After My Mate Crowned His Mistress Luna, I Fought Back

The note had been slipped under my door by a terrified Omega. *Meet me at the old training grounds. Sunset. Let’s end this peacefully. - Violette.*

I knew it was a trap. A truce with Violette Fox was about as likely as a vegetarian wolf. But I went anyway. I needed to look her in the eye one last time before I burned her world to ash.

The training grounds were deserted, the dirt packed hard from generations of warriors. The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long, bloody shadows across the field.

"I'm here," I called out, my voice steady. "Come out, Violette."

She didn't step from the shadows. Instead, three massive wolves did.

They didn't smell like Silver Claw warriors. They reeked of stale urine, old blood, and desperation. Rogues. Hired muscle with no honor and nothing to lose. Violette stood safely on the balcony of the overlooking watchtower, a cruel smile playing on her lips. She wasn't here to talk. She was here to watch me bleed.

The largest rogue lunged without warning, jaws snapping for my throat.

My instincts took over. I didn't shift—shifting took precious seconds I didn't have. Instead, I dropped to my knees, sliding under his leap, and drove my silver-tipped boot into his soft underbelly. He yelped, crashing into the dirt.

"Get her!" Violette screeched from above.

The other two circled. I was outnumbered, unshifted, and armed only with the hidden blade Charlie had insisted I strap to my thigh. Good. I liked difficult odds.

When the second one attacked, I sidestepped and slashed. The silver blade bit deep into his shoulder, severing the tendon. He collapsed, howling. The third hesitated. That was his mistake. I closed the distance, grabbing a handful of his matted fur and slamming his head into the iron fence post.

Within two minutes, two were unconscious, and I had the leader pinned under my boot, my knife pressed against his jugular.

"Who opened the gate?" I snarled, pressing the blade until a bead of blood appeared. "Speak, or I sever your vocal cords first."

"The girl!" the rogue wheezed, eyes wide with terror. "The pretty one! She said the Luna was weak! She said it would be easy!"

"Cecilia!"

The roar of an Alpha shook the ground. I looked up to see August sprinting across the field, flanked by his guards. For a split second, relief washed over me. He would see this. He would smell the rogue scent. He would know.

But then I saw Violette running down the stairs, tears already streaming down her face.

"Oh god, August!" she wailed, throwing herself into his arms before he could even reach me. "I tried to stop her! They were just travelers! They were lost and asking for food, and she... she just snapped!"

August looked at the carnage. He saw the blood on my hands. He saw the knife at the rogue's throat. He didn't look at the rogue's feral markings. He didn't smell the intruder scent that was thick in the air. He only saw his weeping first love and the wife he wanted to be rid of.

"Get away from him, Cecilia!" August bellowed, using his Alpha command. The power of it hit me like a physical blow, forcing me to step back.

"August, they are rogues," I said, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "Violette let them in. Ask him!"

I pointed to the rogue on the ground. But the coward scrambled backward, sensing the shift in power. "She's crazy!" the rogue shouted, playing along instantly. "We just wanted water! She attacked us!"

"Enough!" August roared. He walked over to me, his eyes cold and filled with disgust. "I knew you were jealous, Cecilia. I knew you were proud. But to slaughter innocents to prove your strength? You are a monster."

"A monster?" I laughed, a broken, hollow sound. "I am protecting your territory while you cuddle with the traitor who opened the gates!"

"Silence!" He struck me. Not with his hand, but with a wave of Alpha aura so potent it forced me to my knees. "Guards! Take her to her quarters. Lock the doors. Iron bars. She does not leave until the Council decides what to do with a Luna who has lost her mind."

I didn't fight the guards. I didn't scream. I let them drag me away, locking eyes with Violette over August's shoulder. She blew me a kiss.

Two days later, the door opened.

They didn't bring me food. They brought chains.

"The Sacred Gathering has begun," the head enforcer muttered, refusing to look me in the eye. He held up shackles made of pure silver.

Silver burns us. It suppresses the wolf, causing a constant, searing agony that makes shifting impossible. It is reserved for criminals, traitors, and rogues. To put them on a Luna is a declaration of death.

"Put them on," I said softly.

The enforcer hesitated. "Luna..."

"I said, put them on."

The metal clicked shut around my wrists. The burn was immediate, a white-hot fire racing up my arms. I gritted my teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of a scream.

They marched me out of the pack house and toward the ceremonial clearing. The moon was full, hanging heavy and yellow in the sky. The entire pack was there, along with delegations from three neighboring territories. Silas had invited an audience. He wanted to make an example of me. He wanted to show the world how the Silver Claw Pack dealt with 'witches' and 'madwomen.'

I walked through the parting crowd. I could hear their whispers. I could smell their pity and their fear.

At the front of the gathering stood a raised dais. August stood there, resplendent in his ceremonial robes. Beside him sat Violette, wearing a crown of white roses, looking every bit the innocent queen. Elder Silas stood at the podium, a scroll in his hand.

"We gather tonight under the gaze of the Moon Goddess," Silas's voice boomed, amplified by the natural acoustics of the valley. "To witness a tragedy. To annul a union built on dark magic and deceit."

The guards shoved me forward. I stumbled but caught myself, standing tall despite the searing pain in my wrists. I looked at the crowd. I looked at the neighboring Alphas who were watching with narrowed eyes.

And then, I smiled.

They thought these chains made me weak. They thought this public shaming would break me. They didn't realize that by dragging me out here, in front of witnesses, they had just given me the stage I needed to end them all.