Dawn Crawford POV:
I didn't sleep.
I sat by the window and watched the celebratory bonfires burn down to embers, just like my heart.
When the first rays of dawn touched the sky, I rose.
I faced the mirror and looked at the pale woman staring back, at the violet shadows beneath her eyes.
I would not break.
I was the Luna of the Blackwood Pack.
Even if my mate had betrayed me, I would not lose my dignity.
I chose a severe black suit, pulling my silver-white hair into a tight, perfect bun at the nape of my neck.
I used makeup to paint a mask of composure over my exhaustion.
The Pack House was quiet as I stepped into the hallway.
The mess from last night's aborted celebration was gone, but the air was thick with a lingering awkwardness.
I was heading to the dining hall when I ran right into him.
Jaxson.
He hadn't slept either; the dark stubble on his jaw told me that.
His eyes were a complicated storm of emotions as he looked at me.
He opened his mouth to speak, but I walked past him without a word, giving him no opening.
"Dawn, we need to talk."
His Alpha command echoed in my mind.
I wanted to sever the disgusting link.
But he was the Alpha; I couldn't block him completely.
Instead, I focused my will, building an icy wall around his voice in my head.
It wouldn't silence him, but it would muffle his words and make him feel my rejection.
He grunted, a soft, sharp sound of surprise.
He felt my mental barrier.
A flash of shock, then anger, crossed his face.
I entered the dining hall.
At the long, polished table, Julianne was already seated.
In the chair next to the Alpha's seat.
My seat.
She saw me and immediately stood, her face arranged in a perfect, humble smile.
"Good morning, Dawn. Did you sleep well?"
I gave her a cold look, ignoring her question. I turned to the servant standing nearby. "Move my place setting to the far end of the table."
The servant's eyes widened in panic.
She glanced at me, then at Jaxson, who had just walked in behind me.
She was frozen with indecision.
Julianne's smile faltered.
Her eyes welled up instantly, a perfect picture of wounded innocence.
"I... I didn't mean to. I just wanted to be closer to you..."
Jaxson strode to her side, placing a protective hand on her shoulder.
He glared at me.
"Dawn, stop it. Julianne means no harm."
"I have no desire to sit with a stranger," I stated calmly, my eyes locked on Jaxson. "And that is my seat."
The temperature in the room dropped to freezing.
A stern, female voice cut through the tension.
"Jaxson, let her sit where she wants."
Jaxson's mother, Eleanor Fisher, the former Luna who had trained me herself and whose authority in this pack was second only to her son's, stepped out from a side hall.
She wore an immaculate dress suit, her expression severe as her sharp eyes swept over the three of us.
As the former Luna, she understood the importance of my position.
Jaxson's jaw tightened, but he deferred to his mother.
"Mother, Dawn is overreacting."
"Your Fated Mate is displeased because of the woman you brought into our home. That is not an overreaction," Eleanor said, her voice quiet but filled with indisputable power. "Your duty is to soothe your Luna, not to stand here and blame her."
Julianne's face went pale.
She looked to Jaxson for help.
Under his mother's unwavering gaze, Jaxson finally relented.
He gave a sharp nod to the servant, who scurried to do as I'd asked.
Then he led Julianne to a seat on his other side, far from me.
I sat alone at the head of the long table, eating my breakfast with practiced elegance, as if nothing had happened.
I could feel Jaxson's burning stare on me the entire time.
The meal ended in suffocating silence.
I dabbed my lips with my napkin and rose to leave.
"Dawn, don't go. We have to talk."
Jaxson tried the mind-link again, a note of pleading in his tone this time.
I paused but didn't turn around.
I reinforced my mental shield, making his voice a distant, distorted mumble in my head.
Then I walked out of the dining hall without a backward glance.
I could feel his anger, but beneath it, there was something else... confusion.
It was a small, cold victory.
I made my way to the pack's study.
My office.
The place where I managed our world.
But when I pushed the door open, I stopped.
Jaxson had already had people move Julianne's luggage into the small suite adjoining my study-the rooms that were meant for the future Alpha heir.
He wasn't just bringing her into our home.
He was letting her invade the space meant for my future child.
This was a new declaration of war.
