Ava POV
The Grand Hall was draped in cascading white lilies and shimmering silver ribbons. *Purity and Moonbeams.* The irony was thick enough to choke on.
I stood in the shadows of the back row, wearing the same grey dress I wore every day. I refused to dress up for this charade.
The entire Pack had gathered, filling the cavernous space with a hum of anticipation. Alphas from neighboring alliances were present, watching with calculating eyes. This was Ethan’s big moment.
Ethan stood center stage, commanding the room, microphone in hand. Chloe was beside him, rubbing her fake bump with a performance of theatric tenderness.
"Tonight is a night of joy!" Ethan declared, his voice amplified and smooth. "The Moonstone Pack is blessed!"
He turned to Chloe, his expression softening into a practiced mask of adoration.
"To my beautiful mate," he said. "I have a gift."
He snapped his fingers. A uniformed Beta brought out a velvet box.
Ethan opened it. A diamond necklace, thick and gaudy, glittered aggressively under the chandeliers.
"The Heart of the Moon," Ethan announced. "For the mother of my heir."
The crowd gasped and applauded on cue.
I touched my bare neck. Years ago, I had told Ethan that diamonds felt cold against the skin. I loved the warmth of silver. He had forgotten. Or perhaps, he simply never cared to remember.
"Thank you, my Alpha," Chloe simpered, tilting her neck so he could clasp the heavy stones around her throat.
"And now," Ethan said, his voice booming with finality. "I officially name Chloe as the Luna of the Moonstone Pack!"
The applause started, a roaring wave, but it was cut short.
BANG.
The double doors at the back of the hall flew open, crashing against the walls.
A man stood there, framed by the darkness of the night. His clothes were shredded, his hair wild and matted. He smelled of wet earth and stale, copper-scented blood.
A Rogue.
"LIES!" the Rogue screamed, his voice cracking with desperation.
A deathly silence fell over the room.
"Guards!" Ethan roared, his composure fracturing. "Remove this filth!"
"She's lying to you, Reed!" the Rogue shouted, pointing a dirty, trembling finger at Chloe. "That baby isn't yours! It isn't even real!"
Chloe went pale, her hand flying to her mouth. She clutched Ethan’s arm. "Ethan, make him stop! He's crazy!"
The Rogue pulled a crumpled paper from his pocket, waving it like a weapon. "I have the proof! She paid me to get her scent-masking herbs! To hide the fact that she has no scent of pregnancy!"
Ethan’s face turned purple with humiliation.
"Silence!"
He used the Alpha Command.
The power of it rolled over the room like a physical shockwave, heavy and suffocating. The Rogue fell to his knees instantly, choking, his hands clawing at his own throat as the air was crushed out of him.
"Kill him!" Chloe shrieked, her voice shrill with panic. "He's attacking me!"
Ethan stepped forward, his claws extending, glinting in the light. He was going to kill the witness.
"NO!"
I didn't think. I moved.
I ran from the shadows, pushing through the confused crowd, driven by a frantic need for truth.
"Don't kill him!" I shouted, bursting into the open aisle. "Listen to him, Ethan! She's lying!"
Ethan froze. He looked at me. His eyes were black pools of rage.
"Ava?" he growled, the sound vibrating in his chest. "You dare interrupt?"
"Look at her medical records!" I screamed, desperate to reach the man I once knew. "Ben has them! She can't have children, Ethan! She's playing you!"
Chloe started to fake cry, sobbing into her hands. "She's jealous! She's trying to kill our baby because she's barren! Ethan, protect us!"
Ethan looked at Chloe’s tears. Then he looked at me.
The choice was made in a split second. And it broke me.
"You are a traitor," Ethan snarled at me.
"Ethan, please—"
"KNEEL!"
He unleashed the full weight of the Command on me.
It wasn't just a voice. It was a hammer swinging down from the heavens.
My knees smashed into the marble floor. CRACK. The sound of bone splintering echoed in the silent hall, sickeningly loud.
"Ah!" I screamed, the pain blinding me, white-hot and tearing.
My head hit the sharp corner of the banquet table as I collapsed. Warm blood gushed down my forehead, instantly blinding my left eye.
My Inner Wolf howled in betrayal. *He hurt us. Our Mate hurt us.*
Ethan didn't stop. He grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head up, forcing me to look at him.
"You want to ruin my family?" he hissed in my face, spittle flying. "You are nothing. An Omega servant."
He threw me back down like garbage.
"Guards!" Ethan barked. "Throw the Rogue in the dungeon. And take Ava to the holding cells. She will await trial for treason."
Two warriors grabbed my arms roughly. They dragged me across the polished floor, my broken legs trailing uselessly behind me.
Through the veil of blood in my eyes, I saw Chloe.
She wasn't crying anymore.
She was looking at me over Ethan’s shoulder. And she smiled. A cold, victorious smirk that chilled me more than the pain.
As I was dragged past the Rogue, he spat out a mouthful of blood onto the pristine white lilies.
"You chose the wrong female, Alpha," the Rogue wheezed, his voice bubbling with fluid. "The Omega... she smells like snow. Like power."
Ethan ignored him. He wrapped his arms around Chloe, kissing her hair, soothing her while I bled on his floor.
He didn't look at me once.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind me, cutting off the light, sealing my fate.
The pain in my knees was excruciating, a fire consuming my legs, but the pain in my heart was worse.
It was gone. The hope. The love. The ten years of blind devotion.
I lay on the cold stone floor of the cell, bleeding out in the darkness.
I reached into my pocket with a trembling hand. I still had the crumpled paper Ben had given me. The proof of her hysterectomy.
It was useless now. He wouldn't listen. He chose the lie.
But something else broke inside me. A shackle I didn't know I was wearing snapped.
My Inner Wolf stopped crying. She stood up. She shook her fur. She growled—a low, vibrating sound that resonated in my bones.
The suppressants were wearing off.
I felt a heat rising in my blood. Not the heat of shame. The searing heat of absolute power.
My scent began to leak out, filling the damp cell. It wasn't the soft, floral scent of an Omega.
It was the scent of Winter. Crisp. Cold. Dangerous.
*White Wolf,* my wolf whispered, her voice ancient and commanding. *Awaken.*
