The message from Gate31 sat on my screen until dawn.
I took a screenshot, dragged it into a hidden folder, and shut the laptop. Today was our third anniversary. I planned to give Carter one last chance to explain himself.
I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, replicating the exact recovery soup from his rookie season. I placed the steaming bowl opposite his chair. The silver gift box holding my positive pregnancy test rested right next to his spoon.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Carter walked into the kitchen, already dressed in a tailored black suit.
He ignored the soup. Instead, he slid a gold-embossed charity gala invitation across the marble island.
"Sienna needs to re-enter the public eye," he said, adjusting his expensive watch. "You are giving her your seat at the head table tonight."
I stared at the thick cardstock. "Tonight is our third anniversary."
"We have plenty of time for dinners," Carter replied, snapping his cufflink into place. "Sienna's comeback is only tonight. You need to stay here and prepare her evening pain management."
He tossed a heavy garment bag onto the counter. "Iron this for her. The silk wrinkles easily."
I stepped back from the island. "You want me to prep her dress while you take her to the Pack gala?"
"Do not make this a fight, Lena." He reached past me, pulling a single silver-white rose from the anniversary bouquet I had arranged that morning. "She needs this for her lapel."
He turned and walked out the door.
Two hours later, I sat alone at the dining table. The soup had gone cold.
On my tablet screen, camera flashes illuminated the red carpet. Sienna clung to Carter's arm. Pinned to her silver gown was the Northcliff silver wolf badge—the crest meant exclusively for the captain's mate.
A reporter thrust a microphone forward. "Captain, who was your anchor during that brutal rookie shoulder injury?"
Carter paused. He did not mention the nights I stayed awake measuring his proteins or icing his joints. He turned his gaze to Sienna.
"She was the first person who taught me how to dream," he said.
Sienna offered a tearful smile. The live comment feed scrolled in a blur, fans typing furiously.
The reunited ice lovers.
She belongs by his side.
I tapped the screen, freezing his devoted expression. The empty chair across from me mocked my silence. I picked up the silver gift box. The plastic stick inside felt like a burning needle against my palm.
My phone buzzed. The official Pack account had just updated the gala roster. They replaced the traditional "Captain and Luna" portrait with a candid shot of Carter and Sienna. My name was entirely erased from the event’s thank-you list.
I stood up, covered the cold soup with a ceramic lid, and turned off the kitchen lights. I was done waiting.
Thirty minutes later, my phone rang. Carter's caller ID flashed, but Sienna's frantic voice answered.
"Lena? The nerve painkiller is missing from the hotel recovery suite. Carter says only you know where the backup supply is."
Rain lashed against my windshield as I drove to the downtown hotel. I clutched the sealed plastic pillbox, my knuckles turning white against the steering wheel.
I pushed open the door to Suite 402 without knocking.
Carter knelt on the carpet, gently unfastening the metal buckles of Sienna's ankle brace. Her fingers were tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck.
He stood up immediately, his jaw tight. "Did any reporters see you outside?"
Not a single question about my safety in the storm. Not a word about why I had to drive through the pouring rain.
"I used the service elevator," I said, my voice flat.
I bypassed him and walked straight to the duty nurse standing by the medical cart. "Check the seal," I told her, handing over the box. "Verify the dosage against my logs."
The nurse nodded, breaking the tamper-proof tape.
Sienna swallowed the pill with a sip of water. Seven minutes later, the glass slipped from her hand, shattering on the floor.
"Carter," she gasped, her hands clawing at her throat. "My chest is burning. My legs are numb."
"Sienna!" Carter lunged forward, catching her before she hit the floor. "Get the medics! Now!"
The sterile lights of the Pack Medical Center hummed overhead. I stood in the hallway, locked out of the emergency room while Carter paced beside Sienna's bed through the glass window.
A doctor stepped out, his expression grim. "We pumped her stomach. She ingested a high-grade muscle relaxant, completely different from her prescribed nerve medication."
Carter walked out of the room. He slammed an empty amber pill bottle onto the waiting room table. My handwritten label was plastered across the front.
"Security pulled the footage," Carter said, his tone laced with ice. "Someone used your recovery-staff access code to enter the hotel suite medication room right before the gala. The woman on camera was wearing your gray cardigan."
"I was at the pharmacy on 4th Street," I said, meeting his furious gaze. "Two miles away. I was picking up your joint supplements."
"Show me the receipt," he demanded.
"I paid by card. The receipt is in my car."
"You have the most motive," Carter snapped, stepping into my space. "You know her medications better than anyone, and you were angry about the gala."
"Check the pharmacy cameras," I shot back. "Call them."
"I am not playing detective, Lena." He pointed a finger at my chest. "You swapped the pills."
I dug my hand into my purse. My fingers brushed the smooth edges of the silver anniversary box. I pushed it deep into the lining, burying it under my keys.
"Tomorrow morning," Carter ordered, loud enough for the duty nurses to hear, "you go to the locker room and apologize to Sienna in front of the team."
"I will not apologize for something I did not do."
"Then do not ever show up to the team as my wife or the future Luna again."
He turned his back on me and walked through the swinging doors to Sienna's room.
I watched the doors swing shut, my pulse pounding in my ears. I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the Pack registry server.
I tapped the icon to initiate an emergency mate bond severance request.
