Elara POV
The carriage stopped in front of a grand gothic manor.
Silas was an old friend, a strict and honorable wolf who served the Supreme Werewolf Council. He had served alongside my father in the border wars, and it was my father who had recommended him for the position of Law Enforcer. He owed our family a debt he had never been able to repay—until tonight.
He was the Law Enforcer, the man who made sure the ancient rules of the Moon Goddess were followed by every pack.
I knocked on the heavy oak doors.
Silas answered himself, wearing a loose linen shirt, his brow furrowed in surprise.
"Elara? It is well past midnight. What has happened?" he asked, ushering me inside.
I walked into his study, which smelled of old parchment and burning firewood.
I did not waste time with pleasantries.
I pulled the magically copied contract from my cloak and placed it on his desk.
"Examine this," I said.
Silas picked up the parchment, his eyes scanning the words.
His jaw tightened, and the knuckles of the hand resting on the desk whitened. His usual scent of calm cedar was suddenly tainted by a sharp, acidic note of anger.
"A foreign Omega's hound interred in the Sunlit Caverns?" Silas whispered, the words filled with a horrified disbelief.
"Yes," I replied. "And my father's urn sits in the lowest level of the Under-Crypts, in standing water."
Silas dropped the parchment onto the desk as if it were coated in poison.
"This is an outrage. Kael is the future Alpha. He should know the laws better than anyone."
"He knows them," I said, my voice cold as the crypt stone. "He simply believes they do not apply to him."
Silas paced the room, his boots heavy on the wooden floor.
"There are three clear violations of law here, Elara," he said, his tone shifting to that of the Enforcer.
I nodded. "Outline them for me."
"First, Kael has broken the sacred vow of a Mate. He has violated your father's right to peace. We can petition the Council to strip him of his Alpha candidacy on those grounds alone."
I agreed. "And the second?"
"The crypt management is complicit. Accepting a bribe to relocate an elder's ashes is grounds for the immediate impeachment of every keeper involved."
"And the third?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Silas stopped pacing and looked me dead in the eyes.
"To barter a hero's sacred resting place as a political favor for a foreign pack is treason, wrapped in the foulest blasphemy. The Council will show no mercy for such an act."
"Prepare the parchments for all three," I commanded.
Silas hesitated. "Elara, you understand what this means. If we file these, there is no turning back. Kael's mother, Elder Morwen, controls half the pack's treasury. She will come for you with everything she has."
I met his gaze without flinching. "Then she will find me ready."
Silas looked surprised by my lack of hesitation, but he nodded slowly.
"They will be drafted before dawn."
I thanked him and left the manor, stepping back into the freezing night air.
I sat in the dark carriage as it finally headed toward the estate I shared with Kael.
I closed my eyes and reached into my mind.
I searched for the glowing silver thread that connected my soul to Kael's.
The Mind-Link.
It is the telepathic bond shared between pack members, but the bond between Mates is the strongest.
Kael, I called out in my mind. Are you still working at the pack house?
Almost instantly, his voice echoed in my head, smooth and warm.
Yes, my little moon. Pack duties are endless. I miss you. I saved you some roast meat for when you get home.
A wave of bile rose in my throat.
He sounded so loving, so perfect.
I opened my eyes. I needed to see her, to confirm the identity of this Selene. I ordered the carriage home. Once inside the manor, I bypassed the dining room and went directly to the pack's records chamber. As Kael's mate, I had access. I pulled out the memory crystals from the last formal banquet.
I activated one, and shimmering, life-sized images of the party filled the air around me. I willed the scene to accelerate, the polite greetings and political speeches blurring into a fast-forwarded haze. Then I found him. Kael, laughing, a glass of wine in his hand. And next to him, a delicate woman's hand rested intimately on his broad shoulder, her fingernails painted a distinct, cloying shade of dusty rose. I froze the image, zooming in on her face.
It was the hand of an Omega.
It was the hand of Selene.
I watched the frozen tableau of them laughing, her lips close to his ear, a shared secret passing between them like a wisp of smoke. The evidence was clear, cold, and legally obtained.
The Mate bond is supposed to be pure.
When Mates first meet, the Moon Goddess gifts them with the Recognition.
You smell their unique scent, a scent that makes your soul tremble.
Your blood boils, your heart races, and your Inner Wolf roars 'Mine!'
When Kael and I first touched, a shock of electricity traveled up my spine.
I thought he was my safe harbor.
Now, I knew the truth.
That jolt was not a promise of sanctuary; it was the first tremor of a coming earthquake, destined to bring my world to ruin.
And the only question left was whether I would be buried in the rubble—or standing atop it when the shaking stopped.
