years later,standing beneath the low lamps of the pack infirmary,Elena read the faint double line that marked the beginning of a new life.The pack medic murmured something about her father’s heart-source—a donor compatible with the blood of their line—and Elena’s pulse quickened.She rushed through the whitewashed corridors,only to find her Alpha folded in the arms of his first love,Jessica Hale,in a private ward.
“Don’t worry,”Jessica said,her voice soft as a purr.“The pack medic found a compatible heart-source.I’ll speak with him and petition the Pack Council's medic board to prioritize Rhiannon—a request that,under Pack law,normally requires Council review unless the Alpha invokes an emergency override.Hale first.”
“But that heart was promised to Natalie Grant’s father,”someone whispered nearby.“She’ll be furious if it’s reassigned.”
Alexander’s tone was cold as winter.“So what?Three years ago we took that child’s heart and kidney to save your father.This time we take another heart.It’s no different.”
“And don’t bother over her mother’s death,”Jessica went on,voice steady.“I destroyed the trail for you.No one will trace it back.”
The words landed in Elena like a claw.The truth trickled into place:they had been responsible—three years ago—for the deaths that had shattered her life.Now Alexander and Jessica plotted to take her father’s heart for their own child’s survival.
Elena stepped away from the bed and called on a man who hated Alexander—a rival pack-Alpha with an old grievance.“I want to ruin Alexander and Jessica,”she said,keeping her voice low.“Will you help me?”
“You saw it finally,”the rival replied without hesitation.“I told you Alexander was twisted.So—divorce him,take shelter with me?I always liked you.”His tone was practical,not kind.
She studied the pair in the ward:Alexander gentle with Jessica,the way his scent softened when he drew near her.Elena lowered her head and managed a bitter smile.“I’ll marry you,”she said,“but only if you find a new heart-source.If you secure one today,I’ll be on the next moonflight.”
“Give me a week.Don’t forget to come.”The rival’s promise came quickly.
Before hanging the link,Elena added in a whisper meant only for him,“I just found out.I’m one month gone.I will leave him and keep this pup.”
There was no pause on the other end.“It’s only one pup.I can provide for it.”
She would rise from the ash of what she had been and claim her own crown.It was time for Alexander and Jessica to fall into the trap she would set.
She had taken the test three days before and had wanted to share the news with Alexander.He had been hurried—duty,he said.Now it was painfully plain where his loyalties lay:with Jessica and the child she carried.
Alexander’s comm-throat buzzed at his belt;the pack medic was calling.He leaned down and brushed a kiss on Jessica’s cheek.“Wait here.I’m going to speak with the pack medic about my father’s heart.”
As he moved away,Jessica smoothed the illusion of hurt from her features and turned toward the stairwell where Elena watched.
“How pathetic,”Jessica said,voice silk over steel.“Three years of marriage and you lurk in the shadows,watching someone else take pleasure.”
Elena laughed once,bitter.“Isn’t the real pity yours?You gave him a child,yet you’ve won nothing but borrowed status.As long as I remain,the title of Mrs.Greyson is mine.”
Her words cut.Jessica’s face twisted.“Alexander has always loved me.You stole his place.”
“Alexander and I were one another’s first moon-mate.We swore to grow old together.Elena—you were the interloper.”
A flare of pain lanced Elena’s ribs.Instinctively she pressed a hand to her belly;the prenatal scroll slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the stone.Jessica stooped to pick it up.When she saw the inked symbol marking one month,triumph twisted her features further.
“Elena,”Jessica said,with false pity,“I can’t believe you’re with pup again.You heard what Alexander said—your first child’s heart saved my father.”
“But there’s more,”Jessica added,voice small with a practiced sorrow.“Alexander promised me that even if he wed you,his bloodline would remain mine.Imagine what will happen if he learns you carry another brood.”
Elena saw the wedge for what it was.For a moment she did not care.She lifted her hand and struck Jessica across the cheek.The slap sounded sharp in the stairwell.Jessica bit the lie as she fell,the practiced sob spilling out like water.
“Natalie—”Elena bristled at the name that had been forced on her by others;anger made her steadier than the waver of tears rising to her own eyes.She had almost mocked Jessica’s show when Alexander’s voice cut across them,flat and cold.
“Why are you here?”he demanded.“Why can’t you speak with dignity?Why strike someone?Elena,what happened to you?”
Elena opened her mouth,but Jessica seized Alexander’s arm.With a trembling that was all theater,Jessica crooned,“Alexander,Elena must have reasons.I shouldn’t keep you.If she calms,she can strike me as she will.”
As rehearsed,Alexander softened.“No one should be struck.This is Elena’s fault.I’ll keep it straight.”
He stepped forward and gripped Elena’s shoulder.“Fight back,”he instructed Jessica,and then—as if to teach the lesson—he struck Elena with his hand.
The blow knocked the breath from her.Her stomach slammed into the stair’s stone edge.Alexander turned away without a backward glance,leading Jessica away as if nothing mattered more than her fragile performance.
Elena crumpled,palm pressed to her belly where a hot dark fleck spread across her hand.Blood stained the floor in a stark,unbearable mark.
“My pup…”
Light leaked away.The Moon’s face swam,and then everything went black.
