I stood in the doorway of our bedroom, smoothing the fabric of my gown one last time. The deep emerald silk caught the light, hugging curves that had finally returned after months of recovery. Tonight was supposed to be perfect. My first public appearance since Boden's birth. My return as Luna of Silvercrest Pack.
I wanted Mason to see me like this before the banquet started. Before the crowd, the formality, the eyes of every ranked wolf in the pack. Just us. Just the way it used to be.
Silver stirred uneasily in my chest.
*What's wrong?* I asked her silently.
She didn't answer. Just a low rumble, like distant thunder.
I pushed the feeling aside. Silver had been restless for weeks now. The healer said it was normal after a difficult pregnancy. That some wolves took longer to settle back into their strength. I believed her because I wanted to. Because believing anything else meant acknowledging something I wasn't ready to face.
The drive to the pack house took fifteen minutes. Mason had been staying there more often lately, handling pack business late into the night. He said it was easier than driving back and forth. That he didn't want to wake me and Boden. I told him I understood. That I was proud of how seriously he took his responsibilities as Alpha.
Now, walking through the corridor toward his private quarters, I felt a flutter of excitement. Maybe we could steal a few minutes alone before the banquet. Maybe he'd look at me the way he used to—like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.
That's when the scent hit me.
Mason's cedar-and-smoke musk. I knew it instantly. I'd buried my face in his neck a thousand times, breathed it in like oxygen. But tonight it was different. Drenched in something floral. Jasmine and vanilla. A she-wolf's scent.
Selena's scent.
I stopped walking. My heels clicked once more on the marble floor, then went silent.
Silver exploded inside my mind—not a warning this time, but vindication. A howl that said *I told you. I told you. I told you.*
The scent wasn't casual. Not the kind you'd pick up from standing too close during a meeting. This was intimate. Skin against skin. The mingling that happened when bodies pressed together, when sweat and heat made scents inseparable.
I should have turned around. Should have left. But my feet carried me forward, drawn by something I couldn't name. Dread. Disbelief. The terrible need to know.
I stopped outside the door to Mason's private office. It was cracked open just enough. Voices drifted through—low, comfortable, laughing.
Then I felt it. The mind-link channel. Open. Unguarded.
Mason never closed his link to me completely. He said it was because he wanted to feel me nearby, even when we were apart. Now I realized it was carelessness. Arrogance. He never imagined I'd be here.
I slipped into the connection like a ghost.
*"—can't believe she hasn't figured it out yet,"* Selena's voice purred through the link, smug and satisfied.
*"She won't,"* Mason replied. His tone was light. Amused. *"Macy's too desperate to believe her fated mate still wants her. A weak, used-up she-wolf whose wolf has gone soft."*
He laughed.
The mate bond screamed.
It wasn't metaphorical. It was physical. A blade twisting between my ribs, carving through muscle and bone, shredding everything I thought I knew. My knees buckled. I pressed my hand against the wall to keep from collapsing.
Silver howled—raw, agonized, furious.
*Weak. Used-up. Soft.*
The words looped in my mind, each repetition a fresh cut.
I heard movement inside the office. Footsteps. The rustle of fabric being adjusted.
I forced myself upright. Forced my face into something calm. Neutral. I stepped back from the door, smoothed my gown, and waited.
The door opened.
Mason emerged first, straightening his collar. His hair was slightly mussed. Selena followed a beat later, her fingers smoothing her own hair back into place. She wore her Gamma leathers, but they were loose at the collar. Her lips were swollen.
Mason's eyes widened when he saw me. Just for a second. Then his face split into a warm, easy smile.
"Macy! You're early." He crossed the distance between us and kissed my cheek. His scent wrapped around me—cedar and smoke and jasmine and lies. "I didn't expect you for another hour."
"I wanted to surprise you," I said softly. My voice didn't shake. I was proud of that. "I know how hard you've been working."
Relief flooded his face. He believed me. He actually believed I didn't know.
"You look beautiful," he murmured, his hand settling on my waist. The same hand that had touched her minutes ago.
I smiled. Leaned into him. Let the mate bond sing its poisoned song in my chest.
"Selena and I were just going over border patrol logistics," Mason said, glancing back at her. "The eastern perimeter needs reinforcement."
"Of course," I said, turning to Selena. She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, a faint smirk playing at her lips. "Thank you for keeping him on track. I know how much the pack depends on you."
Her smirk widened. She thought I was weak. Oblivious. Exactly what Mason said I was.
I filed that look away. The angle of her chin. The confidence in her stance. The way she scent-marked the space around Mason like she already owned it.
I would remember everything.
"We should get ready for the banquet," I said, slipping my arm through Mason's. "Everyone's waiting to see their Alpha and Luna together."
Mason squeezed my hand. "Let's go show them."
As we walked down the corridor, I felt Selena's eyes on my back. Felt the weight of her contempt.
Silver growled low and steady.
*Not weak,* she whispered. *Not anymore.*
I smiled.
They had no idea what was coming.
